The Bats Are Back To Work! But it's the Pitching staff that needs a Halladay!

Maybe the Red Sox should have traded Brad Penny when they had the chance. 

Either way, the Sox were down 5-0 before they even came to bat. THANKS BRAD PENNY!!!

And I thought "Oh well... this will be a blow out."

But nooooooooooooooo.

The Red Sox HAD to make it a ballgame!

The Red Sox HAD to put the tying run to the plate in the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 8th and then brought the winning run to the plate in the 9th.

Now the chatter seems to be all about Victor Martinez coming to the Sox. And I would welcome him with open arms.

He can play first and catcher and DH... possibly giving Lowell, Varitek and Papi some rest down the stretch.

He's a good player and evidently a good club house guy... and it is nice to see ONE minority in the lineup other than Papi and Ellsbury. My God, the team is so white that it looks like the Yawkeys are back!

But the nanosecond the Phillies said no to Roy Halladay, I had a vision in my head.

Short series...

Best of 5.

Game 1 starter... Josh Beckett

Game 2 starter... Roy Halladay

Game 3 starter... Jon Lester

What's keeping us from that?

Clay Buchholz?

Yeah he could be great. Or he could be the latest addition to Jeff Passan's column of prospects held onto too long.

He's 24 now and you can still say "He's a budding ace."

What if he doesn't bud in the next few years? What if he's a Paul Wilson?

Think we can make him the key in a trade for the best pitcher in all of baseball then?

Beckett/Halladay/Lester would be the best 1-2-3 punch since Zito/Hudson/Mulder. And those A's teams didn't have a bullpen like the Red Sox do now!

The Braves had their bullpen woes when they had Smoltz/Glavine/Avery and then Maddux.

We'd have the aces and the pen.

A deal for Halladay would make the Red Sox prohibitive favorites to win the World Series this year and possibly in 2010.

Clay Buchholz is really worth avoiding that? 

Yeah the Sox can use another stick, but it was pitching that lost the last two games.

And pitching wins in October. And winning 2 out of every 3 games gets you into October.

Make the deal.

Meanwhile I will update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 12

April 17 - 10-8 win against Orioles. (Overcame 7-0 deficit.)

April 24 - 5-4 win against Yankees. (Bay homers off of Rivera in 9th to tie it.)

April 25 - 16-11 win against Yankees. (Overcame 6-0 deficit.)

April 29 - 6-5 win at Cleveland. (Overcame 5-0 deficit.)

May 12 - 4-3 win at Anaheim. (Down 3-1 in the 8th.)
June 11 - 4-3 win against Yankees. (Down 3-1 in the 8th. Rallied against Sabathia.)

June 12 - 5-2 win at Philadelphia. (Overcame Ryan Howard's 9th inning shot to win in 13)

June 21 - 6-5 win against Atlanta. (The wind turns Nick Green's fly ball into a walk off shot)

June 27 - 1-0 win at Atlanta. (Masterson and Papelbon wiggle out of late jams.)
July 1 - 6-5 win at Baltimore. (Sox score 4 in the 9th and Lugo wins in in the 11th)

July 8 - 5-4 win against Oakland. (Wind keeps Hairston's 9th inning go ahead homer in the ballpark)

July 10 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Pedroia drives in the only run with 2 outs in the 8th.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 16

April 14 - 6-5 loss at Oakland. (Sox blow early 3-0 lead. Lose in 12)

April 28 - 9-8 loss at Cleveland. (Sox blow early 5-1 lead. Lopez drops 3rd out.)
May 14 - 5-4 loss at Anaheim. (Ortiz goes 0-7 stranding 12 runners.)
May 15 - 5-4 loss at Seattle. (Red Sox blow their second 4-0 lead in three days.)

May 17 - 3-2 loss at Seattle. (Red Sox strand two in the 9th. Lose in the bottom of the 9th.)

May 23 - 3-2 loss to the Mets. (Papelbon lets up a 2 out 2 run homer in the 9th to Omir Santos)

June 18 - 2-1 loss to the Marlins. (Rain washes out a tight game after 5+ innings.)

June 28 - 2-1 loss to the Braves. (Tying run on base in the 9th. Solid Penny outing wasted)
June 30 - 11-10 loss at Baltimore. (The Red Sox blow a late 10-1 to the lowly Orioles.)
July 3 - 7-6 loss to Seattle. (Red Sox comeback in the 8th only to lose in the 11th.)

July 4 - 3-2 loss to Seattle. (Saito walks three in the 9th as the Mariners rally to win)

July 9 - 8-6 loss to the Royals. (Bullpen blows early 4-0 lead.)

July 21 - 4-2 loss at Texas. (Beckett loses a complete game and the Yankees take over first.)

July 22 - 3-1 loss at Texas. (Sox are swept for the first time all season.)

July 28 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox blow 3 run lead in 9th. A's rally with 2 outs in 9th and 11th.)

July 29 - 8-6 loss to Oakland. (Down 5-0 in the first, Sox comeback falls short)

Down to -4.

It's been 19 games since we dodged a bullet!

And we've had 4 teeth grinders since then and went from a game up to 3 1/2 back.

Let's hope these are the bad times!