As losing streaks take on a life of their own, it’s the pitcher who has to stand up and carry the team.

Today is the day for Tim Hudson to give his team a boost.

Can he look at his teammates and give them the confidence that they need to stop the rampaging Red Sox?

The Red Sox hit as well as any team I’ve seen this season.

Good hitting teams crush mediocre pitching. It all starts with the lead off hitter.

For Boston, Johnny Damon looks like he has gained 20 pounds of muscle. He is igniting this offense with his speed. He tripled, scored from first easily on a double, and is a tough out at the plate.

Hudson must keep him off the bases.

Manny Ramirez is not your typical over paid super star. He hustled on a sure double play ball, keeping the inning alive, giving the Sox a chance to break the game open against Cory Lidle. Ramirez hammers the A’s pitchers.

Nomar Garciaparra hits in front of Manny and is seeing pitches to hit. Not a good sign for Oakland.

What impresses me about Boston is the type of balls they put into play. It seems like every safe hit, is a rocket.

They are capable of starting scoring rallies from any place in the line up.

Hudson must keep Damon off base, not let Manny Ramirez come up with runners in scoring position, work around Ramirez whenever possible, find a way to slow Rey Sanchez down ( for a number nine hitter the A’s can’t get him out), and not walk batters.

Sounds like a tall order, but Hudson is the ace of the staff. He is a tough competitor. He wants the ball today.

That says a lot for his chance of success this afternoon.

If the A’s are to snap this slump, Hudson must lead the way.

The A’s will not steady the ship until the big three (Hudson, Mulder, and Zito) are clicking on all cylinders along with solid efforts from Cory Lidle and Erik Hiljus. The A’s are built on pitching and until they approximate what they did last season, this disturbing trend will continue.

There are 129 games to go, but I don’t like what I see so far, in any aspect of the Oakland game.

Someone has to step up. whether it be an offensive player or a pitcher, but someone has to start playing like an all star.

The time is now and the ball is in Tim Hudson’s locker.

Perdo Astacio needs a big effort today for the Mets. The Giants have simply shut down the Mets with outstanding efforts form Russ Ortiz and Kirk Reuter.

The Giants vets are getting some clutch hits, but it helps to know, that your pitcher will give you seven quality innings on the mound.

Can Bruce Chen stop the Expos slide? A tall order for the lefty, even if it is against a road poor Rockies team. Maybe after five games on the road, the Rockies are finally getting used to playing away from Coors.

Ismael Valdes hasn’t gotten much run support from his Texas offense, but he has pitched very well despite his record. Todd Ritchie is getting the job done for Chicago, but somehow I don’t think he is the dominating pitcher the Sox thought they were getting from Pittsburgh this winter.

Can Jeff Suppan give Kansas City a lift? He is the best they have and is in the same position as Tim Hudson today for this team.

Lead us, Baby, to a win.

Joe Kennedy has pitched well for Tampa Bay. Can he put the brakes on their 13 game losing skein? Not only does he have to pitch an effective game, he better go nine because his bull pen hasn’t saved a game in two weeks.

Kennedy’s opponent, the Yankees are hoping for an Oakland win and a good game from El Duque, so they can close on the five game Boston lead.

Good luck, Joe Kennedy.

Milwaukee looks to Ben Sheets to stop their four game skid. Is he healthy? If he is, no reason he can’t stop the light hitting Cubs and Jason Bere.

Houston needs a big win from Dave Mlicki. Mlicki has gotten the job done all year until his last start.

I said last week that the Phillies were one good winning streak from getting back into the NL East race, five wins in a row so far, has made life much easier for manager Larry Bowa.

One of these days, Houston will put it together and take charge of the NL Central.

So, for a Thursday, there are some pressure games.

It’s early in May, but losing streaks have a way of going further than necessary.

Until some one steps up on the mound and gets the job done, managers lose sleep.

Let’s see what happens today.