Beckett Returns To Glory, Ditto For Bard As Red Sox Finally Beat The Rays

It seems silly to call a game for a team that leads the American League Wild Card by three games with 13 remaining a must-win but I think that's exactly how any objective Boston Red Sox fan viewed tonight's game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.

Josh Beckett (13-5) returned after last pitching on September 5 and while he wasn't his usual lights out self against Tampa Bay (83-67), he still did enough to make sure the Red Sox (87-63) won 4-3 in a playoff-like atmosphere (cool temperatures and a crowd that for once was into it from the start).

This was seen as such an important game since the Rays had won six straight against Boston, plus if they swept this weekend series they would be tied with the Red Sox. This win for Boston means that at worst they'll say bye to their AL East foes with a two-game lead with 10 games left in the regular season.

Beckett lasted six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. It's hard to gauge which is more vital to the cause long-term but Daniel Bard also returned to his dominant self after a recent particularly rough stretch. He worked around a walk in the eighth and struck out the side with some overpowering fastballs and sliders (plus a changeup which he never throws).

Alfredo Aceves had been the bridge to Bard with a scoreless seventh (two walks, two strikeouts) and Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the ninth (12 of 13 pitches for strikes) as he picked up his 30th save of the season. It had almost been a month since his last save opportunity (August 18) and he made this one count as he became the first closer with 30+ saves in the first six seasons of his career.

James Shields (15-11) was off his game for the Rays. He went seven innings but he was tagged for four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Evan Longoria (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 walks) hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give Tampa Bay an early 2-0 advantage.

Boston responded immediately in the bottom of the first as Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 runs, stolen base) knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single and David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 RBIs) likewise drove in Pedroia with an RBI single.

Longoria put the Rays ahead once again with an RBI single in the third, driving in Desmond Jennings (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases, walk).

Ortiz tied it in the home half of the third with an RBI double that plated Pedroia.

The go-ahead run was provided by Mike Aviles, who drilled a solo homer (his sixth of the season; first with Boston) off the Sports Authority sign in the fourth.

Jon Lester opposes Jeff Niemann tomorrow afternoon in another juicy pitching matchup. For one night at least, the Red Sox' woes were forgotten as they gained ground on the Rays and the Yankees (3.5 games ahead in the AL East) who lost in Toronto. After completely failing at the Trop last weekend, expect Lester to bounce back and pitch much better this time around.

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What Has Become Of Daniel Bard?

Sometimes baseball and in turn life doesn't make any sense.

On a day when John Lackey actually pitched decently-one of his best outings of the season mind you-ace setup man Daniel Bard failed to protect a lead once again as the Boston Red Sox lost 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park in an afternoon matinee.

They dodged a bullet as the Tampa Bay Rays lost 6-2 to the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards, meaning that Boston remains four games ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL Wild Card race.

Bard (2-8; most losses of any reliever in MLB) has had a disastrous week with three terrible appearances in a row. That is nothing but bad news for the Red Sox (86-62) who count perhaps way too much on him. With an already taxed bullpen (since the rotation is a mess), Terry Francona has little choice but to hope Bard somehow finds his control again and works out of his funk.

Summoned to protect a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth, Bard allowed three runs (two earned) on a hit with two walks. It was his fifth blown save of the season. Jonathan Papelbon looked great in the ninth (in a non-save situation), going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. It's time for him to do something that Francona avoids at all costs: go for saves that are longer than an inning.

The goodwill from Tim Wakefield's 200th win seemed to carry over to the series finale as Lackey pitched into the sixth and even left with a lead (3-2). He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. He is the punching bag of New England and I've already made countless negative jokes and comments about him this season but he didn't deserve that today.

Blue Jays (75-74) ace Ricky Romero (15-10) beat Boston for the second time in a week, a huge accomplishment for a guy that normally gets rocked Lackey-style (there it goes) when he takes the mound against them. Thanks to a low pitch count, he lasted eight innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Toronto closer Frank Francisco also normally struggles against the Red Sox but he put his career numbers aside today with a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 15th save of the season.

The Blue Jays grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Edwin Encarnacion (2 hits) and Kelly Johnson.

Boston tied it in the second with ground outs from Ryan Lavarnway and Jason Varitek.

