Yo John Lackey, You Mad Bro?

If you stopped paying attention to the Red Sox weeks ago, who could blame you? A playoff spot seemed like a sure fire bet and all you had to worry about was if they'd play the Tigers or the Rangers in the ALDS.

Well after dropping eight of their last 11 games, Boston (85-59) is suddenly fighting for their postseason lives as they stave off an epidemic of injuries. This is the first time they've lost three in a row since June 21-25.

Tampa Bay (79-64) won the series opener tonight at Tropicana Field 7-2 to pull within 5.5 games of the Red Sox for the AL wild card. The Yankees lost their third game in a row tonight so they remained only 2.5 games up on Boston, not that the AL East looks attainable at all.

With Kevin Youkilis back in Boston with a sports hernia, Dustin Pedroia ice cold, not to mention Josh Beckett and Erik Bedard pushed back with injuries, it fell on John Lackey to give the Red Sox something positive.

What do you know, he fell flat on his face as always. Lackey's (12-12) latest shit sandwich was one of his most gruesome since he left after only three innings after taking a liner off his calf. He still managed to give up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. I'm done making fun of Lackey, it's too easy and it's all been said before at this point.

On the other side, Wade Davis (10-8) pitched a complete game. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Even more unlikely than Davis' gem was the offensive performance from John Jaso, a backup catcher who will never be confused with Mike Piazza or Johnny Bench. Jaso's three-run homer in the second off Lackey got Tampa Bay off to a great start; he later added a double and scored his second run.

The Rays added a pair of runs in the third on Johnny Damon's infield single and Matt Joyce's single.

Boston showed some signs of life with two runs in the sixth on Jacoby Ellsbury's infield single and a sacrifice fly by Marco Reddick (who has been red hot on this awful 1-4 trip).

Luckily, Tampa Bay took any intrigue out of this one in their next at bats as Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria (2 hits) both had RBI doubles.

Josh Reddick had two hits and scored a run. He has one of the few good things lately for the Red Sox. His batting average has creeped back up to .299.

The man saddled with the pressure to break this tailspin by the Red Sox is rookie Kyle Weiland, who makes his third career start tomorrow night against fellow rookie Jeremy Hellickson (12-11, 2.90 ERA).

The odds are still overwhelmingly in Boston's favor, they are going to make the playoffs (right?) but for the love of god, they need a win sooner rather than later. Do I have to mention that including tomorrow they play the Rays six more times? That means if Tampa Bay could run the table or go 5-1, they could very likely leap over the Red Sox for the wild card.

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Erik Bedard Picks Up First Win For Red Sox; Carl Crawford Blasts First Grand Slam In Boston

After a pair of disheartening losses in a row (losing the series finale to the Yankees and sleepwalking through a shutout against the Rangers), the Boston Red Sox were due for a breakout game yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park.



Fittingly, it was two guys that haven't really pulled their weight much who helped pick up the team when it needed it most.



Erik Bedard (5-9) earned his first win in a Red Sox (84-54) uniform while Carl Crawford hit his first grand slam for Boston (fourth career) in a long but satisfying 12-7 win over Texas (79-61).



The Red Sox pounded out 16 hits with 12 RBIs and six walks as they dispatched the Rangers.



Bedard started off slow as Texas jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but he stayed composed as his teammates exploded for eight runs in the fourth. They were up as much as 12-3 before they lazily put it away. The lefty went six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts.



Former Red Sox David Murphy opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second. Michael Young (2 hits) added an RBI single in the third and another former Red Sox Adrian Beltre (2 RBIs) drove in a run with a groundout.



Jed Lowrie started the comeback with an RBI single in the third. He departed in the fourth with tightness in his left shoulder. What else is new? Other than J.D. Drew, Lowrie might be the most delicate human being on the planet. He can't stay healthy if his life depended on it.



Jarrod Saltalamacchia tied it up with a two-run homer off Rangers starter Colby Lewis (11-10), his 14th of the season. Pinch-hitting for Lowrie, Mike Aviles (2 hits) had an RBI single which set the table for Crawford's 11th homer of the season-the biggest one so far in his Red Sox infancy. Jacoby Ellsbury reached on an infield single, scoring another run.



Lewis was pulled after 3.1 innings. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.



Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 3 RBIs) had the final blow, a three-run double in the sixth which put Boston up 12-3.



Texas added three garbage runs in the eighth and one in the ninth but it didn't matter.



Josh Reddick had his first career four-hit game with the Red Sox but he got plunked on the hand by a Darren Oliver pitch in the eighth. Not sure if it's because of that or simply that Matt Harrison (a lefty) is starting this afternoon for Texas but Reddick is out of the lineup with new Red Sox Conor Jackson starting in right field.



John Lackey takes the ball for Boston as they try to win their second straight series against the Rangers. The Yankees are still half a game up on the Red Sox in the AL East heading into today's action.



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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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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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Yankees Win Eighth Straight, Take Over AL East Lead

Well it's officially on, the Boston Red Sox are now looking up at the New York Yankees.

The Bombers (69-42) came to Fenway Park for a three-game series and opened it up with a tidy 3-2 win tonight over the Red Sox (68-43).

With it, New York cut the season series to 8-2 in favor of Boston and more importantly, the eighth straight win for the Yanks vaulted them to the top of the AL East for the first time in nearly a month.

The pitching matchup was Bartolo Colon vs. Jon Lester, one that clearly favors the Red Sox but that's not how it turned out unfortunately.

Boston did a nice job of getting the injected/juiced up Colon out in the fifth inning but that led to five Yankees reliever combining for 4.1 scoreless frames. Colon went 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Boone Logan (3-2) came on to get Adrian Gonzalez (0 for 4) to strikeout with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning. Not surprisingly, that turned out to be a pivotal moment as New York handcuffed the Red Sox offense from there while they got all the runs they needed in the sixth.

Jacoby Ellsbury had driven in Marco Scutaro with a wall ball double in the third while David Ortiz crushed his 21st homer of the season in the fourth for Boston's two runs.

Curtis Granderson started New York's rally with an RBI single that plated Eduardo Nunez. With the bases loaded and no outs, Lester got Robinson Cano to ground into a double play (with the tying run coming across). Nick Swisher (2 hits) came through with the go-ahead RBI, a ground-rule double down the left field line.

Lester (11-5) was on for a while until his pitch count started to get really high in the sixth and he couldn't find the plate while the Yankees patient lineup waited him out. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Logan earned the win by going an inning. Something named Cory Wade got the last out of the sixth which set it up perfectly for Rafael Soriano (seventh), David Robertson (eighth) and Mariano Rivera (ninth). That's a formidable late-innings trio for New York.

After Ortiz grounded out, Carl Crawford (2 hits) got an infield hit against Rivera but the greatest closer in MLB history calmly struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick (2 hits)-both looking at nasty cutters-to end it and gain his 29th save of the season. Rivera has 15 straight years of 25+ saves.

CC Sabathia faces John Lackey tomorrow afternoon in what can only be described as a lock for the Yankees. Barring something crazy (Bigfoot, UFOs landing on the field, Sabathia skipping the game to pig out at Legal Sea Foods all day), this does not look good on paper for the Red Sox. However, the reverse lock might be in effect here too. We'll probably know quickly as Lackey is likely to give up about eight runs in the first two innings.

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In 2011 Justin Masterson Is Better Than Erik Bedard, Fact

If you took a time machine back to 2006 or 2007 and said that a low-level prospect named Justin Masterson would someday be better than Erik Bedard, you would not believe it.

Welcome to real life folks where the former Red Sox middle reliever (Masterson) is better than Bedard (Boston's newest acquisition). To be fair, it is the breakout season of Masterson's career (9-7, 2.63 ERA, 121 strikeouts, 1.17 WHIP) as he's transformed himself into a front-end starter in the average AL Central.

Conversely, Bedard (4-7, 3.55 ERA, 92 strikeouts, 1.18 WHIP) does not look like a guy that the Red Sox (68-42) should trust in a pennant race but here they are.

The Indians (55-54) earned a split at Fenway Park with a 7-3 win tonight that was all about Masterson's dominance of his former teammates coupled with Bedard's uneven debut.

Masterson went six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts (including four in the third inning). Bedard was limited to 70 pitches in his second start back from the DL. He went five innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

To make matters worse, the Yankees swept the White Sox with a 7-2 win tonight as well meaning Boston and New York are tied atop the AL East heading into this weekend's series at Fenway.

