After today's 10-4 win over the Toronto, the Red Sox will head out west for a six-game road trip. And for the first time all season, they might actually be a little bummed about saying good bye to Fenway.
The Sox went 7-2 on this recent home stand, and in the process, worked their home record back to .500 for the first time since April 18. They're now five games above .500 (40-35) on the season, tied with Tampa for third in the AL East and only 4 12 games behind the division-leading Yankees (who just put two of their starting pitchers on the DL).
They're only 1 12 games out of the second wild-card spot.
They're in a groove, and the last thing anyone wants to do is pick up and head out West, where the games start at 10 o'clock and the toilets flush backwards.
However, there's one guy in that clubhouse who probably doesn't mind getting away. In fact, he'll probably benefit from it: Mr. Will Middlebrooks.
Kid picked a tough time to hit a slump, eh?
Now it's obviously crazy to make a huge deal about three games, especially when Middlebrooks is fresh off winning AL Player of the Week, but it's worth noting his numbers since Kevin Youkilis was shipped out of town: