What a getaway day for the Sox. They get Kevin Youkilis from the Sox, and take over 1st place in the A.L. Central.

Loved the Youkilis move, but hate to see Stewart and Lillibridge go. Being around the Sox in the spring, Lillibridge was always a class act, and a great interview. He did everything the Sox asked him to do, rarely saying a word. I hope he gets more of a chance in Boston than he did in Chicago. I will never forget his 2 amazing catches in Yankee stadium last year.

Stewart comes from a place I once lived, Wichita Falls. He has a great Texas demeanor, which should serve him well in the pressure cooker that is Boston. My one memory of Stewart was his near perfect game against the Twins last year.

Moving on.. The Sox lost Phil Humber for a couple weeks. A hurt elbow has put him on the shelf. With an ERA near 8 since his perfecto, I wonder how long it has been hurting him. Dylan Axelrod replaces him, for at least the time being.

Also Kusoke Fukudome is gone. It was a curious move to sign the guy in the first place, so I’m not surprised he didn’t last the entire season. Good for Jordan Danks, who should stay with the team the rest of the year. I say should, ’cause you never know what Ken Williams has up his sleeve.

I guess the rest of baseball is realizing that Chris Sale is really good. Last 2 starts, the lefthander has been matched up against Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke. He should have beaten Kershaw, but Greinke matched him pitch for pitch.

on Friday, Sale threw 8 innings of no run, 4 hit ball. Greinke threw 9 innings of 3 hit, no run ball. Sale did lower his A.L. leading ERA to 2.24. Sox still lost 1-0 in 10 innings. Sox had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th, but with Beckham on 1st, Adam Dunn struck out and Paul Konerko bounced into a game ending DP.

After Saturday’s game, the Sox can’t be too optimistic about Axelrod filling in for Humber. In his 2 starts this year, he has allowed 6 earned runs in 9.2 IP. That’s an ERA of 5.86, which isn’t gonna get it done. His next start is against the Yankees–oh that’ll be easy.

There was a Dayan Viciedo sighting. Coming into Saturday’s game, Viciedo was hitting .132 in June, with 1 home run and 1 RBI. 6 of his 7 hits this month were singles.

He exploded on Saturday, going 4-5 with a home run and 4 RBI. His heroics helped the Sox win 8-6, but for them to start putting some distance between themselves and their other competitors, he needs to get going.

Sox got another great pitching performance by Jose Quintana on Sunday. The man keeps throwing zeros. With his 8 innings of no run ball on Sunday, Quintana has thrown 16 straight shut out innings. Quintana has thrown only about half the innings of Sale, but his ERA is a full run less. He can’t keep doing this, can he?

Quintana would have lost this game if it wasn’t for 2 outstanding defensive plays. In the 3rd, Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham combined to throw out Norichika Aoki at 3rd. Next inning, Rios did it all by himself, going over the wall taking a home run away from Corey Hart.

Rios has been on his game all season. Over the weekend he went 4-11, with an RBI, stolen base and 2 runs scored.

Sox got little to no offense on Sunday, once going into extras tied at zero. This time they found a way to win on Eduardo Escobar’s game winning hit.

Quietly Gordan Beckham is finding his niche. Against the Brew Crew he went 6-13, with 2 stolen bases, an RBI and a walk.

Sox reclaimed 1st place with their win on Sunday. Let’s hope with the addition of Youkilis, they can start to put some distance between them and their closest competitors.

So interleague play is gone, until the World Series. Sox finished 9-9 against the N.L. The only Sox pitcher to get a hit was Humber, so he has that going for him.

Sox now take to the road, and it’s expected that Youkilis will join the team in Minnesota.