Who in the world is Alejandro De Aza, and what's he doing saving the Red Sox season?

Hand it to Ben: De Aza is a find.

Fans shrugged their shoulders and scratched their heads when the Red Sox responded to their worst start in a half-century by trading for a .214-hitting outfielder on June 3, but nobody is questioning the pickup of Alejandro De Aza for minor league pitcher Joe Gunkel now.

The failure of Rusney Castillo in his first extended MLB trial and an injury to Hanley Ramirez opened up left- and right-field spots for De Aza in the starting lineup, and the 31-year-old Orioles castaway has become one of the hottest hitters in baseball. 

In 23 games with Boston, during which the Sox offense has sprung to life, De Aza is batting .338 with a 1.034 OPS. On the recently completed roadtrip to Florida and Toronto, he went an insane 12-for-26 with 12 runs scored, 3 triples, 2 homers, and 8 RBI.

Boston was 24-30 when De Aza was acquired, and has gone 13-10 with him in the lineup. There is no denying he has provided a spark.

Thursday's 12-6 victory over Toronto, which gave the Red Sox a season-reviving 5-2 record on the trip, marked another big night for De Aza -- 4 RBI on a single, double, and triple while bating eighth. Throw in great defense and experience at all three outfield spots, and you have a guy who it will be tough to remove from the lineup even if Shane Victorino is about to come off the disabled list and Ramirez is healthy.

Should Victorino start over De Aza? 

De Aza has been a solid player for the last five-plus years, producing a  .749 OPS with his dependable glove and speed on the bases while usually starting for the White Sox and Orioles. He's also shown flashes of power, with 17 homers for Chicago in 2013. 

The lefty-swinging Dominican doesn't have the peak numbers of a Victorino or Ramirez, but if the latter's defense and attitude stay shaky and the former can't stay healthy, De Aza may be a difference maker as Boston seeks to stay in a tight AL East race.

"I'm not saying De Aza is going to come in here and platoon in left with Hanley," manager John Farrell told reporters after the trade. "But at the same time we've got a veteran, a guy who can run, a guy that can play all three outfield positions. We were able to acquire a veteran guy who has some success and track record."

It is unlikely De Aza can continue his torrid production, but he deserves to stay in the lineup while he's white-hot and the Red Sox are winning.   

A familiar sight in June: Alejandro is on again.

Red Sox have high-tech plan to boost up anemic offense

Target Field at Fenway would suit Papi fine.

Desperate to boost their anemic offense and stop their first four-game losing streak in two years, the Red Sox are set to unveil a new high-tech approach Tuesday when the Blue Jays come to town.

Boston scored just four runs during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers over the weekend. Hoping to turn those numbers around, Fenway Park's video crew will project holographic images of the American League ballpark (other than Fenway) where that hitter performs the best. 

When David Ortiz digs in, for instance, he will be looking out past the pitcher at what appears (to him) to be Minnesota's Target Field, where Ortiz has a lifetime .509 batting average with 9 home runs and 22 RBI in 14 games. Then, when Mike Napoli comes up next, he will get a view of Yankee Stadium (.351, 7 homers in 22 games), and so on down the line.

For Napoli, Yankee Stadium is the bomb.

"Even though most of our hitters perform best at home, that hasn't been the case this season," says Sox general manager Ben Cherington of his underachieving squad, which has gone 10-9 
on the road and just 10-14 at usually friendly Fenway in 2014. "We hope if they feel like they are on the road, it may calm them down and lead to better results."

Cherington says the team is considering other options if "Operation Nice Sights" does not succeed. "Operation October in June" would feature a simulation of postseason games, complete with red, white, and blue bunting and live appearances by the Dropkick Murphys. Operation Road Trip" would include a bus ride by the team 1 mile from Fenway to the Copley Plaza Hotel, where they would stay during homestands to simulate away games.

Perhaps the Dropkicks can deliver some wins.

"This worked great for Jim Lonborg in 1967," explains Red Sox senior VP and team historian Dick Bresciani. "He was 0-6 lifetime against the Twins heading into the last game of the season, and needed to win to have a chance for the pennant. Jim stayed at a nearby Sheraton, pitched a complete-game victory, and we went to the World Series." 

