The Red Sox season got off to a terrible start to begin the season.

The first six games were in Texas and Cleveland, and Boston only came within one run in one game.

But after sweeping the rival Yankees in The Bronx for the first time since 2004, the Red Sox are now .500 and might have finally gotten the memory of the terrible start behind them.

In May, the Red Sox have nine wins in 14 games.

The Sox needed some momentum, and have gotten it from some quality pitching. Josh Becket has gone over 18 innings without giving up a run, and has a 1.75 earned run average.

Jon Lester has also had some very strong performances, particularly against the Angels at Anaheim, when he threw six shutout innings.

Overall, Boston still has an overall earned run average of 4.27, which is among the worst in the Majors.

When the pitching has been strong, the bats have picked up the slack.

The best bat on the team has certainly been newcomer Adrian Gonzalez. The former Padres first baseman is batting .319, and is among the American League leaders in home runs with nine. Gonzalez is also among the best hitters in doubles with 12.

The other major power hitter on the team, David Ortiz, has four home runs in the past two weeks, and is batting .365.

But the hits have also come from the light hitters.

Boston has also received a boost from Jacoby Ellsbury, who has had a hot May. He is batting .377 in the month, and has added seven stolen bases in the past couple weeks, as well. Jed Lowrie is also having a fine month, batting .320 in May, and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youklis are each batting roughly .368 in the same span.

After struggling in April, free-agent signing Carl Crawford has been getting it going, though he's nowhere near where many thought he would be.

It's still a long season, but there are encouraging signs for Terry Francona's squad.