This entry was posted on 7/8/2009 1:11 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
BOSTON -- In his own words, Jason Bay knew he wasn’t going to embark on a season-long hitting tear and end up with “80 home runs” at the end of the season. The Sox left fielder started off the year blazing hot at the plate and had Red Sox Nation begging for the Boston front office to give whatever Bay wanted for a contract extension.
Bay entered Tuesday night hitting .220 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 118 at bats since June 1, and his batting average had plummeted down into the .260s as a direct result. The power numbers and RBI totals were still healthy, and the 30-year-old added to both of those Tuesday night while snapping out of his funk.
Bay smashed a solo home run to centerfield in the bottom of the second inning, and finished with a 2-for-3 performance that had him feeling like the worst was now over following Tuesday’s 5-2 victory over the A’s at Fenway Park. The offense of Bay along with dominant starting pitching from Josh Beckett was all the Olde Towne Team needed on a night when they’re still not firing on all cylinders.
“It was one of those things when the (slump) gets rolling and you feel like you’re in quicksand,” said Bay. “It’s one of those where you know it’s not going to last forever and you just have to ride it out.
“I feel like I’ve had some good swings over the last two days and I knew it wasn’t going to last forever. I’m always reluctant to pronounce a slump or rough spot over, but I felt (at the plate) today like I did in those first few months of the season.”
While Bay isn’t going to put up any otherworldly numbers once the season has closed out this year, the left fielder is still on pace for career-bests of 40 home runs and 140 RBIs this season. The solo home run in the second also marked Bay’s 20th home run of the season, which gives the three-time All-Star 20 home runs in each of his first six full seasons in the big leagues. Only Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, Jermaine Dye and Adam Dunn have reached that mark since beginning their careers in 2004.
“He’s a strong, strong kid,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “It’s good. This game is so crazy. Sometimes guys are kind of up and down, and we’ve had some guys at the same time going down.”
Jason Bay matched a career-high with two stolen bases against the Oakland A’s in Tuesday night’s win over the Oakland A’s. The Red Sox left fielder has stolen two bases in a game six times in his career and for the first time in a Red Sox uniform. Bay now has eight stolen bases on the season, and has nearly matched last season’s total of 10 with the Pirates and Sox.
Bay last stole two bases in a game on April 12, 2006 while still a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and became the first Sox left fielder to record two stolen bases and two extra-base hits since Tommy Harper turned the trick in 1973.
It would seem that Bay is just about to start trending upward again in virtually no time at all.
