Red Sox's Key To Success- Being Healthy?

This sounds simple enough.  A healthy team equals a better overall team.  Middlebrooks and Victorino have spent the majority of this young season on the disabled list.  Once they returned to the line-up, the Red Sox seemed to play with more grit, with better defense, and with more heart.  This would seem to equate that the Red Sox needed Middlebrooks and Victorino in the line-up to play better baseball.

When the Red Sox called up Victorino on Thursday, it would seem that the Red Sox would get the much needed spark that they seemed to be lacking this season.  Victorino provides the team with energy, on the base paths and in the outfield.  Despite going 1-for-5 in his return, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in a 14-5 massacre that saw Mike Carp, the pitcher.

Photo from NESN

However, Middlebrooks returned to the line-up for Friday's 8-1 win against the Blue Jays.  Middlebrooks went 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.  Victorino went 1-for-6 with a double.  To make room for Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava was demoted to Triple-A.  The Red Sox would go on take 2 of the 3 games against the Blue Jays, which would indicate that having Middlebrooks and Victorino in the line-up is more beneficial to the Red Sox.

As mentioned before, the Red Sox demoted Daniel Nava to Triple-A.  Nava has struggled this season, hitting .149 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, and 1 stolen base.  Yes, it doesn't look good for Nava, and maybe he does need to go back to Triple-A for a bit.  But, if there's one thing we know about Daniel Nava is that he's a fighter.  By now, all of Red Sox Nation knows Daniel Nava's story of being his college team's manager, hitting a grand slam in his first at bat in the majors, and becoming a key member of the 2014 Red Sox World Series Championship team.

Photo from ESPN.Go.Boston

In 2013, in 134 games, Nava hit .303 with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs.  He was a big reason the Red Sox played as well as they did last season.  I understand that the fact that Nava had options that played a major role into sending him down to Triple-A, but let's say he didn't.  Would the Red Sox have released him to make room for Victorino?

The Red Sox seemed to think pretty highly of Grady Sizemore, a player who hasn't played in the major's since 2011; that season, he hit .224 in 71 games.  In 2010, he hit .211 in 33 games.  In 2009, he played 106 games and hit .248.  He hit .268 and played 157 games in 2008.  Sizemore is currently hitting .221 in 19 games with 2 homes runs, 1 triple, 7 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases.  Yes, small sample size, I know.

Photo from SportsIllustrated.cnn.com

I guess what I'm trying to point out is the Red Sox were considered to have gotten "healthier" with the addition of Victorino and Middlebrooks and sending Nava down to Triple-A.  These moves may be important and necessary at this time, but they also have a player on their team who hasn't been considered "healthy" since 2008.  The Red Sox took a chance on Sizemore; and hopefully, that chance pans out for them.  With about a month into the season, I'm still uncertain about this move the Red Sox made.

Only time will tell...

Red Sox After Season Awards

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am going to do my post season awards (not postseason awards). These are the players I think deserve the after season awards on this Red Sox team.  These are all based on my own thoughts; so if you disagree, certainly you can explain who you think should win and why in the comments.  Now, here's the awards:

MVP: David Ortiz

Photo from Bleacher Report

David Ortiz hit .309 during the season with 30 home runs, 103 RBIs, and 28 doubles.  Those numbers are great, but you need to add it to what he meant to this team.  Ortiz made his now famous post Boston Marathon speech in April, and that seemed to be the catalyst for this team to strive for the top.  Yes, they had a point to prove after last season, but they also wanted to lift the City of Boston on their shoulders.  Ortiz was the man to make the speech and bring this team back to greatness.

Of course, in the World Series, he was dominant.  He hit .688 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, 11 hits, and 8 walks (with only 1 strike out).  He now has 3 World Series rings and 1 MVP award in his career.

Cy Young: Jon Lester

Photo from NESN

This season, Lester went 15-8 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.294 WHIP.  Some people may be asking how he can by Cy Young with those good but not great numbers.  I chose Jon Lester because he was the workhorse the Red Sox needed this season.  He pitched 213.1 innings, when the next closest was John Lackey with 189.1 innings.  After the All Star break, Lester seemed to improve with every start.  His ERA fell from 4.58 to 3.75 for the season, almost an entire run.

This postseason, Lester made a name for himself as an ace.  In the World Series, he had 2 winning starts, pitched 15.1 innings, and only gave up 9 hits, 1 run, 1 walk while striking out 15.  His World Series ERA was 0.59.

