Sox out of the Red

Finally, the Sox are starting to show some signs of life. They've won four in a row and 7 of their last 8. The best part...they're beating the best teams in baseball to boot! They split the two game series with the Yankees, a series that they should have owned both games but Papelbon exploded. Then they swept the Twins, took 2 out of 3 from the Phils (including a beatdown of Roy Halladay), and now have the first two in a three game set with the Rays. Impressive little run they've got goin' here, especially after everyone had written them off for the season, myself included.

It's no surprise that their success has come as a result of their pitching, save for that two game Yankees series. In their 6 wins since that Yankees series, they've given up a total of eight runs, eight! Keep in mind the competition they've had to face. It's not like they're shutting down the Orioles and Padres, it's the Phillies and Rays! Jon Lester has rediscovered his ace-form, Dice K came close to perfection, Buchholz is becoming a man, and even Wake pitched-in (no pun intended) with 8 shutout innings against the best hitting team in Quadruple-A. Now, if only Lackey could develop some consistency and Beckett could healthy...

This recent stretch wasn't enough to get them out of fourth in the AL East (thanks to the pesky play of the Jays), but it has brought them within 1.5 games of the Yankees for the Wild Card spot. So, how much excitement should Sox fans have? Lets keep things realistic. It's nice to see them hit a hot-streak like this, it shows you that they do have what it takes to win. The big question, though, is can they sustain this level of play for the remainder of the season? While I must admit my initial projections for this team seem to be a bit underestimated, I still have an extremely difficult time seeing them compete with the Yankees or Rays. Why? Because the AL East is a hitting division, and both those lineups make the Sox's look like the mid-2000's Royals one that featured Ruben Mateo hitting cleanup. The sox are getting great efforts out of Youk, Drew, and Papi of late, but they still lack that middle of the order hitter that makes the opposing pitcher cringe.

Yea, this has been a great run for the Sox, they're showing that they shouldn't be written off by the middle of May (my apologies). But, Sox fans, keep your expectations for the rest of the season in check. Barring a big trade by Theo, the Sox simply won't have enough to stick with the two "giants" of the AL East, and they'll still miss the playoffs in 2010.