Diehard Sox fans say that a pitcher is needed. Dan Duquette is thinking bats.
After Saturday's game, everyone might be right.
Kevin Appier, who came into the game winless in his last six starts, rolled over a weak Sox lineup, obviously struggling from the suspension of Carl Everett. The Sox' only run was probably fitting: A fielder's choice by waiver-wire right-fielder Bernard Gilkey off A's reliever and noted Geritol user Doug Jones (Jones is 43) scored Darren Lewis.
The Sox floundered all night, mustering only six singles, and a double by possibly the team's hottest hitter, backup catcher Scott Hatteberg. In the second inning, Hatteberg was left stranded on third, as the team's constant offensive black hole - Ed Sprague - flailed at another Appier pitch in the dirt for the third out of the inning.
One of Dan Duquette's vaunted deadline pickups -- inept and overpaid second baseman Mike Lansing -- made his Sox debut but did nothing to entrench himself in the lineup. Lansing -- who was hitting a robust .206 outside of Coors Field -- grounded out three times and flied out in his four at-bats. His eighth-inning groundout with Daubach on third ended the only mini-Sox rally of the game.
As bad as the Sox offense is, the Sox rotation might need a bigger boost, as starter Jeff Fassero's struggling evil twin returned to haunt the team. Fassero struggled in almost every inning, yielding a Adam Piatt RBI single in the first, a Piatt three-run bomb in the fourth, and providing the gas for Bryce Florie's fire in the fifth as the A's exploded for seven runs. The Sox' ill-fated fifth read like a nightmare: seven runs, six hits, two walks, and one ugly, costly error by misplaced first baseman Jose Offerman.
Offerman's error was hugely pivotal, and may trigger Duquette's desire for the slick-fielding Rico Brogna. With the bases loaded, no one out, and the Sox still within striking distance down 4, A's center fielder Terrence Long chopped the ball right at Offerman, who proceeded to throw past Hatteberg in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Two runs scored, the A's had a six run lead, and designated mop-up man Bryce Florie replaced Fassero, effectively ending any chance the Sox had in this game. When the smoke had cleared on Florie's incineration, five more runs had crossed the plate. Rod Beck -- now firmly entrenched on the Boston roster -- allowed one more run in the ninth to close the nightmare.
Today's game was an utter embarrassment for the Sox. When opposing teams start referring to you as an elixir, that's a bad sign. With the A's league-worst offensive production against left-handers and Appier's struggles, the Sox were primed for a win; instead, they left Alameda County Coliseum licking their wounds. How fast their wounds heal, will depend heavily on Rolando Arrojo's first American League start in eight months. And their offense. And defense.