Rookie of the Year: Xander Bogaerts

Photo from USAToday

This one was a little hard for me, as there wasn't a Rookie that made a season-long impact on this team.  There were players that had been up and down in the minors for the past couple years (Daniel Nava, Will Middlebrooks), but I don't think any player made more of an influence on the team than Xander Bogaerts.  During the season, he hit .250 in 18 games with 11 hits, 1 home run, and 5 RBIs.  Defensively, he showed he was capable at both shortstop (his natural position) and third base (the position he eventually took over for Will Middlebrooks in the postseason).

In the World Series, Bogaerts started all 6 games, batted .238 (which was surprisingly the third highest on the team behind Ortiz and Ellsbury) with2 RBIs and 5 hits, including a triple.

Comeback Player of the Year: John Lackey

Photo from ESPN.GO

John Lackey didn't pitch at all in 2012 because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.  Tommy John surgery is serious, but I think it was a blessing in disguise for Lackey.  In 2011, many Red Sox fans cast Lackey as a villain, as the post child for everything that went wrong with the team in September.  He heard more boos than cheers, and the media seemed to be against him as well.  He took 2012 off to recover from surgery.

When he came back this season, no one knew what Lackey would bring.  He looked healthier, physically thinner and stronger, than he had in recent years.  He had a presence to him that showed confidence, and he pitched with confidence.  He had a 10-13 record, but that was because he couldn't get the run support.  He completed the year with a 3.53 ERA (it was 6.41 in 2011), 189.1 innings pitched, and a 1.157 WHIP.

This World Series, Lackey pitched in 3 games (2 starts), had a 1-1 record, and a 2.57 ERA.  He gave up 14 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and struck out 11.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Nava

Photo from YawkeyWayReport

No one can argue that Daniel Nava had an incredible season.  If you recall, Nava made headlines in 2010 when he hit a grand slam on the first pitch he ever saw in the minors.  He was the guy who didnt make his college baseball team right away and was the team manager for two seasons.  Then, he played in the Golden Baseball League, and his contract was bought by the Red Sox for one dollar.  In 2011, he was buried in the minors and designated for assignment without any other team showing interest.  In 2012, he hit only .243 in 88 games.  Many thought he was just a good story, but he wrote another chapter this season.

Daniel Nava hit a career high .303 this season with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs.  He played 134 games, platooning with Jonny Gomes and filling in for Victorino when needed.  He was a presence at the plate, but he wasn't one of the over-the-top players that seemed to flood the media this season.  He was grounded, and he will certainly be back in the Majors next season.

That's it for me today.  Tomorrow, I will be attending the Red Sox World Series parade, so make sure to check back early next week for photos and commentary.  It's been a great and intense season, but you can't be upset about the outcome.

Red Sox vs Yankees September 14, 2013

The Red Sox completed the sweep of the New York Yankees this weekend behind some spectacular pitching (Lester on Saturday and Buchholz on Sunday), some great hitting (Salty's grand slam on Friday and Nava hitting .306 for the season), and some surprise base running (Salty stealing home on Sunday).  They are currently 9.5 games up from the Rays, and their Magic Number stands at 4.

Saturday, September 14th, I was able to attend my second Red Sox-Yankees game.  Not only was it just a week prior that I went to the first game (at Yankee Stadium, here's the post), but the game on Saturday was at Fenway Park.  

The whole atmosphere at Fenway Park is different compared to Yankee Stadium.  While Yankee Stadium may have a well-known steak house, Fenway has Fenway Franks.  I know you may not think they compare, but when you go to Fenway Park, a Fenway Frank is the way to go.  Plus, Cole had to get a sausage from the sausage guy after the game (Rachael Ray recreated the recipe for these sausages on her show.  Here's the recipe).  Fenway Park food is iconic.

Besides the food, the fans seem to be more focused on the game at Fenway Park; or at least, that's my experience.  We saw in the bleachers at both games, but there were definitely more people in the bleachers at Fenway compared to Yankee Stadium.  The people were cheering for plays rather than yelling "(Insert opposing team here) sucks!".  Now, Red Sox fans do boo A-Rod mercilessly, but they cheer Mariano Rivera too.  

Side note: if you didn't get to watch the Mariano Rivera ceremony last night, definitely check out the video here.

I am happy to report I purchased my Jonny Gomes t-shirt!

For those of you who don't know, Fenway Park is very special to me.  My great-grandfather played for the Red Sox from 1931-1932, and I grew up a Red Sox fan (as did every other member of my family).  Walking around Fenway Park and thinking that my great-grandfather could've walked the same path as me 80+ years ago literally sent chills down my spine.

