Red Sox Recapping June

It was easy to be somewhat skeptical of these Red Sox heading into the month of June. On June 1st the Red Sox were tied for first place in the division, blowing a 3 game lead they had on May 1st with a dissapointing 15-15 month of May. June was by far, by very far their toughest month of the season schedule wise, as every single one of their 28 games in June would be against playoff contenders. The goal for many Red Sox fans was that their team  would simply find a way to survive June with their heads above water and still in the playoff mix. They did way more than that, posting a 17-11 record in the month, an astonishing record given the brutal nature of their schedule. a 17-11 record is a .607 win percentage, which would average out to a 98-64 record through 162 games. They did it with mostly offense, posting a team average of .298 for the month, their best team batting average in an entire month of a season since May of 2006. The month was not without issues, their best pitcher Clay Buchholz only pitched twice the entire month after going down with an injury early in June. Their second best pitcher, Jon Lester, struggled mightily in the month, posting an ERA of over seven. Their closer Andrew Bailey, blew 3 saves before finally losing his job as closer after a loss on June 20th. Mike Napoli, whos supposed to be their big home run hitter, only hit one home run the entire month, on June 1st. But they came out of it resilient as ever, and heading into July 1st, have opened up a 2.5 game lead in the division over the Baltimore Orioles. More importantly they've opened up a 6 game lead over the Yankees and Rays, a nice cushion heading to the second half. Lets take a more in depth look at what the month of June brought us.

The Sox opened the month with two games at Yankee stadium, the first of which they won 11-1, the first act in a big offensive month. The sox hit three homers in the game highlighted by a grand slam from Mike Napoli. The next night the Sox defeated the Yankees 3-0, as Clay Buchholz pitched a gem complete game shutout.

After those two games the Red Sox returned home for a three game series with the Rangers, and in the opener put up their best offensive game of the season, defeating the Rangers 17-5 behind the strength of four home runs, including the first of Jackie Bradleys career. After losing the second game of the series, David Ortiz, mr clutch, would hit a 3 run walk off home run in the series finale to give the Sox a 4-1 record in the early part of June.

Next up was the Angels, who the Sox also took 2 of 3 from, thanks to big offensive outputs, including a 10-5 win in the series finale highlighted by a 2 homer game from catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Bostons record for June was now 6-2.

Next up was a trip to Tampa and the craziest game of the season. The Red Sox opened up a 7-0 lead in the first inning, but the Rays slowly came back to tie it at 7. The ended in a 10-8 red sox win in fourteen innings. The two teams split the final two games of the series pushing the Red Sox record to 8-3 in June.

Next up was a four game tilt in Baltimore and a roadbump in the month. In the first game, the Sox lost another long affair, this one 12 innings. In the second game, the offense was shut down, for really the only time the whole month in a 2-0 loss. The teams split the final two games, meaning the Sox lost 2 of 4 to the Orioles and their record for the month slipped to 9-6.

Back to Fenway for a 3 game, 2 day series with the Rays. The Sox swept a doubleheader from them, capped off by a two run walk off homer from Jonny Gomes in the shortest game of the year, just 2 hours twenty seven minutes. The Rays would win the final game of the series but still the Sox record now stood at 11-7.

In a very frustrating series, the Sox lost 3 of 4 to Detroit, despite hitting .313 in the series as a team, pushing the record to 12-10.

Returning home, the Red Sox posted a 5-1 record thanks to big offensive outputs, including a two game sweep of the Rockies and winning 3 of 4 from the Blue Jays to finish the month at 17-11.

The Red Sox hit .298 as a team for the month, compared to .271 in April and .257 in May.

They scored 5.57 runs per game in June, compared to 5.19 in April and 4.67 in May.

While the offense was at its best, the pitching has slowly declined with each month. The Team ERA in June was 4.13 compared to 3.58 in April and 4.00 in May.

The batting average against for June was .266 compared to .224 in April and .256 in May.

Looking at individual players, pretty much everyone had a big month. jacoby Ellsbury hit .360, Shane Victorino hit .304, Jose Iglesias hit .395, Mike Carp hit .367, Jonny Gomes hit .304.

Will Middlebrooks sophomore slump, however, would continue. After hitting .288 with 18 homers in limited action last year, many were expecting a breakout year. After hitting .194 in April and .211 in May, Middlebrooks hit a new low in June, hitting just .138 before being demoted to the minor leagues a couple weeks ago to try and regain his form he had last year.

On the pitching side, Felix Doubront had a great month, posting a 2.75 ERA in six starts. Lackey also had a good month, with a 3.03 ERA. Lester had a rough month, with a 7.62 ERA in six starts. Andrew Bailey had the worst month, posting a 10.13 ERA, giving up 5 home runs in just 9 innings.

Lets hope for bigger and better things in July, as the schedule is easier than it was in June, their is still a big 10 games west coast road trip that will really challenge the team yet again.