Jason Bay

Go Early, Go Often: Fire Brand’s Best of April

Tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Rays marks the final game of the first calendar month of the season; and what an April it was. From the panic that set in BWNNH (Before Wake's Near No Hitter) after a 2-6 start, to the exhilaration of winning 12 out of 13 including a le-gen *wait for it* DARY sweep of the New York Yankees AB (Anno Bay - In the Year of Our Bay), April has been all Red Sox fans could ask for.

Who would have thought after the first week of the season that April would end with the Red Sox atop the American League with the league's best winning percentage?

Today we look at the best performances of April, culminating in the Fire Brand Player of the Month award.

April 30, 2009 josh lacey

Cliff Lee

BOS 3, CLE 1: Streak on

Jason Bay maybe stealing the "clutch" title away from David Ortiz.

April 27, 2009 shawn medeiros

Andy Pettitte

BOS 16, NYY 11: Lumber party

As if last night's game between Boston and New York didn't provide enough drama.

April 25, 2009 shawn medeiros

Brad Penny

BOS 10-7, MIN 1-3: Sox complete doubleheader sweep

What else could Terry Francona possibly want on his 50th birthday? The Red Sox completed a day-night doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins slugging out 17 runs, 19 hits and 4 homers. Boston also improved their winning streak to seven games.

April 23, 2009 shawn medeiros

David Ortiz

It’s early, but the stats still exist.

Dustin Pedroia: OPS+ 86: Speaking of picking it up...I guess that is what the Orioles pitching staff allows a hitter to do. Although, I do not want to dismiss the offensive explosion of the last few days completely.

After all, they did "rock" Orioles "Ace" Jeremy Guthrie, and last time I checked, he is a pretty good pitcher. But anyway, Pedroia has reached base 10 times in the past four games. His OBP is now roughly league-average, and his slugging has broken the .400 mark. And both of those categories should only improve from here on out.

April 22, 2009 tito crafts

David Ortiz

BOS 6, BAL 4: Three and counting

Kevin Youkilis launched a three-run homer over the Green Monster giving Boston a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Then, Mike Lowell singled to center making it a five run gap. And for the first time this season the Red Sox finally held onto an early lead.

April 19, 2009 shawn medeiros

Chris Carter

The Red Sox know how to manage “injuries.”

If Lowell goes down, Youk can shift to third and David Ortiz and Chris Carter can share the 1B/DH spots. Or even Rocco could DH at times. If Daisuke suffers from "arm fatigue." Which could also be labeled as "we are being careful with him because of the the WBC." Then Justin Masterson can shift from the pen to the rotation.

But Theo has built a team that can handle suspensions, injuries, performance issues, more than just about any team in the game of baseball. And the organization as a whole has built a farm system that has the players to either be quality Major Leaguers, fill temporary holes, or be traded to address any of these "holes."

April 18, 2009 tito crafts

Brad Penny

BOS 10, BAL 8: Offensive slump broken

Down seven runs to begin the bottom of the second inning Boston never changed their approach at the plate. The Red Sox knew they were given too many innings to catch up. J.D. Drew lead off the inning with a walk and Jason Bay followed crushing his third home run of the season into Baltimore's bullpen cutting the lead to 7-2. Boston's comeback was just getting started.

April 18, 2009 shawn medeiros

Curt Schilling

BOS 8, OAK 2: Wakefield spins gem

The scenario was reminiscent of Curt Schilling's performance against the Oakland Athletics two years ago on June 7. Boston was in a funk. Oakland had a chance at sweeping the Red Sox at home for the first time in a four game set since May 19-21, 1932 when they played in Philadelphia. Schilling was called upon to halt the losing streak.

April 15, 2009 shawn medeiros

Brad Penny

Don’t Panic: The Red Sox will improve.

Sample size, sample size, sample size! Remember the thing that increases the accuracy of whatever the available data happens to…

April 15, 2009 tito crafts