It was all too easy to make fun of Jacoby Ellsbury last season as he suffered through a variety of injuries and only played 18 games in the entire season (somewhere J.D. Drew nods his approval).
That all seems like ancient history as Ellsbury has become an absolute beast and the undisputed best leadoff hitter in MLB this year. He's playing his typical Gold Glove defense, a terror on the base paths, getting on base and he's added completely unexpected power.
Yesterday afternoon, he had a pair of solo homers (No. 14 and 15-six over his career-high) as the Red Sox (59-37) concluded their six-game road trip 4-2 with a 4-0 shutout of the Orioles (39-56).
Andrew Miller (4-1) submitted an erratic performance-walking a career-high six in 5.2 innings-but he limited Baltimore to only two hits. He added three strikeouts as Boston won two out of three at Camden Yards, just like they won two of three at the Trop.
Matt Albers (1.1 innings), Daniel Bard (1 inning) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 inning) teamed up for the last 10 outs of the contest and most impressively, none of them allowed a hit or walk. It was Bard's club-record 21st scoreless outing, he hasn't given up an earned run since May 24.
After his post All-Star game slump, it was nice to see Adrian Gonzalez get back to his usual results of crushing the ball. He went 4 for 5 in the win while Josh Reddick (run, walk) and Carl Crawford (RBI, walk, stolen base) both notched two hits.
O's starter Jake Arrieta (9-7) wasn't that bad but his teammates couldn't pick him up on this day. He went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
After Miller walked three straight in the second yet escaped unscathed thanks to a double play ball by Craig Tatum, Ellsbury hit his first bomb in the third for a 1-0 Red Sox lead.
Jason Varitek's ground out in the fourth scored Reddick in the fourth then Ellsbury crushed his second homer to right in the seventh.
Crawford's bases loaded walk in the eighth provided the last run for Boston.
The Red Sox returned to Boston today for an off day and then they play three games against the Seattle Mariners and four against the Kansas City Royals. Honestly, if someone offered me free tickets the next few days with this brutal heat and these shitbums in town, I would probably say no. That's how unappealing it is to sit in Fenway this weekend.
John Lackey faces Felix Hernandez tomorrow night in the series opener. With any luck, Lackey will melt into a puddle and Boston can hold King Felix hostage before Seattle makes a deal for him to the Red Sox.
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