This Byrd start just doesn’t fly

Byrd had done the improbable in his first start this season for the Sox, beating Roy Halladay, instilling hope. He couldn’t do it a second time, exiting U.S. Cellular Field after recording just seven outs, in what was arguably the worst start of the season for a Boston pitcher. And this team has endured a one-inning outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka in Oakland, and a number of poor performances from John Smoltz and Brad Penny.

“Quite a difference, huh?’’ Byrd said. “It is tough. I was hoping to give our team a much better performance tonight. I don’t want to put this team in that situation. I want us to be in the game when I’m on the mound, so this is totally unacceptable for me. I shoulder the blame. I dropped the ball here. We’ll see if I can’t get it going my next time out there.’’

And so, one night after the Sox celebrated taking two of three from the Rays at Tropicana Field, they lost, 12-2, to the White Sox in front of 28,839 on the South Side. Making it more difficult to take was Texas’s win over Baltimore, cutting the Sox’ lead in the wild-card race to two games.

“It didn’t look like he was real crisp,’’ manager Terry Francona said of Byrd. “I think sometimes, you see it in spring training, like maybe the third or fourth start. And this was his third or fourth start. There were balls all over the field. Some weren’t hit hard, a lot were hit hard. It was one of those nights where everything they did went right. Not a lot went right for us.’’

It had started well, with Byrd looking good in a 1-2-3 first inning. But the first four White Sox batters of the second inning reached, resulting in two runs, as Byrd ended the damage by getting two strikeouts.

He stopped the White Sox briefly, but the third inning was enough to make a person long for Matsuzaka. While Matsuzaka was throwing a respectable, if not outstanding, rehab start for Triple A Pawtucket, the pitching was not nearly as good for the big club.