Another Foe for the Sox

Rain has forced several delays and a cancellation at Fenway this week.

Just when you thought the Red Sox had their hands full with the Rays and the Yankees, another opponent gets thrown into the mix. This one, though, comes straight for mother nature.

As the rain relentlessly gushed down from the skies last night, Boston sat through their third rain delay in just two days, which ultimately amounted to a cancellation. No problem, right? Just play a day-night doubleheader today, and everything will be fine. Well, the thing is, it's pouring again today. Nonetheless, Boston will need to fight through basically every condition as we head down the stretch. These games need to be played and they need to be won. It's frustrating to see Tampa and New York winning every time they take the field. It makes you think that the Red Sox need to go unbeaten to have a chance to make up that deficit. still, we can't forget that we play the Yanks 6 times, we play the Rays 6 times, and those two teams play each other 7 times. There is definitely room for us to slide into that wild card spot. When the teams play each other, we've got to be rooting for the division leader to sweep all 7 games. It's our best chance. And it's not incredibly preposterous, either. Both of these teams have hit big slumps at times this year. We will just need the timing to be perfect for another one as we enter the final month of the 2010 season.

Sweeping the day-night would help, too. Beckett and Lester take the hill today for Boston against Seattle. A year ago, one might have called that an automatic sweep. Today, though, we can only hope that we see the Beckett of old instead of the shaky, unpredictable Beckett we've seen of late. With Johnny Damon declining the possibility of coming to Boston, it looks more and more likely that this is the squad we will have to make the big run with. Can we do it? The cards are stacked against the Sox right now, but I can recall a few times in the past decade that Boston overcame a steep stack.