On May 14th, the Boston Red Sox started a stretch of thirteen games against some tough competition in the form of the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays. Only two of those games (Twins) were at home.
It was a stretch that could really make or break the season for the Red Sox. But with some strong starting pitching over the latter part of the 13 games, great defense and an offensive resurgence led by David Ortiz, the Red Sox went 9-4 in those games including three-game sweep of the Rays that culminated in last night’s 11-3 win.
John Lackey wasn’t at his absolute best last night but he pitched much better than he had over the course of his past two starts. There were times when the home plate umpire squeezed him but being the bulldog he is, he got through it and kept the Red Sox in the game. He ended up scattering eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs with four walks and just one strikeout.
Lackey pitched with a lead from the 3rd inning on as the Red Sox offense broke through against Rays starter Matt Garza, who has owned the Red Sox as of late, especially at Tropicana Field. But Garza wasn’t his usual self as he had some command issues as he walked five. And some of the pitches he left out over the plate, were blasted for home runs by Adrian Beltre (twice) and David Ortiz.
As Big Papi goes, so do the Red Sox. And right now, everything is clicking.
Big Papi’s hot month of May continued as he hit his 9th home run (2-run shot) of the month last night and pushed his RBI total to 27 on the season.
But the big story of the evening was Beltre’s bat. He finished just a double short of the cycle as he added a single and a triple to the two home runs. He also tied his career-high of six RBIs in a game. His most impressive hit of the night was definitely the 3-run homer as Garza left a breaking ball out over the plate that he crushed off of one knee. He has been the Red Sox best hitter this season as his average is now up to .341.
Beltre started out slow out of the gate as far as his power numbers are concerned. After hitting .338 with no home runs and nine RBIs in April, Beltre has belted all five his home runs this month and has 24 RBIs as well while hitting .344. He has made seven errors in the field but he’s also made up for it with some outstanding defensive plays.
With the lowly Kansas City Royals coming into town for a four-game set, the Red Sox need to keep the momentum of the past two weeks going. They’ve narrowed the gap considerably in the AL East standings as they now sit in third place a ½ game ahead of the Blue Jays. They are two games behind the Yankees for second place and 5½ games behind the Rays.
Considering where this season was headed, it’s been great to see them play like the expectations they were given and had. Now it’s time to continue it and finish out May on a positive note against the Royals.
We’ll be back later with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any news and links from the day but for now enjoy the overnight links.
Sox make it a clean sweep on Tampa Bay’s carpet [Boston Globe]
Ellsbury sits out another [Boston Globe]
Beltre shows off power play [Boston Globe]
Ellsbury remains out with soreness in side [RedSox.com]
Red-hot Papi returns to familiar spot [RedSox.com]
Ortiz ‘crushed’ by Lima’s death [RedSox.com]
Red Sox sweep away Rays [Boston Herald]
True potential rising to surface [Boston Herald]
Adrian Beltre’s having a blast [Boston Herald]
David Ortiz mourns loss of friend Jose Lima [Boston Herald]
Joe West doesn’t back off Sox-Yankee comments [CSN New England]
Umpire West to work Sox series [ESPN Boston]
Video: Here come the Red Sox [ESPN Boston]
Red Sox rising above the chaos [ESPN Boston]
Remy on D&C: Ortiz unlikely to be back next year [Full Count]
Closing time: Red Sox 11, Rays 3 [Full Count]
The Red Sox found more ‘make’ than ‘break’ [Full Count]
Ellsbury questions Sox’ treatment of injury [Full Count]
Boxscore Breakdown – St. Pete Sweet Sweep [Full Count]
Above Tropicana Field’s Catwalks Is the Best View in All of Florida [Heidi Watney – NESN.com]
Adrian Beltre Bashes Two Home Runs, Tallies Six RBIs [NESN.com]
John Lackey Guts Out Strong Start, Defeats Rays [NESN.com]
Red Sox Come Out of Rough 19-Game Stretch As Hottest Team in Baseball [NESN.com]
Red Sox Could Be in Sticky Situation if Victor Martinez Can’t Return Soon [Tom Caron – NESN.com]
Kevin Millar Part of Boston Tradition of Appreciating Colorful Characters [NESN.com]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying, head over to the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.
