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My what a difference three games make. After getting swept by the New York Yankees and dropping two out of the three from the Texas Rangers, the Red Sox found themselves out of the AL Wild Card lead and on the brink of dropping out of the conversation as to who is the top team in the AL East, but some cool, fresh, Canadian air was all they really needed as they completed the sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays last night at the Roger's Centre.

Now order has been restored to the Nation that has collectively been holding it's breath over the last week wondering if the Red Sox bats would ever come alive and boy did they ever. The Sox sluggers put up 24 runs in the three games and not against any slouch pitching either. Remember when we wanted to get Roy Halladay? Ya, well, this week we got TO him and put up some big numbers on the big fella.

So, the state of our nation is...ok. While the bats are swinging and the injuries are mending we still have some major question marks going into this weekend series with the Yankees.

How will Brad Penny fair against one of the most prolific offense in the majors?

Will Junichi Tazawa be able to battle the Yankees bats to grab his second win of the season?

The question mark remains, Boston's pitching. The top 3 in the rotation are solid. No one questions Beckett, Lester or even Buckholz after his most recent performance, but the question mark remains the final two spots in the Red Sox rotation. If Tim Wakefield can come back in the next couple of weeks that will likely shore up the fourth spot, but that is a big IF at this point and Daisuke Matsusaka is on the verge of a return, but he is STILL a big question mark.

So for this Yankees series we hand the ball to our #4 and #5 starters of the moment. Will they be able to get the job done? They must, if the Red Sox have any hope of keeping in the hunt for the AL East crown...or the wild card for that matter.

Labels: Boston Red Sox, brad penny, Clay Buckholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Junichi Tazawa, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Tim Wakefield, Toronto Blue Jays

Brad Penny cleared the first hurdle in his return to a Major League start. This comes after he threw to teammates for batting practice for the first time in spring training. Penny feels the light 30 pitch session on Monday helped him both mentally and physically.The 2008 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers was cut short by shoulder problems, will they return? Theo signed him as a free agent in order to work side by side with Smoltz to hopefully equal the efforts of what Burnett might have brought.

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell said Penny would have two days off between batting practice sessions instead of the one day off for most pitchers. But he said that barring a setback, Penny will be ready for the start of the regular season. He’s scheduled for his first spring training start on March 5. Preseason ball starts in 2 days!

timmy@wickedpissadude.com

Labels: aj burnett, Boston Red Sox, brad penny, john farrell, john smoltz, los angeles dodgers, march, pre season, shoulder, spring training

All Boston Sports. All Boston Attitude.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Red Sox v. Yankees Preview

Monday, February 23, 2009

A Penny for your Sox

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