Alright. The Rays couldn’t handle the Cardinals, and the Brewers couldn’t get anything out of the Sox, so the Fenway Faithful get to see their boys back in the top slot of the AL East.
Interestingly enough, I didn’t think the Sox would fare as well as they did (even with all the errors this weekend) against the Brewers. In fact, I had my mental prediction the other way around. If I were to pick a group of National League players to follow, I’d follow J.J. Hardy, Braun, Fielder and Gwynn. They all have a massive amount of talent and the Brewers will definitely do some major damage once their pitching is settled.
Speaking of pitching, Justin Masterson will make his second MLB start tomorrow (Tuesday) against the Royals and … drum roll… is that the smell of “Colon”? Why, yes… it’s Bartolo Colon, who will make his first Red Sox start on Wednesday. Personally, I think this is going to be a HUGE difference maker to the season. Bartolo is currently throwing in the upper 90s and seems to have his head back in the game. It’s like picking up a #4 free agent for nothing.
Other thoughts:
- Ellsbury got caught for the first time in his career. 25 straight without being tagged. That’s two shy of Tim Raines’ record.
- Varitek is such a great catcher, but he looks so weak at the plate sometimes.
- BOOM, Papi. Boom.
- Pedroia takes every opportunity he can find, doesn’t he?
- Beckett found his long ball pitch. Let’s put that back in the locker and hide it again, shall we?
- Craig Hansen is nowhere near the prospect he was when he pitched at Saint John’s. It may be one contract and out for that kid.
- The Yankees don’t have a chance this year unless they find a way to hit out of the cellar; pitching is not going to do it for them.
- Manny is deeply mired in a lack of power; no doubt putting pressure on himself over the next 2 homers.
- The Sox need to keep it going against the Royals. Losing this series will hurt them in the long run.
- The Celtics game was WAY too close. Par for the course on their season. Hopefully they won’t end up with the same destiny as the Pats (all this way for nothing).
