Red Sox Report: Crawford Ailing Too
Friday, July 29, 2011
Say what you want about Dustin Pedroia, but the man certainly has a flair for the dramatic.
With his career-high 24-game hitting streak on the line in the bottom of the 8th inning Thursday against Kansas City, Pedroia crushed an inside fastball into the Monster seats for his 15th homerun of the year. More importantly, it extended his hitting streak to 25 games while pulling the Red Sox to within 1 of the Royals at 4-3.
During the streak, Pedroia is hitting .404 with 9 HR’s, 9 doubles and 20 RBI. He is now hitting .308 on the season. Pedroia also stole his 21st base of the season on Thursday.
-Jacoby Ellsbury continued his torrid July as well. The Red Sox center fielder put Boston up 2-0 in the 3rd with a 2-run single.
-Apparently Josh Beckett is human after all. The Red Sox ace has been pitching lights out virtually all season long but was roughed up by Kansas City in the 4th. The Royals scored 4 times on 4 hits and 2 walks in the inning including a 3-run homer by Billy Butler. Beckett went 7 innings and allowed 6 hits and 4 earned runs. He walked 3 and struck out 8. Beckett should sue his teammates for lack of run support because he has pitched better than the Yankees' CC Sabathia this season but has only 9 wins to show for it as opposed to Sabathia's league-leading 15.
-JD Drew told the media before Thursday’s game that the shoulder injury which landed him on the 15-day DL has been a problem for most of the season. Drew said that it is a problem with his rotator cuff which has required periodic injections. He did express optimism that he will return this season from the injury and believes that it has contributed to his poor offensive showing. He also was very complimentary of the man that replaced him – Josh Reddick.
-While the Red Sox refuse to acknowledge that Clay Buchholz is likely out for the season, that seems to be the case. What was first thought of as simple soreness in the lower back appears to be something more serious than that. Buccholz will see a specialist sometime over the next few days.
-Sox’ LF Carl Crawford said that he has a sore left elbow which required a cortisone shot Tuesday. Crawford did not start again on Thursday but he did pinch-hit in the 9th inning. With 1-on and 1-out, Crawford nearly hit a walk-off HR to right field but the ball died on the warning track. Crawford is hoping to play this weekend in Chicago against the White Sox.
-Good news on the injury front for ss Jed Lowrie. He is now taking swings at soft-toss deliveries and is fielding ground balls. Lowrie has been on the DL since June 17th with a shoulder strain.
-With the Yankees off on Thursday, Boston’s loss to Kansas City decreased the Red Sox lead over New York to 2 ½ games in the AL East. The Red Sox open up 3-game weekend series in Chicago tomorrow night while the Yankees host the struggling Baltimore Orioles for a 4-game series at the Stadium. New York and Baltimore will play a day-night double-header on Saturday as part of that 4-game set.
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