Many teams would have gone into panic mode at the end of April when the Red Sox appeared to be heading for disaster. Their big bats weren’t hitting, their young stud pitchers got off to slow starts and all of a sudden it looked like the mighty Red Sox might be the third best team in the division. If the Toronto Blue Jays were for real – at the time it seemed they could be – then it appeared that the Sox could even finish near the bottom of the A.L. East for the first time in years. But while many said they looked dead in the water, the Red Sox didn’t panic and eventually everything came together. As of June 29th, the Sox were right back where they were supposed to be: nipping on the heels of the New York Yankees.

Unfortunately for Yankee fans, a lot of the turnaround has started around David Ortiz, a player who has tormented the Yankees throughout his career. Though most people assumed Ortiz was done when he got off to an abysmal start to the season, he has been one of their best hitters in their lineup since May. After hitting an atrocious .143 with no power in April, Ortiz hit .363 in May and was among the leaders in homeruns and RBIs for the month. The May turnaround has bled into June and he’s now among the top run producers in the A.L. with 16 bombs and 47 RBIs, giving the Red Sox a much needed bat in the middle of the lineup.

The other main reason for the offensive revival has been Kevin Youkilis, who continues to prove himself as one of the most skilled all-around players in the league. Youkilis has been steady all year as a run producer and a guy who consistently gets on base, which has been his reputation throughout his career. Youkilis is second this year in the entire league in on-base percentage and is one of only a handful of players with an OPS above 1.000; the others are MVP candidates Robinson Cano, Justin Morneau, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton. Due to Ortiz, Youkilis and another solid season from second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the Sox have been one of the top run scoring teams in the league after many Boston critics thought they would struggle to score all season long.

But no team in the league can get away with only a great lineup, and thankfully for Boston fans the Sox haven’t had to. After slow starts to the season, both Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have straightened it out and have carried the Red Sox during stretches. In his first year as a full-time starter, Buchholz is leading the team in wins with 10 while posting an ERA of 2.45, which ranks third in the A.L. among starters. With a 9-3 record and a 2.86 ERA, Lester has been equally as effective. Lester’s ability to go deep into the game nearly every outing has kept the Boston bullpen fresh, and will continue to do so as we head down the stretch.

With one of the best records in the league heading into the all-star game, the Red Sox haven’t had much of a problem selling Boston Red Sox tickets. Even without Josh Beckett at the top of their rotation, the Red Sox have proven to be surprisingly resilient and continue to pile up wins after their rough start.

They will, however, have to deal with some key injuries, including ones to Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury. But in recovering once this year from the brink of disaster, the Red Sox have already proven that it’s difficult to anticipate what’s ahead in a long baseball season, and they aren’t likely to fold this time either. It’s still very unclear whether they will have enough to overtake the Yankees to win the division, but it certainly appears that the Red Sox will once again be in the middle of the A.L. playoff race this season.

Author Bio: This was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub.com sells Boston Red Sox tickets, as well as many other kinds of Cialis sports tickets, concert tickets, tickets to special events and theatrical performances.

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