Boston 6
Texas 5

In a wild finish, the Red Sox took the third game of the series to sweep the Texas Rangers in Arlington, whilst the Yankees were swept at home by the Angels.  Boston is now 11.5 games ahead of 2nd place Baltimore, and 12.5 games ahead of New York, opening up a lead the volume of which hasn’t been seen since…well, since about 29 years ago.

The entertaining Julian Tavarez started out by spinning a gem, allowing only 1 baserunner in the first 5 innings.  Jason Varitek gave the Sox an early lead with a 3-run blast in the 4th, however, that lead was quickly relinquished in the 6th inning, as Tavarez began to fall apart like a poorly-made sandwich.  Luckily, Boston reclaimed the lead for good in the 8th, off of RBI singles from J.D. Drew (yes, Drew) and Mike Lowell, and a 9th inning insurance blast off of the bat of resident Scrappy Guy, Dustin Pedroia.

J.D. Drew was 2-4, and could have easily been 4-4, as his two outs were hard-hit shots snagged by infielders.  He was swinging the bat extremely well today.

It is clear (and hopefully clear to Terry Francona) that Dustin Pedroia should be playing just about every day, with Alex Cora assuming his role as super-utility guy, spelling the starters when they need a day off. (My JV basketball coach used to describe this as “needing a blow”, which, let me tell you, is a term that really registers with a group of a dozen 14-15 year-old boys.) Anyway, Dustin is now at .279/.365/.396.

The unsung hero of the game: Joel Pineiro.  The right-hander came in and pitched 1.2 perfect innings, striking out 3, and squelching the volcanic Texas lineup while the Sox offense reclaimed the lead.  A much needed performance from a guy who was being slapped around like a disobedient prostitute prior to last night.

Coco Crisp is now hitting .304/.407/.478 in his last 6 games.  I still don’t like seeing him hit near the top of the order, but, right now he is more productive than our current lead-off hitter, Julio Lugo.

The one negative point from the weekend sweep of Texas: the Sox bullpen was used quite a bit, throwing 9.1 innings in the 3 games.  They’ll need some sturdy performances from the starters against Cleveland, another team with a dangerous lineup.

It’s Curt Schilling (4-2, 3.94) against Cliff Lee (2-1, 5.93) at Fenway tonight, followed by the return of Josh Beckett tomorrow night. 

Happy Memorial Day.