Sound familiar?
In Boston's second major offensive outburst in a span of five days, the club pounded out 20 hits — 10 for extra bases — in a 14-2 rout of the Cleveland Indians. Every starter but Jed Lowrie had at least two hits.
Two players reached that total in the first inning alone.
And with that, as well as six scoreless innings for Jon Lester, the Red Sox became the first team (by a few hours, at least) in the American League East to reach 27 wins. They have won five straight series, 10 of 11 games overall and are beginning to show off the bats in the same way they did a year ago at this time.
The 2010 Red Sox entered May 11-12 and had already been held to three runs or less 10 times. They plated nine runs on May 1, 17 two days later, 11 three days after that and maintained a blistering pace that carried until the All-Star break. The flourish allowed Boston to go 36-20 in May and June and shave eight games off its deficit.
Of course, one of the catalysts in that run a year ago, which saw the Red Sox score 41 percent of their runs in a two-month span, was Dustin Pedroia. He was on fire before breaking his foot near the end of last June, and returned from a one-game layoff Wednesday to provide the spark.
Pedroia followed a leadoff hit by Jacoby Ellsbury with his first home run since April 15, kicking off a seven-run rally that saw Boston send 12 men to the plate in the first inning. Both Ellsbury and Pedroia had two hits in the inning and the Sox finished with nine, their most in one frame in nearly eight years.
From there, it was a matter of how many, how much and how far.
"After a quick turnaround after last night, to have that energy and the hits in the first inning like that, it was really good for us," manager Terry Francona said. "It's nice to have a game like that every once in awhile. They don't happen too often. "
No, they don't, but the Sox have scored 15 runs and 14 runs in separate games since Friday. They have scored seven or more five other times this month. On Wednesday, they set team season highs in hits, extra-base hits, home runs, hits in one inning and runs in one inning.
Among the highlights from the box score, aside from Pedroia's first-inning flourish, was a 4-for-4 effort from Carl Crawford, who finished a triple shy of the cycle. David Ortiz, whose resurgence last May was also a driving force in turning around the team's slow start, had a mammoth solo shot in the sixth, his 10th of the year and eighth this month. Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a three-run blast in that same frame, his fourth home run in six games. It even extended down to Drew Sutton, a late replacement when Kevin Youkilis was scratched with a sore left hand.
Sutton had three hits — two doubles — in five at-bats, scoring twice and driving in a run during the first-inning barrage.
Just like last year, the distinctions are beginning to pile up. Boston has a 16-7 record this month, tops in all of baseball. Even before the 14-run effort, it led the majors in slugging, OPS, hits, extra-base hits and total bases for the month of May. The gaps in those categories should be substantial by the end of the day.
Adrian Gonzalez went 2-for-6 with an RBI to up his major league-leading totals for May to 69 hits and 28 RBIs. Not to be outdone, Ortiz now has 16 extra-base hits in May, also atop the baseball world.
It's not as if the pitching has been poor. It hasn't. But there are an increasing number of games where the effort on the part of the arms gets a bit overshadowed, something Lester is just fine with.
"Obviously, it's good," Lester said of the run support, of which he has received plenty. "Takes a lot of pressure off of not only me, but the defense. You don't have to be perfect."
Before Wednesday, Lester hadn't been even close to perfect for a span of three somewhat rocky starts. He allowed 38 base runners in 17 1/3 innings in the stretch, yet still came away 3-0.
That can happen when an offense as good as Boston's begins to break out. Just like last year, it has occurred in May. And just like last year, the team's fortunes have changed.
