The Red Sox have batted a dismal .157 as a team over their past four games but there is very little panic, or even despair, around Fenway Park these days. Thanks to timely, ninth-inning hitting that has not been seen in these parts in two years and consecutive starting performances that haven’t been strung together by Sox pitchers in more than 11 years, the club finds itself back atop the AL East standings following a pair of dramatic, walkoff wins in a span of just over 24 hours. One night after Kevin Youkilis sent the Red Sox to a dramatic victory over Toronto with a two-out, run-scoring single in the ninth inning, Jason Varitek duplicated the feat with a nearly identical game-winning hit under similar circumstances to send the Sox to a 2-1 win over the Jays. Varitek lined reliever Scott Downs’ two-out curveball to center field, allowing Manny Ramirez to score from second, just ahead of Vernon Wells’ throw to the plate to provide the Red Sox with their eighth final at-bat win of the young season and improve their record in one-run games to 8-2. The wins marked the first time since June 24-25, 2006, against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway that the Sox recorded consecutive walkoff wonders.
Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka extended the rotation’s string of consecutive strong starts to four by throwing seven shutout innings. He departed after 111 pitches with a 1-0 lead. The right-hander, who was scratched from his previous start April 23 due to the flu, appeared to be back at full strength and allowed only two hits, while striking out four and walking two. The pitcher declined to meet with the media, citing a headache. Sox starters have strung together four outings of at least seven innings and two-or-fewer runs for the first time since John Wasdin, Tom Gordon, Tim Wakefield and Aaron Sele did so from April 12-15, 1997. This time around, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Matsuzaka have combined to allow three earned runs on 10 hits in 30 innings (0.90 ERA), while striking out 32.
Sox Notes: With the 79th All-Star Game scheduled to be played in Yankee Stadium in July, the designated hitter is back on the American League ballot for the first time in three seasons. The last two All-Star Games were played in San Francisco and Pittsburgh, where no DH was used, which meant David Ortiz was listed as a first baseman. However, this year, Youkilis is on the ballot as a first baseman, with Ortiz listed at DH. The Sox have All-Star candidates at all nine positions (pitchers are chosen by the managers in consultation with league officials). Coco Crisp is one of the three Sox outfielders on the ballot, with Manny Ramirez and J.D. Drew. Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury is not on the ballot.
