Boston Red Sox: The Season Starts Now

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox have done nothing but slump since the All-Star break. The offense has been inconsistent and the team's pitching staff has had its hiccups.

Being swept by the New York Yankees over last weekend pretty much crushed Boston's hopes for the AL East crown, but anything is possible. Boston is currently six games behind New York so their focus should be on building a lead, or at least maintaining the lead, in the Wild Card.

Although Boston was blanked today (2-0) by the Detroit Tigers, they did take three games out of the four game series. With today's loss, Boston's lead in the Wild Card has shrunk to a very scary .5 game lead ahead of the surging Texas Rangers.

Boston and Texas open up a three game series in Arlington, TX tomorrow tonight and for Boston, the season starts now.

In order for Boston to ensure a presence in the post-season, they need to be near perfect in the upcoming weeks and put together a nice streak of wins and series wins.

The only difference between Boston and Texas right now is that Texas can hit the laces off the ball and Boston, lately, couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. If Boston wants to win the series in Boston and keep the Wild Card lead, the offense needs to turn it around and Jason Bay needs to get hot.

If Boston is going to have success, they need to get Jacoby Ellsbury on base so he can put pressure on opposing pitchers on the base paths and then Bay, Victor Martinez, Mike Lowell, and Dustin Pedrioa need to get hot and knock in Ellsbury to manufacture runs. I believe that the pitching staff will be fine and that Junichi Tazawa is going to be a hidden gem and a key player in the team's playoff race.

I expect the Red Sox to take at least two out of three games this weekend and I am predicting that Bay and Martinez will carry the team for the next weeks.

Boston needs to come into Texas ready to fight because if they want to make the playoffs, the season starts NOW.