Before the Red Sox split four games with the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, we looked at a few items that we thought would be key in their success, or lack thereof.
The struggling offense noted in that edition of Three Keys remains an issue; the Sox scored a paltry total of 14 runs in 40 innings in the series.
Here are a few other items to take from a long weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
For Starters…
Perhaps the lone bright spot in the series surrounds the suddenly healthy starting rotation. John Lackey flirted with a no-hitter in the opener, Jon Lester had thoughts of a perfect game on Saturday and Josh Beckett made a strong return after a two-month layoff with 5 2/3 quality innings Friday night.
Throw in Daisuke Matsuzaka's effort in the finale and you have a pretty fine looking line for the starting pitching: 27.1 IP, 15 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 10 BB and 28 K.
Alas, there wasn't a win in the bunch, a product of our next takeaway.
No Relief in Sight
While the starters were excellent, the bullpen was a mess. Seattle, whose offense has made pedestrian hurlers look like Cy Young Award winners, scored six runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth in the series, most of the runs being charged to Boston's corps of relievers.
It all culminated with Sunday's disastrous eighth inning, during which Daniel Bard's scoreless streak of 15 straight outings came to an end and Hideki Okajima gave up the lead while allowing five hits in just 2/3 inning.
Manny Delcarmen has an ERA of 29.45 in his last seven outings after allowing four runs without getting an out in the opener.
The Engine That Could
Kevin Youkilis had an RBI double and was 2-for-4 in Sunday's loss. He continues to be the most consistent offensive performer on a team that has suddenly stopped scoring runs.
The first baseman is batting .486 (18-for-37) over his last 10 games and is 11-for-23 (.478) during his current six-game hitting streak.
The Sox have averaged 3.2 runs during Youk's current 10-game hot stretch.
