The Boston Red Sox are currently on a tear, as they keep increasing their lead in the AL East with a little over a month left in the regular season.
I guess it really shouldn’t surprise us anymore when a New England-area team starts getting hot at the perfect time of the season. As if we had any doubts about this 2017 Red Sox baseball team, they are finally hitting their stride, winning 12 of their 14 games since August 1. Needless to say, these guys are on fire and now 19 games over .500.
At 70-51, the Red Sox currently own a five-game lead over the second-place Yankees going into Saturday afternoon. With Chris Sale sitting on a 14-4 record, ready to take the hill, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Boston picks up its 71st win of the season.
When you go and look at the numbers, trying to figure out how this team has caught fire since starting the month of August, it’s pretty hard to put a finger on one person or statistic. To be completely honest, it truly has been a team effort.
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According to MLB Stats, the Red Sox have three different players hitting well over a .400 batting average over the last week of baseball. For example, Rafael Devers is hitting .455 with four home runs and 8 RBI, Christian Vazquez is hitting .417 and Mitch Moreland is hitting a solid .412. When you get that kind of production out of players who we wouldn’t call the “big boys” in the lineup, that becomes a devastating scenario for opposing teams.
At the same time, Boston’s pitching staff has been incredible as well. Over the last 30 games, Sale has recorded a 2.18 ERA, Drew Pomeranz has a 2.57 ERA and Craig Kimbrel a 1.64 ERA, courtesy of MLB Stats.
When you begin to look at the landscape of the American League heading toward the end of August, you quickly begin to realize that the Red Sox may be the team to beat. The Houston Astros are currently losing players to injury left and right, while Boston has proven its dominance over the Cleveland Indians lately and the New York Yankees have lost three out of four to Boston over the last week of play.
That being said, the Red Sox are trending in a league where the other contending teams are slowing down. While there are still many games left to be played in the 2017 regular season, it looks as though Boston is set up to sprint toward the finish line.
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If they stay healthy and continue pitching well, the New England area might have another championship to celebrate in late October.