Jon Lester pitched 2-hit ball over 6 innings in his 20th quality start of the season as the Red Sox took the final 3 of the 4 game series against the Indians with a 6-1 victory. Lester, who took a no-hitter into the 6th inning, allowed 2 hits and 1 run while striking out 4.

The win, coupled with the Rays loss to the Tigers, reduced the Red Sox magic number to win the AL East to 6 games. This means, the Sox must win their final 3 games vs the Yankees AND the Rays must lose their remaining 3 games with the Tigers. Haha, we know that isn’t going to happen.

However, it is nice to see Lester continue to perform like an elite, #1 pitcher. Teamed with Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have one of the most formidable top of the rotation heading into the post season. With only the weekend remaining, let’s play Red Sox management and put the Sox post season roster together. Obviously, the Sox still have about 4 or 5 days to make this decision and it will depend on if the Angels choose “Series A” or “Series B”, but what the hey.

Pitching Staff (11)
Josh Beckett – S
Daiskue Matsuzaka – S
Jon Lester – S
Jonathan Papelbon – C
Hideki Okajima – R
Manny Delcarmen – R
Javier Lopez – R
Justin Masterson – R
David Aardsma – R

So, that is 9 pitchers so far. We have Time Wakefield, Paul Byrd, Mike Timlin left. Now, this will probably end up depending on if the Sox are going to need 4 starters or not. Which brings us back to what series the Angels choose. If they do need a 4th starter, I think it’ll Byrd on the roster and Timlin. Otherwise it will be Wakefield and Timlin. Especially with Wakefield’s history of being able to come out of the pen if needed. I don’t see the Sox using Chris Smith or Michael Bowden or any other young pitcher out of the pen, so Timlin is pretty much a go. So, I’m going to go with:

Tim Wakefield – S/R
Mike Timlin – R

Batters (14)
C – Jason Varitek (S)
1b – Kevin Youkilis (R)
2b – Dustin Pedroia (R)
3b – Mike Lowell (R)
SS – Jed Lowrie (S)
LF – Jason Bay (R)
CF – Coco Crisp (S)
RF – Jacoby Ellsbury (L)
DH – David Ortiz (L)

BN – Kevin Cash – C (R)
BN – Mark Kotsay – OF/1B (L)
BN – Sean Casey – 1B (L)
BN – Alex Cora – IF (L)

We are short one more guy on the bench. However, there are a few questions here. How is Lowell’s hip going to hold up? It will hold up enought to play. How is J.D. Drew’s back? Bad. I don’t think he is going to make the post-season roster because of his back. I haven’t heard much talk about Julio Lugo, but I think he is probably finished for the season. We are a little left-handed leaning on the bench, which may change a bit of Lowell isn’t able to start any games during the season. We are also missing some speed on the bench, which may change if Kotsay starts a game or 2 instead of Crisp or Ellsbury. With Drew being out, it seems the last bench spot may come down between Jeff Bailey or Chris Carter. It’s pretty much a crap shoot with either of the, but I think the Sox may go with the extra RH bat, and choose Bailey. So, the final bench spot goes:

BN – Jeff Bailey – 1B/OF (R)

I don’t think that roster is too bad. I don’t really see the bench being too much of a factor aside from a late-inning pinch runner during the series. I do think the series goes 4 games, with the Red Sox winning.

Go Sox!