Well, if there's any question as to whether the Sox are acting like it's 2013 all over again, tonight's latest addition to the latest streaks should hopefully put the issue to rest. Piling up both their highest total in runs and hits for the season, the Sox put the Jays away early. When the smoke cleared away, they'd amassed 14 runs and 18 hits, 17 of them by six guys in the lineup. Included in the hit total were four shots to the cheaps, two by Papi (more on that in a little bit), and four doubles. This offensive onslaught gave Lack his eleventh W on the year, although the way he pitched tonight, he likely could have won even in most close situations. He allowed two hits over seven innings, and handed out no freebies--not a single one. That leaves his game WHIP at a minuscule 0.29.
The Sox hitters with round trippers were Papi, Nap and Drew, Papi's second and Nap's coming back to back, the fourth time the Sox have gone back to back this season. Both of Papi's were two-run blasts, and with the second one, he passed Yaz on the all-time list, taking over sole possession of 36th place at 453. In strictly Red Sox history, however, he still trails Yaz, as Yaz had all of his 452 in a Boston uni, while only the last 395 by Papi have come wearing the Red Sox colors. First place in Sox history, of course, is the guy many baseball historians consider the greatest natural hitter in history, Teddy Ballgame. Yaz is second and Papi is third. One other honor Ted and Yaz have that Papi doesn't have yet, but will most certainly receive once he's five years retired is membership in a small private club in Cooperstown. Its initials are HOF. It's also worth noting that Papi trails only ARoid in career homers at Toronto's Rogers Center. He's got 35 and only needs one more to catch ARoid. Thank you, Theo.
Other Sox players getting multiple hits tonight were Holt, Drew and Bradley, with a pair apiece; and Nap, Nava and Bogaerts, each having a trey. As I've noted a number of times in recent weeks, Nava's been returning to his reliability with the stick, continuously raising his average. Tonight's three hits gets him to his highest this season so far, at .255. Likewise, Bradley is bringing his average up from its early season meanderings, and he's now at .234. Bogaerts is at .239. Now neither of these sounds terribly impressive, but when you consider where they've been most of the season, including Jackie spending the early months under the Mendoza line, they're beginning to look pretty good.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment