The Red Sox bats failed to complete the sweep of the Rays, but it was still a good sign for the Sox. As nice as it would’ve been to see them get back to .500 it was nice to see Daniel Bard pitch a gem. He had nasty stuff and if he could have kept it in the strike zone the result may have been in favor of the Sox. I have to imagine his pitch count was wearing on him and that is what lead to his loss of control in the seventh inning. He ended up walking home the only run of the ball game, but surprise Justin Thomas came in a got a key double play to get the Sox out of the inning. Unfortunately they ran into red hot James Shields who fell two outs away from what he does best, toss complete games.
The Sox bats were finally tamed, mustering up just four hits against the duo of Shields and Rodney. This was the series the Sox need though and they are now just a couple games behind the entire division. The pitching has looked a ton better, allowing just twelve runs in the four game series. However, it was the bats that really erupted and that is just what the Sox needed. They need to start jumping out to early leads and giving the pitching staff some solid run support. These guys need confidence and the Sox lineup is capable of doing so.
Texas comes to Boston tomorrow for a quick two game series. If the Sox aces, Lester and Beckett can pitch well and contain the Rangers potent offense the Sox will find themselves at .500 entering a three game series with the hated Yankees. Lester has pitched extremely well so far this season and hopefully he can continue that against the Rangers. The best way to beat Texas is by pounding their pitching and the Rangers are coming to town at the wrong time. The Sox have finally got their bats going and the match-ups look good for the Sox. Against one of the best teams in the league this is an important series for the Sox confidence.
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