By the All Star Game, Boston had the best record in baseball and held their largest lead in the American League East, 10 games over inter-division rivals the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. The first half of the season was highlighted by a rebirth of starting pitcher Josh Beckett who has mounted a 12-2 record. First baseman Kevin Youkilis and third baseman Mike Lowell also had very successful first halves. Some pleasant surprises for the Red Sox were reliever Hideki Okajima and rookie second basemen Dustin Pedroia. As for the highly advertised Daisuke Matsuzaka from Japan, he has mounted a 10-6 record over the first half of the season. Good pitching was the main catalyst for the success of the Red Sox in the first half of 2007. See the Boston Red Sox fight to maintain their MLB lead this fall. Buy Boston Red Sox tickets and all baseball tickets below.