Think Of It This Way

On the morning of July 6, the Red Sox led the AL East by 11.5 games. On September 24, that lead was down to 1.5 games.

But the Red Sox were able to spend those 10 games of credit to:

give Matsuzaka and Okajima some much-needed rest (last night, Dice looked as good as he has all year);

give Ortiz time to rest his right knee (he's hitting .388/.514/.800 in September);

not rush Manny back from his oblique injury (he's 5-for-9 with a .636 OBP since coming back and has had no trouble running the bases);

not rush Youkilis back from his numerous bruises;

not have to push Beckett to throw 120-125 pitches (3.01 ERA since August 1);

not have to use Papelbon three games in a row (even with an additional month of work this season, he's thrown about 100 fewer pitches than last year); and

be able to give occasional days off to Pedroia, Varitek, Drew and Lowell.

Having the ability to do all of these things will make the Red Sox a stronger team in October. So imagine Theo and Francona trading a game or two in the standings for each of these things.

The shrinking lead was the cause of much annoyance -- not panic, though, as the Sox's playoff spot was never seriously in doubt -- but it seems like a very fair trade.