Jon Lester Tasked With Cooling Down Carlos Ruiz, Hunter Pence, Red-Hot Phillies

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May 19, 2012

Jon Lester Tasked With Cooling Down Carlos Ruiz, Hunter Pence, Red-Hot PhilliesEditor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.

The Phillies, like the Red Sox, stumbled out of the gate this season. They've since picked up their play a bit, though, having won six straight going into Saturday's contest against Boston.

Among Philadelphia's hot hitters is catcher Carlos Ruiz, who has actually been one of the hottest players in baseball in the early going. Ruiz went 2-for-3 against Boston in the series opener on Friday, which pushed his batting average to an amazing .371, the third-highest mark in the National League.

Hunter Pence, who started off slowly, has also performed well of late, going 4-for-8 with a home run and three RBIs over the last two games. Pence's 10 blasts have him tied with Chicago's Bryan LaHair and Cincinnati's Jay Bruce for fourth in the NL.

For the Red Sox, Cody Ross appears to be seeing the ball well, going 5-for-9 with two home runs and five RBIs over the last three games. His status for Saturday is a bit up in the air, though, after fouling a ball off his foot during Friday's loss.

Here are the Red Sox and Phillies temperatures for May 19.

Red Sox
Cody Ross, 96
Mike Aviles, 83
David Ortiz, 78
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 74
Daniel Nava, 73
Mauro Gomez, 68
Adrian Gonzalez, 65
Marlon Byrd, 65
Dustin Pedroia, 65
Kelly Shoppach, 64
Nick Punto, 51
Ryan Sweeney, 50
Will Middlebrooks, 49

Phillies
Carlos Ruiz, 104
Hunter Pence, 89
Mike Fontenot, 82
Brian Schneider, 82
Freddy Galvis, 79
Hector Luna, 78
Placido Polanco, 77
Juan Pierre, 72
Jimmy Rollins, 68
Pete Orr, 67
John Mayberry, 65
Shane Victorino, 60
Ty Wigginton, 56

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