An Abortion in Texas:Peter

Well, fellow Sox fans, the new season has begun, and I'm not quite sure who or what to blame for the abortion we've experienced so far. In this week's SI, the Sox were picked to win: the Division, the League and (beating the reigning Champions) the Series. Is it the SI jinx at work already? Is it the fact that I forgot to tear off the March page on my wall calendar so that the 'spirits' of baseball were still looking at Sox activity as Spring Training (the page has, by the way, been removed--last nite, in fact) and didn't count? I don't know which it is/was, but the first two games against last season's league champs have been just what the heading says!Fortunately, it's not the whole team. The hitting, both from the old stalwarts like Youk and Papi (2 HR's in 2 games), as well as at least one of the new signees (Gonzalez) has been all it's supposed to be. Crawford has yet to get a hit, but, hopefully, that will come.
What has been terrible has been the pitching! Lester, deservedly gets the ball for the opener and gets rocked and leaves without a single K. Still, Sox manage to hold to a tie at 5 as Bard takes the ball. When the smoke clears, Texas has a 9-5 lead, Bard has a 54.00 ERA and the final score is 9-5, Texas.
Yesterday, Lackey, a Texan who's never done very well in his home state, gets the call and with a 3-3 tie and 2 outs in the 4th, gives up six runs, including a Slam to last year's team mate, Beltre. The early relief, was no much better, and the Fenmen ended up losing this one 12-5. Meanwhile, Mr. Hankie's Yankees are in first two games up on our heroes. Today Bucky gets the ball, and hopefully, puts the proverbial sock (a big Red one) in it and gets things turned around.
Other items: very briefly, I had a panic over what almost became a repeat of last year with Jake. Chasing a deep fly to his right, he was rapidly closing with the Sox left fielder, his entire focus on the ball. The air controller in my psyche is screaming at the left fielder to get out of the way. Just as a collision is imminent, LF backs away and Jake makes a nice running catch.
Let's get this third game & get out of town and back to the Fens to face aforementioned Stripes.
By the way, as for this blog, we'll try to get you a regular running commentary on things Sox and the games, but this year, as Jenn is getting swallowed up by some really excellent cooking blogging and food writing, along with her entertainment writing, you'll probably see not as much of her commentary as you're used to. However, in keeping with the aforementioned, there very well may be a bite or two (pun definitely intended) on ball park food, which any regular attendee can now tell you has gone way beyond the basic traditionals of peanuts, beer and a hot dog.