Sox May Have An Opportunity To Expand the Lead

The Red Sox have some very favorable match ups the next couple of days.

Andy Sonnanstine (1-8, 6.35 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-8, 3.59 ERA)
Ervin Santana (5-11, 6.22 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett (15-5, 3.24 ERA)

And it's just the opposite for the Yankees.

Erik Bedard (12-4, 3.11 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (2-1, 4.64 ERA)
Justin Verlander (12-4, 3.58 ERA) vs. Mike Mussina (8-7, 4.50 ERA)

If the Red Sox could pick up another couple games, it would be a hard hill for the Yankees to climb. Especially with the Red Sox pitching Daisuke and Beckett at Yankee Stadium later this month.

Devil Dogs

What an end to what will no doubt be remembered as the feel good game of the year! The Red Sox certainly gave the fans a plethora of reasons to stand. From before the game even began, the Fenway Faithful were on their feat to cheer the return of Jon Lester. Lester earned the standing ovation with 7 strong innings of 2-hit, 1-run ball.

The Fenway Faithful again rose to their feat to pick up their newest member, Eric Gagne. Gagne was at first booed when he went 3-0 to the first batter. Gagne however did manage to fight his way back and strike out the side. And before he could get the last strikeout, the Fenway fans stood up and gave Gagne a warm bid of support.

And finally, with the Yankees losing 12-0 to the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox managed to capitalize. With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Mike Lowell tied the score at 1-1 with his 16th home run of the year. Kevin Youkilis then struck out, but determined not to let this opportunity slip away, Red Sox captain Jason Varitek followed him with a long double. Varitek was then promptly driven in by Coco Crisp on an RBI single.

On the downside however, backup outfielder Wily Mo Pena continued to struggle at the plate, going 0-2. After a promising season last year, Wilo Mo Pena has hurt the team this year. His lack of plate discipline and fielding ability make him a less than ideal backup outfielder. The good news however, is that Bobby Kielty is starting to turn things around in Pawtucket.

The Red Sox should be calling Kielty up any time now. After going hitless in his first two "rehab" starts, Kielty has since gone on a 5 game hitting streak. Overall, he's hit .269/.367/.538 at the Triple-A level. Kielty would have been particularly useful in a game like today's against a tough lefty. Last year, Kielty hit .325/.358/.607 against left handed pitchers in 117 at bats.

The Red Sox have now gone 16-8 in their last 24 games but many questions still remain. Can Jon Lester manage his walk totals and be effective down the stretch? Is Eric Gagne going to turn things around? No one knows for sure, but we'll all know in good time.

5 Reasons Why Red Sox Fans Need Not Worry

1. Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher. And who has the best pitching staff in the league? That's right, the Red Sox. They have arguably the best rotation in the American League (the Angels might have a case as well). Still, it's incomparable to the Yankees pitching staff, ranked in the middle of the pack in team ERA. And Yankee Stadium's 13% harder to score a run in than Fenway Park.

Remember the great duo of Pedro and Schilling that lead the Red Sox to a World Series in 2004? At this point in the season that year, they were 26-10, with a 3.80 ERA. This year's duo of Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka is 28-13 with a 3.42 ERA. And both of those pitchers are on schedule to pitch at Yankee Stadium later this month.

Away from the hitting friendly atmosphere of Fenway Park, Josh Beckett is 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA. Daisuke Matsuzaka is 7-5 with a 2.99 ERA. Four of those losses were quality starts however (at least 6 innings pitched while giving up 3 runs or less).

2. Gagne's a bonus, not a necessity. The Red Sox bullpen leads the league in ERA. And they did that without any help at all from Gagne. Boston native, Manny Delcarmen has really stepped us as a premiere relief pitcher. With his 2.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and more than a strikeout an inning, he could easily take Gagne's role, helping Okajima set up for Papelbon.

Delcarmen, Okajima and Papelbon are merely half of the 6 relief pitchers the Red Sox have with an ERA of 3.50 or better. The others include Lopez, Snyder and 41-year-old Timlin. Don't look now, but Timlin appears to have found a fountain of youth. He's lowered his ERA all the way down to 3.38. He's allowed a run in only one of his last 14 appearances.

3. The bats aren't anything to scoff at either. The Red Sox are fifth in the league in AVG, second in OBP and third in SLG. Coco Crisp's resurgence isn't a new story. Since the All-Star break, he's hit .296/.379/.417. What are some newer stories however are the resurgences of Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew. Lugo's hit .325/.360/.436 since the All-Star and has this month to thank for it. In August he's been red hot, to a tune of a .341 AVG.

J.D. Drew hasn't been quite as much of a disappointment as Julio Lugo. Even when he was hitting in the mid .200's he was getting on base .100 points higher and his defense has been solid. In August, Drew is hitting .433 and getting on base in half of his at bats. Perhaps most encouraging of all is his returning power. He's slugged .600.

4. The Yankees are human. They've gone 30-10 in their last 40 games, but that's an impossible pace to play at. They're playing the best baseball that they'll likely play all season, and they're still back 4 games. The YES announcers today noted how all the Yankees hitters have gotten hot at the exact same time, but such is not the nature of hitting. Unlike pitching, hitting goes through dramatic periods of hot and cold, and going into September, the Yankees are due for some regression.

Not to mention, their white hot bats have worked to mask some rising pitching woes. Since the All-Star break, Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang has gone 4-2 with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Wang has had uncharacteristic control struggles while his ground out to fly out ratio has regressed from 2.78 to 1.63.

