So anyways, about that bullpen...

By Brendan Hall
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

No sooner was I about to write the words "Justin Masterson's slider was dirty" did the flamethrowing righty reliever proceed to implode.

Masterson struck out four batters over the fifth and sixth innings -- including one on, yes, a hella nasty slider -- and then proceeded to give up four runs with no outs in the top of the seventh. From there, things unraveled quicker than a poorly-written movie plot. Manny Delcarman, Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito combined for five more runs, and then Jonathan Papelbon proceeded to blow the save in the eighth. Nick Markakis doubled off him two score two runs, for the final 11-10 score.

John Smoltz didn't qualify for the win, since the game went to rain delay in the middle of the fourth, but his strong statement for a rotation spot was wasted anyways. This was vintage Smoltz, his slider whizzing across the plate like it did a decade ago, in a game where the rest of the lineup was anything but over the last four innings.

Tell me something, was it an omen when all four infielders and Masterson began to walk off the field with two outs? Because the rest of the game, they played pretty stupid.

OK, OK, I could go on and on with turns of the phrase about what a FedEx job the Sox did last night. But let's put this into perspective before the worrywarts on WEEI and the Boston.com messageboards go palookas over trade ideas.

I'm not going to say this was bound to happen, because I'm not that naive. But it's just as naive to now think that this is an illumination of a growing problem, too. This is not "a nightmare", as Dennis Eckersley repeated verbatim over the last two innings, but just a sober reminder that, hey, we're not even at the All-Star break yet. So enough chirping about that "luxury" in the bullpen.

Could a little shakeup be in the works? With Dice-K and Mike Lowell on the Disabled List, I'm thinking Smoltz will fill that rotation spot for now. But after a game like this, I'd love to see what Clay Buchholz can do.

Don't look at this game as a barometer of the team's bullpen struggles. How they respond today -- with Lester on the mound, no less -- will tell you all you need to know about how tough this team truly is.