Wipeout

It was a fun night at Fenway on Tuesday, as the Red Sox piled up 20 hits and waltzed to an easy 14-2 win over the last-place Orioles.

Dustin Pedroia continued to get the "MVP" chants coming his way, as he hit another homer, his 16th of the year, and drove in five more runs, once again hitting from the cleanup spot. Kevin Youkilis was a late scratch with back spasms, so Dusty moved back into the four-hole.

And in four games batting there, he's hitting a scorching .643. Pedroia may actually be a 20-20 player, as he also has 17 stolen bases in 18 attempts. (And that 94% success rate leads the AL.)

Jason Bay was also given the night off, and it was clear he wasn't needed, as the Red Sox scored 4 runs in the third and 6 in the fourth, to put the game away at 10-1. Terry Francona basically called off the dogs after that, resting many of the regulars in the later innings. The bench guys tacked on the remaining four to make it a 14-2 final.

Jon Lester went just five innings, allowing one earned run. He struggled a little bit, walking three and throwing 99 pitches, but Francona decided to rest him after the game was in hand. It was Lester's 13th win of 2008.

It was a good night for the Red Sox as far as their opponents went, too. Tampa Bay lost, so the Sox are now 4 games back in the East race, and Minnesota lost to Toronto and the White Sox lost to the Indians, so they now lead the Wild Card by 4.