You are a Boston sports fan and you are still reeling from the weekend. You saw Red Sox ace reliever Jonathan Papelbon transformed into Jonathan Papel-bombed in Game 3 of their AL division series with the Angels.
He had never allowed an earned run in the postseason but surrendered four hits and three runs in the Angels’ series-clinching 7-6 triumph, including a two-out, two-run single to Juan Rivera in the eighth after inheriting Billy Wagner’s mess.
On three different hitters in the ninth, Papelbon was one strike away from closing it out and extending the series to a fourth game.
But Papelbon shouldn’t be the scapegoat for this series.
Without him, the Red Sox wouldn’t have even made the playoffs. This series was lost when the Red Sox bats went completely silent in the first two games, scoring just one run.
Angels starters John Lackey and Jered Weaver overmatched the Red Sox hitters.
Their three top RBI leaders (excluding midseason acquisition Victor Martinez) — Jason Bay, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis — went a combined 3-for-32 with no RBIs in the series.
Even if they had won Game 3, Jon Lester was scheduled to pitch on short rest in Game 4 and an enigmatic Josh Beckett, hampered by a back injury, was going to pitch Game 5 in Anaheim against a well-rested Lackey.
The better team won the series.
I thought Boston’s middle relief corps would be its Achilles heel. Instead, it was their offense and, in Game 3, it was their two most reliable relievers: Wagner and Papelbon.
If the sting of losing that series wasn’t bad enough, hours later you watched the Patriots squander a 10-point halftime lead to former Pats coach Josh McDaniels and his overrated Denver Broncos.
You watched quarterback Tom Brady held scoreless in the second half and make poor throws. He threw for a paltry 63 yards, going 5-for-14, and the Pats went 0-for-6 in third-down situations.
Denver’s game-tying touchdown drive spanned 98 yards.
Chicago Bears castoff quarterback Kyle Orton, who had completed 55.7 percent of his career passes, went 35-for-48 (72.9 percent) for 321 yards.
The Pats made him look like Peyton Manning.
But if the offense can’t move the ball and forces the defense to stay on the field, things like this are going to happen.
The Miami Dolphins did take a little bit of sting off the weekend by beating the irritating New York Jets on Monday night, leaving the Patriots and Jets still tied for first place in the AFC East at 3-2.
But the Patriots will go only as far as Brady takes them and he has to play better. If he does, they will be a dangerous playoff team.
As for the Red Sox, they could be even better in 2010.
Start with an imposing rotation of Beckett, Lester, an improving Clay Buchholz and a healthy and in-shape Daisuke Matsuzaka. Toss in Tim Wakefield in the five slot and you have one of the deepest rotations in all of baseball.
They will have to make some changes in middle relief. Daniel Bard appears ready to assume the setup role in front of Papelbon.
And the lineup should be even more productive, especially if the Red Sox re-sign Jason Bay. Martinez gave them a big lift and will be back; Mike Lowell won’t be coming off surgery and should be better and I’m sure Ortiz will address the factors that led to his abysmal April and May.
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