At 58 wins, the Boston Red Sox begin the unofficial second half of the season on top of the American League East and have the most wins in baseball. I've written that sentence a lot this season and I hope I will continue to do so.

Even though we're well past the 81 game mark, you really look at the All-Star break as the spot in the season where you can tell if your team will be a contender or not. With the Red Sox current position, you'd have to put them in the first category. The question I continue to get asked is: "Can they keep this up?" My vague answer is I'm not sure but they've been able to do it so far and are doing it with more issues than one might think.

They haven't had their best pitcher Clay Buchholz in well over a month, and with news out today, it doesn't look like they will anytime soon. Jon Lester, after a great 6-0 start, has not pitched well in like 2 months. They've had injuries to key players along with a make-shift rotation at 3rd base for Will Middlebrooks. Oh, and they have no real closer. Still, the Red Sox continue to find ways to win and as stated have the most wins in baseball. That should excite you.

Obviously you get no trophies for having the most wins at the halfway point. Boston still has work to do. But they've put themselves in a great position as things get back underway tonight. It's an important stretch over the next few weeks against AL East opponents. 3 at home against the Yankees. 4 at home against the Rays. 3 on the road against the Orioles. The Red Sox started the season taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees in New York. Let's hope they can do the same against them to start the second half of the season in Boston.