Boston Red Sox Swept by Detroit Tigers: Starters or Bullpen the Bigger Concern?

Unfortunately, the Boston Red Sox are off to another poor start this year, getting swept by the Detroit Tigers to start the 2012 season.

After a fine performance by Jon Lester in a 3-2 loss, it was the awful pitching and lack of offense that led to a 10-0 loss in the middle game, and then good hitting and terrible pitching that led to Boston's latest 13-12 11-inning loss to complete the sweep.

Manager Bobby Valentine has played around with the lineup, which doesn't seem to be a concern at the moment, as the bats are starting to come alive, scoring 12 runs this afternoon on 18 hits. What does seem to be a problem is both the starting and relief pitching.

Jon Lester went seven strong innings against the stacked Tigers lineup, only allowing one run on six hits while striking out four and walking three. In relief, Vicente Padilla allowed one run and only recorded one out while Franklin Morales came in to finish the inning.

Trying to preserve the tie in the ninth inning, Mark Melancon allowed back-to-back singles, which ended his first appearance of the year. From there, closer Alfredo Aceves hit Ramon Santiago before allowing a walk-off single to Austin Jackson.

In the middle game of the series, it was the terrible pitching of Josh Beckett that led to Boston's second loss of the season. Beckett allowed seven runs off of five home runs in 4.2 innings to put the Red Sox in a deep hole that they couldn't overcome.

Scott Atchison allowed a run in 1.1 innings of relief, and then Matt Albers allowed two more (one earned) in two-thirds of an inning. Justin Thomas and Michael Bowden both had scoreless appearances.

And then there was today's game where Boston went down early, came all the way back, blew a ninth-inning lead, took the lead in extra innings and then blew that to lose 13-12. 

Clay Buchholz had awful location throughout his entire outing, allowing seven runs on eight hits in just four innings. The highlight was Padilla, who tossed four scoreless innings of relief. With a three-run lead entering the ninth inning, Aceves allowed a three-run home run to Miguel Cabrera that tied the game and ended his outing without recording an out.

Franklin Morales kept the Tigers in check for the next two innings, striking out three and only allowing one hit. From there, with a two-run lead in the 11th inning, Melancon came in to try and get Boston their first win. He too was unsuccessful, allowing a walk-off two-run home run to Alex Avila.

Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz combined have allowed 15 earned runs on 21 hits in 15.2 innings, with Beckett and Buchholz taking losses.

The relievers have allowed 10 earned runs on 18 hits in 11.1 innings, blowing two saves and taking a loss.

Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard have yet to even pick up the ball, and they were the two biggest rotation questions going into the season. Aceves and Melancon have both been bad in relief, and they are supposed to be the one-two at the end of the game until Andrew Bailey comes back.

It's only been three games but what's the biggest concern for the Red Sox thus far? The starting pitching or the relievers?