I'll admit, the late July/early August Red Sox had my faith waivering a little. It was definitely demoralizing to see the Red Sox get swept twice in a row by the Angels. At and around the time of the trade deadline, the Red Sox seemed unable to get their act together. I thought, maybe they just don't have it this year. But the Red Sox have been turning around. They have been on fire for this entire recent road trip, with the exception of Buchholz's last start in the majors and Lester's loss in Toronto.
After first taking down the Orioles, the Red Sox took down the Blue Jays. This is significant because the Blue Jays have been giving the Red Sox trouble all season, and the two teams still have seven games against each other in September. It was important for the Red Sox to demonstrate their ability to win against Toronto because they'll have to do it again next month.
The Red Sox then killed the Yankees in the last ever Sox-Yanks series in the old Yankee stadium. Apart from the two huge wins, Lester also redeemed himself from his bad outing in Toronto. For most of the season, the AL East has been a close race between three teams. In September, it will be a race between two teams. The Yankees are not one of them. Disagree if you want, but the Yankees are now 11.5 games behind the Rays, and 4th in the Wild Card standings. I think they are done.
Which brings us to the Sox-Sox series back at Fenway, which is now 2/3 over. How about Dice-K last night? Only 2 hits and 2 walks. No runs. 8-to-nothing win. 8 complete innings pitched, and Francona said that Dice-K could have pitched the complete game if he let him. I always think Dice-K is underrated. He's winning games, and he's not giving up runs. I thought that's what a pitcher was supposed to do. So you want more innings pitched and less walks. Well now you see that he can do it. He just needs to work on doing it consistently. But if you ask me I'd way rather have a pitcher who has a problem with BBs and IPs than one who has a problem with ERA and Ls.
How about Bowden's start tonight? Thank god he wasn't a disappointment. The Red Sox have now taken both of the first two games against the White Sox, 8-0 and 8-2. And the White Sox are no joke. They're a playoff caliber team, and the Red Sox are rolling right through them right now. That's really good news. But the best part to me is when you take a look at the current active roster. Beckett, Drew, Lowell, Lugo, and Casey are all on the DL. Youkilis was sick tonight. Pedroia had to bat cleanup in Youk's place. And the Sox are actually playing better with half their starters benched. Bay has been phenomenal. I felt pretty neutral when I heard we acquired Kotsay but how he's performed since he's put on a Red Sox uniform! Lowrie and Bailey are contributing, Varitek seems to be coming out of his slump, and man I love the way Ellsbury flies all over the outfield after those fly balls. He really makes the game fun to watch. And Pedroia. Pedroia for MVP please.The Red Sox are red hot, and they are doing it without some of their most key players. What that tells me is that the Red Sox going into September have found a way to become bigger than the sum of their individual players. Last October when we were down 1-3 against the Indians, Manny said "If we lose this year, who cares? There's always next year." I don't think there is a single Red Sox player who feels that way right now. Forget next year. Every single one of those guys is in it to win it, 2008 style.
Keywords: Red White Sox Yankees Blue Jays Rays Daisuke Dice-K Matsuzaka Michael Bowden
