Red Sox sweep Tribe, Head home to Boston

Jarrod Saltalamacchia thought he’d try something a little different, you know, just to break up the routine a little bit.

Flamboyancy is not what this Red Sox team is about – this is a team built on grit, determination and centered on pitching and defense, so when one of their own strays at the plate, the other members of the “Singles Club” let him know about it.

Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

So when the Red Sox catcher got it in his mind to pull a solo park job to right to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth inning, his light hitting brethren were sure to remind him where he comes from.

We manufacture runs around here, fella.

More impressive still is the unrivaled string of dominating pitching performances by both starter and reliever alike.  Starters taking leads into the 6th inning or later, handing the ball over to Koji Uehara for an inning or two and then to interim closer Andrew Bailey, who threw one easy inning for his second save in as many tries.

Jon Lester was magnificent, holding up to the bar he set in his first two starts by going seven strong, of four hit ball with five strike outs and yielding 2 earned runs, leading the Sox to a series sweep of the Cleveland Indians with a 6-3 victory at Progressive field on Thursday.

Lester is 3-0 with a sick 1.73 ERA and, coupled with the emergence of Uehara and the top shelf fill-in by Bailey, former Sox manager and current Indian’s manager Tito Francona sees good things for his former club.

“If they pitch like that, they’re going to give a lot of people trouble,”  Francona said.

Especially if they keep producing runs, which will get a boost on Friday.  When the Sox arrive home for tomorrow’s game hosting the Kansas City Royals, David Ortiz, fresh off his rehab stint at Pawtucket, will be waiting – bat in hand.  On a night that is going to bring normalcy and a long, deep breath to the city of Boston, they also get back one of their favorite sons.

The Boston Red Sox are 11-4.  What gives?  Weren’t they supposed to suck?  What happened?  And now coming home to their wounded but still standing city for a 10 game homestand and the opportunity to feed off of the civic pride in wake of tragedy – in essence giving the finger to a couple of cowards who thought to terrorize Boston.

We’re home and we’re open for business, Baby…and business is good.  First place good.

“You can’t put your finger on one thing,” Lester said after the game. “Everybody’s doing what they need to do. We’re playing good baseball right now.”

Playing as a team?  They keep doing that, they’re going to give everybody trouble.