Pitching is Contagious

A week ago, as the Sox sat 2-10, with nothing going for them in 2011 other than Josh Beckett, John suggested that pitching was contagious; that really Beckett and Lester had been pitching well, even though Lester wasn’t getting any wins; and that soon enough, the other starters would catch on, and we’d be getting good performances from the entire rotation. But whether that was true or not, I was still worried that the home stand was coming to a close, and that the Sox would soon embark on another road trip, this one including two series on the West coast, where they rarely perform well. And I know they’re in the midst of that road trip, and still in the AL cellar, but for now it’s worth noting that John’s prediction was right on.

The last trip through the rotation, every starter pitched well, and Boston dropped a single game, when they were shut out in the opener at Oakland. But even that night, Lackey pitched well, going six innings and giving up a single run. In fact, the only starter to surrender more than one run this past week was Beckett, who gave up two to the Angels, when he made a single bad pitch, which Tori Hunter sent over the center field wall for a two-run homer. Still, Beckett went eight innings; the bullpen was solid that night, and the Sox scored twice in the eleventh to pull out the win. Beckett’s ERA remains under two; Lester’s is only around two and a half; and over the past seven games, the starters’ collective ERA is barely above one. Big turnaround.

The pen has been performing better as well. Pap has picked up saves in the last three games; he now has five for the year. But more important was the fact that last night he actually looked stronger, and threw more efficiently, than he had in his previous two outings. Pap needed only twelve pitches to get through the ninth, even though he had thrown over twenty on each of the previous two nights. Bobby Jenks still looks shaky, but he had a couple decent appearances over the past week. He threw a scoreless inning in the first game against the Angels, when the bullpen kept Boston in the game until they could score a couple in the top of the eleventh. Bard too has pitched well during this stretch; and if those three can stay consistent, Boston will have a better chance to hold leads, especially when the starters can go seven or eight, as three of them did during the past week.

It’s too early to get overly excited; and who knows how they’ll perform in the five remaining road games before they return to Fenway. But right now, a .500 record is within their sight, and even with the atrocious start to the season, they’re only five games out of first. I know that baseball is a streaky game, but I’m hoping that this week’s trip through the rotation was not an aberration, but an indication of how the starters can perform in 2011; and if that’s the case, maybe they’ll be able to put this lousy April behind them. And maybe the rain and snow will stop as well, and we’ll even get to see the sunshine. And then we might have a summer we can enjoy after all.