Boston Red Sox: The New York Yankees Can Start to Worry

The past and future World Champion Boston Red Sox just completed a sweep of the Anaheim Angels in Anaheim. The Red Sox trail New York's other team, the first place New Yankees, by three and one-half games.

The Red Sox have won five games in a row and eight of their last nine after getting off to a horrendous 2-10 start.

The reason the Red Sox have started to resemble the powerhouse they are supposed to be can be summed up in one word—pitching.

Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and former Angel John Lackey allowed only 14 hits and two runs in 30 innings of work against the Angels.

Angels outfielder Torii Hunter wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it.

"I don't remember the last time a team came in with all their pitchers just on a hot streak. It's just not possible."

No Red Sox starting pitcher has allowed more than three runs or worked fewer than five innings in the team's last nine games. To gain some perspective on the feat, the last time a Red Sox pitching staff accomplished that feat was in 1946, when they won the pennant.

The offense is also getting hot. In yesterday's game, Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and drove in a pair of runs, Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits and Carl Crawford also had two hits, including his first Red Sox home run. The Red Sox were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

It is always a question of health, but Beckett's back seems to be fine, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia are healthy and no Red Sox regular or pitcher being counted upon is seriously injured.

Boston has better starting pitching than the Yankees and their bullpen has been strengthened with the addition of Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler.

The Yankees have one of the greatest infields in baseball history, but Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and the combination of Marcos Scutaro and Jed Lowrie are not far behind. Don't buy the psych-op that Derek Jeter is through.

The division race is going to be wild, with the wild card providing a safety net, but since the early days of the game, pitching almost always is the key factor in winning a World Championship.

It is only April 25th. The Red Sox have played 21 games while the Yankees have played a mere 18 games.

While the Sox trail the Yankees by three and one-half games, they are five down in the loss column. That would be important in late September, but not now.

If Phil Hughes doesn't return to form and Bartolo Colon isn't for real, the Yankees starting pitching will not match up to the Red Sox starting pitching.

The Yankees may set an all-time single season home run record, but they will not score more runs than the Red Sox, who will not need as many runs as will the Yankees to win.

The Red Sox are for real. Seeing Jon Lester face Roy Halladay, followed by Josh Beckett duel Cliff Lee is going to be fascinating. Facing Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain wouldn't be boring either.

References:

LA Times