Giants vs Red Sox (6/15-6/17)

Game 1: JD Drew continued to show signs of life on Friday evening and Dustin Pedroia had the best game of his young career as the Red Sox offense awakened to score 10 runs against Barry Zito and the Sanfrancisco Giants. Pedroia had 5 RBIs on the night, Drew had 3.

At the same time, Julian Tavarez continued his string of solid starts as he picked up his 4th win to move to 4-4. Tavarez tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball and struck out 3.

Oliver Perez shut down Roger Clemens and the Yankees as the Mets won 2-0. The win and Yankee loss gives the Red Sox an 8.5 game lead in the AL East.

Game 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka made quite possibly his best start in the major leagues against the Giants on Saturday afternoon. He tossed 7 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8.

Matsuzaka's gem came at the perfect time as the Red Sox were only able to muster 1 run, but it was all they needed thanks to the Japanese import. The Red Sox only run came in the 4th inning when Manny Ramirez crushed a solo homerun over the green monster.

JD Drew had another hit, and Coco Crisp came through with 2 of his own. The Yankees beat the Mets on Saturday afternoon and remain 8.5 games behind the Red Sox as a result.

Earlier in the week, it had been reported that one of Matsuzaka's coaches in Japan noticed a difference in the way that Matsuzaka was pitching and notified him of that. Reportedly, Matsuzaka made the change and it could very well have contributed to his success. After the game, Matsuzaka said that he thought it was his best performance as a Major Leaguer.

Game 3: The Red Sox offense showed more improvement against Matt Morris and the Giants on Sunday afternoon in the series finale. Matt Morris was putting together a very strong season until he ran into the Red Sox. Morris allowed 8 runs in 4 innings of work.

JD Drew continued to perform at the plate out of the leadoff spot. He was 1/3, but was on base 3 times in the game. David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Kevin Youkilis each collected 2 hits and Ramirez homered for the 2nd straight day.

Tim Wakefield wasn't great, but kept the Red Sox ahead. He left after surrendering 5 runs, one of which came from Barry Bonds' 747th homerun.

The Red Sox were able to avoid using Jonathan Papelbon as they won by the score of 9-5. Manny Delcarmen, Joel Pineiro, and Hideki Okajima pitched well in relief. Pineiro came on with 1 out and the tying run at the plate in the 8th inning and induced a double play on his first pitch.

With the win the Red Sox sweep the series and have won 3 straight games. It appears that the Yankees are going to beat the Mets tonight barring a major implosion by the Yankee bullpen. If the Yankees hold on, they will remain 8.5 games behind the Red Sox. The Yankees have Monday off while the Red Sox face the Atlanta Braves.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series against the Atlanta Braves from Turner Field on Monday night. The first game is set to begin at 7:05 PM. Curt Schilling will oppose Chuck James in the opener. Josh Beckett and Julian Tavarez will also pitch in the series.