Boston has been waiting all season for that magical turnaround, that burst above .500, that huge winning streak that vaults the Red Sox into real playoff contention.
It may actually happen this time.
Plenty of people were thinking of the Jason Varitek glove to Alex Rodriguez's face that was followed by the trade of Sox mainstay Nomar Garciaparra in 2004 as Boston surged back Sunday night against the Yankees. As manager Bobby Valentine got booted and the Sox rallied to win as the trade deadline looms, the scene was reminiscent of the moves that set off a second-half surge for Boston eight years ago that ended with the team's first World Series title in 86 years.
If the Red Sox are going to replicate that magic, they'll need some hot hitting against the visiting Detroit Tigers. Adrian Gonzalez and Pedro Ciriaco were happy to oblige over the weekend and will look to do it again Monday night.
Ciriaco was 3-for-5 on Saturday with a triple that drove in the game's go-ahead runs in the ninth inning, and he went 1-for-4 on Sunday, with his lone hit putting the Sox ahead for the win in the 10th. He's hitting a scorching .349 in his 18 games with the Sox this season.
Gonzalez continues his ascent at the plate. He went 5-for-13 over the weekend with a big homer and four RBIs. He's raised his season average to .296 and has 10 home runs and 62 RBIs so far.
Check out the temperatures for July 30 for the Red Sox and Tigers.
Red Sox
Adrian Gonzalez 85
Pedro Ciriaco 79
Will Middlebrooks 76
Dustin Pedroia 75
Nick Punto 72
Ryan Sweeney 67
Jacoby Ellsbury 67
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 64
Daniel Nava 61
Carl Crawford 59
Cody Ross 55
Kelly Shoppach 55
Mike Aviles 45
Tigers
Austin Jackson 78
Prince Fielder 74
Miguel Cabrera 72
Jhonny Peralta 70
Delmon Young 67
Gerald Laird 64
Alex Avila 63
Quintin Berry 63
Omar Infante 60
Don Kelly 59
Ryan Raburn 58
Ramon Santiago 57
Brennan Boesch 55
