THE SUN COMES OUT IN BOSTON

Wow. What a difference a week makes. We're talking baseball here. MLB. With the Bruins, Patriots and Celtics on hiatus, the boys of summer take center stage. Last week at this time, the Sox were roughly 4 or 5 games back of Tampa. The team had one game left against New York, a nationally televised game that the Sox needed badly. Already 3-6 on a 10 game road trip, a win would send the Sox home content with a 4-6 trip believe it or not. Well, the Sox got pitching from Tim Wakefield and led 4-2 in the 7th. But, as they have done throughout the trip, the bullpen blew the game. The Yanks tied it up and the game went into extras. Needless to say, Papelbon came in for the 10th and the Sox ended up losing again.............by a run, 5-4. With the Sox losing Saturday and Sunday to the pinstripes, the Sox sat 5 games back on Monday morning, surely the low point of the season.
That's when things changed, for the better. Tampa, who had swept the Sox earlier in the week, beat the Royals 3 straight, but fell on Monday. Meanwhile, the Sox returned home and beat the Twins 1-0 behind Dice-K and a Ramirez RBI single. From then on, the Sox went on this week to win4 of the next 5...............while the Rays lost every single game! While Tampa lost 2 games in NY and then 4 straight against Cleveland(who had lost 10 straight), the Sox beat the Twins 3 games straight then won 2 0f 3 vs. the Orioles. Thus, the Sox gained 5.5 games this week and now lead the AL East at the All-Star Break for the 4th consecutive season!
After winning the aforementioned opener vs. the Twins in the opener, the team scored 4 runs in the 8th to win 6-5. The following day, the team slugged out 23 hits and 18 runs en route to an 18-5 victory and a 3 game sweep over the smokin' hot Twins. Pedroia, Youkilis, Ramirez, Lowell, Ellsbury and Casey all banged out key hits and the team was back. It's amazing how a team can find themselves at home in their own setting.
The Sox found themselves down only 1.5 games as they welcomed the O's into Fenway. They came in and won the opener in Clay Buchholz's return as Brian Roberts had 3 hits. With the Rays losing as well, the lead remained at 1.5. The Sox woke up the next night and thrashed the O's 12-1 behind another great outing for Wake and 6 RBI's for Youkilis. With another Tampa defeat, the team was only .5 back. On Sunday, Dice-K struggled through 6 innings but it mattered little as the team had a 2-0 lead throughout. Papelbon struggled a bit in the 9th but he got the job done. The 2-1 win coupled with another Tampa loss put the Sox back where they belong; first place!
AL EAST
TEAM W-L GB
1.BOSTON 57-40 -
2.TAMPA BAY 55-39 .5
3.NEW YORK 50-45 6
4.TORONTO 47-48 9
5.BALTIMORE 45-48 10

So it's now the All-Star break. Compared to the rest of the American League, only one club is better. The LA Angels of Anaheim are one game better than the Sox at 57-38. Compared to the National League, only one club is better. The Chicago Cubs are also 57-38. So the Sox are within one game of having the best record in baseball. Not bad!

Looking at the numbers, some jump out much more than others:

• The Sox have 7 All-Stars: Youkilis, Pedroia, Ortiz, Ramirez, Varitek, Drew and Papelbon.
• The Sox are a tale of 2 clubs. They have a 36-11 mark at home, the best in baseball. But they are an atrocious 21-29 on the road!
• The team is a mere 20-19 in our division.
• In the AL, only the Angels have a better record vs. lefties.
• in one run game, the Sox are a troubling 14-16. This will change when Big Papi returns.
• The Red Sox have outscored their opponents by 99 runs in totality. In comparison, the Angels have only done so by 20 runs. Only the Cubs, at 106, have a larger difference.

Here is my mid-season report card for some of the teams key members. Players (non-pitchers) who have done well include:

• Pedroia- guy has done everything. .314 9hr 47 rbi
• Youkilis- amazing competitor. .314 15 hr 63 rbi
• Lowell- injured for a month and still performed. .297 13hr 57 rbi
• Drew- carried team in Papi's absence. .302 17hr 55 rbi
• Ramirez- decent year thus far. .293 18hr 60 rbi

Okay, the others:

• Lugo- struggle all-around. Now injured. Bad defense. Poor offense.
• Crisp- great defensively but still can't find consistent swing or playing time.
• Casey- done everything asked of him. Batting .373 in 125 AB
• Cash- solid backup. wake doing great.
• Varitek- captain and leader. great behind plate. No offense. Batting a mere .218.
• Ellsbury- amazing defensively. no offense. batting a weak .269. 35 steals though.
• Ortiz- mostly injured but was on pace for another 30 HR 100 RBI season
• others- Moss, Cora, Lowrie

Pitching mid-season thoughts:

• Lester- staff ace in my opinion. no-hitter. great #'s. team high 20 starts. 7-3 3.38 era
• Beckett- great. #'s comparible to last season. 9-5 3.94era team high 107 K's
• Wakefield- so consistent. 6-6 3.60 era great arm. 2nd in team starts and innings pitched
• Matsuzaka- All-Star snub. 10-1 2.65 era. team high in walks. Cy Young?
• Buchholz- disappointing. 2 wins and only 9 starts. finally healthy. good future.
• Masterson- great arm. 4-3 3.67 in 9 starts as 5th starter. Moved to bullpen for 2nd half.
• Papelbon- 3-3 2.43 era. saved 28 of 32 games. All-Star closer.
• Delcarmen- inconsistent but great 1st half. 39 innigs/36 hits. 4.54 era
• Aardsma- great surprise. 3-2 2.77era 39 innings/28 hits
• Hansen- disappointment. 1-3 5.47era 18 walks/25 hits in only 26+ innings
• Lopez- lefty specialist. 2-0 2.19era 37 innings/35 hits 16 walks
• Timlin- injured. poor year. 3-3 6.31 era
• Colon- won 4 of 6 starts with an 4.09 era. injured.
• Okajima- struggle for 2007 All-Star/set-up man. 2-2/2.82 era 38+ innings/38 hits 16 BB

So there you have it. Overall, team is set-up for another World Series run. Schilling won't play this season, but Big Papi is due back in 2 weeks. The team needs no real help outside of the bullpen. But if Masterson does well, the team is set. They open up the second half next weekend versus the Angles. The two best teams and probably a preview of the AL Championship in October. The team then travels to the last place Seattle Mariners, who swept the good guys earlier this season. Then the team comes home for a series vs. the Yankees. That is the weekend Big Papi is due to rejoin the big club. Meanwhile, the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox have the best record in the IL: 60-37. Jonathan Van Avery and Jeff Bailey each have 23 homers. They both have been on the big club this season for short stints. Two starters stand out: Pauley and Zink. Both of whom are on the IL All-Star team.