Red Sox Report: Ellsbury Has Last Laugh!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
-Dustin Pedroia did it again. The Red Sox second baseman singled in the 5th inning of Wednesday’s game in Baltimore to run his hitting streak to a career-best 18 consecutive games. Pedroia has now hit safely in 29 of his last 30 games (.362). He also stole his 18th base of the season in the 4-0 win over Baltimore.
-The Red Sox are now 8-3 against the Orioles so far this season. In those 11 games, Boston has outscored Baltimore 72-47.
-JD Drew saw some time on the pine today despite David Ortiz still not being in the line-up due to his 3-game suspension. Drew was on the bench while Josh Reddick played in right field. Carl Crawford was in left with Jacoby Ellsbury in center. Adrian Gonzalez was the DH with Kevin Youkilis moving over to first base. Yamaico Navarro played third.
-Ortiz will return to the Boston line-up Friday night at home against Seattle. This should mean more time on the bench for Drew assuming manager Terry Francona rides the hot hand – Reddick who went 2-3 on Wednesday to raise his average to .378.
-As we have mentioned here in recent days, Drew’s days in Boston could be numbered with the Sox looking hard at the Mets’ Carlos Beltran according to various reports. One published report had the Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies as the two leading candidates for Beltran’s services. The switch-hitting outfielder was batting .293 with 14 HR’s and 59 RBI heading into Wednesday's game against St. Louis.
-Jon Lester had a solid bullpen session Wednesday in Baltimore. Assuming there are no ill effects from that session, Lester (strained lat) will be on schedule to start Monday night against Kansas City.
-Jacoby Ellsbury appears to be getting the last laugh on all of those nitwits in Red Sox Nation and the media that wanted him traded away this offseason. Ellsbury was roundly criticized for being soft for not having returned earlier last season from broken ribs. The thing is, none of his detractors knew how severely the ribs were injured and how long it can sometimes take to return from such an injury. The one thing he was justly criticized for was not staying with the team while rehabbing from that injury as opposed to going home to Arizona. Still, anyone who has half of a brain and knows the even the slightest thing about baseball should have known what an all-around talent Ellsbury was and is. You do not readily ship that type of player out of town because he missed most of one season due to an injury. Oh by the way, Ellsbury had 2 HR's Wednesday and is now hitting .316 with 15 HR, 54 RBI and 28 stolen bases.
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