Amazing June has Red Sox riding high atop American League

The Boston Red Sox offense has had plenty to celebrate this offseason, especially in June. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

In the past week, the Boston Red Sox have watched three very important players go on the disabled list: Jed Lowrie with a shoulder injury, Carl Crawford with a strained hamstring, and Clay Buchholz with a back strain. But, with the potency left in their lineup and the talent remaining on the mound, the team with the best record in the American League dominated the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park on Sunday to win the series. And unless the injury bug continues to hit them, they will continue to look down on the rest and consistently be difficult to defeat.

In winning the Stanley Cup Finals, the Boston Bruins were recognized before the Red Sox final game against the Brewers. As part of their tribute, the horn that sounded after every hockey goal would reign through the ballpark with every Red Sox score. The players and the sold-out crowd would hear it early and often.

As has been the case this past month and a half, Boston toyed with the opposition. They didn’t waste any time, either. Jacoby Ellsbury singled, Dustin Pedroia singled, Adrian Gonzalez reached on an error, scoring a run, then Kevin Youkilis crushed a three-run homer into the monster seats, and David Ortiz and J.D. Drew singled. That was just in the first inning and the first six hitters.

Ellsbury had another chance in the inning, continuing the nightmare of Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo with a two-run ground-rule double. In all, six runs for Boston, and 46 pitches and 11 batters faced for Gallardo.

“You never want to have a first inning like that,” the 25-year-old righthander said to the Boston Globe. “It was tough, it was definitely tough. I think most importantly, just falling behind hitters. Whenever I was ahead, everything was fine. But it just seemed for some reason I fell behind them and just had to throw balls a little bit more over the plate.”

It seems a lot of pitchers have glumly said something to that effect lately. After all, with the 12-3 victory that ensued, Boston has won 13 of their past 15 games. And, in the month of June, they have 118 runs in 16 games, 23 more than the second-place Detroit Tigers. And as a team they are hitting .297 over that span. Gonzalez is hitting .421 in June. Ellsbury is at .369. Ortiz is at .357. Pedroia is at .339. Shortstop Marco Scutaro is at .371. Catcher Jared Saltalamacchia is at .343. They have been simply incredible.

Their pitching staff hasn’t been altogether pleasing, which is why this offensive display has been so important. Nonetheless, their ERA for the month is 3.97, with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester particularly excelling. The duo has combined to go 4-1 in six starts, compiling a .245 ERA. Knuckelballer Tim Wakefield is the latest to pitch effectively, shutting down the Brewers over eight innings.

Wakefield once through 169 pitches in a game against Milwaukee. That was 14 years ago, when he was 30. He only needed 99 to perplex the many accomplished hitters in their 2011 lineup. It was as if they were trying to hit a swinging pinata blindfolded.

Boston’s bats certainly haven’t felt this way. And they will continue to rack up runs to lead the Red Sox to victory, whether they are backed by solid pitching or not. The offense is just that talented.