Boston Red Sox Domination

The Red Sox have won 5 in a row to move over .700 at 36-15. The way they are currently playing they have a shot at the American League record of 116 wins (.716 winning percentage) set by the Seattle Mariners in 2001. These Red Sox are currently on pace to win 114 games. Even better news for Red Sox fans? They are on pace to crush the Yankees by over 40 games! Yes you read that right, if the current trends continue as they are the Red Sox will finish the year 46 games ahead of the Yanks.

So how are they doing it?

Let's start with the pitching:

Josh Beckett is having an outstanding season with an 8-0 record and a 2.65 ERA. Tim Wakefield while his record is only 5-5 is pitching very well with a 3.36 ERA. Curt Shilling is doing well at 5-2 with a 3.68 ERA. Daisuke Matsuzaka has in some ways been a disappointment so far as his ERA is a subpar 4.43 but he is racking up the strikeouts (8.6 per 9 innings) and he has a great 7-2 record. The only Boston starter who is really not getting the job done is Julian Tavarez who is sitting at 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA.

Jonathan Papelbon has been awesome again this year in the closer spot (while the rival Yankees Mariano Rivera is having an awful year.) Papelbon has 28 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. He's got 13 saves and a 1.86 ERA.

Hitting:

David Ortiz is having another great year. He ranks in the top 10 in the AL in 2B, RBI, OBP, OPS, BB, and SLG. Ortiz is hitting .316 with 9 home runs, 20 doubles, and 38 RBI.

You expect great things from a hitter like Ortiz but I think it's the great performances they are getting from Keven Youkilis and Mike Lowell that are really pushing them over the top.

1B Youkilis is currently riding a 21 game hitting streak that has pushed his batting average all the way up to .358 (good for 3rd in the AL.) Youkilis previous high batting average was .279 from last year. Youkilis also has 8 home rusn putting him on pace for 27 for the year. Last year he had his career high with only 12 home runs. Youkilis ranks among the AL leaders in batting average, OBP, OPS, runs, and slugging percentage.

3B Lowell is in the midst of a career year. His previous best batting average was .293 in 2004, this year he's hitting .326 while leading the Red Sox with 39 RBI. Lowell is in the top 10 in the AL in batting average, RBI, OPS, and slugging percentage.

These breakout performances from Youkilis and Lowell are making up for the subpar year that Manny Ramirez is having.

Future Hall of Famer LF Ramirez is hitting far below his outstanding career rates of .313/.409/.596 - This year he's only at .268/.353/.453... If Ramirez were hitting like his usual self the Red Sox would probably be on a 120 win pace.