Saturday, July 30, 2011

Sox Whip Sox & Acquire Aviles, Harden

The Red Sox got back to their winning ways, and also back into scoring double-digit runs, with a 10-2 whacking of the White Sox on Saturday night.

Chicago's Philip Humber retired the first eight Sox hitters, and 12 of the first 14 before the Red Sox reached him for four runs in the fifth and knocked him out.

Jon Lester was terrific, as went eight innings, struck out eight, and allowed just four hits, two of them solo home runs. He is now 11-4 on the season.

The Sox were up 5-2 in the 9th when they added five more for good measure, which featured homers by Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis.

The Sox are now two up, as New York took a twinbill from Baltimore.

The Red Sox added infielder Mike Aviles from Kansas City before the game for utility man Yamaico Navarro and minor league pitcher Kendal Volz. And after the game tonight, they traded for oft-injured starting pitcher Rich Harden from Oakland for onetime big prospect first baseman Lars Anderson and a player to be named later. Harden still has to pass a physical, but that is just a formality.

I like both moves. Harden has had injury problems, but is a free agent after the season. He's worth the gamble and can be an upgrade over Andrew Miller. Anderson was completely blocked in Boston at 1B, and his stock had fallen the last two years. Aviles can play 2B, SS and 3B and is a definite upgrade over Navarro as a utilty player.

2 comments:

Peter N said...

I'm not sure Harden is a "done deal"...maybe far from it.

BklynSoxFan said...

Dead as a doornail, Peter...