Things started well for Boston as they got two runs in the first on an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez (14-game hit streak) and an RBI single by David Ortiz.

From there, Cleveland took over offensively as they almost tripled the Red Sox' hit total (14-5). Carlos Santana led the Tribe with three hits and three RBIs while Travis Hafner and Kosuke Fukudome had three hits and Asdrubal Cabrera scored three runs.

Jacoby Ellsbury capped a memorable series for him (two walkoff hits) with two hits, a run and a walk.

The Indians tied it with two runs in the second on Matt LaPorta's (2 hits) infield single and a groundout by Austin Kearns.

Santana's RBI single in the third put Cleveland up 3-2 before Josh Reddick pushed across Boston's last run in the fourth with a solo home run (his fifth of the season) into the Red Sox bullpen.

Santana hit a two-run bomb off Franklin Morales (0-2) in the sixth before Hafner and Fukudome added RBI doubles in the seventh and ninth respectively.

Andrew Miller made his first appearance for the Red Sox out of the bullpen and the change of scenery didn't seem to change anything in his uneven performances. He's becoming a left-handed Dice-K which is about the worst thing I could say about the guy. In 2 2/3 innings, he threw 71 pitches and gave up two earned runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. I'll cut him some slack since it was his first relief outing but he's going to have to step it up if he wants to keep his job.

With the Yankees in town, all the usual trappings are in place: Friday night game on NESN, Saturday afternoon game on Fox and Sunday night game on ESPN. It has been almost two months (June 9) since the teams last played but hopefully Boston can keep its death grip (8-1) on the season series.

The pitching matchups are Jon Lester vs. Bartolo Colon tomorrow night, John Lackey vs. CC Sabathia on Saturday and Josh Beckett vs. Freddy Garcia on Sunday. Slight edge to the Red Sox on Friday and Sunday although Colon and Garcia have been surprisingly very solid. Saturday is a layup for the Yanks since Sabathia is on fire (3 of his 5 losses this season have been to Boston). I'm excited, it's been too long since we last saw baseball's best rivalry.

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Royals Beat Red Sox in 14 Innings While Most of New England Sleeps

I can't lie and say I was riveted by every pitch of last night's 14 inning contest between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park.

For one thing, the game had a rain delay that lasted 2:21 meaning that the first pitch didn't happen until 9:30 p.m. Also, unlike the instant classic 16 inning game against the Rays on Sunday Night Baseball a few weeks ago, this one had little appeal outside of seeing how Jon Lester would do in his first start back from the DL.

So yes, I was one of the poor schmoes that was still tuned in when the Royals (43-59) wrapped up a 3-1 win over the Red Sox (62-38) right before 2 a.m. but it won't be some life-changing event I'll tell anybody about. Nope, it was just something to do before I went to bed late as usual.

All things considered, Lester was fine in his return. He went 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Red Sox manager Terry Francona wanted to limit him to 80 pitches but Lester's night was over after 89, no big deal.

Kyle Davies had a great performance (by his poor standards), going 6.1 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

J.D. Drew was supposed to go on the DL last night (with Lester getting activated) with some fake shoulder injury but for some reason that was delayed for a day while rookie Kyle Weiland went back to Pawtucket. I mention this only because Josh Reddick (3 hits, 2 doubles, 1 awesome diving catch) continues to do everything in his power to lock the job down for 2011.

Reddick gave Boston a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the second which scored Carl Crawford (0 for 6 with 4 strikeouts).

Billy Butler tied it up at one for Kansas City with his RBI double in the sixth which scored ex-Yankee Melky Cabrera (4 hits).

Despite 13 hits, the Red Sox looked like the team in the early part of 2011 that couldn't come through with the clutch hit (11 left on base). Marco Scutaro was the goat as he came up with Reddick at third with one out in the 12th but a bungled sign led to him not bunting and Reddick getting caught in a rundown. If that wasn't enough, Scutaro promptly singled but tried to stretch it into a double and got thrown out at second by a few feet. Yeesh, rough inning.

Matt Albers (1.2 innings), Daniel Bard (1 inning), Jonathan Papelbon (1 inning), Franklin Morales (1.2 innings) and Dan Wheeler (1.1 innings) all had scoreless outings but once Randy Williams-the last man in the bullpen and on the roster-was summoned, you know it was probably over.

