Three Up, Three Down.. 0-2 Series Hole Style!

Oh god.

I was still confident after Game 1. It was more or less meaningless, the Sox are a veteran team and they basically sacrificed the game when they trotted Javier out there in an effort to reset their taxed rotation. Game 2 was supposed to make everything all right, but after tonight's ugly 6-2 loss, the Sox are once again, on the brink of elimination.

On the plus side, the last time we found ourselves in this situation, the Sox ripped off three straight wins, but methinks taking 3 from Tampa (including another one in their Dome) will be a bit more difficult than winning three straight over the Indians, Tigers, and Twins.

Anyways, here we go.

ONE UP: Clayton Richard
Wow. After Richard allowed an RBI single to Carl Crawford, the first batter he faced, he went on to strike out the next 5 Rays he faced. His line from yesterday is a bit inflated by the fact that Clayton wore down toward the end of his appearance; the last three batters he faced either reached base via the single or walk. Had Ozzie called on Octavio Dotel a few batters earlier, Richard conceivably could have retired 10 Rays and allowed only 2 baserunners. Nice.

Richard was so impressive in his post-season debut, Guillen is seriously considering starting Clayton if the series somehow makes it to a fifth game.

ONE DOWN: The Sox on Fake Field

Metrodome. Rogers Centre. Tropicana Field. Call them whatever you want, but as has been well documented this season, the Sox simply suck in domes and on fake grass. 4-16 this season, the worst record in the American League. I can't say why, maybe it's the teams, maybe it's the way the field plays, but the Sox struggles on turf are more than just a psychological thing at this point, I believe. The plus side is that, even though to advance now the Sox would need to win 1 more game at Tropicana Field, none of the other teams in the postseason play on artificial turf. The Sox are 85-58 on grass this year, a winning percentage over 59%.

TWO UP: Mark Buehrle

Despite the opening pic and his line from Game 2, Mark Buehrle pitched a real nice game. By now, we should all know that he's a guy that pitches to contact, a strategy that doesn't lend itself to turf or hard grass surfaces, where ground balls explode rather than slow down. Yes, he gave up a 2-run, go-ahead homer to Akinowri Iwamura and then was saddled with a few more runs in the 8th, but he still came out and pitched like the bulldog he was, especially considering the Sox found only 2 runs to support him. Here's hoping we get to see #56 at least one more time this year.

TWO DOWN: Wasted Opprotunites

The Sox left 12 runners on base in Game 2, obviously far too many, especially when you're in a tight battle. They left the bases loaded in the 1st, runners at first and second in the 2nd, 4th, and 7th, and a runner on third in the 6th. So many chances, and so many of them wasted. In the 1st inning, when they had Kazmir on the ropes and scored their 2 runs, they were 3-5 with Runners in Scoring Position. They had 7 more at bats with a RISP and failed every single time. You can't win if you can't hit with men on or hit home runs.

THREE UP: Dewayne Wise

Give the guy props, his three-run homer in Game 1 is currently responsible for 50% of the runs the Sox have scored. Wise has had a nice season here for the Sox. Considering he's been a career minor leaguer, I don't know if he's likely to reproduce his numbers, but he's another nice option off the bench and is better at every facet of baseball than Jerry Owens.

Of course, despite the fact he was pretty much the only guy who came through in Game 1, he was on the bench in Game 2, watching Nick Swisher have an OK game, but flying out and striking out in his last two at bats, both times with the potential tying run on base.

THREE DOWN: Jim Thome

For all the press Thome and Griffey have gotten about wanting that elusive World Series ring, neither had done much to show that on the field. The reason I pick on Thome more than Griffey is that Thome is still an intergral part of this team. He bats in the middle of the lineup, and while Junior has clearly lost a step from his prime, Thome still can play at a pretty high level. Yeah, his .245 BA this season was 30 points lower than his career BA and easily the lowest of his career when he wasn't limited to less than 60 games in a season either because he was a 21-year-old rookie still breaking in with the Indians or suffering from back problems in Philadelphia. Thome still his 34 homers, drove in 90 runs, and slugged over 100 points higher than Junior during Griffey's brief stay in Chicago.

This postseason? 1-9 with an RBI, and that easily would have been 0-9 had the Rays had their usual shift on for Thome.

Look, I know Thome was critical to the Sox, and was the only offense in their win over the Twins in the Tiebreaker game, but if you want to do more than just get there again, more production will be required.