The Red Sox steamroller looked nearly unstoppable Saturday. In their 16-4 drubbing of the Blue Jays, they...
- Tied the Phillies for the best record in baseball at 38-26.
- Torched Brandon Morrow for a career-high nine runs allowed in 4 1/3 innings. He had never allowed more than seven runs in an outing. Morrow also gave up a career-high 10 hits.
- Became the first team this season to score three runs off reliever Jason Frasor. Frasor, who pitched two-thirds of an inning, saw his ERA jump from 2.10 to 3.08.
- Became the first teamthis year to score three runs off reliever Casey Janssen. Janssen entered the day with a 2.10 ERA. After giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning, he’s at 3.04.
- Forced the Blue Jays to turn to infielder Mike McCoy in the ninth. McCoy actually pitched a perfect frame, retiring Carl Crawford, Marco Scutaro and J.D. Drew.
- Extended their winning streak to eight games, matching the longest by a major league team this season. Only the Indians, from April 3-11, had won eight in a row previously. The Red Sox previously had a seven-game winning streak from May 13-20.
- Expanded their major league lead in runs after taking over the top spot in the sweep against the Yankees. They’ve scored 336 runs, 15 more than the Bombers. It is worth noting there that the Red Sox have played two more games than the Yankees.
- Had 18 hits to (momentarily) take over the major league lead with 618 hits in 64 games. The Cardinals should take back over the lead tonight, but they’ve collected their 617 hits in 65 games.
Things went so well in this one that even Jason Varitek drove in four runs. He had one RBI in all of April.
Scutaro ended up with four hits, even though his hardest hit ball -- a comebacker that bounced off Morrow’s thigh -- went for an out.
Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-5 with three RBI, leaving him 6-for-9 in two days since he returned from a knee scope.
The Red Sox will go for their third straight sweep Sunday behind Jon Lester. They’ll be facing a rookie in Kyle Drabek who could well find himself demoted to Triple-A if he can’t stop the bleeding and turn in a solid six-inning showing for the Jays.