Editor’s note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine’s words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.
Did you like that win over the Blue Jays on Monday night? Did you like how it felt seeing Dustin Pedroia spark a rally in the ninth inning to give the Red Sox their first victory of the season?
If this year has taught Red Sox fans anything so far, it’s that you don’t always get what you like.
Bobby Valentine has a long list of things he’d like, and in Tuesday night’s loss he added “doing what I’m supposed to do” to that list.
He wasn’t happy with how he handled the relief situation. He said he should have brought in Matt Albers when the bases were loaded in the sixth inning. At that point, the game was just 3-1. Instead, Valentine let Justin Thomas stay, and J.P. Arencibia thanked him by driving in two runs. At the end of the inning, the Jays were up 6-1 — which would have been a nice three runs to have back, considering the Red Sox again did the comeback trick in the ninth inning and scored twice.
Instead, the Red Sox are left staring down 1-4 and ruing the curse of “supposed to do.” Boston is supposed to be a powerhouse, excellent most days on pitching and always able to produce runs. The Red Sox are supposed to be the pride of the region, the consistent comebackers. They’re supposed to be winners, and Valentine is supposed to be a crafty manager who wins with creative matchups and gut decisions.
The quicker they can get away from “supposed to” and just do it, the sooner fans can start witnessing real Red Sox baseball again.
