A small snapshot it is, but Coco Crisp has had an amazing week for the Boston Red Sox. Since September 8th, he has 17 at bats with 12 hits, a .706 batting average! During that time he also has 3 walks and has stuck out all of once. For someone who was absolutely going to be traded before Spring Training ended, and then no doubt about it by the trading deadline, Crisp has become Mr. Clutch during some must win games.
Not to mention his batting average is up to .285, 5 points higher than his career average, and more than 20 points higher than last year. He is one of the players Terry Francona would point to when talking about getting the little things done to win games.
With J.D. Drew still having back problems, the Red Sox have needed all the outfielders they have on the roster, and needed them all to do what they do best: make great running catches in the outfield and have productive at bats.
With Crisp's help, the Sox have pulled within one game of the Tampa Bay Rays as they head to Tropicana Field for the three game show down that no one in baseball could have predicted to be so important at the start of the season. It is quite possible this series will decide the American League East, as Yankee elimination parties are held up and down the east coast, most likely by Wednesday.
If Crisp continues on the tear that began last week when the Rays were in town, the Sox could be in position to win all three games. But a sweep of the Rays will take more than Crisp; the bats will need to be hot, the pitching near perfect and Jonathan Papelbon really will need to avoid those ninth inning home runs.
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Terry Francona
