BOSTON -- The Red Sox had one more hit than the New York Yankees on Thursday night at Fenway Park, and their starting pitcher did his job. But Boston had nothing to show for it on a night in which the manager called it an "immature" offensive approach against Phil Hughes.
"Hughes pitched up in the strike zone, and we couldn't lay off of it," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine after the loss. "We made a lot of quick outs, swinging at some of those pitches. And, maybe a little immature in our approach at times."
Valentine spoke up and said that he wasn't calling his players immature, but most knew what he meant.
It's been a problem for them all season long. As one Red Sox player said earlier in the year, this team's biggest issue has been its preparedness.
And on Thursday night against Hughes and the Yankees, the Red Sox offense -- without Dustin Pedroia -- looked downright unprepared.
"They were swinging pretty early in the count, at pitches other than their pitch," said Valentine.
After the loss, Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia called the offense's aggressiveness "human nature." But Doubront kept it a scoreless game through three innings, and then kept it a 1-0 game until the seventh. So the Red Sox can't necessarily make the excuse that they had to "battle" from behind.
But that's what Saltalamacchia did.
"I think it's human nature to get aggressive and try to do more than you can, when you're down and you're trying to win," he said. "But, we're just trying to battle right now. We had a pitcher go out there tonight and threw a great game, and we just couldn't get any runs for him. On the other hand, their pitcher went out there and was just throwing strikes."
Strikes that the Red Sox offense -- on Thursday night -- couldn't hit. And that cost Doubront a win.