The Red Sox are only 1 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card spot in the A.L. and they can thank Jacoby Ellsbury for that as he whacked a 3-run homer against the Yankees in the 14th inning of the second game to give them a 7-4 win. Ellsbury was 5 for 11 against the Yankees in the doubleheader yesterday with 3 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs. Ellsbury will be a finalist for the MVP Award in the A.L. and he might just win it. Ellsbury has played in 155 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 208 for 646 (.322 avg, .928 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 31 homers, 103 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Ellsbury really made up for lost time. In 2010, he only played in 18 games for the Red Sox in which he was 15 for 78 (.192 avg, .485 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 7 stolen bases due to injuries. He has now played in 504 games in his first five years with the Red Sox and he is 607 of 2,018 (.301 avg, .806 OPS) with 339 runs scored, 51 homers, 233 RBIs and 174 stolen bases.

35-year old righty swinging shortstop Marco Scutaro is on fire with the bat for the Red Sox. He has played in 18 games for the Red Sox so far in September and he is 27 for 64 (.422 avg, 1.052 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 18 RBIs. Scutaro has also only whiffed 4 times this month as his bat seems to have a magnet in it. Scutaro has now played in 104 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 109 for 366 (.298 avg, .768 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 6 homers, 51 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Scutaro is doing his part to get the Red Sox to the playoffs, but he’s going to need some help as the Rays are only 2 games behind them for the A.L. Wildcard.

30-year old righty swinging 2B/SS/3B/RF Mike Aviles is off to a solid start for the Red Sox. He has played in 26 games for the Red Sox since coming over in a deal with the Royals and he is 22 for 64 (.344 avg, .749 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 2 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 79 games overall this year for the Red Sox & Royals and he is 63 for 249 (.253 avg, .679 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 5 homers, 33 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Aviles has been a solid addition for the Red Sox.

26-year old Jarrod Saltalamacchia and 39-year old Jason Varitek starting out the 2011 season very slowly with the bats. But they have really picked it up lately and they have put up solid production numbers in 2011 overall. Saltalamacchia has played in 92 games for he Red Sox and he is 79 for 320 (.247 avg, .781 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 16 homers, 51 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Varitek has played in 62 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 48 for 206 (.233 avg, .758 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 11 homers and 33 RBIs. Saltalamacchia & Varitek are only hitting a combined .241 on the season, but not many teams catch match the production numbers out of their catchers, as they have combined to score 80 runs, hit 27 homers and drive in 84 runs so far this year.

I know that 1B Adrian Gonzalez and Big Papi are having excellent years in 2011, but 28-year old lefty swinging CF Jacoby Ellsbury has been the best player on the team. Ellsbury has played in 141 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 185 of 584 (.317 avg, .909 OPS) with 104 runs scored, 26 homers, 91 RBIs and 36 stolen bases. Coming into this season, Ellsbury had career highs of 98 runs scored, 9 homers and 60 RBIs! Ellsbury is also finishing the year really strongly. In his first 10 games in September, Ellsbury is 16 for 44 (.364 avg, 1.065 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs.