All Good Things Must Come To An End

The nine-game winning streak is over. I had a feeling the Red Sox weren't going to win by double-digits three straight games.

They ran into a buzzsaw in James Shields, who pitched a five-hit shutout. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits, and everyone else had two.

Carl Crawford returned to St. Pete to a mostly positive reaction. Some boos, but he was shut down for the night, going 0-for-3.

New York won, so the Red Sox lead is 1 1/2 games, and 3 1/2 over third place Tampa Bay.

And this was an historic run by the Red Sox, as it was only the third time since the start of the 21st century that a team won nine straight and scored as many as 83 runs in those wins. And the first time the Sox have ever done it. (With thanks to Joy of Sox for that interesting tidbit.)