Sox Everywhere!

There was so much good to see from last night’s game, I’m going to ignore the downer of David Ortiz’s ankle issues. There was just too much positive.

Was there anything better than seeing Ellsbury-Crawford leading things off for the Sox? There was such a sense of relief that came along with it. The long wait is over. I had grown tired of sitting back waiting for the real team to finally show up. I was tired of treating the first half of the season like spring training. I was ready to really see what this team had. It looks like the team is ready to start kicking some butt. No more treading water waiting for reinforcements. No more hoping the AAA outfield can piece together enough hits to keep the team afloat. The cavalry had finally arrived, and the team can get back to winning. Phew.

Aaron Cook pitched a great game as well. I would prefer that it was Lester or Beckett pitching a gem. But, I’m not going to get picky. Cook has turned in a couple of fine outings this season. He’s going to make trimming the rotation down to five guys a little bit of a tougher decision. Honestly, I don’t have a problem sticking with the six-man rotation for a couple weeks. Maybe they can use one of the guys at the back end to add another piece by then. Until then, I’ll happily accept any contribution like last night.

It was fantastic to see the Gonzalez home run too. I’m not declaring him “back” or anything like that. But, he’s been hitting pretty well in his last 25 games or so. If he’s going to start driving balls the other way with authority, that’s definitely a good turn of events. Having it be a late, important home run is great for the team too. I never bought into the idea that Gonzalez isn’t a clutch player. He’s had plenty of key hits for me to erase those doubts. But, it’s nice for the team to know that a close game can turn into a victory. It really is as easy as keeping it close until the bats figure it out. They won’t waste every opportunity. This team is capable of scoring runs when they need them. It’s always nice to be reminded of that.

This is a big week for the Sox. This is the easiest stretch of games they’ll have for a while. It would be nice to stockpile some victories before facing Texas, New York, and Detroit.

A 3-1 second half is a great start.