An Even Better June

Last night, with only four starters in the lineup, the Sox squeaked out a win against the Orioles, who may have the worst record in all of baseball, but have been playing Boston tough all year. When the Yankees and Rays both lost, the Soxfound themselves only one game out, playing .600 ball, with the second best record in all of baseball. Pretty remarkable, I’d say, considering how poorly they started this year, and also considering that they have been winning with a patchwork lineup.

By my count, Boston went 18-9 in June. That was nine games above five hundred, allowing them to reach 15 plus before this weekend, the pac they need to make it to the playoffs. Yet, in all of June, Beckett never took the mound. Ellsbury did not play a single game. Cameron played about half the month. And Mike Lowell barely played. Instead, Boston got good contributions from the journeymen who have been called upon to plug these holes in the lineup. Darnell MacDonald has already reached career highs in most offensive categories. Bill Hall has filled in admirably both in the outfield, and now at second base, with Pedroia out of the lineup. Daniel Nava had a game winning bloop single last night.

Another remarkable thing about June was that the bullpen continued to give away leads with regularity. Papelbon has been getting his saves, but many are nailbiters, and his ERA continues to hover near 4; that’s a bad number for a closer. Bard has better numbers, but he too has had a tendency to give up big hits in key situations. The rest of the pen remains way too generous.

Either Oki has slipped, or the rest of the league has figured him out. Ramon Ramirez carries an ERA just under five, more than two points higher than last year. Delcarmen is on the DL, but that’s no great loss because his numbers have climbed steadily the last two years. And none of the veterans whom Theo acquired have done much of anything. This is really the biggest problem, in my opinion; worse even than all the injuries. Because without a dependable bullpen, there is little chance of going deep into the post season.

The recipe in June was equal parts of quality starts and resurgent bats. Lester and Buckholz, occasionally Dice and Lackey, have had a number of games where they pitched well enough for long enough that the pen needed to hang in for only an inning or two. At the plate, Papi, Beltre, Youk and, before he was hurt, Pedroia, were all contributing. Not to mention the games where the journeymen made big contributions. Last night, Drew had two solo home runs, enough to keep the Sox in the game thanks to Wake’s seven innings.

G-Man is right - the next month will be telling. If Boston can keep it together without Pedroia, V-Mart, and Tek (that’s a tall order), they should be poised to make a run for the wild card. I think the AL East is unlikely, unless the injury bug bites the Yankees again.

Still, thinking back on how bad things looked in April, who in RedSox nation couldn’t help but be pleased to see them near the top of the standings a week before the all-star break? What fun it is to see Papi banging the ball out of the yard once more. And how about those home runs where Beltre ends his swing down on one knee? If the team is still contending at the end of July, Theo need to find a reliable set-up guy. That’s one ingredient that remains missing from the recipe. That and a healthy lineup.