Red Sox-Rays: Adrian Beltre Has a Big Night in Tampa

During the offseason, me and my buddy Odie had differences of opinion concerning two of the Boston Red Sox’s top free agent signings. He liked Marco Scutaro and I didn’t. I liked Adrian Beltre and he wasn’t too thrilled with the signing.

Through 48 games, I would say both players have been good signings for the Red Sox. Scutaro has been solid defensively (3.5 UZR) and I expect him to get going with the bat pretty soon.

Beltre, on the other hand, has been spectacular with the bat and last night had himself a pretty big night against the Tampa Bay Rays.

With the Red Sox going for the sweep of the Rays, Beltre went 4-for-6 with two home runs, a single, a triple, and six rib eye steaks. Thanks to his great night, Boston was able to beat Matt Garza (usually a Red Sox killer) and sweep the Rays.

His second home run was the big blow of the night. With the game tied at one and with two on, Beltre deposited a cement mixer curveball from Garza over the left field fence, which gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.

Beltre swung so hard that he dropped to one knee after he hit the ball. Not only did Beltre swing hard, but the ball was hit so hard and on a line that I would say the ball maybe got 15 feet off the ground.

Beltre is now third in the AL in batting average with a .341 mark and is 16 for his last 31 at the plate. Now history suggests that Beltre won’t be hitting .341 all season, but hitting in Fenway and with a solid lineup surrounding him, a .280–.290 average is realistic.

Not only has Beltre gotten hot with the bat, but he has gotten hot with the glove as well. I have to admit that Beltre is a pleasure to watch defensively. He is really slick with the glove.

I have supreme confidence that Beltre will make every play at third. He is like the anti-Scott Cooper.

Beltre got off to a tough start defensively in April, but right now he is a vacuum at third. He made a play on Jason Bartlett last night where he backed up on the ball (usually a no-no for third baseman), then threw it to first almost fading away, and delivered a perfect strike to Kevin Youkilis at first.

It was a very difficult play that Beltre made look easy.

The Red Sox are on a roll and Beltre is a big part of the reason why.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg.