Kuzul

The brooms were out in St. Petersburg tonight as the Boston Red Sox rocked the Rays 11-3. This was an impressive series as the Red Sox completed the first sweep of the Rays at Tropicana Field since 2002.

Completing the sweep was important and all, but now the Red Sox have climbed back into the AL East, sitting only 5.5 games behind the Rays and now six games over .500. 

Throughout the series the themes were run prevention and solid, quality pitching, the two themes this ball club is built on.

The team witnessed strong outings from Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, and John Lackey. It appears that Lester is now getting in the “zone” and Lackey’s and Buchholz’s performances are definitely confidence boosters. 

The Sox scored a total of 19 runs while holding the Rays to only four. Quite simply, that’s just dominance. 

Besides the strong pitching performances, including the one-hit shutout on Tuesday, Boston has shown some quality hitting performances, too. 

David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Adrian Beltre were the team’s offensive powers this series. Ortiz went 5-11 with two home runs while tallying up five RBI. Youkilis also had five hits. But the biggest contributor of them all was Beltre who went 7-13 with an astonishing seven RBI, six of them coming in the rubber game. 

It appears that Boston has avenged the four-game sweep that Tampa Bay completed on Boston back in April.

Boston looks good. They are pitching very well, from their starting pitching to the bullpen. And their bats have awakened. 

Now is the time for Boston to gain some momentum after going 9-4 through a tough stretch against American League powerhouses. Boston will open up what appears to be somewhat of an “easy” stretch against Kansas City, Oakland, Baltimore, and Cleveland. 

As Terry Francona said after completing the three game sweep, “Someone asked the other day if I think (good pitching) is contagious. If it is, I hope we get an epidemic.”

The Sox hope that their pitching staff will be the key to their success in their climb in the American League East. 

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Breaking news from reports Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes  (via Twitter): Former MLB pitcher, Jose Lima has passed away. 

Jose Lima has reportedly died in his home in Los Angeles after suffering a massive heart attack. 

Lima was made famous from being a very strong pitcher in the late 90’s to the early 2000’s. The phrase, “It’s Lima time” was made famous by Lima. Lima was a “spunky” Dominican pitcher that always brought enthusiasm and strong work ethic to baseball. 

My condolences go out to Lima’s family and friends.

Jose Lima will be missed. 

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As of late, Houston Astros’ ace pitcher, Roy Oswalt, has publicly made it clear that he wants out. It seems clear that Houston and Oswalt have no future of succeeding in the 2010 campaign. 

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, via twitter, that “Roy Oswalt wants to be traded to a contender, a la Roy Halladay”

It is unclear if that Houston is willing to trade Oswalt or even if they want to become sellers this early on in the season. Well, I’ll take my chances that the Astros are not going anywhere special this year. 

The Astros are currently in last place in the NL Central behind the free-falling Milwaukee Brewers and the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates. To me, Houston will definitely be a seller this year, it’s just a matter of who they want to trade away or who they believe can be a core player in up-coming years.

The three big name players that come to mind when you think of Houston is: Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Roy Oswalt. Out of those three players, one of them seems to have little to none trade value; Carlos Lee. But, the others, Oswalt and Berkman, could both be great fits for playoff contenders this season. 

Where could Oswalt land? That’s the major question in the “Oswalt Sweepstakes”. The two teams that I can come up with right off the top of my head are the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, no surprise. But here’s the surprise, Oswalt going to the Bronx or Yawkey Way will probably not happen. Both teams probably aren’t willing to spend the big dough and to cough up major prospects for Oswalt, and on top of that, they’re pitching rotations both respectful seem to be O.K.

So who are the true contenders this early in the game? Possibly the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Texas Rangers.

The one team that surprises me are the Rays. If they could acquire Oswalt, I truly believe that would put the Rays over the top in the AL East. But with the Mets and the Rangers? Oswalt’s presence would be crucial to each teams’ pitching staff in making a playoff run. 

But, let’s face it: Rumors are rumors. All the matters in trading big name players from a “selling franchise” is who can cough up the best prospects. It’s unclear right now if Houston is willing to part ways with the 2005 NLCS MVP, but if they do, they are in the running of acquiring some quality young talent to bolster their farm system. 

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