Red Sox Slumping

The Red Sox are 20-23 in their last 43 games. Number five starter Julian Tavarez -- who has pitched as many innings already this season as he did all of last year -- looks exhausted. The offense has still yet to come around and be the force we thought it could be. The Yankees have won 11-of-14 and are now a season high 4 games over .500 and are only 7 games behind the Sox in the AL East. So, Red Sox, what now? I think the most logical thing for the Sox to do is see how Curt Schilling does in his rehab start on Saturday in Pawtucket. A healthy Schilling gives the team a solid 1-2-3 of Josh Beckett, Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Behind the top three, the Sox still have the consistently inconsistent Tim Wakefield as the No. 4 starter and they can fill the fifth spot with either Kason Gabbard (3-0, 3.38) or Jon Lester (7 IP, 3 runs, 7 hits, 3 K's in Pawtucket last night). With good starting pitching to go with a very good bullpen, this team is hard to beat. As for the offense, there isn't much they can do except wait for the bats to get hot. J.D. Drew and his $70 million and his .380 SLG aren't going anywhere. This team was built around the belief that Drew would hit behind Ortiz and Ramirez and drive in runs and that has not happened (34 RBI in 81 games played). Coco Crisp has been better since June (.313 BA in June and July) but he has yet to be the dynamic player we thought we were getting last spring. Julio Lugo is starting to hit but he needs more than a great eight game stretch (where he's 15-for-30) to make a believer out of me. Where has Kevin Youkilis been? Since suffering that quadriceps injury before the All-Star break, Youk has been terrible at the plate. Is he hurt or just wearing down? As for Manny Ramirez, the team needs him to go on a roll, carrying the offense on his back like a $20 million man should be doing. He is driving the ball lately (two long homeruns in the Kansas City series) and that needs to be an every day thing. The only consistent bats have been Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek. But even those four have had problems. Can Pedroia maintain his impressive .316 batting average (or will he slip back to where he was in April -- .182 BA)? Can Big Papi overcome his knee injury and start to hit for power (only 15 HR)? Will Lowell have his usual second half slip? Is Varitek able to hold up down the stretch run? The answer to all four questions better be Y-E-S. The Sox do need some help. Other than Alex Cora, the bench provides almost nothing at the plate. Come playoff time will it be fair to Terry Francona to have him look down the bench and see Eric Hinske, Wily Mo Pena or Doug Mirabelli looking back at him? Theo Epstein needs to make a move now before the lead slips any further. Maybe he can package Coco Crisp or Wily Mo Pena with Craig Hansen to find a veteran bat to help this team right now. Whatever the team does, a prolonged slump coupled with bad starting pitching isn't a good formula. Add in the apparent Yankee resurgence and it could spell big trouble for the Sox. They host the free falling White Sox for four games this weekend (wouldn't Jermaine Dye be a nice addition to the lineup) before heading out to Cleveland for four and Tampa Bay for three. All 11 games are critical -- they can't afford to open the door for the Yankees.