I can barely bring myself to write about yesterday’s game.  It’s take my all day just to even start composing this.  I’ve avoided sports web sites and boston.com all day.  And now game 4 is a few hours away and here I am.  Writing a blog post just to get all the negative thoughts out of my system and return to the “glass is half full” outlook I prefer to have regarding the Sox.

Here’s the big problem…the two starting pitchers the Sox count on most – Beckett and Lester – have been shelled the last 2 games.  Starting pitching performance of games 2 and 3?  A combined 10 innings and 12 earned runs.  That’s not going to get it done.

And that’s not the end of the bad news

• Papi is doing little more than pop out.
• Varitek is doing little more than striking out.
• Ellsbury is hitless
• Actually, other than Pedroia, Youk, and Bay no one in the lineup is doing anything positive.

The good news?  Well, you can argue that the Sox are almost in their ALCS element.  Facing elimination is exactly where this decade’s Red Sox want to be in the ALCS. 

And that’s really the thing to focus in on.  This series is far from over.  Need proof?  Pull out your DVD box sets from the 04 and 07 playoffs.  There’s your proof.  Perhaps Wakefield isn’t the pitcher we have all the confidence in the world in, but we certainly know that he’s capable of performing with excellence.

OK.  Do I feel better?  A bit.  I’m still not opening up boston.com, though.