Winning three of the first four games of any season
on the road it unquestionably a good thing. Eking out
three one-run wins against a manifestly
awful Tampa Bay Rays team is quite something else. True, the four Red Sox starters gave historic performances (2 ERs over 24 innings pitched), but let's look at the guys they were facing. It was a litany of young,
talented but unproven guys (
Joey Wendel,
Matt Duffy,
Mallex Smith) along with over-the-hill veterans (
Denard Span,
Carlos Gomez,
Brad Miller). Not exactly the "
Murderers' Row" of the 1928 Yankees. Moreover, Boston's 'offense' mustered just ten runs in thirty-six innings—resulting in a run differential so far of just +1. And, even with a sizzling-hot
Xander Bogaerts in the line-up, the team is hitting a pathetic .214. Luckily, the anemic Rays were hitting .190. So, let's all feel good about a decent start—but let's
also wait and see how this team performs against
truly talented opponents.