This was my fourth time at Fenway Park.  I went to a game in 2005 against the Kansas City Royals, and two games in 2010 against the Cleveland Indians.  Now that I'm living in Connecticut, I'm sure I'll be going to many more games.

Speaking of going to more games, my boyfriend and I decided we're going to Baltimore on September 28th for the Red Sox-Orioles game that night.  We're both really excited about that, since neither one of us has been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards before.  So, in less than a month on the East Coast, I'll be going to 3 Red Sox games and experience 2 new ballparks.  Not bad.

Below, you will find pictures from Fenway Park on Saturday. 

Outside of Fenway Park

Jerry Remy's Restaurant, across from Fenway Park

View of the field before the game

Another view of the field before the game

Red Sox take the field

Fenway Park and Press Box

Lester pitching

Pedroia batting and Sabathia pitching

Victorina in Center Field and Gomes in Left Field

My boyfriend, Cole, and me

#HighFiveCity

Yankee bullpen coming out.
My mom wanted a picture of Mariano River, and this was the closest thing I could get

Red Sox win 5-1

Cole's brother Shane, Shane's girlfriend Ashley; me, and Cole

Me and Cole with Fenway in the background

1931-1932
The years my great-grandfather played for the Red Sox

Random Thoughts

I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with the blog with a Random Thoughts post.  Make sure to come back on Monday, where I will have a recap of my first Red Sox-Yankees game, which will also be my first trip to Yankee Stadium.  Now, here are the Random Thoughts for today

- Last night's game was frustrating to watch.  When the Red Sox were up 7-2, I thought they had it in the bag.  However, the Yankees came back and scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to take a 8-7 lead.  It kind of felt like karma in a way, since the Red Sox had done the same thing to the Tigers the night before.

- The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 9th last night off Mariano Rivera.  With two outs, Napoli singled, Berry pinch-ran for him and stole second, and Drew single to score Berry and tie the game.  It was Rivera's 6th blown save of the season, and it was a little reminiscent of 2004.

- The Red Sox took the lead in the 10th inning (and eventually completed the come-from-behind win) when Ellsbury singled  with one out, stole 2nd base, and Victorino singled to score Ellsbury.  The did this off Joba Chamberlain too.

- Uehara came in for save in the bottom of the 10th inning and made A-Rod pop out before striking out Overbay and Suzuki.  It was his 18th save of the season, and his ERA now stands at 1.14.

- Speaking of Overbay, if you remember, the Red Sox released Overbay before the start of the season when he didn't make the Major League roster, and he immediately signed with the Yankees.  Do you think he regrets not continuing with the Red Sox?  I ask this seriously, as the Yankees have gone through a lot of turmoil this season.

- Just for reference: the Yankees had one player (Cano) in the line-up last night who is hitting at least .300 (.307 to be exact).  The Red Sox had three (Ortiz at .315, Nava at .300, and Lavarnway at .318).  The Sox also have three players at the top of the lineup very close to .300 (Ellsbury at .299, Victorino at .294, and Pedroia at .296).

- I am very happy to see Nava doing so well.  I think everyone by now knows Nava's story, and he really is an inspiration to never give up on your dreams.

- I'm thinking Victorino was the best offseason move the Red Sox did this past offseason.

- Former Red Sox players Derek Lowe and Mike Timlin are set to fill in for Jerry Remy for Red Sox games on NESN.  I vote they try and get Pedro Martinez too; he'd be very entertaining.

- One thing I'm going to have to get used to living on the East Coast is the time difference.  Really, an hour doesn't seem like too much of a change until it comes to when games start.  6:00PM is much more convenient compared to 7:00PM.  Just saying.

Well, that's about it for me today.  I'm so excited about the game tomorrow.  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll be impressed to know I already know what I'm going to wear too!  Have a great weekend!

Random Thoughts

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends.  It was hot here in Iowa, 90’s for the past three days.  It’s storming now, but this weekend was nice enough to spend the majority of it outside.  I swam both Saturday and Sunday (and have a nice pinkish-brown tan to show for it), played some tennis, watched the Bruins lose Saturday, and celebrated a friend’s birthday yesterday.  I also got 4 hours of sleep last night due to various reasons.  Because of that, I thought I’d do a “Random Thoughts” post today.