Marco Scutaro's sacrifice fly in the third (scoring Jacoby Ellsbury who extended his hit streak to 18 games with a triple) and Adrian Gonzalez's solo shot in the sixth (his 26th of the season; first at Fenway since July 7) gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. That's when everything quickly fell apart (a common theme lately with Boston).

First, Gonzalez left in the seventh with tightness in his left calf. Two walks and an error on Bard to start the eighth gave Toronto the bases loaded with no outs. J.P. Arencibia's ground out scored Encarnacion to cut it to 4-3 and then Adam Loewen delivered the key hit of the game: a two-run single.

There are 14 games left in the season and Tampa Bay comes to town tomorrow night for the start of a four-game series. The pitching matchups are Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson on Thursday night, Josh Beckett vs. James Shields on Friday night, Jon Lester vs. Jeff Niemann on Saturday afternoon and Tim Wakefield vs. David Price on Sunday afternoon.

As a Red Sox fan, do you feel confident about any of those? Beckett is making his first start in over a week after spraining his ankle and the Rays knocked Lester around last weekend at the Trop. The only solace is that they'll still be ahead when Tampa Bay leaves, barring a sweep at home and they won't see them again this year.

The good news is that eight of the last 14 games are at home and even better, seven of them are against the O's. If the Red Sox can't hang on to a four-game lead with 14 remaining then they have nobody to blame but themselves and they wouldn't go anywhere in the playoffs anyway. The next two weeks should be a real test of this possibly great team's character.

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This Shit Is Starting To Get Real

If you're a Red Sox fan, you're more than used to August swoons and September slides, but all of that past history can't prepare you for what's going down now: another possibly monumental collapse.

Boston (85-60) lost its fourth straight, 6-5 to Tampa Bay (80-64) in 11 innings tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays have climbed within 4.5 games of the wild card lead (5 head-to-head matchups left).

About the only glass half full thing I can muster is that the Yankees are in a similar downward spiral, losing four straight as well and dealing with countless injuries of their own. The bad part is that New York is ahead of Boston by 2.5 games.

After Jonathan Papelbon was excellent, throwing the very rare two innings of relief (no hits, 14 of 16 pitches were strikes), Daniel Bard (2-7) came on and had his second straight meltdown. He gave a lead-off triple to Desmond Jennings (2 hits, 2 runs), got B.J. Upton to ground out but then Evan Longoria (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 walks) hit a walk-off single.

In a market filled with so many clown Red Sox writers, it's hard to tell sometimes when to panic since some are known to constantly fan the flames (cough, Shaughnessy) but this has gotten serious my friends. Boston's starting rotation is a shell of itself, meaning the bullpen is taxed and the lineup isn't what it used to be with Youk out and Pedroia not himself.

The Sox actually rallied in the ninth from down 5-3 as Jarrod Saltalamacchia (16th of the season) and Jacoby Ellsbury (26th of the season) hit back-to-back homers off Rays closer (and former Yankees scrub) Kyle Farnsworth; the eighth time the team has done that this season.

It didn't look good early for Boston as rookie Kyle Weiland (making his third MLB start) loaded the bases with no outs in the first. He somehow escaped and just allowed one run in that frame on a ground out. He lasted four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.

His short outing meant that Alfredo Aceves had to come in earlier than usual. He wasn't as good as he usually is but you can't complain about four innings, two earned runs, three hits, one walk and three strikeouts. With those type of numbers, he could be the number two starter at the moment. Sadly, that is kind of true.

Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson bolstered his case for AL Rookie of the Year with a quality start: six innings, three earned runs, five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

Boston tied it in the second on Jed Lowrie's ground out but Tampa Bay added a run in the second (on Jennings' ground out) and in the third on Casey Kotchman's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) sacrifice fly.

Adrian Gonzalez tied it at three with his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot. Ellsbury's single earlier in the inning increased his latest hit streak to 15 games.

Kotchman took Aceves deep in the fifth and Longoria had a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 5-3 in favor of Tampa Bay.

An interesting side note to the game is that the winning reliever for the Rays was none other than Brandon Gomes (2-1) who is a Fall River, Mass native and Tulane graduate. He got the last four outs for what I'm going to assume was his most memorable MLB win.

