The Red Sox won the series this weekend against the Angels, winning Saturday night and Sunday’s games after losing the first game on Saturday. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the key to making the playoffs is winning series. The Red Sox are doing this.
Unfortunately, the Yankees (and Orioles and Rays too) are doing this as well, so it’s been hard to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the AL East. The Red Sox now stand at 39-25, a .609 winning percentage, and are 1.5 games up from the Yankees. The next two series the Red Sox are facing are against the Orioles and Rays, away. They need to win both of these series.
Now, some thoughts and observations from this weekend’s series against the Angels:
- The Red Sox starting pitching was great in this series. Doubront (first game Saturday): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 4 SO. Not the best outing, but definitely a good outing for Doubront. Before he went out with an injury, Buchholz pitched well enough for his 9th win of the season: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 4 SO. Yesterday, Dempster had a good outing as well: 6.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, and 2 HR.
- Dempster also recorded his 2,000th strikeout yesterday.
- Buchholz left the game on Saturday with neck tightness. He hasn’t ruled out pitching his next start, but he’s still feeling sore, as of yesterday. He was supposed to be examined by the team doctor yesterday, but I have yet to hear any reports. An injury to Buchholz wouldn’t be good for a team who is only about .500 when pitchers other than Buchholz and Lester pitch.
- Ortiz, Saltalamacchia, and Carp connected with 2 home runs a piece this weekend, including Satly’s 2 home runs that game in yesterday’s game. Ortiz was 4/14 with 3 extra-base-hits and 6 RBIs. Salty was 3/8 with 4 RBIs, and Carp was 4/8 with 3 RBIs.
- Ellsbury, who sat out the second game on Saturday, had 3 stolen bases and a Triple. He was 3/8 for the series.
- Iglesias, who is making quite a name for himself in the Majors. He was 6/12 this weekend with a double and a stolen base. He is now hitting .446, and showing excellent and versatile defensive abilities at Shortstop, Third Base, and Second Base. When Middlebrooks comes back, the thought is Ciriaco is the odd man out at this point.
- I had a complete mental block while watching the beginning of the Red Sox win yesterday. I was at a pub with my boyfriend; and for some reason, the North Carolina-South Carolina college baseball game was on every television. We asked our waitress to switch the television closest to us to the Red Sox game, and the first batter we saw was Pujols. I completely forgot he was on the Angels, and still consider him a Cardinal. I know this is bad, especially coming from someone who loves baseball, but it’s still not sinking in. Besides, the Angels away uniforms are very similar to the Cardinals away uniforms.
- I was listening to WEEI’s broadcast of the game for a bit yesterday. They were talking about how “likable” this Red Sox team, and how that wasn’t always the game in years past. I have to agree with them. There really isn’t anyone on the team I dislike. I may dislike the way players are playing, but there’s no one I honestly dislike.
My blog had 81 views yesterday, which is a record. I want to thank everyone who viewed and who passed the word along about the blog.
I don’t think I posted this last week, but I will be attending a Yankees-Red Sox game in September. Purchased the tickets last week. I’m really excited about this, since this will be the first time I have been to a Yankees-Red Sox game, and it’ll be at Fenway Park.
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