I would put you to sleep if I took a game-by-game synopsis from the past few weeks since the last blog. Instead, let's just say this. Up until this past week, the team has had solid hitting, porous defense, average starting pitching and a top notch bullpen. Although the bullpen has been horrendous as of late, the starters have been near brilliant. And the offense has faltered until the past 2 games.
While on vacation, the Sox built a nice 5 game lead over the Yanks. Things were looking up, but suddenly, the Sox played .500 ball and the Yanks got super hot. At one point this week, the pinstripes had pulled even with our boys of summer!
When we last left off, the Sox headed to the NL for the end of interleague play. The Sox took 2-of-3 from both Washington and Atlanta, solid. The team moved to Baltimore, and the weirdness occurred. I don't know what was more impressive: The Orioles coming back late, facing a 10-1 deficit in the middle game vs. the good guys, or the good guys coming back in the rubber game by scoring 4 runs in the 9th before winning in extras!
The team then came home for 10 games before the break, against the worst 3 teams in the AL. The team struggled, surprisingly, but finished strong. The pesky Mariners won 2 of 3 at the Fens to win the season series 4-2! Ouch. The A's came in, and won the opener 6-0 behind a rookie shutting down the Red Sox bats, but the good guys won the next 2, albeit not via an easy route. The Royals came in for four, and won the opener. That was a big surprise, as the Sox were predicted to win all 4. Even worse, the Yanks won again, and tied the Sox for first place. A 5 game lead was gone.
Got to give the team credit though. They stood up, won the next 3 vs. the Royals, and watched the Angels end the Yanks long road winning streak by sweeping the pinstripes; AL East lead back to 3. Not bad.
The Red Sox have an MLB 6 All-Stars: Youkilis, Beckett, Papelbon, Pedroia, Bay, Wakefield.
While Smoltz struggled in his first two starts, he pitched 5 scoreless innings on Saturday, his 4th start. The night before, Lester pitched 8 scoreless innings and today, well, Beckett pitched a 3 hit CG shutout! Nice. With Penny looking good, and Wake with an AL best 11 wins, the staff is solid.
Let's take a quick look back at the 1st half of the season, including the good and the bad stats, before I indulge you with the AL East Standings!
Dice K is thee major disappointment for the club, but maybe can turn himself around in due time. Last year, he was 18-3 with a 2.37 ERA. This year? Try 1-5 , 8.23 ERA. Jed Lowrie was shut down after just 18 AB with a wrist injury, though he'll be back next week.
The hitting has been average. Only one player, Pedroia, is batting .300, and even that is only .303. That is not what you'd expect from this organization. Sure, some players have great OBP%, but the low averages have been mesmerizing, in a bad way. Big Papi really struggled this year, at one point being rested(or benched) and moved to 7th in the lineup, and we won't even mention the 0-7 game in LA in which he left about 10 men on base! But he has improved lately and has 12 HR.
Jay Bay has led the club, and the AL for that matter, in most offensive categories. He has 20 HR and 72 RBI. Ellsbury has been good, whether it be his .297 average or his 38 steals. Lowell has been effective when healthy, though he has missed a slew of games and is currently on the 15 day DL. Youk has some tremendous offensive numbers, but his average dipped under .500 this week, which is a surprise considering he hit around .340 all year. Drew (12 HR) and Varitek(13 HR) both have mediocre averages but 38 RBI. Green has filled in admirably at SS but has not done anything outside of that. Lugo and Baldelli have been okay as rarely used reserves, as have Kotsay, Bailey and Kottarras.
As for the pitching staff, it was a solid first half. Here are the 5 current starters:
Beckett 11-3 3.35
Lester 8-6 3.87
Wakefield 11-3 4.31
Penny 6-3 4.71
Smoltz 1-2 5.40
Here is the #'s from the current bullpen:
Papelbon 1-1 1.85
Ramirez 5-3 2.33
Okajima 3-0 3.32
Delcarmen 2-1 2.41
Saito 2-2 3.52
Bard 0-0 2.55
AL EAST STANDINGS
# TEAM W/L GB
- Red Sox 54-34 -
- Yankees 51-37 3
- Rays 48-41 6.5
- Jays 44-46 11
- Orioles 40-48 14
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