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Frustration Nation by Jared Carrabis
Sox drop another winnable game; a plead for Halladay

If Red Sox Nation were a house, I would kindly ask you to open a window to let some of this frustration out.

For the second time in two nights, the Red Sox suffered a frustrating loss at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. On Tuesday night, the Sox' bullpen had a meltdown that was capped off with a nightmarish three-run ninth that led to a two-run eleventh that sank the Sox. Less than 24 hours later, the frustration would resume, almost instantly.

With Brad Penny on the mound, Adam Kennedy built off of his career high five-hit night against Boston on Tuesday by launching the first pitch of the game over the Green Monster for a home run. A bases loaded double later in the inning by Rajai Davis brought all the green helmets home, as the A's provided themselves with a comfy five-run lead in the first.

"Tonight, they just beat us right from the get-go," said Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay. "There's really not much you can say about that. They played better than us. You can't really point fingers. Regardless of their record, they're winning games right now, and we're not."

Unfortunately for Boston, it seemed as if Mike Lowell was the only one who showed up to play in the third game of four in this series. With Ortiz out of the lineup to start the game, Lowell served as the team's DH, as manager Terry Francona aims to keep the Sox' third baseman's batteries charged for the stretch-run. With teammates Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis on base after a pair of walks, Lowell crushed a two-strike curveball to for his eleventh home run of the season to put the Sox back in the game.

In the top of the fifth, Kurt Suzuki tattooed a solo home run to left field to widen the gap to four runs. An Eric Patterson double in the top of the sixth inning plated two more runs for Oakland, as all Sox fans could do was shake their heads at their TV's. While I'm sure most fans were flipping back and forth to spy on the Yankees, who were playing the Tampa Bay Rays on ESPN, Oakland's increasing lead became more hurtful to look at after watching both Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira go deep behind Joba Chamberlain, who pitched the best game of his life.

The Sox got a run back in the seventh after Jacoby Ellsbury blazed his way into third base on his fifth triple of the season and later scored on a ground out by Dustin Pedroia. In the bottom of the very next inning, it was Mike Lowell driving in a run to bring the Sox within three runs. The Sox would bring the tying run to the plate in the form of David Ortiz, who would pinch hit for Jed Lowrie, but it was all for naught, as the mighty Ortiz skied a pop up into the heart of the infield.

The combination of Justin Masterson (2.0 IP), who's name has been thrown around in trade rumors, Takashi Saito (1.0 IP) and Ramon Ramirez (1.0 IP) kept the A's out of the run column, giving the Sox a chance to stage a comeback in the ninth.

In the ninth, it was none other than Mike Lowell doing some RBI damage by ripping a single back up the middle to drive in Jacoby Ellsbury, who was 2-for-4 with three runs scored in the leadoff spot. Painfully, JD Drew would ground out after Lowell's ninth inning RBI to end Boston's hopes of staying 2.5 back of the Bronx Bombers.

"We just can't put everything together," said Penny. "When we're pitching, we're not hitting and when we're hitting, we're not pitching, so I have to do a better job. I can't give up five in the first. We probably would have won that game if I hadn't."

Probably? Well, we lost 8-6. So, eight minus five is three, which means if you hadn't give up five in the first, then the Sox would have won 6-3. Sounds like definitely to me. Pardon my unprofessionalism; it's just the frustration talking.

Roy Halladay rumors:

So, we now look up at the Yankees and their 3.5 game lead. It is the first time the Sox have trailed the Yanks by that margin since May 18. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, I am completely convinced that I must eat my words that I said earlier this month. I said that the Red Sox don't need Roy Halladay, which is true, but I also said that Roy Halladay "won't see the home dugout at Fenway."

Sure, the Red Sox don't need Halladay, but just take a look at this team right now. Most of these guys are familiar faces. Most of these guys have been there before, but what the Red Sox need right now is a major shake up. Sure, the Red Sox have had their fair share of success, but what this team needs is an injection of life back into their systems. That injection, is Roy Halladay.

If Theo pulls the trigger on a deal for Halladay, my ring size is a nine. If Epstein ponies up the chips to bring Halladay on board, teams around the league should start building for next season, because it would be all over. If I'm the manager of the team opposing the Red Sox in a best of five series come October, what in God's name does a man in that position say to their team to fire them up knowing that they get Josh Beckett in Game 1, Jon Lester in Game 2, and Roy bleepin' Halladay in Game 3. I'm standing there and I'm saying, "Well, we had a good season, boys. Go out there and try and get lucky."

Sure, Halladay and Beckett would enter free agency at the same time, but even if the Sox can't re-sign Halladay, would you be complaining if you had two World Series parades before Halladay could leave via free agency? I'm thinking it's worth it.

If Halladay comes on board here, you have guys like Jason Bay, and Halladay himself who are perennial All Stars, but have never come close to a World Series with their former rings. With Halladay on board, the Sox go from a team looking to "just win it again" to a team that is driven to win it for the guy sitting next to them. So, Theo: this team and this fan base could use a jolt back into our systems and we all know what acquiring Halladay could do for this team and this city. I'll say no more and let you do your job.

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

Jason Bay was 0-for-4 in Wednesday's loss as his abysmal July continues. I follow Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne on Twitter and he brought up an interesting debate. Who's slump is worse? The one David Ortiz suffered through the first two months of the season, or the one Jason Bay is currently dragging through right now.

Since May 13, Bay's batting average has plummeted from .319 to where it sits now at .251, it's lowest point since April 10. Bay hit .324 in April, .264 in May, .230 in June and with just two days left in July, he's hitting .203 with just 1 HR and 5 RBI all month long.

He expressed his frustration with his hitting woes after Wednesday night's loss by saying, "You watch video, you can try this, you can try that, but people don’t want to hear that. They want results and so do I." Certainly the motivation is there, and the Red Sox as well as their fans know that this team is going nowhere in October if his bat isn't back to where we all know it should be. It's only a matter of time before Bay gets hot and builds his numbers back up.

It doesn't matter what half of the season it is, before the All Star break his career batting average is .279 and after the break it's .279. However, in his career, Bay turns it on in the month of August, as he has a career batting average of .290 with 26 HR and 97 RBI in 141 August games.

Thursday's pitching match-up:

Jon Lester gets the ball in the series finale, as the Sox hope to split their four-game set against the A's. The left-hander has been spectacular after scuffling the first two months of the season. He has allowed no more than three earned runs in each of his last ten starts. Since May 31, Lester is 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 84 strikeouts. The Sox will once again be set up against a rookie southpaw in Gio Gonzalez, who is 2-2 with a 7.75 ERA in 2009.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Athletics 8, Red Sox 6

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