Jon Lester vs. James Shields is the juicy pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Unfortunately, the ratings should be terrible since tomorrow is the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL regular season. I'll be checking my phone, Twitter and the gamecast while also peeking at the game between commercials or when I need a break from the Red Zone.

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Beckett Sprains Ankle, Lawrie Hits Walkoff Homer in 11th

All I can say is thank God I was at the beach for all of today's game.



Well, to be specific, I listened to the first 10+ innings of the Red Sox-Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre on the radio and was walking back into our condo when Toronto (70-71) rookie Brett Lawrie (haha great picture by the way) hit a walk-off homer in the 11th against Dan Wheeler (2-2).



Why does that always seem to happen? You invest so much time into a baseball game and then it's over in one second when you're not paying attention.



The sting of a 1-0 loss in 11 innings for Boston (84-56) would have been much easier to take with the sun in the sky and the sand at my feet. Back home, the bleak reality set in. First, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left in the fourth inning with a sprained ankle. He had been cruising, striking out six and only giving up three hits in 3.2 innings.



With Erik Bedard skipping a start due to his back and Beckett being sent back to Boston for a further examination, this is not the time for the Red Sox rotation to be falling apart.



Second, the Yankees beat the Orioles this afternoon meaning that New York is now 2.5 games ahead of Boston in the AL East.



As always, a rookie pitcher facing the Red Sox for the first time excelled. 21-year-old Henderson Alvarez went six innings for Toronto, scattering four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.



Charlie Villanueva (1 inning), Casey Janssen (1 inning), Frank Francisco (2 innings) all paved the way for Shawn Camp (3-3) who got a 1-2-3 top of the 11th.



Among other things, this loss wasted another outstanding effort by Alfredo Aceves. Summoned early, Boston's unsung hero went 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit with three walks and four strikeouts.



Daniel Bard got the last five outs in the eighth and ninth leading to Jonathan Papelbon who was sketchy (as always in a non-save situation) but was able to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th.



Josh Reddick and Marco Scutaro each had two hits in the loss.



Jon Lester and rookie Luis Perez will get the starts tomorrow night in the second of four in Toronto.



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Beckett Stumbles But Still Manages To Beat Yankees

Josh Beckett couldn't keep up his dominant form (3-0, 1.00 ERA) against the Yankees this season but he still found a way to win as the Red Sox triumphed 9-5 tonight at Fenway Park.



One of my childhood favorites Mo Vaughn was also in the building for the second day of the Jimmy Fund telethon.



Boston (83-52) evened the series (1-1) and moved to 11-3 vs. New York (81-53) this season while going back to a 1.5 game lead in the AL East.



Just as CC Sabathia finally found a way to beat the Red Sox yesterday, Beckett (12-5) got it done despite having far from his best outing. He gave Boston seven innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.



Yankees starter Phil Hughes (4-5) continued his mostly forgettable 2011. He went 5.2 innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Remind me again who will start Game 2 of the ALDS for the Yanks?



Boston used the longball-three two-run homers-to rough up Hughes and a pair of relievers: Boone Logan and Luis Ayala.



Derek Jeter (2 hits, stolen base) gave New York a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the third. Boston answered in the bottom of the inning as Marco Scutaro scored on Dustin Pedroia's (2 hits) ground out and Jed Lowrie knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs) with an RBI single.



David Ortiz's two-run bomb (28th of the season) put the Red Sox up 4-1 in the fifth but New York countered with four runs in the sixth. Robinson Cano and Eric Chavez had RBI doubles (two runs scored on Chavez's since Josh Reddick had an error in the right field corner) and Eduardo Nunez's sacrifice fly gave the Yankees a 5-4 advantage.



Jason Varitek's hit and run lucky swing resulted in an RBI double which tied it at five in the sixth and Ellsbury put Boston ahead for good with a two-run shot (his 24th of the season; 1st career opposite field homer) off Logan and over the Monster.



Varitek wrapped it up with his two-run blast (his 10th of the season; 11th time he's had 10+ homers). Daniel Bard got his 31st hold with a 1-2-3 hold (on 13 pitches) and Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth in the non-save situation. Pap struck out a batter and all seven of his pitches were strikes. The good news is they should both be available tomorrow night too since they didn't appear on Tuesday.



