Not even the rains could put a damper on this Red Sox offense. After knocking out 20 hits yesterday, they smacked 16 today. The end result was a rain-shortened 14-1 clubbing of the Tigers.Carl 'What Slump?' Crawford collected four more hits today—including two triples—to add to his four hits from Wednesday. Jacoby Ellsbury clouted his fifth home run (a three-run shot) and newcomers Josh Reddick and Drew Sutton combined for 5 hits and 5 RBIs. Papi went 2-3 and scored 3 runs. Needless to say, it was the second straight offensive onslaught.
Alfredo Aceves improved to 2-0 (and 16-1 lifetime as a starter) with 6 workmanlike innings. He frequently seemed to be in trouble, but worked out of every jam—giving up only 5 hits and 1 run while striking out 6.
Best of all, the Sox are now in a statistical dead heat with the Empire for a share of first place in the American League East. It took 50 games to get there. But we are there.