So about that whole "pitching and defense" thing for the 2010 Red Sox.
Maybe it will crop up in Week 2 — it certainly didn't throughout the first seven days of the regular season.
After enhancing their staff and bolstering their defense in the offseason, Sox fans were anticipating a summer of low-scoring affairs featuring strikeouts, small-ball and save situations. But judging by their team stats one week into the regular season, one has to wonder when this will begin.
The defense is there. The team has just two errors in 233 chances for a .991 fielding percentage, but that's not the reason why the Sox won three of their first six games. In fact, the defense can be blamed for one of their losses.
These wins can be thanks to offensive outpourings of nine- and eight-run games. The team currently ranks fourth in the league in batting average (.289), second in total bases (105) and third in slugging at .498. Don't let these stats fool you, as the Red Sox are hitting .407 with no one on base compared to hitting just .250 with runners in scoring position with two outs.
As for pitching, the staff ranks 18th in ERA (4.50), 30th in strikeouts (29), 23rd in opponent batting average (.263), but eighth in run support, averaging 5.50 runs per game.
