Panic on Lansdowne St?

Another Monday, and another round of recriminations from the home team after a weekend that had its moments, but ultimately came up flat. Clay Buchholz was great Friday, but then Eric Gagne blew up (again) in the nightcap, and angered the bottle-throwing locals. David Ortiz hit a mammoth grand slam Saturday, and then the Sox offense went in the tank on Sunday. The Yankees, meanwhile continued to pick at the carcass of the Detroit Tigers and stand just four games back, just like last Monday.

So, now the Sox head out for another 10-game road-trip that takes them to Tampa, Chicago and deep-breath here, the Bronx.

What to make of all this? Shaughnessy pens a lazy have-it-both-ways column where he wonders if the Boys of Summer are for real without ever really taking a stand, although he does manage to rip Schilling pretty much throughout the whole thing and Tony Mazz also wonders who these guys are, really.

Dustin Pedroia actually brings up the P-word, as in panic, in a Cowboy-up kind of way.

“I don’t really care what people’s nerves are,” Dustin Pedroia said. “We’ve got a four-game lead with [38] games left. It’s better than being four behind, or in somebody else’s situation. We’ve got to go play well and just keep going.

“Why wouldn’t we [have confidence]? We’ve got the best record in baseball. Let off the panic button a little bit, you know what I mean?”

Even our plucky Little Leaguer’s from Walpole have their backs against the wall. They need to win tonight to stay alive. If you haven’t seen the Michael Rando’s catch, you can check it out here. It should make you feel better while you hope Timmy’s knuckler baffles the Rays tonight.