By Jessica Camerato
CSNNE.comFollow @JCameratoNBA
Turns out there is a silver lining in four hours of rain delays.
(For those who got soaked waiting out this weekends doubleheader, hear me out.)
The Red Sox gained an additional off day when Sundays game against the Oakland Athletics was re-scheduled to a doubleheader on Saturday to make way for Hurricane Irene. Combine that with the pre-scheduled off day on Monday, and the Red Sox have a rare break before they start a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox had not had an off day since Monday, August 15. They played three games against the Tampa Bay Rays in two days in Boston before heading to Kansas City for a four-game series. From there, they traveled to Texas to play four against the Rangers and returned home after Thursday nights game to get ready for Fridays series opener against the Athletics.
We need it. We need it bad, Jarrod Saltalamacchia said of the break. Just the travel alone, came home for two days but played three games in two days. Got back on the road and went to the heat in Texas. Came home, played last night and played all day today (Saturday). We need these two days off to rejuvenate and I think it'd be good for our pitchers to have a few extra days off as well. And I think the field probably needs a few extra days, too.
After playing 14 games in 12 days, the Red Sox welcome the rest before taking on the Yankees. Even though they have a 10-2 record against the Yankees this season, they knew every contest is critical. The Red Sox hold a 2.5-game lead over their rivals in the AL East with just over a month remaining before the postseason.
Boston Red Sox
Oh yeah, I think weve been having some crazy schedules lately, so I think its going to give us some good time to recover from the doubleheader today and the travel the other night, David Ortiz said when asked about the benefits of an off day before the series.
He added, Its always a great series and we always try to play to win.
Jessica Camerato is on Twitter at http:twitter.comJCameratoNBA.