Sox Win-Out Versus Phils

The Sox took 2 out of 3 yesterday with a solid win against one of the dominant pitchers in baseball Roy Halladay. Shakey-Wakey wasn’t so shakey yesterday as he pitched 8 shutout innings against a potent NL powerhouse giving up just 5 hits and 2 free-passes. The Sox got Wake out to a relatively early lead which Wake said was able to allow him “to just pitch the way he wanted to.”

The surging Sox were able to open up their lead as the Phillies’ third-baseman Greg Dobbs went all Bill Buckner on the baseball which extended the lead from 1-0 to 3-0. The Youkkka would add his 9th HR in the 6th inning.

All in all this series is a clear success. We are finally starting to see signs pointing towards this team being put in a position to get back into the race with a big series coming up against the Rays, while the banged-up Yankees head to Minnesota to start a 3 game series tomorrow night. This upcoming series with the Rays is about as big as a May series can get. A sweep would be utter devastation, while a series win or sweep could truly turn the season around.

Things to watch out for: Can Buchholz and Lester do what John Lackey failed to do in the series-opener against the Phillies by feeding off a couple of solid starting pitching outings and keeping the bullpen’s role down to essentially nothing? Can J.D. Drew (aka Albert Pujols Jr.) continue to fuel the offensive productions of this team? Lastly (and quite simply the most obvious question), is this team good enough to play alongside the big-boys this year???