2010 BOSTON RED SOX
TOO MANY INJURIES TO STAY COMPETITIVE ...
 

Some felt that the Red Sox had planned 2010 as a rebuilding year, when GM Theo Epstein called it a “bridge year” but the team hadn’t held back. They invested $120 million in commitments to four players, starting with $85 million to free agent John Lackey, the former Angel who had shut them out in Game One of 2009 Division Series. They added shortstop Marco Scutaro and outfielder Mike Cameron on two-year deals, and signed Adrian Beltre to play third, for one year and $10 million.

The Sox kicked off their 2010 season with an Opening Night game in Boston, the first on the MLB schedule, when they hosted the Yankees on Sunday night April 4th.  Josh Beckett was hit hard and left trailing in the top of the fifth, and then Dustin Pedroia tied the score, 7-7, with a two-run home run in the seventh. Neil Diamond sang “Sweet Caroline” live in the eighth inning, and Boston was leading, 9-7, when Jonathan Papelbon closed it out in the ninth. 

The Sox lost the next three games as the bullpen handed back leads, giving up eight earned runs in the first four games.  But the Sox bats came alive on the first road trip, except the one held by David Ortiz (.111 BA) with ten strikeouts on the young season.  They then lost two of three in Minnesota thanks to inconsistent pitching and sloppy defense.

The team was almost never at full strength as Jacoby Ellsbury collided with Beltre and broke some ribs in the season’s sixth game, on April 11th, and only played in 18 games all season. Cameron suffered an abdominal injury as well, and he too only played in 37 games all year. After the opener, the Sox lost their next six games at home, being swept by the Rays in four games, the worst home start since 1932.  With runners in scoring position they failed to bring even one runner across in the last 32 times. 

Of all the Red Sox starting pitchers, only John Lackey (1-1) pitched well, allowing only two runs over 12 2/3 innings in his first two starts.  Behind the plate, the Sox were ineffective against base runners, with Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek allowing 22 steals in 23 attempts.  By Patriot's Day, they had won only four games, in 4th place and six games out.

On April 20, in his first Red Sox at-bat, Darnell McDonald pinch-hit a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, then beat the Rangers with a bases-loaded ball off the wall in the bottom of the ninth.  On the next night, April 21st, Kevin Youkilis lined one off the left field wall in the 12th inning to bring home Marco Scutaro with a walk-off game winner.  The Sox went on to win four of five against the Rangers and then the Orioles, but remained 6 games out of first.  Catching was again a problem.  Between Jason Varitek and Victor Martinez, Sox catchers had thrown out only 2 0f 39 baserunners.  Martinez, however was 9 for 30 (.300) at the plate in his last nine games.  And Darnell McDonald was equally hot, batting .333 with a .407 OBP.

The Sox moved on to Toronto at the end of April, with the Sox starters having an ERA of 5.56 collectively, and Josh Beckett at 7.22  But on April 27th, Clay Buccholz dazzled everyone by beating the Jays 2-1, having a shutout through eight innings.  Jon Lester followed the next night with a 2-0 shutout, bringing the Sox up to 10-10 (.500) for the season, allowing no runs through his last 12 2/3 innings pitched. 

The Sox swept the Jays and moved on to Baltimore.  In the first game the Sox lost as Adrian Beltre committed his costly fifth error of the season. Tim Wakefield was sent to the bullpen to make way for Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Dice-K had no success, getting pounded 12-9 in his debut on May 2nd.  Offensively Beltre was on fire with a .345 BA, but J.D. Drew hovered around .200 and David Ortiz was worse at .167  Baltimore swept the Sox pushing them to 7 games behind the front running Tampa Bay Rays.

The Sox returned home in May and started by pounding the Angels, 17-8.  Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew each knocked out four hits in the slugfest.   Drew was 18 for 48 with 4 HRs and 15 RBI in his last 12 games. The next night Jon Lester allowed five hits and one run in a neatly pitched 2-1 win.  David Ortiz (.149 BA) was booed after leaving seven men on base, but Marco Scutaro went 3 for 5 (.726 OPS), batting leadoff.  Then on May 5th, John Lackey smothered his old club with a two-hitter, to complete the sweep on "Nomar Garciaparra Night".  Adrian Beltre (.340 BA) continued wielding a hot bat going 20 for 46 in his last 12 games and Jonathan Papelbon converted his 21st straight save. The Sox swept the Angels with a win the next night, went over .500 for the first time, and had won 11 of their last 16 games.

