The Boston Red Sox thought they had something going after last weekend.
The Red Sox played some of their best baseball of the season over the weekend, dismantling the Oakland Athletics in a three-game series. Even on Sunday with things looking bleak, Boston stormed back to win in a way it hasn’t all season.
Then they had a day off and went to Baltimore. The Red Sox have lost the first two of a three-game set with the Orioles and are looking to avoid being swept Thursday night at Camden Yards. If they can’t, they’re right back where they were before the Oakland series.
It’s been a frustrating season for everyone involved from the fans to ownership, but Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino cautioned Thursday morning that it’s still a little too early to give up on the season.
“( You have) 63 percent of the season left to play, and this season has been a bit of a roller coaster,” Lucchino said on WEEI. “I would say to you last Sunday (against the A’s), we were all exhilarated. This team showed that it could play some good, smart, aggressive, heart-felt baseball and then what’s happened since then?
“We have a Monday to enjoy the offensive momentum and that dramatic victory, and then we lost a game on Tuesday on a wild pitch, and we lost the game yesterday to a very tough left-hander who’s beaten us with great regularity over the past several years, so I think it’s a little early still to panic but it is not too soon to make some individual player assessments.”
Lucchino admitted to feeling frustrated at points during the season, but he and the organization are hoping patience wins out, echoing the comments from principal owner John Henry last week.
“We’re fans, too,” Lucchino said. “We get sick to the stomach when we watch certain games and certain outcomes and we get exhilarated as we were last Sunday. But the hardest thing is to demonstrate some patience with players and with a team that’s having its difficulties this year.”
The Red Sox enter Thursday’s game in last place in the American League East with a 27-33 record, 6 1/2 games out of first.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports Images