And Wang's not the only Yankees starter to struggle of late. After getting off to a good start with the Yankees, Roger Clemens has gone 2-2 since the All-Star break with a 4.45 ERA. And Phil Hughes, billed as the Yankees ace of the future, has gone 2-1 with a 4.64 ERA.

Their bullpen was also left with a lot of question marks, after Cashman dealt off much of their bullpen depth. The Yankees have struggled with their middle relief all season, and they go into September having dealt away Mike Meyers, who lead the team in ERA, and Scott Proctor, who had the team's 5th best ERA. The Yankees may have found a legitimate set up man in Joba Chamberlain. Now they have to find a way to get to him.

5. Reinforcements are on the way! Unlike the Yankees, who were desperate enough to call up their young talent already, the Red Sox will be getting some upgrades come September. Perhaps the most exciting call up will be Clay Buchholz, who is likely to get his first major league start this Friday. Buchholz lead the Eastern League in both ERA and strikeouts before being promoted to Triple-A where he owns an ERA of 3.26 and a WHIP of 1.02 in 6 starts. He's also struck out 14 batters per 9 innings of work.

And for the first time this season, the Red Sox will be getting a legitimate pinch runner off the bench in Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury has mind boggling speed and defensive ability. He had no trouble handling the majors earlier this season when he hit .375 and got on base at a rate of .444 in limited at bats.

Crisp and Matsuzaka Coming Around

I guess Coco wasn't quite dead. Sure, it took until late June but Coco Crisp is in fact beginning to kick. Well, that's not completely true. To be fair, Crisp began hitting when June began. He went 4-10 against the Yankees June 1st, 2nd and 3rd and has hit .333 in the month of June. Throughout his career, Crisp has been somewhat of a second half player. Similar to Johnny Damon, Crisp's career average after the All-Star break is actually .015 points higher than the one he has in the first half of the season.

Speaking of our old friend Johnny "Who?", Epstein looks pretty smart right now for not signing him. In year two of his contract with the Yankees, Johnny Damon's already breaking down. Over the next 3 years, the Yankees are on the hook for $39 million for a player who can barely field his position a few days a week. Coco Crisp isn't any Ichiro but he's one of the best fielding center fielders in the league and is both out-hitting and out-slugging the guy he replaced. Did I mention Crisp costs something like $10 million less?

Fortunately for the Red Sox (and Theo Epstein) the $103 million man is also starting to come around. It would be unfair to say that Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn't done well. But with analysts claiming he could contend for the Cy Young in his first major league year, anything short is bound to be a disappointment.

When the Red Sox signed Matsuzaka, I said I'd be happy if ecstatic if he posted anything lower than a 4.00 ERA in his first season in the AL East. As we approach the half way point of the season, he's almost there. After tonight's win, Matsuzaka is now 9-5 with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. I think it's rather clear however, that he has the ability to be much more dominant.

Through his first 98.2 major league innings, Matsuzaka has allowed only 93 hits while striking out 102. His biggest issue to this point has been his control. His BB/9 innings pitched of 3.19 isn't bad, but it's nowhere near the control he exhibited in Japan.

Whether it's adjusting to a 5-man-rotation, major league umpires or a new workout regiment, Daisuke's BB/9 innings pitched is up significantly from the 1.64 he posted last year in Japan. Such lapses in control are rather normal for pitchers transitioning to the major leagues and they almost always go down. Other than the walks, he's pitched relatively similar to the way he did last year. His K/9 IP ratio has gone down by only 0.36.

Clement Rehabbing

Matt Clement was actually spotted getting in some throwing lately. Here is an exclusive photo. Unfortunately, he looked like the same old Clement...

Red Sox Showcasing Murphy

The Red Sox today called up center fielder David Murphy, to replace the injured Curt Schilling on their roster. The Red Sox have better outfield prospects in Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Moss, but it's David Murphy that's drawn the most interest from other clubs. Perhaps it's because he's the only center fielder who the Red Sox would be willing to part with.

Murphy has drawn interest from both Florida and Houston, but San Diego would be a logical landing spot for him as well. Not only are the Red Sox calling Murphy up for their series this weekend in San Diego, but the Padres are in need of a center fielder. Their current center fielder, light-hitting Mike Cameron, is being paid $7 million in the last year of his contract.

The Padres could save quite a bit of money replacing Cameron with David Murphy. Murphy could also probably provide some extra offensive production for a team likely to be in contention for the playoffs. While Cameron is hitting .260/.318/.425 at the major league level, Murphy is hitting .283/.362/.423 at the Triple-A level.

If the Padres are interested in Murphy, they could attempt to deal him straight up for Mike Cameron. Such a deal seems unlikely however given that Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp has finally begun to come around offensively and has been solid on the defensive side of the ball all season. What would make more sense would be for the Padres to send a relief arm to the Red Sox.

The San Diego Padres currently have the best bullpen ERA in the majors. It's possible that the Red Sox would want Cla Meredith back, but he's actually been one of the least effective Padres relievers this season. The Red Sox could use a righty power arm for the back of their bullpen and either Linebrink or Bell would fit the bill. They should be warry about picking up NL West relievers though after the performances of Rudy Seanez and Luis Vizcaino in the AL East.

A trade with the Houston Astros seems unlikely as their young center fielder Hunter Pence has been a revelation. They are however looking to unload relief arms. And if they were looking to upgrade their right field situation, Pawtucket Red Sox outfielder Brandon Moss would make sense. Moss has hit .298/.397/.539 in 70 games at the Triple-A level this year. His power has been impressive with 24 doubles, a triple and 12 home runs in 258 at bats.

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