Red Sox in injury trouble

Terry Francona must not like inter-league play.

Over the course of two games in two days in San Francisco against the Giants, the Red Sox lost two of their best players to injury.

Dustin Pedroia, arguably Boston's best position player, fouled a ball off of his foot on Friday night. While just believed to be a bruise, Pedroia ended up being pulled from the game. It was later revealed that Pedroia had more than just a bruise: he has a fracture in his foot that could end up keeping him on the DL for four to eight weeks. Pedroia has been a spark plug for the Red Sox ever since being called up in 2007, and has been the vocal leader of their team. Almost two or three months without Pedroia could really cost the Red Sox big time in the division standings, as they are currently in third place behind the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. The loss of Pedroia could be the defining blow that knocks Boston out of the playoff picture. He was batting .292 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI. He was on pace for at least 30 home runs.

The next day, Saturday, the Red Sox lost their best pitcher in Clay Buchholtz. After getting his first major league hit, Buchholtz had to run to second. He ended up injuring his knee, and now has a hyper-extended knee. He'll miss at least 1 or 2 starts. He lasted just 1 IP. In 2010, Buchholtz is at 10-4 with a 2.45 ERA in 92.0 IP.

It seems as though injuries have been the recurring theme of the 2010 Red Sox: Josh Beckett, Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeremy Hermida, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia and now Clay Buccholtz. Injuries and an early season struggle have really hurt the Red Sox this season.

You can't help but think that this is why AL managers hate inter-league play. We saw it in 2008 when the Yankees lost Chien-Ming Wang to a foot injury while running the bases in Houston. He ended up missing the rest of the season and never regained his 19-game winning potential in 2009. When you look at it, the 2010 Red Sox and 2008 Yankees aren't all that different: both teams were losing key players to injuries left and right, both teams had minor league journeymen starting, and both teams finished in third place. While the season isn't over, it looks like that's where the Red Sox are headed, thanks to the Rays and Yankees. Losing two key players in two days is a big blow to a team that struggled early and is now trying to play catch-up in the best division in baseball.

You can only hope that Buchholtz and Pedroia recover quickly and help Boston out. While I don't want Boston to win the division (seriously, did you honestly think that was what I meant?) I would like the division to be competitive. It's no fun beating the Red Sox when they suck.

UPDATE 9:35 PM: Whaddya know? Victor Martinez broke his thumb today. What are the odds?