So-So Homestand

Wally and the Red Sox pounded their Pale Sox counterparts into a three out of four game series victory in Boston over the weekend. It was great to see the lineup return to early season form with plenty of home runs and RBI’s from most everyone in the order.

Now that the home stand is over, it’s time to see if the 2007 Boston Red Sox are for real. Before I’m ready to hand the keys over to the Detroit Tigers as the team to take the fast lane to the World Series, I’m waiting to see how the next five weeks play out. I said that the home stand after the All-Star Break would be crucial, and Boston came out 6-5. Not a disaster, but not great either. Especially with New York waking up and realizing, hey, we’re the New York Yankees. They’ve got a line up, and as they showed over the weekend making the Tampa Bay Devil Rays look like an average AAA team. One thing will still plague the Yankees the rest of the season, and that is their pitching.

Speaking of the Yanks, anytime Boston strings together a three game losing streak, everyone hits the panic button. I was under the impression that maybe after the 2004 ALCS those concerns would have been slammed shut with the coffin that the Curse now resides. Apparently, Red Sox Nation and the Boston media have a tough time letting the past be the past. Then again, that’s always been the fundamental issue as I’ve seen with most Red Sox fans. Of course after giving up the division title the past two seasons after their historic run probably hasn’t helped quell the paranoia that will sweep across the Nation in the next few weeks. When is the other shoe, err, sock going to drop?

So, here we stand at the precipice of the dreaded August I’ve worried about since they released the schedule. The month of August actually starts in July against a team that is almost unbeatable at home, the Cleveland Indians. It’s not quite as bad next week when they travel down to Florida to face the Devil Rays, then start the month of August with a home series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Here is where it gets a little dicey. After the series against the O's, it’s out to the west coast, a place where Boston has notoriously sucked to play the top two teams in the AL West. The Seattle Mariners come first, then the LA Angles. They’ll wrap up the nine game roadie in Baltimore. They’ll come home for two series against the Orioles and the Angels again for a four gamer. The one positive aspect about the coming month is the Sox will face teams they’ve seen once or twice or more so far. Some of those multiple matchups will be within weeks or days of each other. Of course, what is good for Boston will also be good for their opponents. The rest of the month is on the road, which isn’t bad when talking about two of the three teams they’ll face. First up is Tampa, then Chicago. Now, depending what happens to the White Sox before the trade deadline, they’ll either be the same mediocre to bad team they are now, or they’ll be an extremely shitty team that may be in the AL Central cellar by that time. Hard to believe the Royals are now tied for fourth place in the Central. After playing two sub .500 teams, there will be a showdown in the Bronx against the Yankees. It will be interesting to see if the Sox maintain their lead they have now, or if it will actually generate some excitement if the Yanks gain some ground in the next few weeks.

For now, I’m looking at one series at a time. This weeks series against Cleveland will be more challenging than normal with David Ortiz expected to not return to the lineup until Wednesday night. On the fun to watch side, there will be some great pitching duels in store for the series as well. Daisuke Matsuzaka will throw against C.C. Sabathia on Tuesday night, and Red Sox ace Josh Beckett will square off against twelve game winner Fausto Carmona the following night. Surprise 4-0 starter Kason Gabbard will get the final game on Thursday. Maybe more noteworthy, is that in place of Julian Tavarez tomorrow night in the opener will be Jon Lester’s return to the majors. The long awaited return will happen on the road against the toughest team to play at home in the AL. Out of the kitchen and into the fire for sure. CF Coco Crisp is having a great resurgence after the All Star Break, hitting over .300 in each game with 16 RBI’s in the month of July. Hopefully Francona is able to get a grasp on finalizing a solid line up card, something that the Sox skipper has been tinkering with for the past two months. Not surprisingly, the Sox have been playing .500 ball since then.

Curt Schilling threw an impressive game in Pawtucket on Saturday, throwing six strikeouts in three scoreless innings. Schilling is expected to be back in the starting rotation by the beginning of next month. With Tavarez out and the option of using Gabbard or Lester the five spot should be a little more secure during the month of August and hopefully down the stretch in September. The Sox have basically nursed their dominating lead in the AL East since June, if they can play to potential in the final six weeks it may very well be rewarded with a return to the postseason.