Road Warriors

That's Manny Ramirez hitting a home run. A much needed two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th to provide a couple of insurance runs to put the game and the weekend series against the New York Yankees away. The Sox finished with 16 wins and 8 losses in the month of April despite the fact that Manny has the 3rd lowest batting average on the team. This places him slightly above the likes of rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia and outfield utility Wily Mo Pena. Boston right now is enjoying a 4 game lead over second place Toronto and a 6.5 game lead over the Yankees and hold a five game to one advantage over them for the season. Also noteworthy is the fact that Boston made it out of April on the road with a 9 and 5 record which is first in the American League. Talk to me after their killer month in August on the road though.

There is much adieu about Yanks skipper Joe Torre's job being in danger. I'm not sure if I buy into that even as they finish up their worst April in recent memory. Even though Yanks GM Brian Cashman (can you think of a more ironic name?) is no doubt sweating bullets. However they always seem to come around before the All-Star Break, so I'm not cheering just yet. Also, once their starting rotation gets into a rhythm don't expect them to be setting up camp in the American League East cellar. The worst case scenario however, would be if Boston stayed consistent to how they played this month and stay healthy to win their first division crown in 12 seasons. That may not be the end of it either. Consider the fact that the Blue Jays could very well improve on last season's mild success and continue their upward trend. It may be slightly less possible but the Baltimore Oriole's may even not completely derail this season now that they've beefed up the bullpen a bit. However, I'm not betting my life savings on the fact that the Yankees will finish in anything less than second once the dust settles in the East.

Back to some things that I think Boston will need to continue doing or would need to change...

-The big three of the starting ro' need to 1) stay healthy and 2) stay consistent over the course of the months that have plagued the Sox. July, August, and even September have not been kind in past several seasons. Schilling needs to pitch like he wants to return in a Boston uniform next year, Beckett needs to keep on keepin on and hopefully not be bitten by the injury bug from all that heat he has been throwing, and Dice-K needs to learn to relax with runners on the bags. When Jon Lester comes back from his rehab assignment in AAA Pawtucket he should bump Julian Tavarez from the five spot. Tavarez was already quoted after today's win that he'd be happy with any position on the roster. Good attitude to have provided how well your performances have gone this month. Fucker. Anyway, Lester threw a gem down in Rhode Island last Friday throwing five scoreless giving up only three hits, no walks and 6 K's. If he makes an impact in the Sox lineup this summer, look for the storyline that he survived lymphoma cancer and successfully completed chemotherapy treatments last December to be played on ESPN every time he starts. Not that I'm downplaying the man beating the odds and making a comeback, I just know how much the World Wide Leader likes to capitalize on stories like this.

-The bullpen needs to keep rolling on the success they've sparked up this month. Simple as that. They've been playing shutdown ball when called upon so far and it's a very welcome change considering the questions surrounding the right field residence at Fenway for the relievers last year at this time. Kyle Snyder was able to rescue Schilling the first night against the Yanks this season, the ageless Mike Timlin is still a solid set up man, and Jonathan Papelbon is making the art of closing look easy.

-The bats. It's no secret that everyone gets on the Yankees to win considering how much they spend on their roster, however it's not like Boston is a distant second place behind them. So with all the dough GM Theo Epstein has spent to acquire and retain talent the past few years and undo some of the wrongs of the Danny Duquette era, there is tremendous pressure on the lineup to get cracking and stay cracking. I'm basically writing to Manny with this one here. On a positive note, Alex Cora keeps making a strong case to make his visits to second base permanent while remaining a spark plug in the lineup while auditioning for said spot. Also for your consideration regarding Cora, he is making $1.6 million more than current starter Dustin Pedroia. I'm pretty sure they aren't paying Cora two mil a year to collect splinters in his ass. He's a safety valve in case Pedroia isn't 100% ready for the bigs and they have to assign him to Pawtucket for some work, which may be coming.

Up next for the boys from Bean Town is a three game home stand against two AL West opponents. Oakland comes to town to open a two game series Tuesday. Thursday the Sox play a make up game from April 12th against the Seattle Mariners. The Seattle game will be a second opportunity for Matsuzaka to nab a win from them after losing out to an extremely impressive Felix Hernandez earlier in the month. Lucky for us he's on the 15 day DL and will be no where near Fenway. On the mound will be two game winner Horacio Ramirez. We'll see how adjusted he is to the American League coming over from the Atlanta Braves and pitching in one of the most batter friendly parks east of Coors Field.