But then the Yankees moved in to Fenway and battered Josh Beckett in the first game of the series, 10-3 and then blasted the Sox 14-3 in the next game. Jon Lester was the stopper as the Sox salvaged the final game of the series.  The Sox pitchers allowed six or more runs 17 times so far in the early season, with the bullpen having a 4.93 ERA.  Opposing batters scored eight or more runs seven times. 

The pitchers continued to struggle but beat the Blue Jays in the first game of the series, who next came to Fenway.  Daisuke Matsuzaka shined in his 6-1 mastery of Toronto in the second game, but the offense let down Tim Wakefield, as the Sox lost the third game.  J.D. Drew (.284 BA) played well in the home stand, batting .469 with 4 doubles and 7 RBI.

The Sox went on to Detroit and in the first game of the series, David Ortiz smacked two home runs in  a 7-2 Sox win on May 14th.  In the next game, Jon Lester gave the bullpen a five run lead which they couldn't hold, allowing the Tigers to come back and win the game, 7-6.  The Sox lost 2 of 3 in Detroit. Hideki Okajima had a 7.04 ERA after his first 11 appearances, putting 17 runners on base. 

The Sox moved in to Yankees Stadium and it was Jonathan Papelbon who blew a 9-7 lead in the ninth inning, by giving up two home runs and the game.  But the Sox came back the next night, on May 18th, with a fine 7-6 win to split the series.  They remained in fourth place, 8 1/2 games behind.

Behind Clay Buccholz the Sox moved over .500 again as they started a series in Minnesota, as Beckett went on the DL, joining Ellsbury and Cameron, with a lower back strain.  Marco Scutaro, whose defense had not been up to his standard, stayed active although diagnosed with a "tennis elbow". Kevin Youkilis was leading the majors with 33 walks and a .590 OBP.

Jon Lester followed Buccholz and pitched the Sox first complete game of the season on May 20th with a 6-2 win over the Twins, giving him four wins in a row.  In Philadelphia, Dice-K Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and went on to spin a 1-hitter against the Phillies while Dustin Pedroia battled at the plate, in the midst of a 4 for 35 slump.  The Sox closed the series in Philly with Tim Wakefield opposing Roy Halladay. Wakefield lasted into the eight inning with an 8-3 win.  Over the last four games, the Sox starters had a 1.66 ERA.

Buccholz next kept the Sox starters' winning string going with a 6-1 win over the division leading Rays in Tampa Bay on May 24th.  For the hitters, Kevin Youkilis was hot, batting .322 with 27 RBI and a team high nine HRs.  His .459 OBP was the second best in the majors.  Jon Lester pitched a 2-0 shutout in the second game of the series.  And John Lackey completed the sweep to make it 8 wins in 9 games for the Sox, cutting the Rays lead to 5 1/2 games.  Sox starters were 7-1 with a 1.60 ERA during the streak.  Adrian Beltre connected, in the final game, with 2 HRs and going 4 for 5, raising his average to .341, leading the Sox with 33 RBI.

The Sox then came home and lost two games to the Royals with poor pitching a little offense.  Clay Buccholz stopped the bleeding on May 29th with a 1-0 shutout, to bring his ERA to 1.32 over his last four starts.  Lester continued with his fine pitching, beating the Royals the next night, 8-1, going 6-0 with a 1.43 in his last eight starts.  David Ortiz homered in the game, his 10th in the month of May, but Dustin Pedroia still struggled going 5 for 40 (.125) in his last ten games.  Ortiz rebounded so well, that he was named A.L. player of the month for May.

The Sox continued by beating the Athletics, 9-4 to start the month of June, with Victor Martinez going 5 for 5.  Martinez was 18 for 39 over the last 11 games with 13 extra base hits.  The next night they beat Oakland again, led by Ortiz with a double and a homer.

The team moved out to Baltimore and Clay Buccholz (2.39 ERA) once more dominated in an 11-0 shutout of the last place Orioles.  In his last five games Buccholz was 5-0 with a 0.99 ERA.  Kevin Youkilis (.312 BA) continued to wield his hot bat with a homer.  Youk led the majors with 48 runs scored and 43 walks.  The Sox took 2 of 3 from Baltimore and moved on to Cleveland in 3rd place, 4 games out of first.  Both Buccholz and Lester faltered in Cleveland and the Sox left with a split of the series.

Reliever Daniel Bard was consistent out of the bullpen throughout the season thus far.  In 32 innings pitched, he had allowed only 17 hits while striking out 34.

The Sox returned home and exploded against the Phillies, 12-2 on June 11th, behind the fine pitching of John Lackey.  David Ortiz paced the offense with three hits in the first two innings.  Marco Scutaro had three hits also. John Lackey (7-3), Jon Lester (7-2) and Clay Buccholz (7-3) became the only seven game winners in the majors.

