Boston Continues to Roll, Atop Division at 10-4

Behind dominating front-line pitching, and what has become trademark clutch hitting, the Boston Red Sox have continued to roll through their homestand.  After three wins in a row -- including a dramatic walk-off spectacular on Patriots' Day -- the Sox stand at 10-4 (5-3 on the homestand) and lead the American League East by 2-1/2 games in the early going.

There is much wealth to share in the Red Sox glory.  Perhaps foremost in that many pundits considered them to be question marks coming into the season are Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, who each stand at 3-0 on the season and have been absolutely spectaular in their starts, two-thirds of which have been one-run games.  Schilling boasts a 1.64 ERA to Beckett's 1.29, and the dynamic duo have already fomented speculation of double 20-win seasons.  Though it is just April, Schilling has silenced critics who prognosticated that he was washed up following his 2004 injury by delivering with 96 mph fastballs, nasty splitters, and superb location.  Meanwhile, Beckett has also lit up the radar gun, stymied hitters with his filthy stuff, and thrived in the media- and fan-crazed environment that Boston offers, showing nary a sign of blisters (or shoulder problems that were rumored around the time of his acquisition from the Marlins).

Another huge question mark for Boston coming into the season was the closer role.  Though Foulke was the putative ninth-inning guy coming into the season, his struggles early on led Terry Francona to tap rookie Jonathan Papelbon for the role.  Pap has responded by nailing down 7 saves in seven opportunities, while allowing 0 earned runs and only 3 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings to go with 8 Ks, quickly making the young gun a Fenway favorite.

The rest of the Sox pitchers will need to turn in solid perfomances to keep the ball rolling on days that Schilling and Beckett don't start, but Wakefield has had oustanding outings in two of three of his starts, and Clement has shown signs of dominant form in two of three starts despite allowing some runs later in those games.  Timlin and Tavarez (in more limited duty following his 10-game suspension for smacking Joey Gathright) have been solid out of the bullpen thus far, though Timlin has continued last years trend of trouble with inherited runners.  With Wells down, the Sox are using long-man Lenny DiNardo in the rotation, and got 5 solid innings of 2-run ball from him on Monday. 

Of course, the buzz about town is that the Sox will going into overdrive in their quest to convince Roger Clemens to come back to town with Wells struggling with his health and the Sox short a starter.  Clemens has indicated that he will only come back to play for a team that has a shot of winning it all and if there is a need to fill.  At this early point, the Red Sox meet both criteria.  Among his other suitors, the Astros also stand atop their division at 10-4.  The Yankees (6-7) and Rangers (6-8) have struggled, but it is very early.

Offensively, the Sox have seen the usual heroics from David Ortiz whose line is an absurd 6 HR, 12 RBI, .333 BA, .429 OBP, .759 SLG, 1.188 OPS after 14 games.  Ortiz had 2 home runs in the Patriots' Day win and 2 doubles the other way off the wall last night, the first of which came as Tampa Bay employed a shift with all three outfileders on the right side along with the first baseman, second baseman, and shortshop; only the third baseman patrolled the outfield in left.  Manny Ramirez has started more slowly, but has had 2-hit games the last two days including a double and 3 RBI last night.  Anyone concerned about whether Manny will hit should take a valium.

Probably the two other biggest contributors to the offense have been Kevin Youkilis and Mark Loretta, both of whom are new to the Red Sox starting infield and both of whom critics questioned in the pre-season.  Youkilis is starting at first and hitting .318 with a .426 OBP.  With Coco Crisp sidelined with a broken left index finger (15 day DL), "The Greek God of Walks" is leading off, and last night Youk hit the 2-run double in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie and put Boston ahead for good.  Meanwhile, Loretta (8 RBI) has had a number of timely hits, including his dramatic walk-off home run off Seattle closer, Eddie Guardado, to win the game on Marathon Monday.  Loretta, who had never before hit a walk-off home run from little league through the Majors, was boyishly ecstatic, as were his teammates -- nevermind the day-game crowd that was going absolutely bonkers.

The early tallies for this team -- and particularly the answers the team has provided on the field to questions coming into the season -- are very promising.  The Sox look to continue their hot play tonight against the injury-plagued Devil Rays (Julio Lugo - abdominal strain, Aubrey Huff - knee, Rocco Baldelli - hamstring) with Schilling looking to extend his record to 4-0.