Catchin' some Rays by Jared Carrabis
Sox sweep Manny, Dodgers to tie Rays for second in AL East


How quickly things can change.

On May 17, the Red Sox fell 8.5 games out of first place. They would remain 8.5 games out over the course of the next five games, or until their beat down of former AL East foe, Roy Halladay, on May 22.

After the series finale against the Dodgers, the Red Sox have played in twelve interleague games in 2010 to this point. With a win on Sunday Night Baseball, they have now won ten of those twelve games.

Eying a sweep of one of the National League's best, the Red Sox sent one of the American League's best to the mound. Clay Buchholz entered his outing with a chance to join David Price of the Rays and Phil Hughes of the Yankees, as the only 10-game winners in the American League.

Before the season even began, Buchholz wasn't even a sure thing to be a part of this rotation, but as we enter the latter half of the month of June, he has now established himself as a legitimate possibility to appear in this summer's All Star Game.

Buchholz entered the game with an ERA of 2.67, which was tops in the American League, and his performance on Sunday would only justify his numbers.

Facing 26 batters in six and-two-thirds innings, Buchholz only allowed three hits, while striking out four. His control was a little off, though, as the right-hander walked three and plunked two batters.

After allowing a ground-rule double to Garret Anderson and drilling Blake DeWitt with a slider that got away, Daniel Bard was called upon with two outs and runners at the corners. Bard retired the first batter that he faced on one pitch, getting Jamey Carroll to ground into a 6-4 putout to end the inning.

Boston's bats were quiet against Hiroki Kuroda, who struck out nine over seven innings of work, but with Red Sox pitching allowing four total hits, Kuroda would suffer a tough-luck loss.

An RBI single by Kevin Youkilis in the first, and a sacrifice fly by David Ortiz was all the Red Sox needed.

Jonathan Papelbon made his 28th appearance of the season in the ninth inning, and hit as high as 98 MPH on the gun. Papelbon hurled a perfect frame, including a strikeout to Casey Blake, as the Red Sox completed the sweep of the Dodgers.



Final score: Dodgers 0, Red Sox 2
WP: Clay Buchholz (10-4)
LP: Hiroki Kuroda (6-5)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (16)

Game notes: With their win over the Dodgers, the Red Sox move within one game of the first place New York Yankees. Their win on Sunday gave the Red Sox their sixth consecutive win, and their seventh in their last eight games. Since 2005, the Red Sox are now 72-30 in interleague play, which is the best record in all of baseball over that span. Coincidentally, the Dodgers have the worst interleague record over that same span.

Clay Buchholz, who has already set a new career high in wins, has moved himself into a three-way tie for the league lead in wins, with ten. His 2.47 ERA ties him with Andy Pettitte of the Yankees for second best in the AL, as David Price and Doug Fister share the top spot with an ERA of 2.45.

Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to ten games on Sunday night, after going 3-for-4, with a run scored and two stolen bases. Over his current streak, he's hitting .500 (20-for-40) with 12 runs scored in 10 games. The 10-gamer for Pedroia is a season-best. Hitting as low as .248 on June 9 -- the day before his current hitting streak-- Pedroia has bumped his average up to .284.

Adrian Beltre smashed a double to the warning track in center in the bottom of the sixth, to match Dustin Pedroia with a ten-game hitting streak of his own. During Beltre's hitting streak, he's hitting .375 with three homers and 8 RBI. The right-hander's .346 average is good for fourth best in the American League, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki.

Eye on the scoreboard: A Mark Teixeira grand slam provided the only runs in a 4-0 win for the Yankees over the Mets, as the Rays were losers again to the Marlins, in a 4-1 defeat. As it stands now, the Yankees are alone in first place, with the Red Sox dead even with the Rays in second place.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! Thanks for reading.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on June 20, 2010

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