So far this year, the Red Sox have averaged 5.38 runs per game. Pretty good. At this pace, they'd tally a whopping 872 runs on the year. And, while they are tied for third in all of MLB for runs scored (70), this stat alone doesn't tell the whole story. That's a tale of
wicked good luck—most of that by means of the defensive
misfortunes of their opponents. Yesterday was a prime example, as five of Boston's seven runs were
unearned.
The Carmine Hose are only 17th (out of 30) in team batting at .239—and we
know it's not the starting pitching that's gotten them eight wins.
Sox opponents have committed 20 errors in 13 games—and that doesn't even count the multiple sloppy plays that have not been officially counted as errors. As the great
Branch Rickey once said,
"Luck is the residue of design." In this case, it's more like
"Luck is the residue of butter-fingered opponents."
