So Close We Can Taste It by Jared Carrabis
Sox complete the sweep, get within half-game of first place


The Yankees are surging, the Blue Jays are falling and the Red Sox are now within a half-game of first place.

Coming off back-to-back rough outings, Jon Lester took the mound for Boston with hopes of getting back on the right track with a win. The left-hander started his night off with a scoreless inning in the top of the first, as the Boston bats went to work in the bottom half. Jacoby Ellsbury wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 16 games by ripping his eighth double of the season into right field.

Ellsbury would come around to score after consecutive ground outs by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Kevin Youkilis later reached base after an eight-pitch walk to put a runner on for the red-hot, Jason Bay. With a 3-1 count, Bay rifled a 91 MPH fastball to the opposite field that bounced off the top of the wall and landed safely over the bullpen for a two-run shot. The history-making homer put the Sox on top by a 3-0 score.

The Sox tacked on another run in the bottom of the third when Kevin Youkilis hammered an RBI base hit into center field to drive in Dustin Pedroia, who reached base on his thirteenth double of the season. The RBI for Youkilis was his first since May 4th, as he missed significant time on the 15-day disabled list.

With Jon Lester putting up scoreless innings galore, Boston again added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth by playing a little small ball. With Dustin Pedroia at the plate and Jacoby Ellsbury at first base, the Blue Jays wisely orchestrated a pitch-out, and they guessed right. unfortunately for them, Ellsbury slid in safely regardless with steal number 17 on the season for the Red Sox outfielder. After the steal, Pedroia shot a base hit back up the middle to drive in the speedy Ellsbury; 5-0 Sox.

Jon Lester took the mound for the top of the seventh and faced three batters, but could only record one out. He allowed a walk and a single before getting the hook from Red Sox skipper, Terry Francona. Lester exited to a standing ovation, and with a tip of his cap, his night was over. After his 109th, and final, pitch had been thrown, Lester had gone 6.1 innings, scattering eight hits, walking two and striking out four, but was responsible for the two men on base.

Ramon Ramirez took Lester's place and allowed just one of the two inherited runners to score before closing the books on Lester. Ramirez did, however, load the bases with two outs, but was bailed out on a spectacular catch by Jason Bay. With two outs and the bases loaded, Adam Lind hit a fly ball down the right field line that Bay snagged with literally no room to spare. The Red Sox escaped after only allowing one run, when the tying run made it to the plate in the inning.

Having not worked since the first game of the series, Jonathan Papelbon was called upon to wrap up the game in a non-save situation. Papelbon allowed just one base-runner (a single by Aaron Hill), but needed just 13 pitches to retire the side, lowering his ERA below 1.00 (0.95). His 13-pitch outing should absolutely not keep him from being available on Friday night, in a game with Johan Santana starting for the Mets, it's more than likely going to be a close one.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will be making his return to the Red Sox rotation on Friday. Matsuzaka has been on the shelf since April 15 after experiencing shoulder fatigue (cough, WBC, cough), but before the fatigue set in, the right-hander was sensational for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, in which he was named Most Valuable Player (again). In his last rehab start for Pawtucket, Matsuzaka tossed five innings with a pitch count of 70 pitches and gave up two earned runs, while striking out nine. As far as Johan Santana goes, he's Johan Santana. He has been spectacular in the National League, but in his career at Fenway Park when he pitched for the Twins, he's 1-3 with a 6.89 ERA.

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

With their win against Toronto on Thursday night, the Red Sox improved their home record to 16-4 at Fenway Park. The Sox' record at Fenway is the best home record among all American League teams.

When the Sox broke out the brooms against the Jays on Thursday night, it was the first time Toronto has been swept in all of 2009. In addition to that, it was the first time that the Red Sox have swept the Blue Jays at Fenway Park since August 16-18 of 2004.

I mentioned that Jason Bay's first inning home run was a "history-making" homer, but some of you may not know why. I shall explain: the last 11 HR's that Bay has hit, there has been at least one man on base for each of them. The eleven straight home runs with men on base is a Red Sox record. Who was he tied with at 10 straight? Kevin Youkilis. If Bay's next HR is hit with men on base, he will tie Hank Aaron and Ken Griffey Jr. for the Major League record. Pretty good company to be in, if I do say so myself.

I think my man-crush of 2009 is Jason Bay, so since this is my blog, I'm going to shower you with more stats on the man who has become the biggest force in Boston. Bay has now hit a home run in consecutive games and has homered in 8 of his last 16 games. He ranks in the top three in all of the major offensive categories: 13 HR (2nd), .433 OBP (3rd), .657 SLG (1st), 1.090 OPS (2nd), 44 RBI (2nd), and he also ranks second in walks with 32 and fifth in runs scored with 34.

Okay, I'm done with Jason Bay...just kiddin'. Out of his 13 HR this season, 11 of them have left the yard after an opposing pitcher decided to throw this guy a fastball. I don't want to be the guy to say, "Newsflash: stop throwing this guy fastballs", because chicks dig the long ball, and I want to see more of that, for his sake, and for mine.

More on Jason Bay--gotcha! Jacoby Ellsbury's 16-game hitting streak is the longest active hitting streak in the Majors. After a 1-for-4 night on Thursday, Ellsbury's average sits at .302, and as for the stat that every baseball GM drools over, he has a .335 OBP.

The crowd at Fenway Park on Thursday night that was fortunate enough to see all of this history-making and Red Sox domination, was actually part of history themselves. The crowd of 38,347 was the largest at Fenway Park in the post-World War II era. So congrats Fenway Faithful! Even though you don't get paid millions of dollars to show up at Fenway Park every day like the players do, you continue to enter the record books anyway.

John Smoltz watch:

For those of you out there that are just as eager as me to see John Smoltz pitch in a Red Sox uniform as me, here's an update. Smoltz pitched in his very first rehab assignment as a member of the Red Sox organization on Thursday. (How did he do Jared?! Tell me! Tell me!) The 42-year-old Smoltz was limited to 29 pitches, but tossed three scoreless innings and struck out two batters in his start for Single-A Greenville. This is obviously fantastic news, but he will need to get some more work in before we see his return to the big leagues for the first time without an "A" on his hat. No rush Smoltzy, we're payin' ya for September and October, not June and July. Take your time, big guy.

It's supposed to be in the 90's again tomorrow, good thing we're not the Pirates,
-Jared Carrabis

Published on May 22, 2009

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