Day 155: Red Sox Complete Weekend Sweep of White Sox

I love a nice weekend series sweep. Especially when the team breathing down your neck in second place is having some troubles, falling farther behind in the standings. But that's none of my business and I won't talk badly about them risking some sort of jinx. It's no secret the Chicago White Sox are struggling this year—they're 23 games back, dead last in the AL Central so the Red Sox needed to take advantage of their woes.

The Red Sox never trailed in the three-game series, scoring early and often to give themselves the best chance possible of taking all three games. The pitching was excellent with the starters combining for nine earned runs total. This needs to continue to happen as the head into the final stretch.

Friday night's game was Ryan Dempster's first start since he was suspended for rightfully plunking Alex Rodriguez on August 18th. It appears the extra days of rest were just what he needed for his seventh win of the season. He gave up just three earned runs on five hits over 6.1 innings. And while the bats were relatively quiet—only six total hits in the 4-3 win—hitters were patient and drew seven walks. Koji Uehara remains steadfast in the closer roll pitching a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save.

Jake Peavy continues to prove his worth by allowing just two runs in the 7-2 win on Saturday. The Sox bats exploded for 15 hits with seven of the nine starters having at least two hits. It could've been a lot worse for the White Sox—Boston left 11 men on base. I love games like this when the base paths are busy and the pitching is stingy.

The series finale on Sunday was a real back and forth see-saw battle, and although the Red Sox never fell behind, Chicago nipped at their heels for most of the latter half of the game. Luckily, Boston held on for a 7-6 win and now enjoy a five and a half game lead on the second place Tampa Bay Rays. This game was a real nail biter and the Red Sox needed six pitchers to get the job done—including another 1-2-3 ninth from Uehara for his 16th save.

The Red Sox have 24 games remaining, including today's game which is still in progress (and not looking very promising.) Nineteen of those games are within their division and include a three-game series in Tampa. So needless to say, September is going to be a challenge.