Just when it looked as if the AL East was going to be a dog fight between the Red Sox, Yankees and The Blue Jays, the Red Sox are putting together a really nice run and are trying to pull away from the pack.
Momentum is key and the Red Sox have it right now. They have a great defensive club and if you look at their line up it is formidable. Of course having David Ortiz ( probably the best clutch hitter in the game in recent memory) and Manny Ramirez batting three and four and driving in one hundred-thirty and one-hundred forty-five runs sure is not too shabby either.
Pitching is a question mark; as it is with the Yankees and the Blue Jays. Shilling looks great and is in tremendous shape but he is also thirty-seven and one good laid down bunt and twisted ankle could end all of that. Which is a real mystery to me that more guys refuse to bunt on him. Josh Becket has a good record and a high ERA. He is also blister prone and injury plagued. After that as with New York and Toronto, the staff is a question mark. Jonathan Papelbon is near perfect and their bull pen is not as awful as the Yankees. All three AL East contenders have a quality closer.
The key for the Red Sox is to beat up on their opponents out of their division. Playing over seventy games, nearly half a season, against their own division is the caveat. The Blue Jays always play the Red Sox well and this year is no different. We know how they play the Yankees. The Orioles and Devil Rays could be key here. The Orioles are awful. The Devil Rays hate the Red Sox and will play them hard. Tampa is my sleeper pick to put a metal rod into the spokes of the Red Sox momentous rolling wheel.
It will be fun to see the Mets and Red Sox face off starting tonight. The Mets are strong and steady. No speed bumps yet. This will be a good test to see if these Red Sox are starting to make a serious move. If they can handle the Mets ( which is not impossible at Fenway) we have to consider them as a legitimate threat to break the Yankee string of consecutive AL East pennants.
Although the Yankees are still hanging around there are too many holes to patch and the injuries keep mounting. Innings from starters are rare and that bull pen seems dreadful at times. That is a direct effect of over work and mismanagement. They also go through long droughts of offensive malnutrition. Although this also was the case the last two years. The corner infield positions, when Giambi is at first, defensively, is not good.
The Blue Jays, well they have a lot to prove to be considered a real threat. After all It's Canada. Enough said.
The other momentum stopper will be the All-Star game. It never fails. The team that goes into the break on a roll, like the Red Sox, usually losses an edge. (I don't think this will happen to the Mets because they have been steady all year). It appears to me that the Red Sox have an upper hand on the division this year. What do you think?