On June 12th, Daisuke Matsuzaka strained his forearm and Jeremy Hermida went on the DL with fractured ribs.  Dice-K had gone 3-1 over his last four starts with a 1.98 ERA. To replace outfielders Hermida, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron, and having been improbably signed out of independent league ball for one dollar, left-fielder rookie Daniel Nava came up to bat with the bases loaded, swung at the very first pitch he ever saw as a big leaguer, and hit a grand slam into the Red Sox bullpen.  Behind J.D. Drew (3 for 4), the Sox went on once again to destroy the Phillies, 10-2.

The Sox lost the next game, with Daniel Nava going 2 for 4 and Dustin Pedroia going 3 for 4 in another good game, seeming to break out of his slump.

The Arizona Diamondbacks came to Fenway Park and were victimized by the Sox two young aces, Buccholz and Lester, with Pedroia going 2 for 4 on June 18th.  Lester had gone 8-0 with a 2.01 ERA, not having lost a game since mid April.  John Lackey finished the sweep of Arizona with an 8-5 win.  David Ortiz who was 11 for 23 in his last six games, had two hits and drove in two runs.

Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers came to Fenway on June 18th, with Manny making his first Fenway appearance since being traded.  Manny didn't factor in the game but Ortiz blasted his third two-run homer in a week, in a 10-6 Sox win, that moved them to one game behind the first place Rays and Yankees.  The game also marked the major league debut of Felix Doubront.

On June 19th, Dustin Pedroia slammed a base hit to right field for his first walk-off hit, giving the Sox a 5-4 win. The Sox were the majors' highest-scoring team (5.5 runs per game).  The Sox completed the sweep of the Dodgers behind Clay Buccholz (2.47 ERA), who spun a 2-0 shutout for his 10th win.

As the Sox flew out to Denver on the off day, they moved to 1/2 game of the first place Yankees.  But in Colorado they couldn't get their high scoring offense going and lost the first game, 2-1.  In the second game, Jonathan Papelbon imploded in the ninth inning and gave up three runs in a 8-6 loss.  On June 24th, Dustin Pedroia (5 for 5) clubbed his third homer of the night, winning the final game for the Sox in the 10th inning, and the team left town two games out of first.

In the last week of June, the Red Sox suffered a nearly-unbelievable spate of injuries. It started with Mike Lowell straining his hip in batting practice and going on the DL on June 24th.  On June 25th, Pedroia fouled a pitch off his foot and broke it. On the 27th, Victor Martinez broke his thumb on a foul ball. And on June 30th, Jason Varitek also broke his foot, joining his two teammates on the DL along with Manny Delcarmen (forearm strain) that same day.

The badly injured Sox continued home and split with the Rays. With Kevin Cash, now back in Boston and behind the plate, and Bill Hall at second base, they beat the Orioles on July 2nd in a late inning 3-2 victory. It was J.D. Drew knocking out two home runs that paced the win.  Jon Lester won his 10th game on July 3rd, 9-3, as the sox reached their high point of being 17 games over .500 and 1/2 games out of first.  Daniel Nava had nine extra base hits and 13 RBI since his debut.

Lester, Clay Buccholz, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez were all named to the American League All Star team.  Adrian Beltre made his first All Star team and his .341 BA ranked third in the majors. After the announcement, Buccholz then joined the others on the DL with a strained hamstring.

DUSTIN PEDROIA

The Sox went down to Tampa Bay, lost three straight, and fell 4 1/2 games out of first, in third place.  The Sox now had lost eight out of their last eleven games on the road.  Jon Lester won his 11th in Toronto and the Sox took two of three from the Jays.

At the All Star break, the Sox were 51-37 for the fourth best record in baseball, five games behind the Yankees and three behind the Rays. David Ortiz had 11 HRs in the last round to win the All Star Home Run Derby.

The second half started with Tim Wakefield (3-8) losing to the Rangers at Fenway.  Wakefield allowed 13 runs over his last 7 2/3 innings pitched.  The Sox lost three of four and averted being swept, thanks to an 11 inning, 3-2 win on July 17th, paced by Kevin Youkilis, whose double tied the game in the 9th and sac fly won it in the 11th.  Manny Delcarmen came off the DL and was credited with the win.  Dustin Pedroia was on the field taking grounders with a protective boot on his broken foot.  The Sox had made 34 roster moves since June 18th.

The Sox flew out to Oakland where Dice-K threw one of his better games, beating the Athletics on a three hitter, 2-1. The Sox lost two of three in Oakland with Buccholz coming off the DL in a losing effort. The Sox lost 10 of their last 14 and fell 7 games behind the Yankees.