• It’s a good thing the Red Sox have an off-day today.  They need to regroup and rest up.  The starting pitching was decent this past series to the Tigers, but you could tell the bullpen has been taxed lately.  Having a full-day’s rest for everyone is a good thing.

• It’s strange that I feel more comfortable with Lackey on the mound than with Lester.  Lackey has a 3.03 ERA for the season and seems to be getting better with each start, while Lester has a 4.57 ERA and seems to be getting worse each start.

• It would appear that Morales (pain in his left pectoral muscle) is heading for the disabled list.  Victorino (lower back injury) may be joining him.  This team needs to get healthy (again, the off-day today should help).  With Buchholz on the disabled list and Webster as his replacement, this team isn’t the same team who dominated over a month ago.

• The Red Sox are still in first place in the division and 2.0 games up of the Orioles.  However, the last place Jays are only 5.0 games out, and the Sox have a 4 game series with the Jays this weekend.

• I don’t usually vote for the All-Star Game; I haven’t voted for years.  The voting’s all done by popularity, not by who actually deserves to be on the team.  With that said, I may have to vote just to write-in Daniel Nava (he’s not listed as one of the Red Sox’s outfielders, as the roster is set before the teams really get into their seasons).  Nava’s played 69 games and is hitting .274 with 10 HRs, 45 RBIs, and 11 doubles.  Out of all the outfields on the Red Sox, Nava is the one I feel deserves to go to the All-Star Game.

• Though a lot hasn’t been said in the media thus far, I think Jose Iglesias has a chance of winning Rookie of the Year, if his numbers don’t drop off dramatically.  He’s played in 33 games, is hitting .426, and has 1 HR, 2 Triples, and 8 Doubles.  His defense is one of the best in the game, and he’s shown versatility by playing shortstop, third base, and second base.

• Uehara was named the closer for the Red Sox by Farrell on Friday.  Uehara has become my favorite reliever to watch this season because he’s so dynamic!  If you haven’t seen the video of #highfivecity Uehara slapping Victorino when he wasn’t ready for a high five from a couple weeks ago, you need to check out this gif.  And yes, I will be using the hashtag for Uehara, thanks to Pete Abraham’s tweet last week.

Well, that’s about it from me today.  Just a heads up, look for a pretty big announcement coming from me in the next couple weeks that will impact this blog. 

Red Sox @ Yankees Recap 5/31-6/2

First, the family get together that I had mentioned on Friday didn’t take place.  My relatives had water in their basement.  I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the news; but here in Iowa, we’ve received a lot of rain over the past couple weeks.  We had over 7 inches of rain Memorial Day weekend alone.  Rivers, creeks, and basements are all flooded here (as an aside, thoughts go out to all those people were have been affected by the weather lately: tornadoes, winds, rain, floods, and fires are all in the news today.  Terrible).

So, Friday night, my boyfriend and I watched the game together while we unwound from our busy weeks at work.  Let’s face it- Friday night’s game was hard to watch.  You could tell in the first inning Lester didn’t have his stuff.  Somehow, he managed to last 6.1 innings, but he threw 116 pitches in that.  His line for the night was: 6.1 IP, 6H, 4 ER, 4 BB, and 5 SO.  Not terrible by any means, but not what the Red Sox needed that night. 

The Red Sox ended up losing Friday night’s game 4-1.  Ellsbury, who had team-record 5 stolen bases the previous night, was unavailable to play all weekend.  Pedroia was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles.  Napoli and Ross also had doubles, and Napoli had the only RBI.  Nava had a nice outfield assist.

I didn’t watch much of Saturday night’s game.  First, the game was broadcasted on Fox; but in Iowa, so were the Cubs.  Cubs win here.  But, since there was a rain delay for the Cubs game, the Red Sox game was being broadcasted.  Unfortunately, it was being broadcasted at the same time as the Bruins game on NBC (Bruins won 3-0).  The Bruins are in the playoffs, if you didn’t know.  I would switch to the Red Sox game between periods and timeouts, but didn’t see much.  When the Bruins game was over and I switched permanently to the Red Sox game, the Cubs were playing.

I have to say, Doubront was pretty impressive Saturday night.  6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO.  I admit, I’m always a little hesitant when Doubront pitches.  Sometimes, he pitches well (like lately); but other times, he’s horrendous.  With the series on the line against the Yankees, the Red Sox really needed a good performance out of Doubront.  They got it.

