Change Is Good by Jared Carrabis
Sox shuffle proves to be trouble for Jays


Congratulations, Terry Francona. You've finally done it.

After dropping the first two games of the series in Toronto, Red Sox manager Terry Francona shuffled up the lineup, and the results were like night and day. Just days after dropping David Ortiz to the sixth slot and moving JD Drew to bat third, Fracona finally parted ways with his favorite "left-right-left" pattern that he likes at the top of the Red Sox lineup.

The most noticeable change would be dropping lead-off hitter, Jacoby Ellsbury, to the eighth spot, while Dustin Pedroia was bumped up to the top spot in the batting order. Jacoby Ellsbury's speed was arguably what kept him in the lead-off spot for so long, but aside from stealing bases, the stat that is going to keep a hitter in the lead-off spot is simple: OBP.

Coming fresh off a 200+ hit season in 2008, Dustin Pedroia is hardly ever seen making his way back to the dugout after an at bat. He ranks second on the team in OBP (.416) behind Kevin Youkilis (.478), who also had a new home in the Red Sox lineup on Sunday. While Youkilis and Pedroia rank 1 and 2 in OBP on the Red Sox, Youkilis ranks first in the American League in OBP, while Pedroia ranks sixth.

Youkilis was also a player that was involved in Francona's shuffle on Sunday. The Sox' first baseman was inserted into the former slot of David Ortiz, the three-hole. In my opinion, Kevin Youkilis in the perfect number three guy. He ranks first in the American League in slugging (.672), OBP (.478), which obviously means he ranks first in the most important stat, OPS (1.150). His .366 batting average entering the game was good for second in the league, which means this guy just plain gets on base. Now, the reason he's the perfect number three hitter, in my eyes, is not only because of the stats that I just listed, but because of who's now hitting behind him.

With Youkilis being bumped up to the third-slot, Jason Bay also slid up a spot to occupy the cleanup slot. Genius. With Bay hitting cleanup behind Youkilis, the two sluggers complement each others hitting abilities. David Ortiz simply wasn't getting on base in front of Youkilis in the fourth hole. JD Drew is a great talent, but is very streaky when it comes to getting on base. But with Youkilis hitting third and Bay hitting fourth, we may be in for something special as far as run production is concerned, because these two just get the job done.

Avoiding the sweep on Sunday with this new and improved lineup, Jon Lester led the way with one of his most dominant performances to date. It's hard to top a no-hitter, but the left-hander did, however, set a new career high in strikeouts with twelve against the Blue Jays. He also set a new season high after tossing 115 pitches through six innings. Lester surrendered just one run on three hits, while walking three en route to picking up his fourth win of the season.

The damage done by the new lineup was noticed almost instantly, as Kevin Youkilis homered to right-center field in the top of the first. Although the Jays came back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, the Sox put a three spot on the board in the top of the fourth when the new lead-off man, Dustin Pedroia, cranked his second home run of the season down the left field line to make it 4-1, Boston.

From there, the Sox just poured it on. With an RBI double by Mike Lowell in the fifth, the Boston third baseman helped to provide more than enough run support for Lester, who was dominating every frame. The new 3-4 combination delivered the dagger in the top of the eighth when Kevin Youkilis tagged his second home run of the game, and ninth of the season, as Jason Bay homered right after to go back-to-back.

When it was all said and done, Youkilis and Bay combined to go 4-for-7 with 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 walks and 14 total bases. The two also collected 3 2-out RBI. Pedroia chipped in with a 1-for-4 day with 3 RBI, as JD Drew also went 1-for-4 with an RBI out of the two-slot. Hitting fifth, where he spent much of 2007 when he drove in the most runs by a third baseman in Red Sox history (120), Mike Lowell went 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. David Ortiz also had a double on the day. Ellsbury accounted for a stolen base and a 1-for-3 day at the plate in Boston's victory.

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

Jon Lester turned in one of his best outings of the season. Although he didn't have the juice to go all the way, take this as a good sign that of all three hits that he gave up on Sunday, none of them left the infield.

After driving in his 49th run of the season on Sunday, Jason Bay also drove in his 30th RBI of the month of May. On the last day of May, Bay's 30 RBI now rank second most in Red Sox history for the most RBI in the month of May. The top spot is held by two Red Sox greats. In 1978, en route to winning the American League MVP, Jim Rice drove in 33 runs in the month of May, while Nomar Garciaparra accomplished the same feat in his magical season of 1999 where the Boston shortstop drove in 104 runs (.357 AVG) and finished seventh in the AL MVP voting. Nomar also took the field as the starting shortstop at the 1999 All Star Game at Fenway Park.

Lester's career high 12 strikeouts were the most K's by a left-handed pitcher wearing a Red Sox uniform since lefty Bruce Hurst racked up 14 strikeouts in a complete game effort against Oakland on May 5, 1987.

Dustin Pedroia's three-run home run was his first home run since his first at bat of 2009.

Tuesday's pitching match up:

The Sox will get on off-day on Monday to pack their bags in Toronto, Canada and make their way to Detroit for a three-game set with the Tigers, who are 5-5 in their last ten games. Daisuke Matsuzaka gets the start on Tuesday, looking for his first win of 2009. Matsuzaka isn't exactly coming off his best outing at the Major League level after letting fly a team-tying record of four wild pitches in a losing effort. In typical Daisuke fashion, it took over 100 pitches (102) to make it through five innings. On the bright side, Matsuzaka is 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA and his only career complete game has come against the Tigers. The Red Sox will have their hands full when they face Rick Porcello, who was 5-0 in the month of May.

Don't touch this lineup,
-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 2

Published on May 31, 2009

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