Hot Coco and Julio Down By the Fenway...and Jon Lester Tomorrow!

One month ago, if you had told me that Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo would lead the Sox to a 3 game winning streak, I probably would have suggested that you ought to put that pipe down. If you had said that the Sox would score 31 runs in 4 games, I might have driven you to rehab myself.

In addition to playing a stellar (as in error-free) center field, Crisp has raised his BA to .277 and has 16 RBIs in the last 15 games, including two 5 ribbie games. He leads the team in triples with seven, good for 3rd in the AL. He still has the ugliest swing in the world but it's working finally.

Julio Lugo, meanwhile, has played better defense than I expected, especially when you consider his well-documented struggles at the plate. Consider one of Lugo's predecessors, Edgar Renteria, who sucked both at the plate as well as in the field in what was probably as bad a case of the yips as Matt Clement. I give Lugo credit for continuing to work hard despite the obvious disappointment he felt.

Now, the hard work is paying off and Lugo has a 12 game hitting streak to show for it, while raising his average almost 40 points in the process. His grand slam the other night was just sweet. And I didn't even mind the curtain call.

Probably the best story of all is the news that Jon Lester will take the mound tomorrow night in his first start in the Show since being diagnosed with cancer last year. Best of luck to him and his family.