Boston Red Sox Will Dominate August with Hot Offense and New Pitcher

Talk about everything falling into place at the same time.

The Boston Red Sox just had a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox and on Thursday they capped off the series with a walk-off home run by Cody Ross to take the series 3-1.

Could this be the spark the Red Sox have looking for all season? I think so.

All at once, the Red Sox had Adrian Gonzalez, Will Middlebrooks, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz and Dustin Pedroia return to the lineup, whether they were out for a couple games or the entire season. They did lose Ortiz to the DL, but we'll bypass that for now.

These players haven't only returned, but they've returned with a sense of urgency and for some of them, a new offensive prowess.

Adrian Gonzalez, a guy who as of July 1 was batting .272 with six home runs and 42 RBI has exploded onto the scene. In the last five games, Gonzalez has 11 hits, his average has skyrocketed to .298, and he has two home runs and 10 RBI. The powerful Gonzalez we came to love last year is seemingly back.

Carl Crawford, after missing the entirety of the season, returned to the lineup for the first game of the Chicago series. Hitting from the two-spot in the lineup, Crawford went 6-for-14 and even swiped three stolen bases on Wednesday. Could he be returning to his form from the Tampa Bay days?

At long last, the runner up of the AL MVP in 2011 returned, and Ellsbury clearly wants to make up for time lost. Jacoby is 11-for-31 since returning, with three doubles and four stolen bases. There are no MVP chances for him this season, but he can still make a big impact.

Clay Buchholz has had two starts since coming off the DL and both of them have been pretty good, if not great. In Thursday's win against Chicago, Buchholz went eight innings, giving up just one run and fanning six. The kid is making it known that he wants to be the ace of this ball club.

And let's not forget our new Mr. Clutch, Cody Ross. Ross had five hits in the final two games of the White Sox series, including a double and three, three-run home runs—the last being a walk-off to win the game. He's easily the biggest steal of the Red Sox in 2012, and he plays with an enthusiasm that Boston has sorely needed.

Everyone is heating up on the Red Sox. The pieces are all falling into the right places and if this heat continues through the last 10 days of July, August could be scorching hot.

Not to mention, David Ortiz will be returning early in August, which would only bring back Boston's best hitter of 2012 when everyone else is playing well.

If Buchholz can rally the pitching staff, the rotation should look good enough, but it seems as if Ben Cherington might be making moves before the trade deadline.

Early Friday morning, Buster Olney reported that the Red Sox have become the early favorites to acquire Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza.

Garza, whose last start was July 15, threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in a win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. We all know Garza can handle the AL East, so just imagine how much nicer the rotation would look if he joined the team by August.

Finally, for the first time this entire season, things are truly looking up for the Red Sox. It seems as if the whole offense is heating up and Cody Ross' home run has seemed to bring a new burst of swagger and excitement to the team.

If that excitement can propel them forwards, Red Sox Nation can look forward to an offensive show in the month of August with a whole bag of wins, and hopefully a new pitcher or two.