Daily Red Sox Links: Will Middlebrooks, Jon Lester, Andrew Bailey

The Red Sox continued their frustrating season this past weekend with a series split with the Indians. However, the wins and losses were not the story. The biggest story to come out of this four game stint in Cleveland was Will Middlebrooks getting hit by a pitch and breaking his wrist. Although it seems that he'll be avoiding surgery, he is still likely to miss the rest of the season. To replace him in the lineup, the Sox will probably use some combination of their smorgasbord utility infielders. (Pete Abraham; Boston.com)

• Speaking of the team's plethora of depth in the infield, part of that depth, specifically Danny Valencia, has turned out to be an extremely timely acquisition by this front office. He got his first start with the team in yesterday's 14-1 blowout, and was the only starter on the team without a hit. (Tim Britton; Providence Journal)
• In a season full of struggles, Jon Lester had an outstanding performance yesterday, fanning twelve batters in six innings of work. When asked about his day on the mound, he mentioned it would boost his confidence. Here's to hoping he can keep this up. (Bob Finnan; ESPN Boston)
• Baseball players will never be accused of being the toughest athletes in the world. However, they are pretty tough compared to most of us Average Joes. Even things that look so easy like pitching while under the weather are not easy feats. (Ben Lindbergh; Baseball Prospectus)

• Even though the outlook on the rest of the season is not great, there are still some things to look forward to for Red Sox fans. One of which is finally being able to see the team's intended bullpen ace, Andrew Bailey, for the first time in a Boston uniform. (Mike Scandura; Fire Brand of the AL)
• Around here we know how crazy narratives can get, and how ridiculous they typically are when put into context. Grant Brisbee took part in an interesting exercise looking at some potential narratives that would be floating around the league if the first half of the season never happened. (Grant Brisbee; Baseball Nation)
• Over in the other league, one of the biggest and most talked about stories of the season reached a climax this weekend. The Nationals brass have come out and are sticking with their 180 innings limit for their ace Stephen Strasburg. (David Temple; Platoon Advantage)
• It seems like there are people threatening to win the triple crown in at least one of the leagues every few years, but no one has done it since 1967. Garrett Wilson ponders whether or not today's baseball world would react the same as fans did back in the 60's with our added knowledge on these statistics. (Garrett Wilson; The Outside Corner)