Red Sox Notebook: Starters' Drought

The Red Sox rotation has quietly entered a slump. Though Boston's starters have kept their team in games, they have been amassing wins at a deliberate pace over the past four weeks.

Between July 6 and Aug. 4, Red Sox starters went 10-9 with a 4.73 ERA. Such performances have left a team that had depended largely on run prevention for its victories to lean on its lineup.

In that span, only Tim Wakefield (4-1) has won more than two games. Rotation stalwarts such as Josh Beckett (1-3) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-3) have been victims of limited run support, skewing their performance.

The Red Sox still believe that they have a rotation with a depth nearly unmatched in the American League. With Matsuzaka, Beckett and Curt Schilling (returning from his three-start rehab from shoulder tendinitis) pitching Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Boston will hope to correct its recent rotational hiccup.

If they can do so, then the team seems well-positioned to make a strong sprint through the final third of the season. With a bullpen that owns the best ERA in baseball and a lineup that is seemingly rediscovering its form, the team is close to offering a multifaceted attack suitable to a squad with the best record in baseball.


NOTES, QUOTES
—DH David Ortiz crushed his 19th homer of the season on Friday. After hitting his first homer of the year against a left-handed pitcher on Tuesday, Ortiz has now gone deep against southpaws twice in the span of four games.

—LHP Jon Lester, a Seattle-area native, made his first appearance at Safeco Field since being diagnosed with cancer last August. Lester lasted just five innings (his shortest outing in three starts this year) while giving up four runs, including his fourth homer in 17 2/3 innings.

—RHP Mike Timlin made his first appearance on Friday since July 23. Timlin gave up three runs, snapping his scoreless streak of 11 outings spanning a career-long 16 innings. He has given up six homers in his last six appearances in Seattle.

—SS Julio Lugo committed a throwing error, pulling 1B Kevin Youkilis off the bag with a sixth-inning toss. The error was Lugo's 11th of the year but just his second in his last 40 games.

—OF J.D. Drew, who spent much of the week in the hospital with his son, who underwent surgery, remained out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight game. Drew pinch-hit for OF Wily Mo Pena in the top of the sixth inning, and is expected to start on Saturday.


BY THE NUMBERS: .314—Opponents' on-base percentage against Red Sox pitchers through Aug. 2, the lowest mark against any pitching staff in the American League.


QUOTE TO NOTE: "I see myself as a closer. But a chance at 15 more saves or to win a World Series, that was a pretty easy choice. I wanted to be here, and it's a great place." —RHP Eric Gagne, on the decision to waive his no-trade clause to come to Boston, where he will set up for RHP Jonathan Papelbon.