Adios Theo Epstein, Welcome Ben Cherington

I spent a good portion of my afternoon watching Theo Epstein's introductory press conference with the Chicago Cubs as president of baseball operations and Ben Cherington's first press conference as Boston Red Sox executive vice president/GM. Since I will never get that time back, I'll share some of my initial thoughts.

The Cubs are MLB's biggest joke of a franchise, a team that has been nothing but losers for virtually all of its existence, especially in the modern era. That's why I understand how Theo has received the amount of savior slurping that has already happened in the Windy City. Epstein doesn't have to get his hands dirty as much, he'll make more money and he faces a whole new set of challenges. What isn't to like? Sure, the Cubs might never do anything under his tenure but will most of their drunken fans even notice? I say no.

With Cherington, I worry that he'll be more of the status quo at Yawkey Way. He's worked so closely with Theo for years so who's to say he's really developed his own unique ideas and thoughts? Obviously, he's a very smart and qualified guy but let's not tip toe around the fact that Epstein left this franchise in bad shape: the formerly vaunted Red Sox farm system is almost completely depleted, the major league roster is full of bloated contracts (and players) and pretty much all of the true fans are sick and tired of this ownership group (Warner, Lucchino, Henry). Shoutout to Warner and Henry for not bothering to show up today. Ugh.

Truly the best news to come out of today was that John Lackey will have Tommy John surgery, meaning that piece of trash will miss the entire 2012 season. Fingers crossed that he along with Dice-K never throw another pitch for the Red Sox. That's a start.

Boston was always a baseball town but that has changed in the last few third-place seasons by the Red Sox. The Bruins won a Stanley Cup, the Patriots are always contenders and we use to have an NBA team around here, I forget their name. Now the Red Sox have to fight for fans' attention and not simply bank on the eternal heartbreak that made everything seem so important. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't really enjoy going to Fenway Park anymore which is something I never would have thought (five or ten years ago) that I would say in my life.

As Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti have said, Fenway is a theme park. You go, pay exorbitant prices, take some pictures, sing Sweet Caroline and at the end of the game, far too many people don't really care if the Red Sox have even won or lost. Not to mention getting in and out of the park is a pain with parking and public transportation being about as difficult as possible.

Stop trying to make every last cent on the team through merchandise, useless shit (Fenway bricks) and crappy concerts (Dropkick Murphys, Neil Diamond) that nobody cares about. If the ownership group go back to caring about winning over everything, the fans and passion will return. If not, it's just going to be more of the same bullshit that has permeated through this organization since 2008.

PS. The Red Sox still need a manager and thanks to MLB's snail pace, the compensation package for Epstein hasn't been settled. Thanks Bud, you useless clown.

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The Red Sox Are Still Alive (For One More Day At Least) Thanks To Jacoby Ellsbury

Being unemployed and having a Sunday Night Football matchup of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts (with no Peyton Manning) will drive a man to do many things: drink, do drugs and the most abusive behavior of all-watching a 14-inning Red Sox-Yankees game.

Thankfully for my sanity, Boston (89-70) made it all worthwhile (kind of) with a thrilling 7-4 win over New York (97-62) in Yankee Stadium.

Mr. AL MVP Jacoby Ellsbury (sounds good, doesn't it?) made sure that the Rays wouldn't end the day tied with the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card as he crushed a three-run bomb off Yankees fossil reliever Scott Proctor (0-2).

Felix Doubront got a 1-2-3 14th for his first save of the season. It's not hyperbole to say that this was the Red Sox' most important win of 2011 since if they had lost (like they did earlier in Game 1 of the day-night doubleheader), they were cooked (tied with Tampa Bay).

John Lackey didn't exactly spin a gem but by keeping Boston in the game, he succeeded in his most meaningful start for the Red Sox. He allowed three runs in the first but Big Hoss (hat tip to El Pres) held on for six innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves (1.2 innings), Daniel Bard (1 inning, 3 walks), Jonathan Papelbon (2.1 innings), Franklin Morales (1-1; 2 innings) and Doubront teamed up for an incredible performance by the Red Sox bullpen which has been running on empty for weeks. Most impressive were Aceves and Papelbon who didn't allow any hits and Morales for holding on during a rocky 44-pitch, 2 walks outing.

Would you believe that J.D. Drew was in the lineup after a three month plus vacation (last game July 19)? Yup, when the team is collapsing you need to bring him in to deliver the goods. He actually got Boston's first run in the fifth with an RBI single.

Adrian Gonzalez's ground out in the sixth and Marco Scutaro's RBI double in the seventh tied it before Jason Varitek put the Red Sox ahead with an RBI single later in the seventh.

Chris Dickerson tied it with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

The win tonight more than made up for the forgettable 6-2 loss this afternoon and I don't just say that since I saw probably three total minutes of it. Hey, I had to watch the Patriots choke away a big lead to the Bills!

Tim Wakefield (7-8) lost that one just like we all knew he would. A.J. Burnett (11-11), Lackey's tattooed cousin from another uncle, was the latest recipient of Boston's turd sandwich against shitty starting pitchers.

