The Red Sox opened April dreadfully cold but wound up hot toward the end of the month. Here are three things we saw this past week:
Righting the ship
What a difference a week makes for the Red Sox. Seven days ago they were still sulking over their “rock bottom,” 15-9 loss to the Yankees in which the Bombers scored 15 unanswered runs.
Now, they have ripped off six of their last seven.
It is how they have gotten back to respectability that should give Sox fans hope that these late August, early September games far on the horizon may actually mean something after all.
The pitching staff as a whole looks leagues better than it did a week ago. Jon Lester was phenomenal in Boston’s 1-0 win over the White Sox Saturday, going seven innings and allowing just five hits while striking out seven. Alfredo Aceves was also special that night, earning a clean save, his fifth of the year.
Arms race
The Red Sox starters weren’t nearly as bad as some pundits made them out to be a week ago. They were the main reason for the poor start, sure, but as April comes to a close, they are closer to what we thought they would be all along: solid.
Josh Beckett has found comfort with catcher Kelly Shoppach, as yesterday was the fourth straight game in which the duo was paired. Despite the 4-1 loss to Chicago, Beckett pitched well, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out eight in just over six innings of work.
Talking heads
Jerry Remy is beloved in these parts, but it seems as though the “RemDawg” brings nothing but bad luck to the Red Sox these days.
During the past week, Remy has had to miss broadcasting several NESN games due to a sinus infection, but his replacements in the booth (Globe writers Nick Cafardo and Peter Abraham) have brought some good will.
Cafardo-magic run did run its course yesterday, but it remains to be seen if Remy and Don Orsillo can giggle the Sox to a victory in 2012.
