NEW YORK -- On a day when the Red Sox finally admitted they had some big problems in John Smoltz’s epic ineffectiveness and Jed Lowrie’s troublesome left wrist, the biggest problem for the Boston Baseball Bunch was the glaring issue supposedly addressed when GM Theo Epstein pulled the trigger on a deal that landed Victor Martinez from Cleveland.

The Red Sox couldn’t hit Yankees righty A.J. Burnett, who probably should have been wearing power plant-strength radioactive gloves with the kind of toxically nuclear stuff he lugged to the Yankee Stadium pitcher’s mound, and they couldn’t touch the band of merry relievers that followed out of the Pinstripers' pen.

The Sox offense managed only four hits in 46 at bats for the evening, which meant they hit a collective .087 for the ballgame and they left all of Ellis Island on the basepaths with 10 stranded runners for the evening in the epic, instant classic 2-0 loss to the Yanks in 15 innings.

“It’s a tough loss, but that was a pretty wild game. I can’t believe both offenses didn’t score for that long in the game,” said Dustin Pedroia, who went 0-for-4 with a pair of walks in the 5-hour, 33-minute marathon baseball session. “It was tough. The ball wasn’t really carrying. It was a weird night. We had to try to manufacture a run if that was the case, but we weren’t able to do that.

“We didn’t win. If we would have won then I would have been pretty excited about it. We played hard and obviously it didn’t come out the way we liked. That’s a big win for (the Yankees).” 

Offensive ineptitude has been a variation on a theme for a lot more than one night for the Red Sox, and hitting with runners in scoring position has killed Boston in a disastrous four game stretch they're currently in against the Yanks and Rays. In the four losses to the Rays and the Yanks that have dropped Boston to 4 ½ games back in the AL East, the Sox are a putrid 4-for-44 with runners in scoring position, which is good for a .090 batting average.

The big boppers in Boston’s hitting order – sans Jason Bay, who is pessimistic about his chances to play in the Bronx this weekend while recovered from a strain/cramp in his hamstring – simply aren’t getting it done when a little bit of good, old-fashioned clutch hitting was required.

To wit, the middle of Boston’s order is 1-for-22 over those four games against Matt Garza, David Price, Joba Chamberlain and A.J. Burnett including:

Dustin Pedroia (1-for-7 with RISP)

Victor Martinez (0-for-5 with RISP)

Kevin Youkilis (0-for-4 with RISP)

David Ortiz (0-for-6 with RISP)

Once again the Sox offense has gone cold at the absolute wrong time, and it seems as if almost every key member of the lineup is slumping and shirking their run-production duties simultaneously.

“We just didn’t really hit. That was the key,” said J.D. Drew. “The key for us is to re-group and kind of get their swing going again. It seems like it’s been typical for our team that if one guys in a funk, then everybody is. It seems like if one gets hot and is swinging the bat well, then everybody is. That’s what we need to get back to.”  

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a flare hit to the outfield and Burnett didn’t allow another sniff of a base knock for the next 7 2/3 innings – but he did walk six batters and the Sox stranded 10 runners throughout the 15 inning tightrope walk. That makes 13 walks from the Yankees starting pitchers over the last two games with very few runs to show for it on the Boston ledger. Opportunism is one of the keys to success in baseball, but the Sox right now simply aren't walking through the RBI door. 

With the sands of the season sliding through the Sox hourglass, it’s fast becoming “put up or shut up” time for a baseball team harboring a lot of grandiose expectations. The rest of Boston’s baseball lives for this season begin on Saturday afternoon with Clay Buchholz, who needs to show the stuff, poise and ability that's convinced Boston time and again to stick with the talented right-hander.

With that in mind, here are four other things I learned in the second-most entertaining regular season Major League game I’ve ever seen in the Bronx: 

THE RED SOX CAN'T AFFORD TO WASTE ANY JOSH BECKETT GEMS WHEN THEY'RE GETTING NOTHING FROM STARTERS 3-5

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein talked about bringing Junichi Tazawa and Chris Woodward into the Yankee Stadium fold on Friday afternoon to stabilize his ballclub, but they weren’t the real “stabilizer”.