From my perspective, the only notable aspect of Game 1 is that Ellsbury hit two homers (his 29th and 30th of the season). Coincidentally, the second one gave him 100 RBIs on the season. He's the first 30-30 player in Red Sox history.

Here we go, the 2011 regular season ends at Camden Yards. The pitching matchups are Josh Beckett vs. Tommy Hunter tomorrow night (one the O's won last week), Erik Bedard vs. Zach Britton on Tuesday and Jon Lester vs. Alfredo Simon on Wednesday. The Yankees go to Tropicana Field to face the Rays in their last pretend series.

If they can't beat the Orioles enough to hang on, there will be no excuses. Baltimore won three of four at Fenway last week. Hopefully this win propels Boston to the finish line and where they go from there, we'll worry about that later.

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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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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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Goodbye Rangers, Hope To Never See The Best Team In The American League Again This Season

I've seen all I need to see from the Texas Rangers this season. I don't care that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have better records. For my money in October (hope the bookies aren't reading), I'd put my house (assuming I owned one) on the defending AL champions.



They concluded their 2011 season series with the Red Sox (84-55) this afternoon, leaving Fenway Park with an 11-4 win. Texas (80-61) beat Boston six out of the ten times they met this year and if the playoffs started today, they'd meet in Arlington in the ALDS (Rangers AL West champs; Red Sox AL Wild Card).



After their offense woke up yesterday, Boston's bats were mostly silent today as Matt Harrison (11-9) stifled them for seven innings. He allowed two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.



I don't like the Red Sox chances in a five-game series when they would likely face C.J. Wilson twice, Harrison and Derek Holland (who helped blank Boston on Friday night).



To make things even more depressing, the Yankees beat the Blue Jays earlier today so they now lead by 1.5 games. Boston will go Toronto with four games North of the border set to begin tomorrow afternoon.



No lopsided loss for the home team would be complete without another embarrassing performance by the one and only John Lackey (12-11). Usually the beneficiary of outrageous run support, Lackey fell flat on his face today when he actually had to outduel a fellow Major Leaguer. In five innings, he gave up six earned runs on eight hits with three walks and one strikeout.



Almost a mirror image of Boston's totals from the middle game yesterday, the Rangers had 15 hits, 11 RBIs and seven walks this afternoon.



Ian Kinsler led Texas with three hits, three RBIs and a run while Mike Napoli (2 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 walks), David Murphy (2 runs, 2 hits), Mitch Moreland (2 hits, run, RBI) and Endy Chavez (2 hits, run) all had multiple hits.



David Ortiz (2 hits, RBI, walk) and Kevin Youkilis (2 hits, run) were the only Boston players with multiple hits. The Red Sox were held under 10 hits as a team (nine).



Napoli had an RBI single in the second and Kinsler had an RBI triple in the third before Texas put up seven more runs in the sixth. Murphy and Moreland had RBI singles, Esteban German walked with the bases loaded, Kinsler had a sacrifice fly and Josh Hamilton emptied the bases with a three-run triple.



Felix Doubront was a disaster as the first reliever out of the bullpen for Boston. He only got one out and allowed three earned runs on two hits and two walks. Desperately searching for a lefty out of the bullpen for the playoffs, the youngster does not look anywhere near capable of shouldering that type of workload or pressure. Franklin Morales it is (ducks).



The Red Sox had enough pride not to get shut out for the second time in three days. Marco Scutaro had a two-run single in the seventh while Ortiz had an RBI single in the eighth and Darnell McDonald drove in the last run with a sacrifice fly.



Napoli and Kinsler hit bombs off Michael Bowden in the ninth, one last donkey punch before the weekend was over.



Josh Beckett faces rookie Henderson Alvarez tomorrow at 1:07 p.m. in a game that the Red Sox really need to win.



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CC Sabathia Finally Solves The Red Sox In 2011

It's almost impossible to win at any level of baseball when you leave 16 runners on base. Even more so when you face CC Sabathia and your team counters with John Lackey.



Sabathia (18-7) finally got over his funk against Boston (0-4) coming into tonight as the Yankees (81-52) climbed within half a game of the Red Sox (82-52) with a 5-2 win at Fenway Park.



The series opening win gave New York some early momentum heading into the last series at Fenway in the regular season between the rivals while also cutting the season series to 10-3 in favor of Boston.



It made sense that after struggling so much against the Red Sox that Sabathia would eventually pitch as well against them as he does vs. the rest of MLB. It took a season-high 128 pitches just to get through six innings. He allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts (including Adrian Gonzalez three times) in a bizarre outing.



Lackey (12-10) threw nearly as many pitches (119) in one more inning of work. That amount of pitches from the starters alone is the main reason why this contest took place at the standard glacial pace for Red Sox-Yankees (3:59). Lackey allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.



Eric Chavez and Francisco Cervelli were unlikely heroes that turned in nice performances in the win. Chavez had RBI singles in the second and fourth (sandwiched around an RBI double by Robinson Cano) for a 3-0 Yankees lead.



