After an exciting walk-off victory against the White Sox on Thursday, it looked as though the Red Sox were finally ready to turn the corner.
Unfortunately, they ran smack into the Blue Jays and the offense disappeared, putting up only four runs combined in the first two games of the series. Boston will need to pick it up with the bats if they want to avoid being swept in their own house.
It's no fault of Cody Ross', however, that the offense has sputtered. He's had a hit in six of his last seven games and is batting .400 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in the past week. On the season, he's batting .272 to go along with 16 homers and 50 RBIs.
Similarly, it's hard to find a problem with anything Adrian Gonzalez has been doing lately. After a slow start, the star first baseman has picked it up in a big way as of late. He has five multi-hit games in the last week, raising his average from .283 to .294. Along the way, he's collected two home runs, driven in 10 and crossed the plate four times.
The hottest hitter in the other dugout is unquestionably Edwin Encarnacion. Enjoying a breakout season at age 29, the designated hitter is hitting .316 over the past week with a homer, four doubles and four RBIs.
Here are the Red Sox' and Blue Jays' temperatures for July 22.
Red Sox
Cody Ross 85
Adrian Gonzalez 82
Pedro Ciriaco 73
Nick Punto 72
Jacoby Ellsbury 72
Dustin Pedroia 72
Kelly Shoppach 71
Mike Aviles 65
Carl Crawford
64 Ryan Sweeney 60
Daniel Nava 57
Will Middlebrooks 54
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 44
Blue Jays
Edwin Encarnacion 92
J.P. Arencibia 81
Jeff Mathis 77
Yunel Escobar 71
Yan Gomes 70
Rajai Davis 67
Travis Snider 67
Omar Vizquel 63
Adam Lind 62
Brett Lawrie 61
Kelly Johnson 61
Colby Rasmus 60
Anthony Gose 53