Williams went two innings but Mike Aviles plated Eric Hosmer (3 hits) with a sacrifice in the 14th and Alex Escobar knocked in Jeff Francoeur with a sacrifice fly. Somehow the Royals still had closer Joakim Soria available and he came on to strikeout the side for his 18th save of the season.

Worcester native Tim Collins threw a 1-2-3 seventh on 10 pitches for the Royals. Great improbable story (look it up) about a local guy that has made it.

Rookie Danny Duffy faces Andrew Miller tonight as the Red Sox look to bounce back from an unexpected loss to one of MLB's worst teams. Making matters worse, the Yankees beat the A's last night meaning they're now two games back in the AL East.

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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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Time Stands Still As The Orioles Beat The Red Sox

In MLB, you play teams in your division approximately a million times each season so it was only a matter of time before the Baltimore Orioles found a way to knock off the Boston Red Sox.

The O's (39-55) snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Red Sox (58-37) with a 6-2 win last night at Camden Yards.

Rookie Kyle Weiland (0-1) made his second start for Boston (both have been against the Orioles) and while he had better results this time, the former Notre Dame closer still didn't come out on top. In his MLB debut, he was lit up and ejected after hitting Vlad Guerriero but the Red Sox rallied to win. This time around, he went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Normally reliable Alfredo Aceves was also touched up for three earned runs in two innings, including back-to-back homers by Derrek Lee (two-run) and Mark Reynolds (3 hits) in the eighth that extended Baltimore's lead from a measly 3-2 to an insurmountable 6-2.

Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (4-13), who entered with the most losses in MLB, had one of his better outings of a terrible season. He went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Jim Johnson went the last two innings, picking up the save (his first of the season) by not allowing any hits or runs.

Reynolds gave the O's a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double which scored Adam Jones (2 hits). Nolan Reimold's ground out brought home Matt Wieters (2 runs, 2 hits) to make it 2-0 Baltimore in the second.

Wieters upped the margin to 3-0 with an RBI single in the third which scored Nick Markakis.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia provided the Red Sox' only runs with a two-run bomb (his second in as many games) in the fifth. The eighth of the season, it scored Josh Reddick (3 hits), who continues to tear the cover off the ball.

Boston's six-game road trip wraps up this afternoon as Andrew Miller takes on Jake Arrieta. The Red Sox are currently 3-2 on the trip and 1.5 games up on the Yankees in the AL East so one more win would be nice. 4-2 looks a lot better than 3-3 plus you can't lose two out of three to the Orioles, ever.

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Even On No Sleep, The Red Sox Pummel The Orioles

Just as I've exhausted all ways of bashing John Lackey and J.D. Drew, I've come to a similar crossroads with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Boston Red Sox arrived in Baltimore at 6 a.m. yesterday but that didn't seem to matter for their offense as they won a slugfest 15-10 over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Boston (58-36) has now won seven straight over Baltimore (38-55). The O's are completely hopeless against the Red Sox, no matter what big talk they provide to the media.

Even though David Ortiz (and Kevin Gregg) started their three-game suspensions, the Red Sox offense came one run away from a season-high along with 16 hits.

Jacoby Ellsbury paced them with three hits, three runs, a walk and a run. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis had three RBIs, two hits and a run. Carl Crawford returned and added two hits, two runs and an RBI while Josh Reddick (4th) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (7th) notched home runs.

Marco Scutaro had two runs and two hits while Darnell McDonald cleared the bases with a three-run double.

Neither Tim Wakefield (4.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs, 3 earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) nor O's starter Brad Bergesen (5 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned, 3 strikeouts) stuck around long.

Baltimore put up 12 hits, including three RBIs and two hits by JJ Hardy (including his 14th homer) and two hits, two runs and an RBI (his 16th homer by Adam Jones). Matt Wieters (two runs) and Derrek Lee (two RBIs) had two hits while Nolan Reimold added two RBIs.

Dan Wheeler (2-1) got the win with 2.1 scoreless innings. The Warwick, RI native had a brutal start to the season but since returning from an injury he seems to have found the form he had with the Tampa Bay Rays all those years. He walked one and struck out three.

