The Red Sox lineup has been on fire during their winning streak
The big bats in the Boston Red Sox lineup are heating up for the stretch run as the club aims to maintain their hold on the top Wild Card spot.
Boston is currently riding a five-game winning streak that has vaulted them a game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays and 2.5 ahead of the New York Yankees. The Red Sox own the head-to-head tiebreakers over both of their division rivals, so while they can’t get comfortable yet, Boston is clearly in the driver’s seat for a postseason spot.
While the pitching has been strong over the last several weeks, the offense is coming to life during this winning streak. The Red Sox are averaging an eye-popping 8.2 runs per game over the last five games, scoring at least seven runs in each.
This is only the second time in the last 15 years that the Red Sox have had a streak of five consecutive games with 7+ runs scored. Boston previously had such as streak from June 30-July 4, 2017.
Beating up on the woeful Baltimore Orioles pitching staff clearly had a hand in this offensive outburst but this streak started in Seattle when the Red Sox took the final two games of the series against a solid Mariners staff in a pitcher-friendly environment.
Over the last seven days, four Red Sox hitters have produced an OPS over 1.000. Bobby Dalbec leads the way with a 1.367 OPS in his last five games. He’s tied for the team lead over the past week with a .500 OBP and two home runs. The rookie has been on an absolute tear in the second half of the season, ranking second in the American League with a 1.011 OPS since the break (minimum 150 plate appearances).
Jose Iglesias is known mostly for his glove but his bat has been a tremendous asset since the Red Sox claimed him on waivers this month. The slick-fielding infielder is batting .421/.500/.737 over his last six games.
Xander Bogaerts went through a brief cold spell prior to landing on the COVID-IL to begin the month but he’s been able to put himself back on track since his return. Bogaerts is hitting .346/.393/.692 with a pair of homers in his last six games.
Few hitters have been hotter than Alex Verdugo in the past week. He’s tied for the team lead with a .421 batting average during that span. He hasn’t drawn a walk in his last 19 plate appearances but he’s only struck out twice. Verdugo still owns a 1.053 OPS without the benefit of free passes, with a strong batting average and slugging percentage to support that figure.
Rafael Devers isn’t in the 1.000+ club but he’s still doing his usual Raffy Big Stick things with a .320 average and .913 OPS in his last six games. J.D. Martinez owns a mildly disappointing .261 average over that same span but he’s homered twice, driving in five runs and produced a strong .885 OPS.
Boston’s lineup has a few struggling hitters, notably Kike Hernandez and Kyle Schwarber, but it hasn’t mattered with two-thirds of the lineup tearing the cover off the ball..
The Red Sox have a day off on Monday before they welcome the New York Mets to town for a two-game series. Old foe Marcus Stroman will open the series for the Mets and he’s having an excellent season with a 2.88 ERA. Stroman hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game since the beginning of August. He has plenty of experience at Fenway from his tenure with the Blue Jays and he owns a career 2.97 ERA in this ballpark.
Extending their streak of 7+ runs will be a tall task against Stroman and a solid Mets bullpen but as hot as this Red Sox lineup has been lately, we can’t bet against them.