With the All Star Game smack dab in the middle of the week there really been much change in the standings, but here is where we are as of today:
The Red Sox are still sitting on top of the AL East, but it's getting tighter. The Sox lost a series to the Mariners on the way into the break and then had the rest of the week off. The Sox come out of the All Star Break facing 3 different AL East teams. The Sox face off against the Yankees tonight, tomorrow and Sunday and then the Rays and O's. The Yankees have been all kinds of beat up this year, but they are still the Yankees so I would never count them out. The pitching lineups for those games are Doubront vs. Pettitte, Lackey vs. Kuroda and Lester vs. Sabathia. All of the ERAs of the pitchers in the matchups are bizarrely similar.
The Sox/Rays series in the middle of the week is the one I am going to pay most attention to. The Rays have made their move in the AL East and for a while it seemed like they were unable to lose a game. The Rays are only 2.5 games behind us in the standings right now, so the lead in the AL East hangs in the balance in that series. I'd love to see the Sox take that series, but splitting it would at least not do any damage. The Sox end the week playing a series with the Orioles. No matter what, the Sox always seem to struggle against the Orioles, so let's hope the team breaks that trend.
The biggest thing for the Sox, in my opinion, is to get and stay healthy. Clay Buchholz is on the DL and there seems to be no end in sight for that. Every time the Sox announce a time table for Clay's return there is a set back and he is unable to move forward. I am hoping he can pitch by sometime in August, but at this point who knows. The Sox lost other pitcher to the "season ending needs surgery" DL today. Andrew Bailey has labrum and capsule injury in his shoulder and the only way to repair it is surgery. If Bailey has surgery the recovery time is 12 months. Bailey had been pitching well the last couple of weeks, so this is another kick in the gut to an already hurting bullpen.
This week will be an interesting test for the Sox. I hope they will still be leading come next Friday, but the Rays are going to do everything they can to make sure that isn't the case.
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