Boston Red Sox: 5 Most Important Pre-All-Star Break Series

We're through the first week of June, and even though the Boston Red Sox still sit in the bottom of the tight AL East, they've made a lot of progress since their slow start to open the season.

Their pitching is much improved and the replacements for many of the injured Boston stars have played surprisingly well.

To say that the Red Sox have no chance to make the playoffs at this point in the year is asinine. There’s even a relatively good chance that they go into the All-Star break with a lead in the AL East.

If they plan on leading the most competitive division in baseball, they have to keep playing the way they have over the last month. That being said, there are several important upcoming series for Boston that they need to play well in.

Here are the five most important series that Boston will play before going into the All-Star break.

5. June 11-13 at Miami Marlins

After Boston wraps up this home series against the NL East leading Washington Nationals, they'll hit the road for more interleague ball against another NL East foe, the Miami Marlins.

The probable starting matchups are about as good as you could ask for without Jon Lester starting a game. The series opener features Josh Beckett and Josh Johnson. The middle game is between Clay Buchholz and Mark Buehrle and the finale showcases Felix Doubront and Ricky Nolasco.

Oddly enough, the player with some of the best numbers against those three Marlins pitchers is Carl Crawford who won't even be with the team for the series.

The Marlins and Red Sox are in somewhat similar situations within their divisions. Each team is only a handful of games behind the respective first place teams but still sit towards the bottom half of the division.

Both teams will be looking to take at least two of the three games in this series to try and get on the right track going further into June. 

4. June 22-24 vs. Atlanta Braves

The final interleague series of the season for the Red Sox comes against the Atlanta Braves, who have been flip-flopping with the Washington Nationals atop the NL East.

Alongside of future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, some of the other Braves have really stepped up including Michael Bourn, Dan Uggla and Martin Prado. Uggla has the second highest OPS among second baseman behind Robinson Cano while Martin Padro sits sixth in the same category for outfielders.

The key factor for the Braves has been their pitching, which the Red Sox will have their hands full with. Tommy Hanson and Brandon Beachy have had great seasons thus far and the Atlanta bullpen is one of the best in the league with Craig Kimbrel as the closer.

The teams matchup well against each other which will provide for a very exciting series. 

3. June 25-27 vs. Toronto Blue Jays

It's always important to win games when a division rival comes to town, and in a few weeks the Toronto Blue Jays will make their way back to Fenway Park. Toronto has had a great season thus far, sitting just three games back of first place, but hasn't really gotten any attention for it.

Edwin Encarnacion is having an MVP-caliber season while Jose Bautista continues to obliterate balls into orbit. They also have Brandon Morrow on the mound who could end up being a Cy Young candidate.

Boston just took two-of-three in Toronto a few days ago, with the finale showcasing the implosion of Daniel Bard. The season series between the two teams is tied at three a piece.

If the Red Sox really want to put themselves in a good position before the All-Star break, they have to win this series. Losing it would put them in a deep hole that will not be easy to get out of. It would be nice if Bard is back by then and he can redeem himself after that horrific start.

2. June 15-17 at Chicago Cubs

This is probably the closest to the most important series before the All-Star break as you can possibly get. It will have more hype than Will Middlebrooks' major league debut times one hundred. All of the storylines will be on display for this three-game series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.

First of all, it'll be the first time the Red Sox will reunite with two former employees, Cubs' president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer. With Epstein leaving Boston, Ben Cherington was promoted and has been in charge ever since.

Secondly, when Terry Francona was ousted from the Red Sox, there was a debate among fans between who should take over as their manager. One of the more attractive options was Dale Sveum, who then signed with the Cubs. Boston then decided to go with the controversial Bobby Valentine.

There will also be eyes in the television booth as ESPN has the rights to Sunday's finale and Francona should be calling the game.

The Cubs have been terrible this season, but there's no doubt that Epstein will want to beat his former team while Cherington will look to show his former boss what he's capable of.

1. July 6-8 vs. New York Yankees

What's better than Yankees-Red Sox as the last series before the All-Star break? Hold that answer.

Since a matchup from earlier in the season was rained out, they'll be playing four games in three days. Now, let me answer my original question for you. Nothing is better.

There should be some other big storylines on the line as both teams are still close to the division lead but things could be completely different during the first week of July.

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz will be playing for our beloved Red Sox, and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez playing for the hated Bronx Bombers.

We won't be seeing Mariano Rivera in this series and maybe not at all for the rest of the season, but the stands will be packed and the "Bleacher Creatures" will be screaming the entire weekend.

Grab some snacks and a comfy seat so you can enjoy the best rivalry in all of sports.