It's tough to be positive after a 16-2 loss, but Darnell McDonald and Theo Epstein are doing exactly that.
We haven't gotten hot yet," Epstein said, as reported by ESPN.com. "We've been looking forward to getting guys back, and now all of a sudden we're losing guys, so it makes it tough — but absolutely. We're not 10 games out, and it's not the end of September. We have time."
"We go out every night feeling like we can win," Epstein continued. "We've got to string together 15 out of 18 here somehow, and that will get us back into it."
In light of Dustin Pedroia's return to the DL and the team falling to 6.5 games out with just 39 to go, many are giving up on the Sox' season, but McDonald, like Epstein, isn't ready to do so.
"We've shown it all year," McDonald said. "We really haven't had that hot streak of putting a bunch of games together like we know we can. Any time is possible. I don't think anyone is panicking right now… The good thing about this team is we've been able to bounce back from adversity all year. Hopefully we'll continue that. We're taking it one game at a time."
Pedroia, too, reasserted his faith in his teammates:
"We'll be fine. Geez. Guys have stepped up. They have all year," Pedroia said. "I'm just one guy. We've had guys go down all year, and guys have been able to step up and help us win. We still have a great chance of getting into the playoffs and winning the whole thing."
If the Red Sox can pull off a miracle comeback, Epstein will surely look prescient.
"We really don't need to talk about it; it'll be a really good feeling," Epstein predicted.
