Bullpen resilience seals the sweep

Is June too early to say we've got a real pennant race going? After completing the sweep on Oakland this weekend, the Sox are .500 on their homestand and a half-game out of first place. The Rays, three games out, and even the Jays, at 3.5 games back, aren't necessarily out of it either. Ain't we got fun? I will say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised at how resilient the Red Sox were today. I fully expected a loss after yesterday's phyrric 14-inning victory, but John Lackey came in and pitched a 3-run, 5.2 inning effort, an out short of a quality start, but good enough for the W and a standing ovation from the Fenway crowd. In a brief beanball war in the third inning, Lackey also seemed to get away with hitting catcher Kurt Suzuki despite both benches having been warned -- sometimes being effectively wild is the most effective thing, I guess. The bullpen, too, showed resilience, even sharpness, in the latter innings of this game, during which Matt Albers, Tommy...