Red Sox Magic Number

With the win over the Braves last night - the Red Sox new magic number is now 86.

There are 86 metals on the modern periodic table but MLB won't let you use any of them to make bats. Wood only if you please. Too bad because Dustin Pedroia (hitting just .220 in June with a measly .571 OPS) and Kevin Youkilis (hitting just .203 in June) look like they could use an aluminum or some other metal bat right about now. The struggles of the 1 and 3 hitters in the line-up makes you wonder if Terry Francona is considering shuffling the line-up sometime soon.

David Ortiz is hitting .311 with 7 HR in June. If Ortiz stays hot and Youkilis continues to struggle - will Francona consider swapping the two sluggers in the batting order? Jacoby Ellsbury has been hitting .328 with a .413 OBP in June so would Francona consider putting Ellsbury back to lead-off and dropping Pedroia back to the 2-hole? Inquiring minds want to know.

Also any Red Sox fan worth their salt knows that 86 is the number of years the Red Sox had to wait between World Series wins before taking the title back in 2004.