Red Sox Strut: Outfielder Andrew Benintendi, LHP Chris Sale
By Sean Penney
A weekly article series where we examine two players who deserve to strut their stuff for the Boston Red Sox. This week – Andrew Benintendi, Chris Sale.
If you want to fully understand what the Red Sox Strut is, it means to have reason to walk with a confident, proud air around you. Some people mistake it for vanity, arrogance, or being pompous. This incorrect assumption is not what we mean. The Strut is about knowing that your deeds showed off your amazing skills to the baseball-loving public.
A rare week that included two off days left the Boston Red Sox with only five games since we last looked at which players could Strut. At least they made the most of them.
Boston swept a short two game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay, before traveling to the Bronx to take two out of three against the New York Yankees. While their season-high eight game winning streak was snapped along the way, the Red Sox have still won 10 of their last 11 to extend their lead at the top of the division. They now sit 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees and a whopping nine games ahead of the reeling Rays.
A stretch as dominant as this needs contributions from several players. While there are a couple who stand out among the rest, we have to give credit to the other top performers.