The Red Sox are now 9-8 on the month of June, though they have given up more runs than they’ve scored. On the positive side of things, Kevin Youkilis has added a power stroke (.642 SLG this month) to the already impeccable hitting approach he displayed over the first two months of the season. Trot Nixon is very quietly putting up a campaign that compares quite favorably to his 2003 (.319/.423/.473 thus far). Jason Varitek is again playing like an asset (.804 OPS in June). David Ortiz has found his stroke once again and though he had struggled through Saturday of last week’s road trip, Manny Ramirez has homered in consecutive games. Even Alex Gonzalez is hitting a little bit like we all knew he could.

The problem, unfortunately, has come at the top of the order. Coco Crisp has been just awful since coming back from his thumb injury. And in case anyone wants to get all worked up over letting Andy Marte head over to the Tribe, he has struggled in Buffalo this season (though he has come on of late). Mark Loretta has reverted back to his Aprilish ways after showing signs he may have returned to the All-Star form he showed a few years back. Smartly, Terry Francona has moved Kevin Youkilis into the leadoff hole – the right move whether or not Crisp finds his stroke back as Coco has never really been an on-base guy. A little further down the lineup, Mike Lowell has struggled so far in June – not an altogether unexpected development given Lowell’s scorching start that not even the rosiest optimist could have portended.

All in all, it’s a healthy offense. It can be unspectacular when some of its parts perform as poorly as Crisp and Loretta have lately, or as badly as Varitek and Gonzalez (and Loretta for that matter) did early on. But when everybody is going about right, this offense is one of the five best in baseball.

I really don’t know what to tell you about this pitching staff and if I had to guess, I think the fellas down in the basement of 4 Yawkey Way would tell you about the same. Curt Schilling seems to have settled into a nice spot, where if you perhaps can’t expect dominance night in and night out, you sure can expect a good crack at winning. Josh Beckett is quite the opposite. You can expect a crack at dominance any time he takes the ball, but you can also expect a performance that gives you no chance whatsoever at winning from time to time. Tim Wakefield is Tim Wakefield. When the offense is right, he’s an asset for this club. An average starter with an above average offense gets the job done. The final two spots are where this thing starts to get dicey. Matt Clement has gone to the DL, a no-downside type of move that will allow Boston’s bran-trust to see if he can try and strengthen a deadened arm that no longer features the zip that used to allow him to post impressive strikeout numbers. Kyle Snyder’s performance this evening was encouraging, and maybe Boston can get a couple of more good outings from him until Clement comes back. Then Matt either bounces back and does his thing or Snyder (or a potential deadline acquisition) has a spiffy new gig taking a regular turn for a division leading ball club. Whatever decisions need to be made, Clement’s leash needs to be shortened. In time, if things do not improve considerably for Matt, he needs to be demoted. There still remains one starting pitching spot and at the moment, Jon Lester occupies it. If his first outing proves the better proxy for his performances going forward, the Red Sox will be in quite a bit of trouble. If last Friday’s showing is more indicative of the Lester we will see, this Sox team may be in business.

Call me a lunatic given the recent spottiness of the unit but this bullpen and I are cool. Two things are working in its favor. One, the very best relief pitcher in baseball anchors it. Two, there are enough live arms out there (and down in Pawtucket) to assemble a solid unit. The biggest challenge facing Terry Francona over the course of the next fifty games or so is going to be figuring out an optimization plan for his bullpen usage heading into the playoff drive. Will it be Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke setting up Jonathan Papelbon? Will Rudy Seanez or Julian Tavarez harness the stuff that allows them to post such impressive K-rates? Will Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen or Jermaine Van Buren prove worthy of high-leverage innings? Might Matt Clement make a good reliever? That is your challenge, Terry. We’re counting on you here.

The Red Sox boast the American League’s 3rd best record but need to shore up their starting pitching staff in order to remain true World Series contenders. This season is shaping up to pose a new challenge in that the Wild Card may not be coming from the American League East. These Tigers do not seem to want to go away and I sure as hell gave up doubting the Pale Hose a long time ago. And just to add color to the remaining piece of the AL post-season puzzle, in case you didn’t notice, the A’s have begun their annual bananas run a little early this season. They’re about to run away with the West. So right now the Sox have a two game lead in the East and plenty of questions to accompany that cushion. Careful examination over the next five weeks of what they have and what they do not will determine how the Sox finish up the 2006 regular season. If the Sox think Matt Clement is a worthy guy to take a regular turn in the rotation down the stretch, now’s the time to perform the due diligence in order to test such a hypothesis. Same goes for Jon Lester. And Kyle Snyder. And Delcarmen and Hansen and Tavarez and Seanez and Van Buren and yes, David Wells. The Red Sox employ 25 men capable of winning a World Series. It’s just that none of us knows which 25 they are.