Tonight figures to be another shootout as Jeremy Guthrie (3-13) takes on Red Sox rookie Kyle Weiland (0-0) in his second MLB start.

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Red Sox Beat Rays 1-0 In Epic 16 Inning Affair

It's rare that a mid-season baseball game earns the instant classic label but last night's Sunday Night Baseball contest between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays immediately joined that elite status (even while it was still going on into the wee hours of the morning).

After 480 combined pitches over five hours and 44 minutes, the Red Sox (57-36) ended up winning 1-0 in 16 innings at Tropicana Field. In the process, Boston took two of three from Tampa Bay (50-43) which put them seven games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and dealt them some psychological damage by taking the longest game in Tampa Bay franchise history.

In a ridiculous performance that featured once-in-a-lifetime stat lines (Jacoby Ellsbury 0-for-8, Adrian Gonzalez 1-for-7, BJ Upton 0-for-6, etc), Dustin Pedroia (3 for 7 with a walk, stolen base) was the only hitter for either team to notch more than one hit.

Pedroia's RBI single through the hole between first and second base scored Josh Reddick in the 16th gave the Red Sox the only run they would need. Pedroia also had two great plays in the field to get close outs at first while Reddick sent the game to the 11th with a remarkable leaping catch at the left field wall.

Tampa Bay's Adam Russell (1-2) was the hard-luck loser in a game that featured nine pitchers for the Rays and six for the Red Sox.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann each went eight scoreless innings as neither offense could get anything going. The Red Sox left 17 men on base and they didn't score in the ninth or 11th after loading the bases. The Rays only left six men on base, showing how much they struggle offensively when Evan Longoria is hitting .233 and Casey Kotchman is batting fifth in their lineup.

Coming off his shutout against his one-hit shutout against the Rays on the night the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, Beckett picked up where he left off. He allowed one hit with no walks and six strikeouts.

Niemann gave up just two hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves (5-1) earned the win with three perfect innings, including two strikeouts. Jonathan Papelbon put the exclamation point on the win with a 1-2-3 inning (with a strikeout) in the 16th for his 21st save.

With Daniel Bard (1 inning), Matt Albers (1.2 innings), Franklin Morales (1.1 innings), Aceves and Papelbon all pitching last night, expect Tim Wakefield to be pushed more than usual to go deep into tonight's game in Baltimore. The Red Sox open a three-game series at Camden Yards with Carl Crawford expected back in the lineup this evening. In addition, David Ortiz and Orioles closer Kevin Gregg will reportedly begin serving their suspensions tonight. Baltimore's Brad Bergesen gets the nod in the series opener.

Normally I would be worried about the fatigue factor after a game like last night but luckily for the Red Sox, they're playing the Sisters of the Poor of the AL East. The Orioles are a complete joke and they'll probably get swept again, just like they were before the All-Star break at Fenway.

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The Orioles Are A Complete Disgrace To the AL East & MLB

The Baltimore Orioles do not deserve any respect. They are a joke and it's been that way for about as long as I can remember.

Manager Buck Showalter can talk tough in the off-season and Kevin Gregg can cry to the press after he gets thrown out of a one-sided game (following his "fight" with David Ortiz on Friday) but the bottom line is that the team has money yet they always find ways to spend it on the wrong players and managers while their talented young guys seem to slip into a parallel universe at some point, never to be heard from again.

As if you needed any more proof that Baltimore (36-51) is a complete mess, they got shutdown by John Lackey (6-8) last night. Boston (54-35) won its third straight against the Orioles, 4-0 at Fenway Park.

One of the worst pitchers in MLB went 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. As always with Lackey, I refuse to get the least bit excited until either A) he does this consistently or B) he does it against a worthy opponent.

Alfredo Simon (1-2) was the starting pitcher for the Orioles. You might remember him as their former closer or from his mysterious trial Dominican Republic (somebody got killed by a gun that might have been his).

Kevin Youkilis celebrated his addition to the American League All-Star team (replacing the injured Alex Rodriguez) by going 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a run.

He produced the first Red Sox run with an RBI double in the fifth that scored Dustin Pedroia.

Josh Reddick continued to play great with Carl Crawford out and J.D. Drew getting fitted with his cement cleats. Reddick is hitting .414 and he went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He added a two-run double in the fifth which scored Adrian Gonzalez and Youk.

