Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.
The Red Sox were victimized by yet another tough-luck loss on Thursday, letting an early lead slide through their fingers en route to a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Indians.
Boston, now 3-7 in its last 10 games and five and a half games out of a wild card spot, desperately needs to get something going if it wants to make a move before it's too late. And with the Indians an even worse 2-8 in their last 10 games, the Red Sox seem to be playing the right team to spark a possible playoff run.
What more can be said about Adrian Gonzalez that hasn't already been said in the past few weeks? After blasting another home run and driving in two more runs on Thursday, the first baseman has himself a nice nine-game hit streak going, during which he's batted .471 with an OPS of 1.362 — and that's not even mentioning the two home runs, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored he's had during the streak as well. Perhaps most impressively, his batting average hasn't dropped more than two points in a game since an 0-for-4 day against Texas on July 23.
But Gonzalez isn't the only player swinging a hot bat for Boston. Cody Ross has put together a nifty last few games as well, with a seven-game hit streak of his own. In those seven games, he's batted .414 with a homer, five RBIs and three runs scored. Subsequently, his batting average has soared from .262 to .277.
For the Indians, catcher Carlos Santana has been particularly smooth with the stick lately. The Cleveland backstop has slowly but surely dug himself out of some early season woes at the dish, and has a hit in all but two games in August thus far. He's batting .303 on the month and getting on base at a .410 clip, to go along with three homers, 11 RBIs and 5 runs scored.
Here are the Red Sox and Indians temperatures for Friday, Aug. 10.
Red Sox
Adrian Gonzalez 99
Cody Ross 90
Dustin Pedroia 81
Pedro Ciriaco 77
Will Middlebrooks 71
Carl Crawford 66
Nick Punto 63
Ryan Lavarnway 60
Jacoby Ellsbury 59
Ryan Kalish 59
Mike Aviles 57
Kelly Shoppach 54
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 53
Indians
Carlos Santana 83
Michael Brantley 82
Ezequiel Carrera 75
Asdrubal Cabrera 75
Jason Donald 73
Shin-Soo Choo 73
Casey Kotchman 69
Brent Lillibridge 67
Shelley Duncan 64
Jack Hannahan 64
Lou Marson 61
Jason Kipnis 59
