Consider the team’s rankings in the following categories, entering yesterday’s games. Offensively, the Sox rated among the AL’s best in runs per game (5.0, third), steals (15, first), on-base percentage (.333, fourth), and OPS (.745, sixth).
Defensively, they’re second in fielding percentage (.996), with only two errors for the entire season. They also lead the league in defensive efficiency (.731), a more advanced stat that measures the percentage of balls in play converted into outs.
But best of all has been their pitching. The Sox lead the AL in ERA (2.69) by almost a half a run over second-place Texas. Their pitchers are also second in strikeouts (149) and WHIP (1.134), while allowing the fewest hits per nine innings in the league (6.9) and the most strikeouts per nine (10.0).
Red Sox starters have allowed three runs or fewer in all 15 games, the longest such streak to start a season since the 1981 A’s ran off 16 straight.