Youk put up another RBI double in the seventh, again scoring Pedroia.

Daniel Bard continued his hot streak (his ERA is down to 2.09) with four outs, including two strikeouts.

Jonathan Papelbon got a rare 1-2-3 in a non-save situation in the ninth.

The last game before the 2011 All-Star game is this afternoon. Boston goes for its sixth straight win (and tries to maintain its one-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees) as Kyle Weiland makes his MLB debut against journeyman Mitch Atkins.

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Red Sox Are 1-0 In The Post-Mike Cameron Era

Well I guess we all know what was holding the Boston Red Sox back this last week (losing six of seven): Mike Cameron.

Haha just kidding but it was still nice to see Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and Co. finally swallow their pride and designate Cameron for assignment. I'm not even trying to be funny when I say I can't remember one highlight from his 1.5 seasons in Boston.

Speaking of salvaging pride, the Red Sox (46-34) finally decided to show up against the Philadelphia Phillies (51-31) yesterday afternoon and it resulted in a 5-2 Red Sox win at Citizens Bank Park, averting a sweep in the "World Series preview."

Jon Lester (10-4) pitched like an ace, going seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Fortune was also on Boston's side as Phillies starter Cole Hamels left after four innings due to an injury to his right hand (Adrian Gonzalez's smoked a line drove off it). Hamels only gave up two hits and struck out two in what was shaping up to be a sweet pitcher's duel.

Instead, Phillies relievers David Herndon (0-2) allowed three earned runs on five hits in two innings and teammate Drew Carpenter allowed two earned runs on four hits in two innings.

Boston got its first two runs in the fifth as Drew Sutton (2 hits, run, RBI) and Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, RBI) each had RBI singles.

Jason Varitek hit a solo homer (his fourth of the season) in the sixth before Dustin Pedroia (Laser Show! His seventh of the season) and Varitek went back-to-back in the eighth. Josh Reddick (2 hits, run) almost made it three in a row as he flew out to deep right.

Daniel Bard recorded a 1-2-3 eighth on eight pitches (including a strikeout) which is pretty damn impressive.

Bobby Jenks came on to start the ninth with a 5-0 lead but clearly that's not enough for his fat ass. He promptly recorded one out, walked one, gave up a hit then a two-run bomb to Ryan Howard before he was mercifully taken out by Terry Francona. Hopefully a DFA is in his near future, he's beyond useless now.

Jonathan Papelbon got the last two outs for his 15th save of the season.

Boston wraps up its nine-game road trip and interleague play with three games in Houston this weekend. The Astros are the worst team in baseball so nothing less than two of three is acceptable for the Red Sox. Tonight, Tim Wakefield opposes Bud Norris.

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The Philadelphia Phillies Are The Best Team In Baseball, No Doubt About It

Well the Boston Red Sox are so desperate for runs that they put their franchise player (Adrian Gonzalez) in right field (for only the second time in his MLB career) just so they could have his bat and David Ortiz's (first base) in the same lineup.

All the panic and worry by Red Sox fans and media proved to be a joke (no surprise) as both managed to live through nine innings at their respective positions.

The bigger problem is that the team is struggling big time, losing 2-1 last night to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

The Red Sox (45-34) have lost six of their last seven interleague games and they are in desperate need of a win today to turn things around.

Phillies (51-30) rookie Vance Worley (3-1) wasn't as good as Cliff Lee the night before but he still submitted an outstanding outing. He went seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Another rookie Michael Stutes pitched a 1-2-3 eighth while Antonio Bastardo had a clean ninth for his third save of the season.

The ironic part about the loss was that Red Sox starter John Lackey (5-7) had one of his best starts ever for Boston. He went 7.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He was pulled at 90 pitches and for once, I agreed with him that he should have stayed in there. Luckily Franklin Morales came on to retire Ryan Howard on a deep fly ball to center (with Chase Utley on third) to end the eighth.

Raul Ibanez (3 for 3, 2 RBIs, run) provided all the offense Philadelphia needed as he drove in Shane Victorino with an RBI single in the second and broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer in the seventh. Ibanez was familiar with Lackey and had much success against him during their AL West days when he was on the Mariners and Lackey was on the Angels.

