Rolling at Just the Right Time

It was another rout in Chi Town yesterday as the Red Sox beat up on the White Sox again, this time to the tune of 14-2. Tim Wakefield pitched another gem, allowing just three hits in seven solid innings to join Josh Beckett as MLB's only 16-game winners.

The Red Sox surge is coming at just the right time, with the Yankees series looming on the horizon. They have outscored Chicago in this series, 35-6, and are clicking in every facet of the game: timely hitting (and lots of it), great starting pitching, a rested bullpen and good defense. Before the ten-game road trip started in Tampa on Monday, I looked at the upcoming ten games and thought, "6-4." Well, as I write this, the Red Sox have gone 5-1 so far, so it looks good that they will reach that figure, and perhaps a lot better than that.

It was the first time since July 2000 in Minnesota that the Red Sox have scored ten runs or more in three straight games. Bobby Kielty had three hits and four RBI, and deserves more playing time in right field. Mike Lowell had four hits and two RBI to pace the attack. (I couldn't see any of it, as I had to follow the game from updates on TV and my cell phone. As my friend Steve says, "Fox ruins baseball.")

But the story continues to be the amazing renaissance of Wakefield. His knucklers have been dancing more and more and absolutely befuddling hitters. Kevin Cash has done a nice job handling it in the last two games he caught Wake, in place of Doug Mirabelli.

Julian Tavarez goes for the Red Sox today, as they go for a sweep. They will be a minimum of 5 games up as the series in the Bronx starts on Tuesday night, and a maximum of 8, depending upon the results of the next two days. Should be fun this week.