Josh Beckett has been a living, breathing, flame-throwing stabilizer for the better part of the last three years as resident staff ace for the Olde Towne Team, and the 28-year-old cussing, fastball-tossing Texan was again settling things down along River Ave Friday night. Beckett is an amazing 7-1 with a 3.91 ERA over the last three seasons against a series of stacked Yankees offenses, and did everything possible to help his squad emerge victorious from the Bronx beast’s belly.

Pardon those watching Beckett Thursday night with a casual glance, and mistook the live Sox/Yanks grudge match at Yankee Stadium for a 2007 Sox playoff game. Because the Sox righty looked every bit the surly, dominant “bad man” that topped Boston’s starting rotation and thoroughly dominated all comers en route to the eventual World Series title. It’s a shame that the Sox wasted vintage Beckett on a night when they simply couldn’t hit Yankees righty A.J. Burnett – and then couldn’t clutch up for anything versus a New York bullpen that was considered highly suspect before the season began.

Beckett pitched seven innings of scoreless ball and let loose with a string of celebratory obscenities that would have made Quentin Tarantino proud when he escaped a bases-loaded fifth inning jam with a grounder to third off the bat of Derek Jeter. It showed just how locked in Beckett was on the task at hand, even if he was relegated to dugout cheerleader some eight innings before the game was actually decided.

"You're focusing on every pitch during a game like that," said Sox catcher Jason Varitek. "One pitch, one hit could be the difference in that kind of game."

The Red Sox, of course, couldn’t mount any offense, and essentially wasted an ace-like performance by Beckett that could have stopped the Sox bleeding for at least one day.  

IT'S GUT CHECK TIME FOR SOX AND THEIR PITCHING STAFF

The Sox are 8-12 since the All-Star break and Epstein and Terry Francona seem to discover a new leak inside the S.S. Red Stocking each time they plug up a recognized problem area. 

Aside from Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, the Sox starting staff is a combined 3-7 with an 8.17 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break and now have – following John Smoltz’s designation for assignment -- the always-impressive Joe TBA slotted in to pitch Tuesday afternoon at Fenway Park against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers.

The Sox have Junichi Tazawa and Michael Bowden as potential young arms vying for an open spot in the Sox rotation, but it appears Tazawa is out of the running after Friday's bullpen session. They also have Paul Byrd, who reported to Boston’s player development center in Fort Myers in efforts to get his shoulder and body into game shape after sitting out for the season’s first four months. Epstein indicated on Friday that Byrd isn't going to be ready until right around Sept. 1.

The Sox could also delve into the waiver trade market and see which players are available to help them in their search for arms, but it’s also likely that Epstein and Co. will only pick up a pitcher that makes sense monetarily and value-wise. Those don't exactly grow on trees this time of year. 

“It’s a challenging time for this team right now, there’s no doubt about it,” said Epstein. “We’re not playing the way we want to play. We’re not getting consistent starting pitching and we’re not hitting with runners in scoring position. It's making for a challenging time since the All-Star break, and we haven’t won as many games as we’d like.

“A lot of things are going wrong with health and performance, and it’s times like these when you find out what you’re all about as a club and an organization. Things can go two ways when you have challenging periods: you can rise up to meet the challenge, or you can let it get the best of you. I know this team plans on doing the former.”

The Sox will have to do it largely by means of the motley crew that they’re currently carrying as Bay (hamstring) was pessimistic about returning this weekend, Tim Wakefield continues to have strength issues with a quad that has been rendered weak by a bout of sciatica (and who isn’t thinking of Dwight Evans’ last days with the Sox when the sciatic nerve is mentioned?), and Jed Lowrie is complaining of tingling in his surgically repaired left hand while showing no discernible signs of life at the plate.

The Red Sox may be able to work something out with Smoltz to perhaps return to the team in September as an available arm out of the bullpen after spending some time in Boston’s minor league system. Smoltz’s ultimate landing spot remains to be decided until next week at the earliest, but for now Epstein hoped that the 42-year-old would take a few days to consider all options -- including potential retirement -- before making an ultimate decision on the next step in his storied baseball career.