Offensively, the Red Sox clobbered the Yankees and won 11-1.  Napoli hit a grand slam and went 3 for 5.  Drew went 2 for 5 with a home run.  Nava was 4 for 6, in the leadoff spot.  Every starter had at least one hit, except for Ortiz. 

The Red Sox won Sunday night’s rain-shortened-game 3-0.  In Ortiz’s words to The Boston Globe, “Three rain delays, a fake one and two real ones.  What else can you do?  Stick around and see how things are going to end.”  Things ended well for the Red Sox.

Clay Buchholz, whose last start was pushed back due to an injury, showed no signs of discomfort or rust.  Buchholz pitched 5.0 innings and gave up 2 hits.  He was credited with a complete game shutout, despite the fact that Miller game out after the rain delay to pitch the 6^th inning.  Since no out was recorded (and the outing only last 4 minutes, from reports), Buchholz got the complete game and Miller an appearance without throwing a pitch.

Ortiz and Napoli both went 2 for 3. Iglesias hit a home run, his first of the season.  For the record, Iglesias is hitting .434 in the Majors.  Ortiz also had a single-shot home run with a nice bat flip at the end (here’s the link for the video: Flipping the bat.

There’s also a great video of the members of the Red Sox and Yankees being startled by thunder.  Here’s that link: I'd jump too.

Overall, not a bad weekend to be a Red Sox fan.  The key for to make the playoffs is winning series, and that’s what the Red Sox are doing.  They are currently 35-23, and 2.5 games up from the Orioles.  Next game is against the Rangers tomorrow at Fenway.

Another Heartache and What Should/Could Be Done About It

This is getting repetitive; the Sox lost again last night.  This time, it was a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Red Sox are now in 3rd place, 3 games out of first, and only a game and a half up on the 4th place Rays.
The Red Sox started the game great.  Ortiz hit a 3-run home run in the 1st inning, and Lackey was working efficiently through the first three innings.  But, of course, things didn’t end well for Lackey.

In the fourth inning, Lackey gave up a single to Longoria, followed by a single to Loney, and a double to Luke Scott.  The score was now 3-1.  He struck out Kelly Johnson, but Jose Molina singled to score Loney and Scott.  It was now 3-3 in the fourth.  Two more runs would come in on a Matt Joyce single, making it 5-3, before Lackey would get out of the inning.  He lasted only 4.1 innings before being pulled in favor of the rested bullpen.

Let’s face it- everyone is getting frustrated with this team at the moment.  They’re teasing us.  Lester pitches a masterful game Friday night, and the team wins handedly.  Buchholz follows up that performance with an
8-inning great pitched game, only the Sox lose that game in the 9th inning on a home run given up by Tazawa.  Dempster gets lit up in Sunday's game.  Last night, Papi seems to be getting out of his slump by hitting his home run in the first inning, Lackey was cruising, but things became unravled by mid-game.

Things have to start gelling like they were the first month of this season.  The Red Sox had momentum that first month, and they’ve obviously lost it now.  Even the great attitudes seem to be waning (anyone check out some of the stupid Tweets Hanrahan was getting after it was disclosed he was having season-ending surgery?  Yikes!).

So, what does this team need?  A great pitching performance (Lester’s) doesn’t seem to get the team going, and even when the team is getting hits (Sunday, they had 10), they keep leaving runners in scoring position. Things have to fall in line at some point, right?

I also think that the line-up needs a bit of a shake-up.  For years, we have become accustomed to Pedroia hitting No. 2 in the line-up, and when he does it No. 3, he usually brings a big game.  Keeping Pedroia, who is hitting .338 this season without much power, in the No. 3 spot isn’t helping.  Move him back to No. 2. Another thing Pedroia has going for him is he has more walks (24) than strikeouts (22) this season, and he has 8 stolen bases and has been caught only once.

Ellsbury, batting only .256 with a .321 OBP needs to be moved from the top of the line-up.  I understand the feeling that Ellsbury has to stay at the top of the order because of his speed (12 stolen bases this season and caught twice), but if he’s not getting on base, there’s no one for the hitters behind him to score.  I think Victorino could lead-off.  He’s hitting .297 with a .358 OBP.  While he only has 3 steals, and has been caught twice, he’s getting on base.  That’s what the lead-off hitter needs to do.

Middlebrooks is the other issue in the line-up, though he’s starting to find his swing again.  He’s batting .200, with 44 strikeouts to 5 walks.  That is NOT GOOD!  Greg Colbrunn, the Red Sox hitting coach, needs to try and get Middlebrooks timing down and his confidence up.  It would be one thing if Middlebrooks was hitting .200 with a bunch of popouts, groundouts, and sac flies, but he has struck out 44 times!  The only Red Sox player who has struck out more is Napoli (53 times), but he’s still hitting .261 with a .523 slugging percentage to Middlebrooks’ .393.

