Braves vs Red Sox (6/18-6/20)

Game 1: Curt Schilling struggled for the 2nd consecutive time leaving a few members of the Atlanta Braves wondering if he might be injured. It turns out that he may well have been. Schilling went for an MRI and despite the fact that results were negative, he will head to the DL as a precaution to rest his tired right shoulder.

Schilling failed to record a strikeout and gave up 6 runs in 4.1 IP. The Braves took a commanding lead in the 5th inning when Brian McCann launched a three-run homer just out of the reach of CF Coco Crisp.

Despite the loss, all was not lost in Red Sox Nation after Monday night's game. The big story is the resurgence of Coco Crisp who is beginning to look like the 2005 version of himself. Such a resurgence would be a huge boost for the Red Sox offense. Crisp went 4/4 in the tilt with 2 homeruns. JD Drew also hit a homerun out of the leadoff spot but it wasn't enough as the Red Sox lost 9-4. They now lead the Yankees by 8 games.

Game 2: Josh Beckett overcame the poor performance in his last start and looked like his normal, dominant self. Beckett tossed 6 shutout innings and it probably would have been more if not for a rain delay after he finished his portion of the 6th inning. Beckett threw 88 pitches, allowed 4 hits, and struck out three.

The Red Sox received offense from David Ortiz who belted an opposite field homerun off of Tim Hudson. Josh Beckett chipped in with an RBI double. Alex Cora and Dustin Pedroia also recorded RBIs. Coco Crisp went 1/4.

Kyle Snyder relieved Josh Beckett and pitched a scoreless inning. Okajima and Papelbon pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th.

The Red Sox won by the score of 4-0 as the Yankees lost to Colorado. As a result, Boston has a 9 game stranglehold on 1st place in the AL East.

Game 3: The Red Sox offense wasted no time on Wednesday night as they scored 5 runs in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves. JD Drew led off the game with a solo shot while Coco Crisp added a 3-run shot later in the inning as he continued his resurgence. Crisp would finish 2/5 on the evening. The Red Sox would end up clobbering 5 homeruns (Drew, Crisp, Ortiz, Ramirez, and Hinske).

Julian Tavarez was grateful for the support but didn't need much of it as he tossed 7 shutout innings in his best performance of the season. Tavarez is now 4-0 with a 3.65 ERA in his last 7 starts. He surrended only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out four. Pineiro and Timlin pitched scoreless innings as well to complete the 2nd consecutive shutout for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox won 11-0 and the Yankees lost 6-1 to the Rockies, so the Red Sox move to 10 games up on 1st place in the division.

Thoughts: Coco Crisp has been hammering the ball since working with hitting coach Dave Magadan to change his stance and it would not come as a surprise to me if he hits around .300 from today forward. He has really looked like the 2005 Coco Crisp of the Cleveland Indians (.300, 16 HR, 69 RBI, 15 SB). Crisp hit 3 homers in the series and went 7/13.

On Deck: The Red Sox receive a day off on Thursday as they head to San Diego to begin a 3-game series. The series starts on Friday night at 10:05 PM from Petco Park. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Greg Maddux will square off in the opener. The pitching matchup for Sunday appears like it will be Josh Beckett against Jake Peavy. It can be argued that the two of them have been the best pitchers in their respective leagues up to this point. It should prove to be a good matchup.