Sox’ longest winning streak is 8

What’s the significance of the eight-game run the Red Sox put together at the end of July, early August? Nothing, other than they will probably have to match it to take the AL East.

Presently, the Sox are riding a three-game streak. But with the hapless Orioles hosting the Yankees for four games this week, it’s going to be near impossible for the Red Sox to put any separation between them and the Bronx Bombers.

Therefore, the only real option for the Old Towne Team looks like a Belichikian run of the table, at least through Saturday, October 1. And that would tie their longest winning streak of the year and clinch the AL East.

Short of that, keep an eye on Chicago-Cleveland this week. If the Tribe stays hot and Chicago folds, we could backdoor our way into the playoffs via the wild card. It may not be the honorable way to go, but who really cares if you make the final tournament.

Red Sox 31-30 against upcoming opponents

It’s gut check time, Red Sox Nation. Heading into the final few weeks of the season, the Red Sox are going to have to do something they haven’t done consistently all season: beat AL East opponents.

The Sox “boast” a 31-30 record against the teams remaining on the schedule, breaking down like this:

* Yankees – 7-9
* Devil Rays – 12-4
* Orioles – 7-8
* Blue Jays – 5-9

Conversely, the Yankees, the team in hot pursuit of the Boston Red Sox, have fared a bit better against their final opponents, which don’t include the Tamp Bay Devil Rays. Here’s the Yankees record against the remaining AL East teams:

* Orioles – 4-6
* Blue Jays – 10-4
* Red Sox – 9-7

Eight of the Yankees remaining games are against Baltimore, the only team they have a losing record against. Even that’s a bit hollow since most of those losses came early in the season when the Orioles held first place.

On paper, you’d have to say our Red Sox are in trouble. Thankfully, as we all know from the last few years, it’s only the games you play on the field that count.

Four with 10 or more

For the fourth consecutive season, the Boston Red Sox have four starters with more than 10 victories (Tim Wakefield 15-10, Matt Clement 13-4, Bronson Arroyo 12-9, and David Wells 12-7).

To give you some perspective on the rarity of this accomplishment, the Boston Red Sox accomplished this feat only twice during the 1990s. And one of those years was not 1995, when the Boston Red Sox last won a division crown.

The reappearance of Curt Schilling in the starting rotation makes this stat even more compelling. Big Schill possibly has four more starts and if he wins them all, that would make five starting pitchers with 10 or more victories. And that has not happened since 1978 (Dennis Eckersley 20-8, Mike Torrez 16-13, Luis Tiant 13-8, Bill Lee 10-10, and Bob Stanley 15-2).

Don’t expect that one to happen. It says here the Sox clinch well before the last weekend of the season and save Schilling for the opener.

Ron Guidry went 25-3 in 1978

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Stat Man thought it better to address a Cajun that only destroyed batters: Ron Guidry.

The New York Yankees ace during the 1978 season, Guidry, the pride of Lafayette, Louisiana, went 25-3 with an ERA of 1.74. Even more impressive, he threw a now unheard of 16 complete games, nine of those shutouts.

As a young Boston Red Sox fan, there was nothing on earth more dejecting than battling Guidry’s 90+ mph fastball—and a slider he threw almost as hard--for seven or eight innings, only to have the Yankees bring in Goose Gossage. He only threw about 98 mph.

So, as the Boston Red Sox head toward the stretch run, let’s be grateful that all we have to worry about is an over-the-hill Randy Johnson. If the New York Yankees had a Guidry, we would be looking at an entirely different race.