pain & loathing

did someone taint the Crystal Light or something? because this getting ridiculous. Thursday, we get a strong outing by the kid from AA, but the bullpen blows up like an old landmine. Friday, we lose in extra innings. last night, Clay pitches eight solid innings -- a one-hit wonder up until the eighth -- and it's as if we've forgotten how to score runs. don't even get me started on how angry just hearing the names Akinori Iwamura or Carl Crawford makes me or how close i am to finding an actual use for Lugo that may or may not include using him to beat Duh-Wayne and Joe Migraine into pulp the next time i am forced to listen to their inane yammering.

and then there's this:
hoped to see Lowell play? DL rehab assignment in Pawtucket.
hoped to see Casey play? making his own DL appearance with a strained hip flexor.
and now we are also considering Papi to be day-to-day because he banged his newly repaired knee when he train-wrecked his way to being called out at first Friday night, diving into the bag?? reason #412 why we should not ever EVER see anything like this from the Big Man again. men that large defy the physics of being able to slide, dive or otherwise throw their bodies onto the ground.

(Yahoo! Sports--no it's not from Friday, but i couldn't find one of those, and anyway, it makes the point: look at the lack of grace & the expression on his face.)

sorry. four consecutive losses make me cranky.

so today we hope & pray that Commander Kickass can stop the bleeding; that Manny remembers this is a contract year; that Tek dosn't look quite so grey & sickly (although the pallor might actually just be the God-awful lighting in the Trop); that the bats (or lack thereof) and/or the bullpen don't undo whatever good might be taking place from the mound; that any Rays fan that attended yesterday's game won't be at today's with those freaking cow bells; and that some way, some how, i won't witness a sweep, live, at the hands of the Tampa Bay Sunbeams.

by the way, seeing as how Sox fans are genetically pre-programmed to fall prey to belief in things like curses, i think i've discovered a new one: Lugo. the Rays unloaded him on us (while *pretending* to make a big stink but secretly rejoicing) and have quietly gone about picking up players we've allowed to wander aimlessly away -- Carlos Pena, Eric Hinske, Brendan Donnelly -- and somehow this seems to keep biting us on the the rear, as these players excel. the jig is up, Tampa. give us back our guys & put this ever-loving Human Void back where he belongs. and someone needs to keep an eye on our team before any others wander over into Joe Maddon's evil clutches, hypnotized by his glasses' mind-control capabilities, the mind-numbing grey-green lighting of the Tropicana Dome, and the antics of Raymond the Big Blue Unidentifiable Nightmare.

go Sox? please?