Digging in

The Red Sox seemed determined to lose the last two games in Seattle, wasting a great start by Jon Lester Saturday night and a decent one from Daisuke Matsuzaka yesterday.

6+ innings, 1ER is a HOF-worthy day for Daisuke.

Meanwhile, the Yankees and Rays are only gaining more ground, as the Sox' struggle to stay afloat until everyone is healthy only gets harder. The bats have been all but nonexistent lately, bad news when they're headed to Anaheim for a three game set.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel: they'll play three at home against the Tigers and four against the Indians before heading to New York for a four game set.

If they manage to put in a good showing for the next week-and-a-half, key contributors should be back soon. Victor Martinez might return for this series, while Dustin Pedroia has been spotted taking batting practice and fielding ground balls (albeit in his ubiquitous boot), and Jacoby (D-) Ellsbury has finally begun what is sure to be a lengthy rehab assignment.

Clay Buchholz makes his second start after returning from the DL tonight, against old frield Joel Pineiro. On paper, it looks like a sure thing, but nothing is for certain the way the Red Sox have played lately, and especially since Buchholz was less than impressive last time out. Time will tell, but you know I'll be panicking until it's over.