Sox In Danger From O's

Well, I guess the worry of my last post was unnecessary. In the rubber match of the Sox's game against the Rays, Alfredo Aceves pitched brilliantly, giving up just 4 hits over 6 strong innings in a 2-1 win for Boston. I am surprised and pleased that Aceves pitched so well; in his last two starts, he's only given up one run combined between the two. I hope that he can keep pitching so well whenever he is needed in spot starts.

Then, the Sox traveled to Baltimore to face the Orioles in a four-game series. In the first game, Felix Doubront gave up four runs in 4 and 2/3 innings. However, it is worth noting that Doubront was not as bad as his line suggests. There were a lot of bloopers and chance hits by the Orioles that barely fell in or landed in no-man's land. The Sox were victims of many chance hits, and still managed to fight back and keep the game tied for twelve innings. Unfortunately, another bloop hit fell in and handed Alex Wilson a loss despite a fair performance. I really don't like that the Sox lost purely as a result of chance, but I guess it's better that they lose because of chance. After all, I don't want them to lose because they played badly; it's not so bad if they just don't get lucky breaks or get beat because of bad luck. Unfortunately, they did lose 5-4, but I think they played well and did their best considering a lot of bloops were falling in.

Last night, Ryan Dempster pitched against Chris Tillman in the second game against the Orioles. Dempster pitched well, going seven innings and giving up just two runs. Unfortunately, Tillman pitched better, throwing six shutout innings, and the Baltimore bullpen completely shut down the Red Sox, giving up no hits in their stint last night, so the Sox lost 2-0. This was another game where the Sox played well, but in this case they could not produce run support due to excellent pitching from Tillman. However, looking on the bright side, it is nice to see that Dempster is pitching well; althuogh he is now 4-7, he has an ERA of 4.21, which is decent for a middle starter. I hope the Sox can put up some run support tonight and continue to hit well over the next few days, as they are now just 1.5 games ahead of the O's in the AL East, and it would be a bit demoralizing to get taken out of first by a sweep. John Lackey, who is 3-5 but with a 3.14 ERA, pitches tonight, so hopefully he can continue his streak of excellent pitching and keep the Red Sox on top. Let's hope the Sox give him some support and pick up a win!