Tomorrow in the series finale, Jon Lester faces Yankees train wreck A.J. Burnett in another matchup that clearly favors the home team.



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Every Thing Goes Boston's Way As They Leave Kansas City With A Series Win

I'm going to venture a prediction that all these things never happen again in the same Major League baseball contest: Darnell McDonald collected three hits (including a homer), Jason Varitek hit a triple, Ryan Lavarnway had two hits and Carl Crawford hit a homer.



The reason that we watch a Red Sox-Royals game in late August is that crazy stuff like that can all transpire in the span of nine innings.



Boston (77-49) beat Kansas City (52-76) 6-1 this afternoon at Kaufmann Stadium, taking the series 3-1 thanks to Jon Lester's brilliance and all the aforementioned unlikely events.



Lester (13-6) posted his second straight excellent outing. He went six innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. A pitch count of 113 with runners on first and second and no outs forced Terry Francona's hand but Daniel Bard (2 scoreless innings, 3 strikeouts) responded like the best set-up man in baseball (him) usually does.



A subplot worth filing away is the fact that Dan Wheeler is suddenly more effective than Matt Albers. That means that Wheeler should be used in more important situations than he has been all season. The former Rays reliever and Warwick, RI native pitched a scoreless ninth today with two strikeouts. Albers seems to have remembered who he was lately (a middling reliever that had only played on bad teams) so it's nice insurance to have a battle-tested veteran like Wheeler.



Royals starter Danny Duffy (3-8) actually had a very nice outing but like a true Royal, he didn't come out on top. In six innings, he allowed two earned runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.



No Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis for the second straight game wasn't as big a deal. Varitek gave Boston a 1-0 lead with his RBI triple in the fifth, scoring Jed Lowrie. McDonald added a solo shot (his fifth of the season) in the sixth and Crawford (eighth of the season) showed signs of life with a solo shot of his own in the eighth.



Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single for Kansas City in the seventh-one of only three hits for the home team-but the Red Sox piled on three more in the eighth. Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single, Lowrie hit a sacrifice fly and Lavarnway just missed his first career homer (it hit off the top of the wall) but settled for an RBI double.



From here, things start to get real for Boston (still a half game behind New York in the AL East) as they face the Texas Rangers four times in hot as hell Arlington. Erik Bedard goes up against C.J. Wilson tomorrow night in the series opener. The only times these teams met in 2011 was to start the season and that did not go so well from my slanted opinion (three-game sweep for the Rangers). A lock in the AL West, Texas will visit Fenway three times Labor Day weekend.



It could be a playoff preview if the Red Sox don't take care of the AL East division crown. Texas is way better than Detroit or Cleveland and even a slight notch over the Yankees since they have a solid rotation, great bullpen and good lineup. I'll take the AL Central shitbums please.



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Three Red Sox Homers Help Them Survive John Lackey's Usual Mediocrity

The Seattle Mariners might have the worst offense in the American League but don't tell that to John Lackey.



Nope, it took everything he had to hold off the M's (50-67) as the Red Sox (73-44) won 6-4 tonight at Safeco Field in the series opener in the Pacific Northwest.



It was Lackey's (11-8) sixth straight win in seven decisions which is probably the most misleading statistic in the history of sports. Every player in Boston's lineup had a hit as they continue to dominate the woeful Mariners.



In six plus innings, Lackey allowed four earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts.



Seattle rookie starter Blake Beaven (3-3) was shelled. In 6.1 innings, he allowed six earned runs on 11 hits with a walk and a strikeout.



Nine Mariners have made their MLB debuts this season, the highest total of any team, so clearly this is a team that's building for the future. With hitters like Dustin Ackley (2 hits, RBI, walk) and Mike Carp (3 hits, 3 RBIs), Seattle has two studs to build around. Justin Smoak will also probably be good but he caught a tough break-no pun intended-when Jarrod Saltalamacchia's (2 hits, run) grounder took a wicked hop and broke his nose in the second inning.



Carp gave the M's a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run single which scored Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez.



David Ortiz's 24th homer of the season cut it to 2-1 in the second and Mike Aviles tied it later in the frame with a sacrifice fly (scoring Carl Crawford).



