The Boston Red Sox have won eight of their last nine; 14 of the last 18. The losses include an 8-3 loss by Curt Schilling to the Devil Rays, a 8-7 squeaker to the White Sox (done in by leaving nine runners on base), a 3-2 loss to the White Sox again in which Youkilis got hurt, and lastly, the 3-0 drop to Toronto in which Lilly baffled us all.
But as Pedro Martinez was so aptly singing two nights ago, the Red Sox are maniacs. The Red Sox are now the best offensive team in baseball, passing the Cleveland Indians for first on the runs scored tab. They’re still nowhere near last year’s offense which is the best in MLB history, but they’re pretty close to scoring as many runs as they did last year. The pitching has perked up lately and The Trade has given us solid defense. A midly upset David Ortiz (who really prefers hitting third) blasted two homeruns last night and hopefully is getting used to being the cleanup hitter.
With everything clicking and Jason Varitek due back tomorrow, the Red Sox are in good shape as the pennant race is about to heat up. With the Red Sox five and a half games back of the slumping Yankees (who were two ninth-inning heroics away from a lead of 3.5 games) and tied with Anaheim for the Wild Card lead (Rangers two back), Boston needs to come out of the little “AL West” stretch in good shape. After Detroit, the Red Sox host the Angels to a three-game affair. They will then heartily open their doors to the Texas Rangers for a three game foray before flying cross-country (with no off-day scheduled) to take on the Athletics. Don’t worry though, the A’s will have jet lag also, flying home from a little affair with the Blue Jays. After that three-game stretch, the Sox will fly to Seattle and try to avoid a little devious coup d’etat by the Mariners, who would relish beating up on the likely to be burnt-out Red Sox.
Nine games in nine days versus the top three AL West teams. From Boston to Oakland to Seattle. Jet lag, anyone? Fortunately, we will be into September by the time the players will need to take off their shoes at the airport lest they be packaging bombs. Therefore the relief corps will be on the way, in the shape of (you heard it here first) Colonel Andy Dominique, Lieutenant Brian Daubach, Captain Mark Malaska, and Private Earl Snyder (assuming of course Pawtucket no longer needs their services).
What about those pesky Angels, Rangers, and Athletics? Well…
How about the A?s starting pitching over the past 10 days? Since the start of this stretch of games against Baltimore and Tampa Bay, A?s starters have given up two runs or less in every start except two (Mulder?s 5-4 win against Baltimore last week and Harden?s 9-5 win versus Tampa Bay last Saturday). The A?s have had three shutouts, one game where they allowed one run and two games where they allowed two runs. The pitching staff as a whole has posted a sick 1.66 ERA during that span. While the Devil Rays aren?t going to win any batting titles, the Orioles are a good hitting ballclub that had been red-hot before the A?s met them last week and put their bats in a deep freeze.
Let’s check out what Pedro was singing:
Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night
Looking for the fight of her life
In the real time world no one sees her at all
They all say she’s crazy
Locking rythms to the beat of her heart
Changing movement into the light
She has danced into the danger zone
When the dancer becomes the dance.
It can cut you like a knife
If the gift becomes the fire
On the wire between will and what will be
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
On the ice blue line of insanity
Is a place most never see
It’s a hard won place of mystery
Touch it but can’t hold it
You word all your life for that moment in time
It can come or pass you by
It’s push, shove world but there’s always a chance
If the hunger stays the night
There’s a cold kinetic heat
Struggling, stretching for the peak
Never stopping with her head against the wind
She’s a maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
It can cut you like a knife
If the gift becomes the fire
On the wire between will and what will be
She’s a maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
Maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac at your love
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before.
Sounds like the Red Sox, doesn’t it?
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