NASTY MASTY

David Ortiz, Pedey Pedroia and Big Papi David Ortiz all showed signs that their hitting slumps were over in Monday morning's 12-1 victory over the Orioles, completing their first series sweep of 2009. Spot starter Justin Masterson was masterful, going 5 1/3 innings and giving up a lone run on four hits, striking out three and walking two. He's in the rotation until Daisuke Matsuzaka is able to return, roughly another three weeks. And that's just fine with me. The Red Sox collected fifteen hits, most notably a double AND a triple hit by David Ortiz. He had been under increasing pressure because of his hitting doldrums, but not any more. He said this after the game...

"I've been working with my mechanics, man," Ortiz said. "I've been late, a little late with pitches, which is something that I normally don't do, and pitchers are taking advantage of it. It's gotten a little bit out of hand. But at this point you don't want to get frustrated. It just makes it worse. You want to make sure you get to the point where you like to be and where you need to be. It's the beginning of the season and you don't want to give up

It was a fun Patriots Day morning in every way and now Boston has a five game winning streak. Let's go for five more! The pitching matchups for the two game set with the Minnesota Twins, starting tonight at the Fens, go like this...

Scott Baker (0-1, 13.50 era) vs. Timmy Wakefield, (1-1, 3.00 era)
Francisco Liriano (0-3, 5.90) vs. Brad Penny (1-0, 11.00 era)

First pitch time tonight will be at 7:10pm edt. GO SOX! Click on this post's title for more on Patriot's Day in Boston, the hub of the universe. As always, BE WELL. See ya. SOON.