DETROIT — If the Red Sox lineup could rise above the flu, bereavement, injuries and roughly seven more plagues to come, what excuse did the bullpen have yesterday?
Answer: None.
None at all.
Wasting a thrilling redemption tale starring Pablo Sandoval and his eighth-inning, go-ahead three-run homer, a trio of Red Sox relievers locked arms and marched themselves over a cliff, dragging the Red Sox along with them.
Worse than the result was the cause.
When it came to throwing strikes and trusting their stuff, two of the three relievers experienced a stunning and untimely display of solidarity.