Josh Beckett came back to the lineup in Seattle and threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits. Daniel Bard (1.71 ERA) continued to produce, not having allowed a run in his last 15 outings.  The Sox took split with Seattle and the team fell 8 games out of first. 

Buccholz went seven strong innings and won the first game the Sox played in Anaheim with Victor Martinez coming off the DL and David Ortiz knocking out two homers on July 26th.  The Sox swept the Angels with John Lackey allowing two runs over 7 2/3 innings in the second game and Marco Scutaro's grandslam gave the Sox a win in the third game.

The Sox came home and lost to Detroit.  In the second game of the series on July 31st, the Sox came from behind, being down 4-0 as Ortiz sliced a game winning double in the 9th inning.  Ryan Kalish was 2 for 4 in his major league debut. The Sox won again in the 9th by a 4-3 score, on the next night thanks to a wild throw, after Papelbon had blown the save in the top of the inning.

The Sox finished July going a mediocre 13-13, as the injuries pushed them from 1/2 game out of first on July 3rd to 7 1/2 games out at the end of the month.

On August 2nd, Kevin Youkilis went to the DL with a torn muscle in his right thumb, but on August 3rd Mike Lowell came off the DL and proved the difference in the Sox win over the Indians.  The Sox split with the Indians as Jon Lester lost his fourth straight game and Jacoby Ellsbury returned to the team.

On August 6th the Sox took a bite out of the league-leading Yankees in New York.  But they lost the next two games and eeked a split in the series with a 2-1 win.  The Sox stayed 6 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, and 4 1/2 games behind the Rays for the wild card.

Off to Toronto and after winning the first two games impressively, Jonathan Papelbon dropped the last one in the 9th inning.  Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who the Sox picked up from Texas, was 2 for 4 with two doubles.  After losing the first game in Texas, Jon Lester (13-7) pitched a beauty, allowing just one hit to the last 16 batters he faced.  In the game, Jacoby Ellsbury re-injured his ribs and went back on the DL.  However, the Sox won only that game in the series.

The Sox returned home on August 17th as Clay Buccholz shutout the Angels with Dustin Pedroia returning to the lineup.  But the star was Ellsbury's replacement, Ryan Kalish who blasted a grandslam homer.  The Sox took 2 of 3 and remained 6 1/2 games out.  On August 21st, the almost forgotten Jed Lowrie, won a game for the Sox with an 11th inning walk-off homer vs Toronto.  The next night, Buccholz (15-5) threw his second consecutive shutout, earning the American League's lowest ERA at 2.26

After taking 2 of 3 from Seattle the Sox moved on to Tampa for a showdown with the Rays who were tied with the Yankees for first place, 5 1/2 games ahead of the Sox.  Victor Martinez had two home runs to lead the Sox in a win over David Price in the first game of the series.  Sloppy fielding cost the Sox in the second game, but Martinez was 4 for 5 in the loss.  And in the final game the Sox blew the lead in the late innings to lose the game and the series.

The Sox took 2 of 3 in Baltimore as September started, but once again lost Dustin Pedroia who had surgery on his ailing left foot.  Clay Buccholz was named American League Pitcher of the Month for August.

The Sox came home and were swept by the White Sox and basically eliminated themselves from contention, falling 10 games out of first and 7 1/2 games out of the wild card.  As the Sox played out the season, one of the highlights was Jon Lester's performance.  Jon Lester won his 17th game of the year, striking out 12 in Seattle on September 13th, becoming one of five Sox pitchers to reach 200 strikeouts.  His 18th win on September 19th was a 6-0 shutout of the Jays. His 19th and final victory came against the Yankees on September 25th.  He was 6-0 in his last six starts with a 1.76 ERA.  Buccholz finished 17-7 and John Lackey was a lackluster 14-11, as did Dice-K (9-6). Josh Beckett suffered through a poor 6-6 season and Tim Wakefield an even-worse 4-10.

Jonathan Papelbon, had a difficult season with seven losses and several blown saves, but still recorded 37 saves and became the only closer in history to save 30 or more games in his first five seasons. Daniel Bard was impressive and billed as the Sox closer of the future.  Though David Ortiz once again got off to a terrible start, he finished with 102 RBIs, tied with Adrian Beltre for the team lead. He had 32 homers and Beltre had 28.

One could make the case that the Red Sox disabled list itself embraced one of the top 10 teams in baseball. And one could argue that Terry Francona deserved some consideration as Manager of the Year for all the work he did moving parts around and hanging within six or seven games of first place most of the season.