The two wins the Red Sox had against Cincinatti coming into last night's game were not very convincing to me. Two pitchers with ERAs above 7 started for the Reds and the Sox were able to hit off them. The two hottest pitchers we had were able to shut down Cincinatti's offense. This 6-1 win, however, was very convincing. The Red Sox were able to score off a good young pitcher and a struggling starter was able to shut down the Reds' offense.
The middle of the order is clicking. Ortiz, Manny, Nixon, and Millar are all hitting. This means that Renteria and Damon need only to get on base. Then guys in the bottom of the order like Varitek and Mueller can knock in the big hitters as well.
The Man of the Game is Bronson Arroyo who went 7 innings and allowed only 1 earned run. He struck out 8 on his way to recording his 5th win of the season. If he, Wells, and Clement continue to pitch like this, our rotation suddenly doesn't look so bad.
The Red Sox will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Fenway Park for the first time ever this weekend. The Pirates lost to the Yankees tonight but they should have won. The Yankees were the beneficiary of a bad call on a fielder's choice that should have been a game ending double play. Instead, the 9th inning was kept alive, the Yankees tied the game, and then won it off a Steroid Shot by Jason Giambi. The Red Sox will send Miller, Wake, and Clement to the mound this weekend against Pittsburgh.
