Red Sox underachieving

Yeah, I know that's pointing out the obvious, when they trail the Tampa Bay "you'll always be the Devil Rays to me" in the standings in August. But take a look at their run differential, and it appears the Sox should be the runaway class of the AL.

Boston has outscored its opponents by a whopping 107 runs in 2008, by far the largest run differential in the American League and trailing just the Cubs in all of the Majors (144). In contrast, the Angels have only beaten opponents by 49 and the Rays have won by 54 (same as the Yankees).

What does it all mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. It indicates that the Red Sox have blown some teams out and struggled in the close games.

Here are some numbers to back that up - The Sox are 15-18 in one-run games, a worse record than TB (20-12), NYY (20-13), LAA (22-13), Tex (23-12) and Minn (21-18) just to name a few contenders. 

What's the cause? The Red Sox' struggles in the bullpen may be a big reason for the failures in close games. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. Correlation doesn't always mean causation, but this is something to keep in mind as the season heads down the home stretch.