SaltalaYOUKia

It feels good to write an upbeat blog after pretty much nothing but gloom 'n' doom to start the season.   The Sox have won 4 in a row on the road, including a sweep of the Twins and a rout of Phil "Mr. Perfecto" Humber and the White Sox, featuring some huge hits for two guys who started the season on a scuffling note.   Youk, who must be hearing the loud footsteps of one Will Middlebrooks knocked a grand salami in the 3rd inning and Salty, another guy hearing AAA footsteps (from Ryan Lavarnway) followed it up with a dinger of his own.   Salty went yard again 2 innings later, this time with Youk aboard.   Youk, for his part, had his first 3-hit game of the season and raised his batting average from .214 to .241.  Having those two heat up helps the Red Sox offset the loss of Ells and Crawford, the latter of whom is expected to miss a good part of the season with his ailing elbow and the former will be out until late May at the absolute earliest.

 Sure, the offense pounded out a 10-spot, but starter Felix Doubront didn't do too badly himself.   He went 6 and gave up 3 runs.   He had some trouble with command at times, but he limited the damage and had a couple of 1-2-3 innings to offset the innings where he had to throw more pitches.   Junichi Tazawa tossed the final 3 frames, allowing 2 hits, plunking a batter, and fanning 4, picking up the 3-inning save.   Tazawa's outing was promising and if he can pitch like that in some higher-leverage situations, he could prove to be a very valuable piece to this often-frightening bullpen.   Rich Hill could be back as soon as tomorrow and if he pitches like he did before he his elbow gave out last year, some of the least effective guys in the 'pen would become expendable.

 Tomorrow, Bard returns to the rotation to try to extend the Red Sox winning streak.   At 8-10, they're still at the bottom of the division, but they're only 3.5 games back from the O's and Rays who are tied for first.