You can admit you were a little scared when C.J. Wilson mowed down the Boston Red Sox on Monday. You were probably thinking this could be a long four days against the Texas Rangers.
Well after another strong night from the offense and some great pitching from Andrew Miller in a 6-0 win last night, any worries we have about the Red Sox playing in Texas or even against the Rangers should be put to rest for now. These two same teams will meet again next weekend in Beantown so we’ll be able to see how Texas plays here.
Everyone had been a little worried about Adrian Gonzalez and the fact he hadn’t homered since July 30th. Gonzo quickly erased those doubts though with two home runs on Tuesday night, another home run on Wednesday night and then two more last night.
What is the most impressive part about it though is the fact that his final three home runs against his former club came on three pitches. The first two pitches he saw last night from Rangers starter Alexi Ogando were hit for 849 feet worth of home runs. His 23 home runs now ties him for second on the club with Jacoby Ellsbury which puts them both two behind David Ortiz.
Gonzalez also went over the 100 RBI mark for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in the last five years. He fell one RBI short in 2009 of making it to 100. His 102 RBIs marks the second best output of his career trailing his career-high of 119 he set back in 2008 as a member of the San Diego Padres.
He also has 181 hits on the 2011 season which is one less than his career-best of 182 that he had in 2007. It’s safe to say that he’ll get to 200 hits on the season and should probably best his RBI total as well.
Gonzo wasn’t the only one hitting home runs last night. Big Papi and Jarrod Saltalamacchia also got in the act as well. The trio was responsible for knocking in all six runs.
Enough can’t be said how about well Miller has been pitching in his two spot starts. He essentially lost his rotation spot when the Red Sox acquired Erik Bedard. But the writing had been on the wall in his previous starts because of his command issues. Still the Red Sox were 7-1 in his starts mainly thanks to stellar relief outings from Alfredo Aceves.
But in his two spot starts, he’s been outstanding. And because of that, the Red Sox are now 9-1 in his starts with his record standing now at 6-1 on the season.
He walked just two last night and allowed just three hits while rolling up six strikeouts. He had good command of all of his pitches and his fastball velocity was back up where it was when he first came up this season. Whether or not he gets another start remains to be seen, but I think we’ll continue to see good outings from him whether in the bullpen or as a starter.
Aceves did another wonderful job out of the pen last night and Dan Wheeler finished it off.
The Red Sox headed back to Boston after the game last night and will now play three games in two days against the Oakland Athletics because of the imending hurricane coming to New England this weekend. They’ll play a single game tonight and two tomorrow, one at noon and the other at 5 p.m.
We’ll be back later today with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and more for this evening’s game. But for now enjoy the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Show of strength [Boston Globe]
It’s another right turn by Miller [Boston Globe]
See you in September? [Boston Globe]
Teams being doubly cautious [Boston Globe]
He’s found the range [Boston Globe]
Red Sox go Gonzo in Texas [Boston Herald]
Got ’em back in Range [Boston Herald]
Bonus for Andrew Miller [Boston Herald]
Red Sox will play two before Irene [Boston Herald]
Sox beat Rangers for third time, 6-0 [CSN New England]
Road trip in rearview, Sox going strong [CSN New England]
Nation STATion: Up for the count [CSN New England]
Notes: Gonzalez back on hot streak [CSN New England]
Rapid reaction: Red Sox 6, Rangers 0 [ESPN Boston]
Terry Francona on Theo Epstein — I hope he doesn’t leave [ESPN Boston]
What has surprised Mike Aviles most about being a Red Sox [Full Count]
A look at how close Josh Beckett came to being a Texas Ranger [Full Count]
Closing Time: Red Sox bash Rangers, while Andrew Miller dominates [Full Count]
Andrew Miller has re-emerged as another weapon for the Red Sox [Full Count]
Andrew Miller Showcases Finest Outing With Red Sox, Makes Case to Remain in Rotation [NESN.com]
Boston blasts out a good old time in Texas [Providence Journal]
Crawford stepping up to bolster Boston offense [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Lefty Morales disarms Rangers [Providence Journal]
With Papi back, Lavarnway likely to stay put [RedSox.com]
What this road trip taught us about these Red Sox [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Dallas Morning News, ESPN Dallas and Ft. Worth Star Telegram websites.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
Photo credit: Getty Images
