A Sad Sequel: Boston Red Sox Running Out of Time to Save the Season

I'm beginning to feel like I've seen this movie before.

In fact, last night's epic 15-inning loss to the Yankees played out like so many depressing sequels, down to an appearance from a character actor who played a bit part in the original.

In 2006, Eric Hinske was a spare part picked up by the Boston Red Sox for a stretch run that was supposed to result in a postseason berth. This year, he was salvaged by the Yankees.

Indeed, though, his view this season is a bit more pleasing, I'm sure, given that he's watching from the opposing dugout rather than holding down a spot inside the crumbling one.

During spring training this season, I thought there was little chance the Red Sox missed the postseason. As recently as a month ago, I felt the same way.

Now, I'm not sure. A rash of injuries and prolonged struggles, both offensively and in the pitching staff, have turned what seemed iron-clad depth into frightening fragility. What was once a team built for the postseason has become a squad clinging to slimming playoff hopes.

It's 2006 all over again. That season essentially ended with a slug-in-the-stomach five-game sweep by the Yankees at Fenway Park in August, beginning with a painful doubleheader. The venue may have shifted from Boston to the Bronx, but this weekend series is beginning to feel a lot like that one. And the results may be just as devestating.

The similarities don't stop there. That season, the Sox picked up Hinske, got September at-bats from the corpse of Carlos Pena (ironically helping to revive his career) and gave meaningful starts to the likes of Kyle Snyder, Lenny DiNardo, and Kason Gabbard.

This year, the Sox have been forced to plug holes with spare parts like Chris Woodward and not-quite-ready prospects like Josh Reddick, all while trying to coax contributions out of a creaky John Smoltz.

And now they've got a rotation that might include a searching Clay Buchholz, a fading Brad Penny, and a 23-year-old Japanese rookie whose Major League debut was an appearance in the 14th inning of a scoreless game at Yankee Stadium.

No pressure.

It's another painful reminder of how fickle the game of baseball can be. In March, the Sox appeared to have stacked enough depth to deal with any catastrophe imaginable.

Now it's August and Daisuke Matsuzaka is searching for his gyro ball, Tim Wakefield is searching for the fountain of youth, John Smoltz is doing some serious soul searching, and the Red Sox are searching for anyone healthy to fill out a nine-man lineup from day to day.

It's almost laughable the amount of things that have gone wrong. Shortstop has long been a weakness, but with Nick Green and Julio Lugo splitting time the Sox at least had two warm bodies, both of whom were hitting nearly .300 for most of the first half of the season.

And wouldn't you know almost the day the Sox shipped Lugo out of town, Green starting hitting like Pedro Cerrano chasing curveballs and Jed Lowrie proved again that he's never going to be an everyday player in the Major Leagues.

Of course, Lugo has hit about .350 in St. Louis while the Red Sox finished Friday night with Woodward—who played 20 games before being dumped by Seattle—manning the shortstop position.

And then there's the pitching staff. Smoltz was supposed to return to form about this time of year, bolstering an already strong staff for the stretch run.

Instead, he's all but finished, and with Penny struggling and Wakefield nursing his annual late-summer back injury, the Sox have been forced to turn to Buchholz, who has thus far failed to repeat his lights-out effort from AAA. Now it's Beckett and Lester. After that you take your chances.

That's why last night stung so much. Beckett was superhuman as he's supposed to be, blanking the Yankees for seven nasty innings with the same passionate fire/anger that makes him so great. He did everything you could ask of him, and—though it took a few more hours—the Sox lost anyway. There's nothing to do but throw your hands up.

That brings the losing streak to four games, with a shaky Buchholz taking the hill today. The season is fading quickly, and it's going to take someone to step up to stop it. Maybe it'll be Buchholz today. Maybe it'll be Tazawa, who by all accounts has a special future ahead of him.

But the reality that it might be nobody is starting to settle in. Sometimes the train has slid so far off the tracks, there's no way to get it back on again.

Red Sox Nation is hoping that's not the case. But it's going to take a twist in plot worthy of an Oscar nominee to write a different ending to this sequel.