Ackley put Seattle ahead again with an RBI single in the second and Carp increased it to 4-2 in the fourth with an RBI double.



Jed Lowrie's fourth homer of the season (his first left-handed and first since April 20) brought Boston within 4-3 in the fifth and Josh Reddick provided the night's biggest hit with a two-run bomb off a window in right during the sixth.



Ortiz added an insurance run with an RBI single in the seventh that plated Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits; MLB-leading 52nd multi-hit game).



As it became a battle of the bullpens, predictably the Red Sox held on as Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon both had solid outings. Bard got four outs including three strikeouts (his 27th hold of the season) while Papelbon recorded his 27th save.



The Muddy Chicken himself-Dustin Pedroia-had two hits and a stolen base in the win as well. Great story about him in this week's Sports Illustrated, haha it explains the hilarious origin of his latest nickname.



Josh Beckett faces Felix Herandez tomorrow night in what promises to be a low-scoring pitcher's duel, in other words the exact opposite of tonight's proceedings.



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Red Sox Win Fourth Straight, Send Twins To Sixth Consecutive Defeat

Neither impossibly small strike zones nor early 2-0 deficits could hinder the Boston Red Sox tonight as they rallied for their third straight come-from-behind victory.



They survived home plate umpire Tim McClelland's early squeezing of Erik Bedard and the Twins' two runs in the first inning to come out on top 4-3 at Target Field.



In his second start for the Red Sox (72-43), Bedard (5 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts) was much more impressive as he got to throw 90 pitches. If not for Michael Cuddyer's sacrifice fly and a completely bullshit bases-loaded walk by Delmon Young (two strikes were called balls), the lefty wouldn't have given up any runs at all.



Minnesota (51-65) starter Francisco Liriano wasn't the victim of Mcclelland's insanity but he still managed to walk seven batters. In six innings, the erratic lefty allowed three earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts.



It was a strange one and the easiest way to prove that is to tell you how Boston got all their runs. Darnell McDonald tied it at two with a two-run homer (his fourth of the season) in the fifth inning. Jason Varitek put the Red Sox up 3-2 in the sixth with an RBI single. After a Ysuyoshi Nishioka RBI double off Matt Albers (4-3) in the sixth, David Ortiz had the winning RBI with a gift infield single in the seventh. His easy comebacker was stabbed by Twins reliever Phil Dumatrait who promptly slipped on the non-wet infield grass.



After Franklin Morales go the first two outs of the sixth, he handed the ball over to Daniel Bard who got four more outs. Finally, Jonathan Papelbon recorded a 1-2-3 ninth (in seven pitches!) to get his 26th save of the season.



With the Yankees' loss to the Angels, Boston moved to 2.5 games ahead of New York in the AL East. They'll look to keep their winning streak (and Minnesota's losing streak) going tomorrow night as Jon Lester goes against Nick Blackburn in the series finale.



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Josh Reddick's First Career Walk-Off Hit Sparks Red Sox' First Season Series Win Over Yankees Since 2004

Something about Sunday Night Baseball seems to bring out the drama for the Boston Red Sox.



While it's hard to top their 16-inning win over the Rays three weeks ago on July 17 (1-0 in Tampa Bay), tonight's 10-inning victory over the New York Yankees carried some extra significance for a couple reasons.



For starters, the 3-2 win at Fenway Park by the Red Sox (70-43) not only clinched the weekend series (2-1) and season series over New York (69-44)-it stands at 10-2 right now-but it put Boston back on top of the AL East by a game.



I'm not going to use the cliched term of magic but there was something in the foggy air as the Red Sox rallied for a run against the greatest closer in MLB history (Mariano Rivera) in the ninth to tie it 2-2 on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly (scoring Marco Scutaro).



Then Josh Reddick picked a fine time for his first MLB walk-off hit as his RBI single drove in pinch runner Darnell McDonald in the tenth against Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes (2-4). David Ortiz (2 hits) had started the sequence with a ground-rule double to right, McDonald pinch ran for him and then Hughes intentionally walked Carl Crawford (3 hits) to get to Reddick.



The loss would have been particularly tough to take since Josh Beckett pitched well but Boston kept leaving runners on base (12) against Freddy Garcia and four other Yankees relievers before finally getting to Rivera and Hughes.



