White Sox vs Red Sox (8/23-8/26)

Game 1: The first game of the series would take place on Friday due to heavy rains in Chicago on Thursday night. Josh Beckett drew the start against Jon Garland.

Beckett went 5.2 IP and allowed 3 runs, but the Red Sox were luckily on top of their game when their ace wasn't. Jason Varitek had a big offensive night (2/3, HR, 4 RBI) as did Mike Lowell (3/4 2 RBI).

The Red Sox blew the game open in the 8th and 9th innings, scoring 2 runs in the 8th and 4 in the 9th.

Game 2: Curt Schilling pitched a decent ballgame and had his velocity back up to 91 MPH. He allowed 1 run and 3 hits over 6 innings. Schilling was relieved by Manny Delcarmen who pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Kyle Snyder and Eric Gagne also pitched scoreless innings in the game.

David Ortiz was 4/5 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. Kevin Youkilis added a 3-run homer of his own.

Game 3: The Red Sox scored in double digits for the 3rd consecutive game against the Chicago White Sox. Tim Wakefield, who has pitched well of late, did not need all of the support but he gladly took it as he picked up his 16th win. Wakefield now has a decision in all 26 of his starts this year (10 losses).

Wakefield pitched 7 shutout innings and only allowed 3 hits while striking out 6. Kyle Snyder allowed 2 runs in relief while Javier Lopez pitched scoreless 9th.

Newcomer Bobby Kielty lead the offensive charge with a 3/5 4 RBI performance. Mike Lowell went 4/6 with a 2 RBIs and Kevin Youkilis chipped in 2 RBIs as well.

Game 4: Julian Tavarez pitched well in his start and pitched in a tight 1-1 ballgame until the Red Sox scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning. 2 of the runs scored on an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia. A 2-run homer by David Ortiz was the source of the other 2 runs in the inning.

Tavarez finished with 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, and 7 K. He picked up his 7th win of the season as the Red Sox scored in double digits for the 4th consecutive game.

Bobby Kielty played well again as he went 2/4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. JD Drew added a homerun as well. The final score was 11-1 in favor of the Red Sox.

The win gave the Red Sox a sweep of the White Sox. The Yankees also lost today which puts Boston ahead by 7.5 games going into a 3-game set against their rivals. The Red Sox also became the first team to reach 80 wins this season and are now 29 games above .500.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Andy Pettitte will square off in the opener as the Red Sox will have their chance to put the division away with a good series. A poor series could easily let the Yankees right back into the race. Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett will pitch the other 2 games in the series.