Temptation Eyes

First, a tribute to Red Sox pitcher past.

The outstanding performance of Jon Lester last night gives us a chance to take a preliminary look at the 'young guns' on the Red Sox and the Bombers. The Red Sox offer Buchholz and Lester, while the Gothams give baseball Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

Pitcher .... IP H ER K BB ERA

Buchholz...28.2 26 13 27 10 4.08

Lester..... 39.2 38 19 23 22 4.31

Red Sox....68.3 64 32 50 32 4.21


Hughes..... 22 34 22 13 13 9.00

Kennedy... 19 23 18 17 15 8.53

Yankees ... 41 57 40 30 28 8.78


The Red Sox complete their April schedule tonight against the Blue Jays and their offense remains stuck in neutral, while Daisuke Matsuzaka returns from the flu. Daisuke's trying to shed the POWER NIBBLER image, throwing what seems to be more fastballs.

Run Production. Even with their recent struggles, the Red Sox are tied for second in runs scored behind Detroit, second in OPS (.780), and tied for first in OBP at .356. The Sox are sixth in stolen bases, which has to be a first.

Run Prevention. The Red Sox check in at eleven in ERA, one notch above the Yankees. They are fourth in opponents batting average and they are ninth in both WHIP (1.41) and K/BB (1.71). The improvement in the latter two statistics may offer more hope for future performance.