Beckett got a no-decision but it's safe to say that he still has New York locked down this season. As useless as CC Sabathia is against the Red Sox in 2011, Beckett is the opposite against the Yankees. Tonight, he went six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.



Similar to Bartolo Colon on Friday, New York manager Joe Girardi didn't hesitate to get his overachieving starter out at the first sign of trouble. That sketchy strategy worked the first time but not the second time. It's hard to see it being successful in the playoffs either as the Yankees presumably will be relying heavily on their bullpen since outside of Sabathia who can they count on to go 6+ innings?



Garcia went five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with three walks and a strikeout.



Marco Scutaro (4 for 4) drove in Kevin Youkilis with an RBI single in the second, making it 1-0 Boston.



Beckett was dealing until Eduardo Nunez lost one just over the Monster in the fifth. Another very unlikely Yankee went deep as Brett Gardner (3 hits, 2 stolen bases) hit a solo homer off Matt Albers in the seventh.



That measly run figured to stand up as Rafael Soriano got a 1-2-3 seventh for New York and David Robertson likewise got a hold with a scoreless eighth.



Scutaro led off the ninth with a wall ball double that just miss being a homer to right against Rivera. Jacoby Ellsbury got him over to third despite a terrible bunt. Pedroia's sac fly tied it and the Red Sox were on their way.



After Albers and Franklin Morales (9 of his 12 pitches were balls; 2 walks but somehow no runs allowed) shaky relief, Dan Wheeler struck out the side in the seventh, Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth and Daniel Bard (2-5) got a 1-2-3 10th with two strikeouts for the eventual win.



There's only six more regular season games between these teams (3 in Boston Aug. 30-Sept. 1 and 3 in New York Sept. 23-25) but this latest marathon (4 hours, 15 minutes) proved that the Red Sox have the Yankees' number. As I alluded to in the headline, it's the first time since 2004 that Boston has won the season series against New York and who knows how long it's been since they clinched it so early on.



Boston heads out for three games in Minnesota followed by three in Seattle. They return for only two against Tampa Bay then hit the road again for four in Kansas City and four in Texas. Without a doubt, this is the toughest stretch of the season travel-wise for the Red Sox.



Tim Wakefield gets his third crack at 200 wins as he opposes Scott Baker of the Twins tomorrow night at Target Field. It's Boston's only visit to Minnesota this season, the Red Sox won three of four against the Twins on May 6-9 at Fenway.



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Terry Francona Records His 1000th Win As The Seattle Mariners Continue To Lose Like It's Their Job

Two milestones occurred last night at Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in another hot game in Boston.

Red Sox (61-37) manager Terry Francona notched his 1000th career win (715 with Boston) while the Mariners (43-57) tied a franchise record with their 14th straight loss.

If you were lucky enough to be in Vegas or some underground gambling ring, having Josh Beckett (9-3) face MLB's worst lineup was one of the biggest layups of the season. The big Texan delivered of course, going seven innings and allowing one earned run on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to a sick 2.07.

Seattle rookie pitcher Blake Beaven gave his team a chance to win (6.2 innings, 3 earned runs, 9 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts) but what can you expect from a batting order that has Brendan Ryan hitting second and Adam Kennedy in the five spot?

It was scoreless until the seventh when Mariners left fielder Mike Carp hit a homer (this time a solo shot) for a 1-0 Seattle lead.

The Red Sox quickly responded in the home half of the frame as Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits) hit a two-run single and then later scored on a wild pitch by Aaron Laffey.

Daniel Bard loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth but then he remembered who he was facing and he wiggled out of it without allowing a run. It was his 24th hold of the season and extended his scoreless streak to two months (last time he gave up an earned run was May 23-the night Tim Thomas robbed Tampa Bay's Steve Downie with the paddle of his stick).

Jonathan Papelbon gave up a hit but also got a strikeout in the ninth for his 23rd save in 24 chances.

Tim Wakefield faces Mariners star rookie Michael Pineda this afternoon as Boston looks to keep the good times rolling (up 3 games now on the Yankees in the AL East) and also kick Seattle out of town with an unsightly 15-game losing streak.

