Runnin’ Wild

Certain to be among the major themes in the ALDS are the Angels’ aggressiveness and superiority on the basepaths. Perennially among the league leaders in steals, the team placed third in 2009, behind Tampa Bay and Texas with 148 thefts. Anaheim will be sure to remind the Sox who’s boss every time their runners take first base. One of the fastest teams in the league, their lineup features multiple skilled runners. Chone Figgins leads the pack with 42 steals on the year, followed by Bobby Abreu at 30. Torii Hunter (18), Erick Aybar (14), Maicer Izturis (13), and Howie Kendrick (11) all cracked double digits in the steals column. Their bench also features quality pinch runners, including outfielder Reggie Willits, who nabbed 27 bases in 2007, along with 16 in 372 plate appearances between AAA and the MLB this season.

New Fire Brand shirt: Jacoby Ellsbury’s “There’s No Place Like Home”

BOS 6, CLE 2: Sox Take Two from Cleveland

“Effective” isn’t a term often used to describe Daisuke Matsuzaka’s outings, but that’s exactly what he looked like in last night’s start, as the Red Sox took a second win off of the Cleveland Indians, 6-2.

BOS 3, CLE 0: Sox Snap Losing Streak Against the Tribe

The Red Sox were ready to snap a six-game losing streak at all costs. Unfortunately, it had to come at the cost of Indians rookie starter Carlos Carrassco, who took a Jacoby Ellsbury line drive off the knee cap on the way to a 3-0 loss.

Jon Lester, who suffered an almost identical injury less than a week ago, looked like his old self, throwing a veritable gem for his fifteenth victory of the season, while the bats played small ball to get themselves out of the slump.

BOS 9, KC 2: Do Unto Others…

Just one night after Paul Byrd dropped five runs in the first frame against the Kansas City Royals, KC found out what it was like to watch an entire game slip away in one inning. Behind a six run fifth inning, the Boston Red Sox gave the Royals one such beat down, taking their first win of the series off of KC, 9-2, last night. The win was their 90th of the season, and brought the magic number in the Wild Card Race down to five.

KC 5, BOS 1: Byrd Gets His Wings Clipped In First

A five run first inning by the Kansas City Royals did the Red Sox in last night, as the boys from Boston drop the second game of a four game series, 5-1.

Paul Byrd shook off the missteps of the first inning and went on to throw 6.2 innings, but the damage was already done, as Zack Greinke held off the Boston bats with another dominating performance.

KC 12, BOS 9: Wakefield Gets Waterlogged

With a host of question marks looming over Tim Wakefield's much-anticipated return to the mound, it was the Red Sox bullpen that would leave everyone perplexed, as the Boston Red Sox drop the first game of a four game series to the Kansas City Royals, 12-9, in a come-from-behind win for KC.

At two different points in the game, the Red Sox led by six runs, on the heels of another Jason Bay home run (36 on the year) and a two-run RBI from Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been on fire as of late. Dustin Pedroia added an RBI of his own, before an untimely implosion of the bullpen, in a rain soaked game at Kaufman Stadium.

BOS 9, BAL 3: No Surprise, Sox Sweep Orioles

With another short but sweet start from Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox were able to whittle the magic number down…

BOS 3, BAL 1: Clay Out of Control

Both Clay Buchholz and Jason Bay weren't feeling quite right last night, but somehow emerged as the heroes of Friday night's series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

Buchholz's six strong innings, combined with Bay's 34th home run of the year, lifted the Red Sox past the Birds, 3-1.

20/20 Vision

A few years back, I was introduced to a simple site on the Internet that gave me a different and useful lens on the baseball season. Doug's Stats (www.dougstats.com) looks much like it did the day I stumbled on it in 2003. It hasn't gotten a Web 2.0 facelift, there are no fancy charts or running commentary. In fact, most of the stats can be gotten from any sports site with a "stats" tab in their MLB section. But there was one link on the front door of Doug's home on the Internet that grabbed my attention.