Nava and Saltalamacchia have been the good surprises this season.  So far, Nava is hitting .288 with a .391 OBP and a .500 SLG.  He has 24 RBIs, which is second most RBIs on the team behind Napoli’s 33.  Salty is hitting .263 with a .333 OBP and a .495 SLG.  Last year, Salty hit .222 with a .288 OBP and a .454 SLG, which the Sox seemed fine with his performance.

Really, this team needs to wake up and realize that they have the potential to be a good, maybe even great, team.  They seemed to have that attitude in April, and it worked for them.  They wanted to be the underdogs that proved everyone wrong.  Now, it seems that as soon as they started to change critics’ minds, they’ve fallen back into pre-season expectations.  I know this team can do better, and I hope they realize they can too.

*********************************************************************************

I’ll be heading to Minneapolis on Friday, and I will be attending the Red Sox-Twins game Saturday night at Target Field.  It looks like it’ll be Dempster starting for the Sox and Diamond for the Twins.  It’ll be my first time seeing Dempster pitch live, and it’ll also be my first time at Target Field.

I’ve already started working on my Twitter-Mania Friday post, so I’m hoping I’ll get it posted before I leave.  Make sure to check back next week for pictures of the game.  Hopefully, the Red Sox remember how to win by then!

A Few Observations So Far

- The Red Sox are currently in first place in the American League East. Granted, it’s only 7 games in, but that’s reassuring for a team that many predicted to be in 4th or 5th place. Plus, the Sox have played the Yankees (3 games), the Blue Jays (3 games), and the Orioles (1 game). The play the Orioles and Rays this week, so it should be interesting to see where everyone ends up by Sunday. The standings so far:

Red Sox     5-2
Orioles      3-4
Yankees    3-4
Rays          3-4
Blue Jays  2-4

- Middlebrooks’ 3 Home Run game on Sunday versus the Blue Jays was a lot of fun to watch. For one, this is a guy who hit 15 home runs in 75 games last year before getting hurt. Who knows what he’ll do in a complete season. He also showed great defensive ability on the field. As great as all that is, I had an uneasy feeling in the back of my mind because of what happened to the last Red Sox to hit 3 home runs in 1 game. That was Dustin Pedroia in 2010. The next day, Pedroia was injured and out pretty much the rest of the season.

- How great have Buchholz and Lester been so far? Buchholz is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14.0 innings, giving up 9 hits, 1 run, 6 walks, and striking out 12. Lester is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12.00 innings, giving up 10 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and striking out 13.

- I unfortunately didn’t watch Lackey’s start the other day, but I did see the replay when he injured his arm. Hopefully, it’s minor. The guy worked hard to return, and everyone likes a comeback story. However, if Lackey does go on the DL, who do the Sox get to start? Aceves is one name that’s floating around, but I’m hoping they pull someone up from Triple-A. Aceves has already given up 5 runs in 4.1 innings, including 2 home runs.

- The Sox team ERA is 2.95. That’s good enough for 3rd best in the American League.

- How about Daniel Nava? Most people think of Daniel Nava as that rare player who makes a huge impact once (Nava’s first-pitch Grand Slam from 2010). Yesterday, Nava, in place of JBJ in left field, hit a MONSTER game-winning 3-run home run. Farrell had said he felt Nava, a switch-hitter, was seeing the ball well. His instincts paid off.

- Shane Victorino, the “Flyin Hawaiian,” has safely made it on base every game so far this season. He’s hitting .345 for the season with 1 double, 4 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases (he’s also been caught stealing twice).

- Speaking of stolen bases, the Sox currently have stolen 8 bases total while being caught twice (again, Victorino). Ellsbury leads the team with 4, then Victorino with 2, and  Ciriaco and JBJ both have 1. By comparison, Ellsbury had 14 stolen bases in 74 games last year. If my math works correctly (may be a big IF) and the Sox keep stealing bases at this clip, they could have approximately 185 stolen bases by the end of the season. They had 97 last year. (My math: 8 stolen bases/ 7 games multiplied by X stolen bases/ 162 games).

Well, that’s about it for me today.  I originally tried posting this last night without much success, so hopefully it works now.  I hope everyone is enjoying this season so far. I know I am!