If the champs want to make a return trip to the Fall Classic this October, they are going to have to do something about that sub-.245 team batting average. Maybe a 119-game road trip will do the trick. 

Nine creative steps to get through a Jon Lester Sunday at Fenway

 It was tough for us to look at too, Jon.

Jon Lester summed up yesterday’s 15-7 game at Fenway Park quite succinctly when he said, “I’m not a big fan of sucking.” Neither are those of us who watched from the stands as Toronto completed its weekend sweep of the Red Sox, but at least Lester got to leave midway through the fifth inning. What about those of us determined to sit through all nine – how did we do it?

Here’s how:

Coming prepared for anything. A first-pitch home run by Brett Lawrie off Lester? Five Toronto runs in the top of the first? Par for the course with the 2012 Red Sox, who have made first-inning deficits an art form. Lester started this game needing to show he could be an ace in the hole for the Sox, but he left out the ace part once again.

A familiar sight this summer at Fenway.

 Cheering on a comeback – Part I. When Adrian Gonzalez smashed a home run in the bottom of the first, we exploded to our feet and thought maybe today would be different. You would think after 97 games we would know better.

Distracting ourselves with fun diversions. This came in real handy in the second inning when the Blue Jays scored four more times to deflate our enthusiasm and take a 9-3 lead. My sister Julie had brought her friend Laura to the game, and just as Toronto was finishing its second time around the batting order, Laura’s cell phone rang. It was her sister Emma, calling from England with news that she had just given birth to a baby girl. Nothing like the smile of a brand-new aunt to (briefly) get your mind off a six-run deficit.

Great news for Laura -- and a deterrent for us.

Playing nice with opposing fans. This can be tough sometimes, especially with loudmouths from Yankee Country, but the Pearce family of Toronto proved delightful next-row neighbors. Three generations of the clan were visiting Fenway for the first time, and needless to say they were quite happy most of the afternoon. At least somebody was.

All's well for the Pearce family.

Speculating how Bobby Valentine would answer the inevitable postgame question, “Why did you leave Lester in so long?” This was the subject of much discussion in the fifth, when a Travis Snider homer – the fourth allowed by Big Jon – stretched Toronto’s lead to 11-4. The Sox had scored a run in the fourth, and in Fenway a five-run deficit is not entirely insurmountable. Seven runs feels a bit worse.

Looking for silver linings. The most obvious one in the middle innings was Boston right-hander Junichi Tazawa, who mercifully replaced Lester after the Snider smash and proceeded to throw three innings of two-hit, five-strikeout, shutout relief. Another was Jacoby Ellsbury’s first home run of the season leading off the bottom of the fifth.

Tawaza kept things interesting.

Cheering on a comeback – Part II. Ellsbury’s homer and two more Boston runs driven in by end-of-the-lineup guys Mike Aviles and Nick Punto in the sixth made it 11-7, and got our hopes up again. When Tazawa struck out the side in the seventh – punctuated by a 95-mile-an-hour heater to overpowered catcher Jeff Mathis – he got a standing ovation from the sun-splashed crowd. Maybe, just maybe….

Heckling “Sweet Caroline.” Four more Toronto runs in the eighth made it 15-7, and when the inning ended my semi-regular weekend seatmates (the two Nancys) started shouting “NO! NO!” when Neil Diamond’s Fenway anthem came over the loudspeakers. I quickly joined them, and even came up with my own revised lyrics – instead of the fist-pumping “Da! Da! Da!” I yelled “Buy! A! Brick!” at the ridiculous people who could actually sing with the season going down the toilet – and would blithely be purchasing a commemorative Fenway Park 100^th anniversary brick or two after the game.

"Sweeet Caroline....BUY A BRICK!"

Congratulating my son for sticking it out. Jason comes from good tough Red Sox stock, and on his first visit to Fenway at age two sat through most of a 14-inning marathon. But rather than joining the 25,000 or so folks who left after the bottom of the eighth and gave the ballpark a Butch Hobson era feel, he stayed until the end and even donned a rally cap for the 1-2-3 Red Sox ninth. I got him a beautiful Dwight Evans card (complete with a piece of a real Dewey bat) as a reward, and the smile on his face helped soften the angst of the day a bit.

Jason and Julie hold out hope -- for another day.