Josh Reddick (2 hits) was the only Red Sox with multiple hits as they were limited to five as a team. Lackey had the only RBI as he crushed an RBI double to center in the fifth to tie it at 1-1.

Two of MLB's best lefties and pitchers, Jon Lester and Cole Hamels, are set to go this afternoon in the series finale. Boston needs a win to salvage something from this stop.

Ortiz is out of the lineup again while Kevin Youkilis is out with a foot injury (getting X-Rays). The best news is that the team just designated Mike Cameron for assignment; his two years in Boston have been nothing short of a complete joke. Who thought he would have any success? He's the definition of washed up, good riddance Cammy.

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Alfredo Aceves walks six, Padres luck out to gift win at Fenway

Basically the only way the San Diego Padres can win at Fenway Park this season is by some divine act of God or a completely uncharacteristic performance.

They got one of the latter last night as Red Sox starter Alfredo Aceves walked six batters (including five in the second inning alone) as the Padres (31-44) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Boston (44-29).

Aceves is known for his fine control but he was a mess. In five innings, he allowed four earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts. It's a miracle that he didn't give up more runs, lasted that long and wasn't even charged with the loss.

Padres starer Mat (one t?) Latos wasn't exactly the picture of efficiency either as he lasted just 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. He also did not factor into the decision.

San Diego's offense didn't do much, they had more walks (eight) than hits (seven) which is pretty hard to do. Nick Hundley, their catcher and No. 9 hitter, was the only Padre with two hits. Jason Bartlett walked three times with a hit and RBI. Cameron Maybin scored twice for this offensively-challenged squad.

The Red Sox wasted 13 hits by its offense as they struggled with runners in scoring position (3 for 13) and left 11 on base.

Kevin Youkilis went 4 for 5 with an RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury (RBI), Marco Scutaro (run) and Josh Reddick (run, RBI) all had two hits in the loss.

Youk gave Boston a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first which scored Adrian Gonzalez.

San Diego scored twice in the second on bases loaded walks (maybe the most boring play in sports).

Maybin's RBI single and Hundley's RBI double in the third pushed the San Diego advantage to 4-1.

The Red Sox tied it with single runs in the third, fourth and sixth. Ellsbury had an RBI single, Reddick added and RBI double and Gonzalez tied it with an RBI single.

San Diego's winning run was plated by Anthony Rizzo's ground out in the seventh. The great duo of setup man Mike Adams and closer Heath Bell teamed up to hold Boston scoreless in the eighth and ninth. Adams struck out two in the eighth and Bell gave up a hit and struck one for his 19th save of the season.

John Lackey and Clayton Richard (two complete bums) close out the series this afternoon and with that interleague play is done at Fenway this season. The next time a National League team could play in Boston would be in October but let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

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Alfredo Aceves is better than John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka, true story my friends

Baseball is a funny game. When you're a big market team like the Boston Red Sox you can afford terrible hiccups in free agency like John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka and then you luck out with a scrap heap pickup like Alfredo Aceves.

I'm not exactly sure about his medical history, I assume the New York Yankees let him go because he had an arm issue or something but whatever the reason, I'm psyched that he's crossed over to their bitter rivals.

Yesterday afternoon, he submitted his second good start in a row after being added to the rotation (for the injured Lackey and Dice-K). The Red Sox (28-22) won their 11th game out of their last 13 and it was another laugher, 14-1 in the series opener at Detroit's (25-24) Comerica Park.

Aceves (2-0) went six innings, allowing five hits, one earned run with two walks and six strikeouts in a game that was called off after 7.5 innings because of rain.

Max Scherzer (6-2) entered as one of the AL's top pitchers so far this season but he left with a bruised ego as the Red Sox put up 14+ runs in the second straight game for the first time since 1998. Scherzer lasted only two innings, allowing seven hits, seven earned runs with two walks and a strikeout.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, 2 walks) had the most memorable hit, a three-run homer (his fifth bomb of the season). Moved up to the No. 6 spot, Carl Crawford continued to erase his terrible start. He went 4 for 5 with two triples, three RBIs and two runs.

Recent callups Josh Reddick (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and Drew Sutton (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) also had big days that no doubt they'll be telling their grandkids or bums at the homeless shelter about in a few years.

Tim Wakefield (Boston's other substitute in the rotation) starts tonight against Tigers youngster Rick Porcello.