Pitching Their Way Back To Contention

Carl Crawford may have blasted his first homer in a Sox uniform Sunday afternoon, but Boston's recent turnaround hasn't been a result of their improved hitting. It's all stemmed from their terrific starting pitching of late. 

After beginning the season 0-6, the Red Sox have gone 10-5 in their last 15 games and stand just one game below .500.

Anyone still feel the need to panic?

Didn't think so. 

Less than a month ago, the Red Sox were the talk of Boston not for their worldly potential but instead their horrific start to the season. They were swept in consecutive road series to start the season (first Texas, then Cleveland), and had fans in New England on the verge of suicide because of their prolific failures. First it was 0-6. Then it was 2-10. 

The pitching was awful. Starters like John Lackey and Dice-K were getting shelled every time out. And when the Sox finally got a quality start out of Jon Lester or Josh Beckett, the anemic offense looked entirely incapable of providing any run support. 

Luckily, it seems as though those troubling days are over. 

On Sunday afternoon the Sox defeated the Angels in epic fashion, routing Los Angeles 7-0 to pull one game within the .500 mark. The sweep marked the first time the Sox swept the Angels on the road in a four-game series since 1980. 

Turning their season around in a hurry, Boston has gone 8-1 in their last nine games to improve their overall record to 10-11 on the young season. Even Carl Crawford, mired in a horrendous slump to start the season, crushed his first home run in a Sox uniform in Sunday afternoon's win. 

"We dug ourselves a hole," admitted manager Terry Francona. "Now we're trying to dig out of it. It's kind of like a hitter with a low batting average but feels good about himself. We're starting to do some things better."

Bolstered by the recent sweep of Los Angeles, the Red Sox turnaround has been accomplished in large part by their stellar starting pitching. Surprisingly, it's been none other than Daisuke Matsuzaka leading the rotation. In his past two starts, Dice-K has picked up consecutive wins over the Blue Jays and Angels and allowed just two hits over 15 innings while striking out 12. As a result, his ERA has dropped from a bloated 12.86 all the way down to a respectable 4.09. 

The Ace of the staff, Jon Lester, has been sparkling as well. In his past two starts he's gone a combined 12 innings and allowed just one run while striking out 13 and picking up the win in both games.

Piecing together his best start in recent memory, Josh Beckett has been lights out as well. The former Ace turned number four starter leads the team with a 2-1 record, microscopic 1.93 ERA and team-high 28 strikeouts in just four starts. On Thursday, Beckett went eight innings against the Angels and gave up just two runs in a 4-2 victory. 

Even John Lackey has turned it around. After being absolutely shelled in his first two starts of the season (8.2 innings, 15 earned runs), Lackey was skipped in the rotation but has rebounded to piece together two straight stellar outings on the West Coast. Last week in Oakland he went six innings giving up just one run. And Sunday afternoon Lackey went eight innings, scattered six hits, struck out six and didn't give up a single run. As a result, his ERA has dropped from 22.09 to 6.35. 

"For sure, there's definitely a sense that you don't want to stop the streak," said Lackey. "Everybody on the staff has been throwing the ball pretty good."

Overall, Sox starters aren't just pretty good. They've been unhittable to the tune of 7-1 with a 0.88 ERA over the last nine games. 

"Literally everybody in the rotation is pitching well," admitted closer Jonathan Papelbon. "That's how you win games."

The Sox are now just 3.5 games out of first place. 

"I don't know if they got together and had a pow-wow or anything like that," added Papelbon of the now-rolling Sox rotation. "But I think each one of them said, 'I'm good enough to carry this team.' That's the way they all feel and they are starting to pitch that way."

So put away the Tums, Sox fans, and enjoy that peaceful night of sleep you've been waiting for since Opening Day.

The Boston Red Sox are starting to look a lot like the unstoppable force we envisioned them to be all offseason.