Red Sox Firmly Strapped To Jason Bay's Back

By Erik Pesta
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Jason Bay came through in the clutch yet again last night, banging a double off the left field wall to plate David Ortiz and give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jonathan Papelbon allowed runners to reach first and third base with nobody out before striking out the side in the ninth, to give Boston a two games to one victory in the weekend series. Josh Beckett settled down to pitch fairly well after allowing a first inning run on a single by Pat Burrell that scored Carl Crawford. The hard throwing right hander gave up three earned runs on six hits in as many innings, while striking out five and walking three. Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez also chipped in, with the latter picking up the victory to improve his 2009 record to 3-0 and continue his dominant season in the set-up role.

Kevin Youkilis has better overall numbers in the batting average, on base and slugging percentages, but Bay is Boston's MVP thus far. He has come through time and time again in big spots, and carried the Red Sox to victory. To me, that is the definition of value. Boston has one of the better records in all of baseball (20-12), but it's hard to imagine where this team would be without their left fielder's late inning heroics on numerous occasions this year. He has provided a crutch for a team that has been the victim of the injury bug as well as shoddy starting pitching through the first six weeks of the season.

The aforementioned injury bug bit again last night, as Dustin Pedroia needed to come out of the game after straining his right groin while swinging in the third inning. He was replaced at second base by Nick Green, who slid over from the shortstop position as Julio Lugo entered the game. Pedroia admitted after the game that he's been feeling the injury for about 10 days and aggravated it during last night's game. He expects to be able to play again by Wednesday.

The Sox are off tonight for the first time in 17 days. They are traveling to Anaheim to begin a three-game set with the Angels, before swinging up to Seattle for the weekend.