When one of your aces goes down, that’s what you need, you need your backup to step up and hold the fort so that you can get in, score runs, and get out. And that’s exactly what Masterson did. Now, he’s a young guy yet, so the length of his start was an issue. Terry Francona was thinking four, maybe five innings, but Masterson pitched five and a third. One run on four his with two walks and three K’s. The sinker was on. It was beautiful. And that, my friends, is why he needs to come out of the bullpen and enter the rotation. He’s a starter by trade. He has all the skills and gifts of a starter. And not only that, he has all the trappings of a great starter. He can and will excel as a member of the rotation in the future; they’re not going to keep him in the bullpen forever. But in the meantime it just seems like such a waste.
The relief corps continues to be top-notch, right down to Hideki Okajima. Delcarmen, Okajima, Lopez, and Hunter Jones were spic-and-span through four. But it was really our offensive performance that stole the show. We swept the four-game series with Baltimore and went out with a pretty significant bang, absolutely burying the Orioles with twelve runs and fifteen hits. With the exception of Nick Green, every member of the starting lineup either had a hit, an RBI, or both. Jacoby Ellsbury went three for six with an RBI and a stolen base. Basically, he did everything he does best. I don’t want to jinx it and say he’s back yet but he’s getting there. Dustin Pedroia the Destroyah went four for six with three (count ‘em: three) RBIs. Ortiz went two for four with two RBIs, and guess what? Those two hits were for extra bases! A double and a two-out, stand-up triple for Big Papi. With that triple he tied Joe Cronin for tenth place on the Red Sox all-time RBI list with 737. Again, I really don’t want to jinx this, but if he keeps this up we’re golden; our first three batters collected nine hits on the day. Youk went one for two with three walks, something he was always good at. Baldelli had RBI. Bay was perfect at the plate with an RBI. Mikey Lowell was two for five with two RBIs. And Jason Varitek. The captain. Two for five with a solo home run in the second that he crushed into the Monster seats. I mean there was no way that ball was staying anywhere near the field. The man made contact, and it was out. It was one of those swings where the ball meets the bat, you hear the crack, and you know Tek will take a jog around the bases. An excellent piece of hitting. And did I mention it’s his third of the year?
It looks like Jed Lowrie will opt to have surgery on his wrist, but it won’t be season-ending. He should be back by the All-Star break. All I want is for him to do what’s best for his long-term health. He’s the future of Boston at shortstop, and in the meantime Nick Green’s been doing great and we’ll have Julio Lugo waiting in the wings, so he should take his time and get himself right.
So we continue our climb to the top of the AL East. Our four-game sweep of the O’s puts our record at seven and six and ties us for second place with the Yankees, just two and a half games out of first. That’ll all change this weekend, starting on Friday, when we play New York for the first time this year. And we’ll be at home. The one thing I’m sad about is that Girardi decided to push back Wang’s next start, so we won’t get to face him. See, I think that’s completely unfair. Everyone else in the league gets to tee off against him and we don’t? Completely unfair. At least we won’t have to face Nick Swisher, because then I’d really be scared. But in the meantime, we have the Twins to contend with. I’m not worried. Right now, we’re playing the best baseball we’ve played since the season started. We’re on a five-game winning streak and our lineup’s getting hot. Baker at Wakefield. I’m psyched. Seriously.
In other news, the Bruins continued their total domination of the Canadiens yesterday with a 4-2 victory in Montreal. For the past few years, the Bell Centre has had the best attendance in the National Hockey League but was beaten this season by the Chicago Blackhawks. Let me just paint a picture for you. With between five and ten minutes left in the game, the Habs fans start leaving. They just get up and start walking out of the arena. So they boo the American national anthem, and then they get up and they leave when they don’t like what they see. I come from Red Sox Nation, and we do things differently in Boston, but even objectively speaking, what kind of fans are those? And I would also like to point out that what Gregory Stewart did to Patrice Bergeron wasn’t just roughing, it was reckless force. I mean he was covering Bergeron’s face with his glove, almost choking the man, while the referees stand by and just watch. Eventually, they come in and interfere. But I mean really. Anyway, the point is we’re up three-zip in the series, which should be in the bag at this point. If we can win against the Habs in their house with some key guys missing, then we’re deeper than deep and we have what it takes to go all the way. Game four tomorrow in Montreal at 7:00PM. Can’t wait!
I’m glad to see that the Sox are making their way out of the basement and everyone has started to calm down about being in last place in April. Masterson stepped in and did an amazing job in the starting role, similar to what he did last season. David Ortiz finally broke out and things are looking up for the Sawx. Gotta Love It!