The Bottom Line: A Red Sox blog

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Jon Lester: Best starter in the AL?

David Price may have 11 wins, but Jon Lester will be going for his 10th W of the season tonight against the Orioles... a team he has never lost to... ever.

He's 11-0 with a 2.06 ERA in 14 starts against the O's. He's also 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA at The Fens this year.

With a 10 victory, Lester would be tied with Buchholz for the second most wins in the AL. His 111 Ks ranks third to Felix Hernandez (6-5, 3.03, 116) and Jared Weaver (8-3, 2.82, 124). His current ERA (2.86) ranks 10th, but 6 shutout innings would put him at .270 and 4thm just ahead of Andy Pettitte (9-2, 2.72, 74).

Bottom Line: He'll get one more start in Toronto before the break. If he pitches well tonight and next week, he'll likely be going head to head with Price, Buchholz and C.C. Sabathia (10-3, 3.33, 93) for the starting gig in the All-Star Game... although Weaver, Hernandez and Ricky Romero (6-4, 2.83, 103) all deserve consideration as well - despite having a few less wins.

With just over a week to go, who do you think will start for the American League All-Star squad?

Tags: Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, All-Star Game, Boston Red Sox shirt, Red Sox t-shirts

 

J.D. Drew finally steps up...

Earlier this week, J.D. Drew asked out of a game with a "stiff neck" and Red Sox Nation was not amused.

Dustin Pedroia was taking grounders on his knees, crutches at his side... and this guy wants out with a stiff neck!

The Sox went on to lose that night's game to the Rays 9-4. Garza was sharp and the bullpen was awful, so Drew's bat in the lineup probably wouldn't have mattered... but that wasn't the point.

So with two days rest thanks to an off day on Thursday, Drew was back in the lineup against the O's last night.

With his neck feeling better, Drew popped two home runs in the game and tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth. Danny Nava would eventually drive in the winning run in the 8th, but Drew provided all of the offense in what proved to be a somewhat crucial game.

The Yankees and Rays both lost last night, so the Red Sox are now just a half game out of first in the East.

Bottom Line: We all know Drew doesn't seem to be bothered by the "Nancy Drew" chants of the articles in the local papers, but I'm going to pretend that we got to him this week and he responded with a big game.

Wakefield pitched his ass off and deserved a win after going winless at Fenway since July 8th... Drew stepped up and I hope we see more of that while the guys with actual broken bones get healthy.

Tags: J.D. Drew, Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox shirt, Red Sox t-shirts, Red Sox fan apparel.

 

Wakefield starts record 201st game at Fenway Park

Tim Wakefield will start his 201st game at Fenway Park, surpassing Roger Clemens for the most starts ever in the Fens.

That's a pretty amazing accomplishment, but what's equally amazing is that fact the Wake hasn't recorded a victory at Fenway since July 8th or 2009. That's an amazing combination of bad luck, bad pitching and bad run support.

Normally, playing the Orioles would put Wake and the Red Sox in the drivers seats for a W, but Wakefield is going to have to hope that the patchwork lineup of rookies and has-beens that is currently the Boston Red Sox can score enough runs to get him a win.

Luckily, the O's have remained pitiful, winning 5 of their last 10 while bobbing for air at 24-54. Facing Brad Bergesen will help as well... He's 3-4 with a 6.83 ERA this year, was recently sent to the bullpen, and was recalled, but pitched poorly vs Washington: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER his last time out. "Bergie" did face the Sox earlier this year and that didn't go well either: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 HR... but he earned the win.

Wake has allowed 4 runs in each of his last three starts and has been coughing up homers on a regular basis. In his last start, the Ginats tagged him for 11 hits, but he held them to 4 runs (3 ER) and lasted 7 innings. Unfortunately, the Sox was stimied by Jonathan Sanchez and we lost 5-4. That's been the Ballad of Time Wakefield this year... hence the two wins and the 5.21 ERA.

Hopefully, the importance of Wake's milestone will inspire the Sox to play tough. Wake deserves a win and the Sox need every W they can get right now. Even with all the injuries, we need at least two wins during any series with the O's.

Key Matchups

Miguel Tejada is the only Oriole with anything close to respectable numbers against the Knuckleball. He's 23 for 76 (.303) with 5 ding dongs and is hitting .299 with 3 homers and 9 doubles over the past 7 days... The other guy to watch is youngster Adam Jones. He was awful through mid June, but has 10 homers, 2 triples and 9 doubles in the past week.

Adrian Beltre, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz are the only big guns left in our arsenal right now... Thankfully, Beltre (.395) and Youk (.371) have killed Oriole pitchers this season. Youk had a dinger against Bergie in their last meeting... and Ortiz had two that game, though the second HR was against the bullpen.

Tags: Tim Wakefield, Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox shirt, Red Sox t-shirts, Red Sox fan apparel

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