Welcome, one and all, to the slowest sports day of the year. It’s the day that all the Sportscenter anchors dread all year because they end up using hampsters doing backflips on top plays, or worse, MLS highlights. So on this worst of all possible sports days, here is a picture of Wake doing the Captain Morgan’s pose at the All Star festivities. Oh, and a real post about real baseball…

Heading into last weekend, the 10-game homestand looked like a bust. The Sox were 3-4 against the Mighty Mariners, the AAA’s and the Royals. On a homestand when the Sox were hoping to increase their AL East lead, they were suddenly tied with the MFY. Jon Lester started the weekend with a sub-par performance against the Royals, albeit by his standards. Most pitchers would be happy, or at least satisfied with an 8-inning, shutout performance. But against the Royals, we all know what Lester is capable of.

I’m curious why the bullpen despises John Smoltz though. You’d think that he burned down their houses, drugged their wives and then made them watch MLS highlights. We all remember the Worst Lost of 2009©. The one that you can still see when you close your eyes as a 10-0 lead becomes 11-10 loss. Who was the starter that day? John Smoltz. So when Smoltz handed the pen a 9-1 lead on Saturday, it shouldn’t have come as a shock that the lead deteriorated into a 9-7 before the offense gave them some more insurance runs. Luckily the pen managed to barely hold on this time, although Delcarmen better buy JD Drew a couple of thirty-racks for his bases-loaded outfield assist, 9-2. With the bags full of Royals and one out, Nancy picked up a line drive on a short-hop and fired home to Tek, getting the force play at home. I guess a win is a win, right?

On Sunday, Beckett one-upped Lester with a complete game shutout in a mere 94 pitches. Against Lester, the Royals struggled; against Beckett, they looked like 9th graders. Curve, fastball, changeup, he had it all working. Even though the Sox blew countless chances to make the game a laugher, Beckett made a 1-0 first inning lead feel like it was 7-0.

Meanwhile, on the Left Coast, the The Angeles Angels of Anaheim (without Torii or Vladdy) were kind enough to take care of the MFY. I’m still not sure how that lineups scored one run, let alone 29 in the three-game series. With the MFY sweep, and the Sox three game winning streak, the Sox are now 3 games up in the AL East entering the All Star Break. We can’t break out the party hats and confetti, but it’s a whole lot better that we looked on Thursday.