By nature, I’m not a glass-as-half-full guy. In fact, if the glass is full, I’ll probably complain that the liquid isn’t going all the way up to the top, and if it’s at the top, I’ll complain that you can’t drink any of it without spilling some. But even I was swept up in this optimistic view that heading into this week’s series with the Royals, the Sox still could take the MFY in the division. The MFY were only 5 up, they were facing The The Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Anaheim, and the Sox got to play the lowly RoyAAAls. In theory, the Sox could have been four or 3.5 back going into to the series at the New Toilet, and with a sweep would really put the pressure on. That’s what I get for being an optimist.

Now the Sox are 5.5 back, and now I’m wondering what happened to the bullpen I used to know and love. Delcarmen and Bard combined to deny Wakefield a precious chance to increase his win total in a Sox uniform (Wake has been 18 wins short of 192 since before the All Star Game thanks to the pen blowing two leads of his), while Ramirez tried to blow another great performance by Buchholz in the final game of the series.

So instead of hoping for an AL East banner, I’m now just wondering what John Farrell can do to get the pen put back together before the playoffs. Josh Beckett doesn’t look like he’s going to be throwing many complete game shutouts in October, so we may actually have to rely on the arms of Delcarmen, Bard, and Ramirez if the Sox want to move past the ALDS. Let’s be honest, if you can’t get the RoyAAAls out in September, how are you going to get out the MFY in October?