If you had told me at the beginning of the season that Jed Lowrie would be batting 2nd, Pedroia batting 4th, Lowell would be injured, Beckett injured, Drew injured, Jeff Bailey at first, a new right fielder, new left fielder. and Michael Bowden starting a game on August 30th; I would have told you that the Sox must be 6 or 7 games out of the wild card.
Instead they're 3.5 games ahead (4 games in the loss column) of the Twins, and 7 games ahead of New York.
Pedroia was outstanding at cleanup. 4 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs. Mark Kotsay was even more impressive, going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie each knocked in a pair. Jeff bailey hit his 2nd career homerun.
Michael Bowden was the 7th Red Sock to make his Major League debut in '08. He's also the 11th different starting pitcher the Sox have used. And for a guy who only has 2 starts in AAA, he did pretty well. He went 5, allowing 2 runs off 7 hits and 1 walk.
Let's not go crazy and think that Bowden belongs in this rotation full time. He's 21 years old. He just got to AAA. The most he could give the Sox right now would be 5 innings of average to below average quality. He's not a long-term solution to any of the Sox rotation problems.
But if the Sox need another spot start, he'll get the call.
The Red Sox go for the sweep this afternoon as Tim Wakefield faces 14-6 Gavin Floyd. Floyd also has a 3.70 ERA, so he's not messing around.
-The Commodore
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