NEW YORK – The Red Sox believe they have their house in order. Finally.

After riding an explosive offense to a 16-10 record in June, the Sox began the month of July trying to improve the weakest spot on the team: the bullpen.

In June alone, Boston opponents won five games in their final at-bat. Relievers suffered four of the team’s final six losses in the month, and the first loss of July when Brandon Lyon threw a pickoff attempt into center field in the 11th inning Tuesday. By then, the beleaguered “bullpen by committee” had blown 11 of a possible 28 saves – three of them in an ill-fated June 21 loss at Philadelphia.

The first major move came on July 1, when manager Grady Little announced that Byung-Hyun Kim was moving into the closer’s role, effective immediately. Kim responded with two scoreless innings in Tuesday’s loss at Tampa Bay, and his first save with the Red Sox (a 1-2-3 ninth) on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s game was a sight for sore eyes. Pedro Martinez pitched seven innings. Alan Embree pitched the eighth and handed a lead to Kim, who retired the side in order in the ninth.

What a concept.

“Wow,” said Embree. “We’ve got some options now.”

One night later, there was once again trouble coming from the bullpen. Brandon Lyon was expected to protect a two-run lead through the eighth against the lowly Devil Rays. Instead, he served up a two-run homer to Al Martin.

“I know when I’ve screwed up,” said Lyon. “This was my fault.”

To their credit, the Red Sox have been a remarkably resilient group. They don’t just lose games; they lose them spectacularly.

There was the blown 9-2 lead to Florida. The Jim Thome debacle in Philadelphia. The wasted ninth-inning comeback against Mariano Rivera and the Yankees in May. The 11- and 10-inning losses at Tropicana Field.

Through it all, the Sox have remained in the playoff picture. That’s because of the team’s offense and a respectable group of starters.

Boston management feels it has successfully reconfigured the bullpen, thanks in large part to the return of Kim to his closer role. He had great regular-season success as a closer in Arizona for two seasons. The Sox now have more experience in the pen with Embree, Mike Timlin, Chad Fox, and newly acquired Todd Jones, himself a former closer.

But Lyon – the closer until this week – is a pivotal arm in that mix. Over the past 10 days, he has suffered two losses and another blown save. If he has lost his edge, the Sox are back where they were when Ramiro Mendoza, last seen beating the Yankees in a strong start Saturday, struggled mightily.

The trading deadline is still weeks away. Between now and July 31, general manager Theo Epstein has to see which parts of this mosaic fit. He then has to go out and make repairs as best he can without giving up the few key young prospects the organization has.

We all know the Sox can hit. They led the majors with a .315 average in June, scoring 190 runs in the process. It was the 11th-most runs ever scored by the Red Sox in a single month. They began July with four hitters in the American League’s top 10 and led the bigs in seven different offensive categories.

Despite all that in its corner, Boston hit New York for the holiday weekend with only a share of the wild-card lead and a rapidly growing deficit in the divisional race. The All-Star break is a week away, and it’s time to get serious.

“A lot of our losses have been devastating kinds of losses,” said Little. “A lot of weird things have happened. With the move of Kim (and other changes) to the ‘pen, I think you’ll see less and less of that.”

That’s a good thing, because Red Sox fans have seen enough to know that something needs to be done to relieve Boston from this lack of relief.

Lewiston native Tom Caron covers the Red Sox for NESN.

Copy the Story Link