Perhaps retirement becomes a more palatable option for Smoltz after a few days removal from the Yankee Stadium debacle, or – more likely – the veteran hurler will continue to work on necessary adjustments to again taste success in the big leagues. 

“It’s surprising how quickly we’ve gone from ‘best starting pitching depth in baseball’ to a challenging time for our rotation, but it wasn’t unexpected,” said Epstein. “It’s the reason we didn’t trade away our starting pitching when we had a perceived surplus. It’s not unusual to get to this point somewhere in the season where you have to find a way to turn things around in the back half of the rotation. 

“But it’s important that you do turn it around and find a way to stabilize the rotation, and get a number of pitchers giving us a chance to win night in and night out.”  

J.D. DREW IS A GAME-SAVER WHEN IT COMES TO RIGHT FIELD DEFENSE

Drew didn’t contribute much at the plate in going 0-for-5 without any balls hit with real authority, but the right fielder made his presence felt defensively in the 14^th inning with some breathtaking play as the game laid on the line. First Drew quickly scooped a ball in the corner that appeared destined for extra bases down the line leading off the frame, barehanded it off the wall and quickly relayed to second base while keeping Jorge Posada to a much-more-manageable single. Robinson Cano followed with another single that likely would have scored Posada with the game-winning run from second base had he not been held to first base, but Drew wasn’t done with his glove heroics by a long shot.

He saved his best outfield trick for another game-saving catch off the bat of former Sox utility guy Eric Hinske, who followed Cano with a screaming liner to right field that appeared to finally end a classic game while sailing over the right fielder's head. But Drew sprinted back toward the wall and managed to snag the ball with a full extension lunge behind his back and over the shoulder.

The miraculous catch gave Boston extended life, and left Hinske to toss his helmet away in stupified amazement.

“It was one of those do-or-die plays,” said Drew, who took some pride at robbing his former teammate. “I reached back as far as I possibly could have behind me, and I managed to come up with it. Just instinct-wise, I was reading the ball as best I can.

“It’s just one of those plays where you make it to make Hinske mad. You could see the frustration in his eyes after I made the play.” 

JUNICHI TAZAWA HAD ONE OF THE MOST SURREAL BIG LEAGUE DEBUTS IN RECENT RED SOX HISTORY

Tazawa isn’t likely to forget his Major League debut with the Red Sox.

The 23-year-old hurler was pitching in a Japanese Industrial League just a year ago, but shot through the Boston minor league system before landing on the big league roster Friday afternoon. The Sox had decided to designate an ineffective John Smoltz for assignment, and bring Tazawa up as a potential helper for a bullpen stretched thin by recent battles against the Rays and Yankees.

As luck would have it, the Sox and Yankees battled to an epic 15-inning scoreless game on Friday night at Yankee Stadium – and Tazawa was brought in as the last Sox pitcher still left standing in their bullpen. 

He followed fellow countrymen Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito, and – in doing so – became part of the first team in Major League history to throw three Japanese pitchers in the same game.

The first batter that Tazawa faced in his Red Sox debut? How about Japanese folk hero Hideki Matsui, who Tazawa respectfully bowed toward during batting practice prior to the epic 15-inning Sox/Yanks battle.

Some good luck and a couple of spectacular defensive plays by J.D. Drew allowed Tazawa to escape the 14^th inning unscathed, but the Japanese righty finally buckled when Alex Rodriguez smashed a hanging curve for a two-run, game-winning bomb in the bottom of the 15^th. The young righty allowed four hits and a pair of runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief work.

It was a surreal day, to be sure, for Tazawa and one he won’t soon forget after pitching in front of 48,262 people for the first time in his career. It just wasn’t quite a storybook finish after coming out on the losing end of things in the raucous Bronx.

“First time making the Major leagues, to be honest with you guys, I’m really happy about it and I’m happy to be given the opportunity in such an important situation,” said Tazawa through translator Mikio Yoshimura. “I just wish I could have done a little better.”

Tazawa said following the game that many of his teammates approached him after the game to tell him he had fared well despite the defeat, and Sox catcher Jason Varitek sees a hurler with a bright future in Boston.

“He threw the ball well and I was impressed with him,” said Varitek. “(Tazawa) is going to have a long career in this league.”