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Jacoby Ellsbury Has Become The Player We All Dreamed About

It was all too easy to make fun of Jacoby Ellsbury last season as he suffered through a variety of injuries and only played 18 games in the entire season (somewhere J.D. Drew nods his approval).

That all seems like ancient history as Ellsbury has become an absolute beast and the undisputed best leadoff hitter in MLB this year. He's playing his typical Gold Glove defense, a terror on the base paths, getting on base and he's added completely unexpected power.

Yesterday afternoon, he had a pair of solo homers (No. 14 and 15-six over his career-high) as the Red Sox (59-37) concluded their six-game road trip 4-2 with a 4-0 shutout of the Orioles (39-56).

Andrew Miller (4-1) submitted an erratic performance-walking a career-high six in 5.2 innings-but he limited Baltimore to only two hits. He added three strikeouts as Boston won two out of three at Camden Yards, just like they won two of three at the Trop.

Matt Albers (1.1 innings), Daniel Bard (1 inning) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 inning) teamed up for the last 10 outs of the contest and most impressively, none of them allowed a hit or walk. It was Bard's club-record 21st scoreless outing, he hasn't given up an earned run since May 24.

After his post All-Star game slump, it was nice to see Adrian Gonzalez get back to his usual results of crushing the ball. He went 4 for 5 in the win while Josh Reddick (run, walk) and Carl Crawford (RBI, walk, stolen base) both notched two hits.

O's starter Jake Arrieta (9-7) wasn't that bad but his teammates couldn't pick him up on this day. He went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

After Miller walked three straight in the second yet escaped unscathed thanks to a double play ball by Craig Tatum, Ellsbury hit his first bomb in the third for a 1-0 Red Sox lead.

Jason Varitek's ground out in the fourth scored Reddick in the fourth then Ellsbury crushed his second homer to right in the seventh.

Crawford's bases loaded walk in the eighth provided the last run for Boston.

The Red Sox returned to Boston today for an off day and then they play three games against the Seattle Mariners and four against the Kansas City Royals. Honestly, if someone offered me free tickets the next few days with this brutal heat and these shitbums in town, I would probably say no. That's how unappealing it is to sit in Fenway this weekend.

John Lackey faces Felix Hernandez tomorrow night in the series opener. With any luck, Lackey will melt into a puddle and Boston can hold King Felix hostage before Seattle makes a deal for him to the Red Sox.

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Red Sox sweep the A's, thanks to your favorite Muppet

Like an unreliable friend drug addict or alcoholic, the Boston Red Sox have learned to expect the worst when it comes to the disaster that is John Lackey in a Red Sox uniform.

Therefore, yesterday afternoon's return from the DL for Lackey (3-5) and subsequent win was nice but does it really mean much? Probably not. Bigger picture, the Red Sox (33-26) swept the Oakland A's (27-33) with a 6-3 win at Fenway Park. Putting them in a good frame of mind heading into an off-day and then a big three-game series in the Bronx starting tomorrow night.

After the no-show against the White Sox (a three-game sweep), Boston was able to get back on track and end the homestand at an even 3-3.

Lackey was at his mediocre best vs. a team that he usually owns. He went 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

The more exciting news for Red Sox fans was that the team finally solved A's lefty Brett Anderson (3-6), who was 5-1 lifetime against them heading into yesterday's game. He went five innings, allowing five earned runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Carl Crawford got the Red Sox out to a 3-0 lead with a three-run bomb (his first at Fenway as a Red Sox and fifth of the season) in the second inning.

Just to remind you how bad he is, Lackey gave up a solo shot to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the third. Daric Barton added an RBI single in the fourth, driving in Kurt Suzuki and cutting the Boston lead to 3-2.

Adrian Gonzalez quelled any thoughts of a complete meltdown as he hit a two-run bomb over the Monster (2nd in two games there, 12th of the season) which drove in Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3 hits) in the fourth for a 5-2 lead.

Barton drove in Conor Jackson with an RBI double in the sixth but Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, walk, stolen base) increased the lead back to three with an RBI single in the same frame.

The Yankees lead the Red Sox by one game heading into tomorrow's series opener. The pitching matchups are Lester vs. Garcia, Wakefield vs. Burnett and Beckett vs. Sabathia. So Boston should be favored in game 1 while games 2 and 3 are toss ups. Should be solid.

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