After a 10- game losing streak, arguably the darkest period in recent Red Sox memory since the days of Bobby Valentine, Boston has turned it around and won two game in a row against Atlanta.
Boston came into Monday stuck in a notorious slump, where both their pitching and hitting failed. They had dropped 10 games in a row, to AL East rivals Tampa Bay and Toronto, and the team the Sox beat in the ALCS, Detroit.
In a highly scrutinized series of events on Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay (8-5 loss) a brawl broke out, centered around Ray’s shortstop Yunel Escobar stealing third base with a cushy 5 run lead. One thing lead to another, as we saw Sox outfielder Johnny Gomes fly in from left field in response to Escobar’s verbal attacking of Boston’s dugout. Ejections were handed out, and even after a small rally where they managed 2 runs, the Sox still dropped the game, their 10th in a row.
Some say the fight may have been the spark Boston needed, something to wake themselves up. While we wont know if the skirmish affected the clubhouse in any sort of way, Boston responded with a win on Memorial Day. Not just any win, but a late inning rally, lead by David Ortiz, who drove in the game winning run in the top of the 7th inning in Turner Field.
The sweet taste of winning must have felt amazing on the Red Sox tongues, as they carried the momentum over to Tuesday, where Jackie Bradley Jr. lead a 6-3 beating of Atlanta, their second win in a row. While it was only second win, it was the type of momentum the Sox have been looking for all year, but the big question was if Boston could bring that fight for a third game in a row.
They did.
John Lackey seemed to be the hero of this contest, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out 9 en route to a 4-0 shutout of the Braves, and the series win (with one game still remaining in the series). What might be the best thing to take away from their third straight victory was the success of younger players, most notably Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr., who both had multi-hit games.
Jackie, who had been in as big of a slump as Boston had been in during the losing streak, seemed to find new life in the series against Atlanta. Bradley batted 4-11 in the three games, while driving in 4 runs. When Bradley Jr. first joined the team in the beginning of the season, he was an offensive and defensive spark plug. After a quiet month or so, a few hot games such as these could be all Bradley needs to return to his early season form.
While three wins in a row isn’t too impressive when you remember they still sit at 23-29, fourth in the AL East. It does however, build a small amount of momentum for Boston to build around for the near future, as they look to climb their way back up to .500, and look more like the team that just came off of a World Series victory, and not a team that drops 10 games in a row.