“Hell, yeah, you’ve got to panic,’’ David Ortiz said after the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Sox, 9-1, yesterday.
Find something and hold on tight, these last 16 games could be a wild ride. The Sox have lost five straight, seven of eight, and nine of their last 11 games. They now lead the Rays by three games in the loss column in the American League wild-card race and trail the Yankees by 3 ½ in the division.
The Sox are off today, host Toronto for two games, then play four games against the Rays starting on Thursday.
“Hopefully they can feel us coming,’’ said Rays designated hitter Johnny Damon, who needs only to look at his 2004 Red Sox World Series ring to be reminded of unlikely comebacks.
The Sox were counting on Jon Lester to save them from a series sweep and quell talk of a collapse. He failed miserably, giving up three runs in the first inning and sending the Rays to their fourth straight win.
The Sox were outscored, 22-8, by the Rays in the series and managed only 22 hits over 29 innings. Their starting pitchers - John Lackey, Kyle Weiland, and Lester - allowed 12 earned runs over 11 innings.
“We’re kind of in a fight right now and we know that. It’s not real pretty,’’ manager Terry Francona said.
According to Tampa Bay starter James Shields, the Rays didn’t think the Sox took them seriously.
“I think they know now,’’ he said. “Before this series I don’t think they were worried too much.’’
Rays manager Joe Maddon built up this series as a crucial one and his players responded.
“We needed to do just what we did. A lot of confidence should be derived from that,’’ he said. “Maybe a message sent by that.’’
The Sox played with little efficiency or emotion.
They were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position in the three games, overthrew cutoff men from the outfield, and threw balls away in the infield. Their pitchers walked 16 and hit three.
Adrian Gonzalez mentioned the poor level of play Saturday and Ortiz had his own comment yesterday.
“If we keep on playing like that, we’ll be home in the tub,’’ he said, shaking his head as his teammates walked quietly through the clubhouse.
