Quarter not worth a lot

Sox can't create room in the East

Despite catcher Jason Varitek's best efforts, Michael Cuddyer slides safely into home in the Twins' three-run fifth inning. (Eric Miller/Reuters)

MINNEAPOLIS - The major league scouts watching the Red Sox this past week have raved at the team's depth, pitching, offense, speed, and defense. They're convinced there isn't a better team in the league.

Yet, a quarter of the way through the season (41 games), the Sox can't seem to separate themselves from the AL East pack, holding just a half-game lead over the young and talented Rays as they begin a two-game series in Baltimore tonight.

"It's obvious they're the best team," said a National League scout. "I'd say the Angels and Red Sox are the top two teams in the league, but Tampa Bay is going to hang around, so it might be hard for them to really pull away until the second half of the season.

"But I think if they stay healthy with their pitching, their exciting young players, they should emerge as the team that's going to pull away."

Even after losing three out of four to the Twins?

"Yes," said a scout. "They're one of those teams that can be down five or six runs heading into the eighth inning and you still think they have a chance to win the game."

Maybe so, but it isn't happening now.

Last night the Red Sox lost, 7-3, as the Twins skewered Clay Buchholz for seven runs and eight hits over his 4 1/3 innings. This came a night after Tim Wakefield couldn't escape the third.

While their depth allows them to throw pitchers like Bryan Corey and Julian Tavarez overboard to make room for Craig Hansen and (in the near future) Bartolo Colon, the consistency is amiss.

Buchholz, who threw only 37 fastballs among his 90 pitches, would appear to be fighting for his major league existence every time out because of Colon's presence, but last night the young righthander simply had difficulty locating his fastball, so he didn't throw it often.

Overall, the season's first quarter has been positive. The Sox survived a trip to Japan, the West Coast, and a few injuries along the way. Their depth has been tested, and they're still in first place - though they don't have that run-away-and-hide acceleration.

There has been some sputtering, particularly on the road, where the Sox are 10-12. Julio Lugo has made 11 errors at shortstop, and the middle relief has been hit-and-miss leading up to Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon.

Bumps in the road, sure, but all things considered, the Red Sox feel the first quarter of the season wasn't bad.

"Ideally, we would like to be separated from the pack," said Mike Lowell. "I think we have the talent to start playing a lot better than we have.

"I think we're all happy to be in first place, but we've sputtered at times and played real well in spurts. I think we need to put together that 20- to 25-game stretch where - I'm not saying we're going to win every game - but where we win a majority of them. We're capable of doing that."

Kevin Youkilis said, "I'm not sure the separation is a big thing because as long as you win by one game, what's it matter? You have to concentrate on each game and try to win each game. If you're doing that, then things are going to go your way more times than not.

"We knew this was going to be a tough division going in and that the teams are pretty evenly matched. We just have to find a way to be one game better than everyone else."

Lowell said he feels good about how the Sox have survived "a few tough road trips," including Japan, as well as the injuries (including his own thumb problem, which kept him out for more than two weeks). Yet he knows that all teams deal with the injury bug and he believes depth will overcome in the end.

"I think when one guy goes down, there seems to be someone there to take their place and we don't miss a beat," said Lowell. "I think that's the strength of our team. Hopefully, at some point we're going to get everyone together at once and we're going to have our complete talent on the field.

"Listen, we've known from the beginning that this was not going to be a cakewalk. Tampa Bay is a much upgraded team with a lot of talent and their pitching is much improved. Baltimore is playing much, much better and we know how good Toronto's pitching is.

"So, this won't be easy, but we just feel we have the talent in this room to eventually get it done."

As the weather warms up, Sox bats should get even hotter. Manny Ramírez needs two more home runs to reach 500, and while he is playing down the milestone, he has asked reporters not to speak about the number before every game. It's evident that his mind will be more at ease when he reaches it.

Over the next quarter of the season, the Sox will continue to define the center field spot, where Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp have been platooning - and where the Sox have more speed than they've had in their modern history.

Scouts believe that Jon Lester will become a key figure in this team's future. While they understand he has been up and down, one scout said, "He could become one of the best lefthanded starters in the game."

There are always concerns about the wear and tear on Jason Varitek and whether David Ortiz's right knee will worsen. Youkilis plays so hard that there are sometimes issues about him wearing down.

But with Toronto again suffering huge injuries (Dave Eckstein, Vernon Wells), the Yankees trying to find the answer to their first-quarter malaise, the likelihood that Baltimore may not have enough to make a season-long run, and the belief that Tampa Bay might still be a year away, there is a pretty good opportunity for the Sox to separate themselves.

It hasn't happened yet, but as one scout said, "Of all the teams in the American League, they have the chance to run away."

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com