Red Sox pick up good vibrations over West Coast swing

When the Boston Red Sox got off to their 2-10 start, the volume of the collective caterwauling was only matched by reminders that a corrective win streak was lying somewhere down the road.

Turns out that "somewhere" was just chilling out on the West Coast. After�completing a four-game sweep of the Los Angels Angels on Sunday, the Red Sox have now won eight of their last nine and moved within one game of .500 at 10-11.

Now they'll head back east with five wins in six games against the Angels and A's. They'll also be packing the following positives, presented here in bullet-point form:

? Boston's starters have posted a 7-1 record and 0.88 ERA over their last nine games.

? Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey both rebounded from their early abominations to post impressive starts over this streak. If both question marks can find a comfortable place between "stellar" and "suck," the Red Sox's rotation will be just fine.

? Carl Crawford finally broke through for his first homer in a Red Sox uniform in Sunday's 7-0 win. Dan Lamothe of Red Sox Monster notes that Crawford's homer ... "came in a disciplined at-bat in which he worked the count from 0-2 to 3-2 while fouling off two pitches. He's now 7 for 27 (.259) with two doubles and a homer in his last seven games ? not fantastic, but a positive sign."

Despite their slow start, the Red Sox are now just 3.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place (though Boston has played four more games) and only half a game behind the Tampa Bay Rays ? who have staged a similar resurrection after early troubles ? for second. And if you take a peek at their schedule, it sets up pretty nicely if the Red Sox want to earn back all those games they gave away early. After a three-game layover in Baltimore starting Tuesday, they'll start an 11-game homestand at Fenway against a trio of offensively challenged teams ? three against the Seattle Mariners, four against the Angels and four against the Minnesota Twins.

If Boston can keep dominating during this two-week stretch, that early start will be permanently relegated to the mere footnote status that many predicted for it all along.

Krista Allen Hayden Panettiere Jules Asner Whitney Able Kelly Clarkson