Well what else is knew? Crappy baserunning, sub-optimal roster configuration and bizarre managerial tactics all contributed to a Red Sox loss. The White Sox beat the Red Sox yesterday in a brutally hot matinee, 6-4.

Bronson Arroyo took the hill yesterday and was just painful to watch in the early going. He lacked fastball command all afternoon and subsequently, lacked the confidence to throw his heater when he probably needed to. Paul Konerko roped a 3-and-2, hanging slider from Arroyo for a double to get the Pale Hose on the board in the bottom of the first. It would not come back to hurt him but he also walked Aaron Rowand on another 3-and-2 slider two batters later.

Arroyo again struggled in the 2nd, no thanks to Trot Nixon. Scott Podsednik hit a fly ball with two outs down the right field line, a good 12 feet short of the wall. Nixon got there, only to have the ball skim off of his glove. It was ruled a hit, and Podsednik reached second for a double. It would be difficult to blame Arroyo for what happened next. After a series of eight pitches, Iguchi smacked the ninth one over the right field fence - on a pitch that had to have been a good 8 inches off the plate and 2 inches off the ground. It was a crappy 3-and-2 fastball but by no means a gopher ball. Arroyo would settle down, containing the White Sox for the rest of his outing and allowing his teammates to try and get back in the game.

The Red Sox got a run in each of the first two innings off of Jose Contreras. David Ortiz homered in the first while Alex Cora plated Trot Nixon on a sacrifice fly. The most painful offensive inning came in the 6th. With one out and trailing 5-2, Kevin Millar hit a ball sharply down the left field line that Scott Podsednik easily surrounded. Inexplicably given the game situation, Millar tried to stretch the play into a double and was cut down by a good 7 feet. On cue, Jason Varitek followed the play up with a home run. It was only the latest baserunning miscue for a team that has had plenty of them this season. Between Trot Nixon’s pick-off in Baltimore, Doug Mirabelli runing up a guy’s ass against the Yanks, Manny being thrown out by 30 feet and yesterday’s play, the Sox are handing outs to the opposition when threatening at the most important junctures of ballgames. If you aren’t a fast team, you ought to have some sort of clue out there running the bases.

Trailing 6-3, the (Red) Sox would get the first two men on in the top half of the eighth. Here’s where it got ugly. The guy that homered off of Dustin Hermanson the other night, Adam Stern, was used as a pinch runner for Kevin Millar, the guy that had been hitting (singles, but hitting) all weekend long in Chicago. Edgar Renteria, Alex Cora’s clear offensive superior and resting for the afternoon, stood up to stretch out. Jason Varitek popped out for the first out of the inning. Now it was Alex Cora’s turn in the lineup. Stern was unavailable because he was on first base but Renteria and Olerud were ready. Tito stuck with Cora (.211/.247/.281). Cora struck out swinging, Tony Graffanino flew out to centerfield, Edgar Renteria sat back down and John Olerud put on his defensive replacement hard-hat to go play 1st.

Surely Tito used his bench terribly here but it’s tough to blame him when you run down the list of his options. Consider the bench Francona has when Renteria is playing. John Olerud is now batting .269/.324/.388. Doug Mirabelli never pinch hits. Alex Cora’s the most futile offensive big leaguer this side of Tony Womack. Adam Stern might be a good ballplayer someday but he is hardly yet an impact player. Sadly, I think he is Boston’s best pinch hitter at the moment. Rounding out the bench is the righthanded hitting outfield spot, previously reserved for Jay Payton who is now toiling for the WILD CARD LEADING Oakland Athletics (where the haters at?). Now it’s Adam Hyzdu and Gabe Kapler who will fill that role. Both represent a clear downgrade from Payton.

Everyone seems content to pass this off as an intermediary phase in which we ought to wait for 2nd half turnarounds, feel out the trade market, sign college players…etc. - all the while playing .400 ball. On the bright side, the PawSox dropped 27 runs over the weekend, with Kevin Youkilis putting up a .400/500/.600 line and Roberto Petagine a line of .583/.643/1.000. Losing games in part due to a limited 25-man roster just should never happen - not with the talent this club has toiling just down 95 in Pawtucket.