Two equally unexpected guys cut it to 3-2 for the Red Sox in the fourth. Carl Crawford (2 hits, walk) hit a solo homer (his 10th of the season) and Marco Scutaro (2 hits) had an RBI double.



Cervelli hit a solo bomb in the fifth (his second career home run) and was going crazy around the bases which led to Lackey plunking him to start the seventh. Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild was tossed after the benches cleared (but nothing happened) and manager Joe Girardi was ejected in the ninth for arguing about Jarrod Saltalamacchia swinging when he got hit by a Mariano Rivera pitch.



It was a testy night as Jacoby Ellsbury was hit by Sabathia and Matt Albers plunked Jorge Posada.



Jed Lowrie had three hits and David Ortiz had two hits in the loss.



Cory Wade got an out in the seventh and Boone Logan had the last two outs in the frame, paving the way for Rafael Soriano (scoreless eighth) and Rivera who got his 35th save thanks in part to a bogus strikeout of Lowrie (two ultra shaky called strikes).



Albers was a bright spot as he got the last two outs of the eighth to keep Boston within three runs. He needed a positive outing like that since he's gone off a cliff in August. Alfredo Aceves also had a 1-2-3 ninth in four pitches.



Phil Hughes faces Josh Beckett tomorrow night in a matchup that clearly favors the Red Sox. Beckett has owned the Yankees this year although as Sabathia showed, things can change when you face a team so much.



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Rays Hold Red Sox To Three Hits For Third Straight Game At Fenway Park

Well it's a good thing that the Tampa Bay Rays will likely miss the playoffs this season. I can say with a straight face that they pose a much bigger threat to the Boston Red Sox than the New York Yankees because of their stellar top of the rotation.



Buoyed by the third consecutive outstanding start by their pitchers, the Rays (66-56) blanked the Red Sox (74-48) 4-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park. It helped them take the series 2-1 and move to 6-5 against Boston so far this season (seven more meetings remain).



Boston was held to three hits in each of the three games against Tampa Bay yesterday (doubleheader) and today. That's the first time since 1974 that the Red Sox have been held to three hits three games in a row.



Following James Shields and Jeff Niemann's lead, David Price (11-10) completely shutdown Boston's lineup that is without David Ortiz (heel) for the next 10 days. Price went eight innings with three walks and six strikeouts.



It was a perfect day weather wise and a rare afternoon start but the fans that were lucky enough to get a ticket had to pay their debt by sitting through the usual torture of a John Lackey (11-9) start. By his terrible standards, he wasn't bad at all but Price vs. Lackey is a matchup Boston will never win.



In 6.2 innings, Lackey allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.



Ben Zobrist's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) ground out in the first scored Johnny Damon (2 hits) with Tampa Bay's first run. B.J. Upton hit a solo homer in the fourth, Evan Longoria followed suit with a solo bomb in the fifth and Zobrist rounded it out with an RBI double in the seventh.



The Royals did the Red Sox a favor by somehow beating the Yankees tonight in a game which Bruce Chen started. New York still leads Boston for first-place in the AL East by half a game.



After three days at home (three games in two days) including the off-day, the Red Sox go back on the road for one of their most difficult trips of the season: four in Kansas City followed by four in Texas.



Josh Beckett faces Luke Hochevar tomorrow night in a rematch of a game the Royals won 4-3 back on July 28 at Fenway, the finale of a four-game series split. After losing five of its last seven games and dropping out of first-place in the AL East while its offense has went missing, the Red Sox need to wake up. They want no part of the AL Wild Card and a trip to Texas in the ALDS.



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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 Own That Fat Blob CC Sabathia This Season

I had to make a cameo appearance at an engagement party so I missed most of the Red Sox-Yankees game yesterday afternoon, except for the first couple innings on the radio and a couple frantic checks of my Droid.

So while I didn't see much of it (I did watch the highlights last night), I felt it my duty to report on the result since it was rather insane.

The Red Sox (69-43) beat CC Sabathia (16-6) for the fourth time this season in a 10-4 romp at Fenway Park over the Yankees (69-43).

It's hard to gauge which is more unlikely, that Boston has owned Sabathia (the AL Cy Young favorite) so much or that John Lackey (10-8) beat him yesterday. The win meant that the teams have the same exact record and therefore tonight's game (weather permitting) will determine who leaves town in first place in the AL East.

The other huge storyline was the continued ascendancy to superstardom of Jacoby Ellsbury. He had a career-high six RBIs (first Red Sox leadoff man to do that since Ellis Burks (!) in 1987) in the win.

Some other wacky stats from this weird game: Carl Crawford was 4 for 4 with three runs, an RBI and a stolen base (he's reached base in six straight at bats) while Francisco Cervelli led the Yankees with three hits.

In six innings, Sabathia was tagged for seven earned runs on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He'll likely face the Red Sox a few more times in the regular season (2 more series) before the playoffs but it has to give Boston plenty of confidence knowing they can beat New York's ace.

Lackey or Big Hoss as El Pres has dubbed him went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. It was the fifth straight decision that he's won.

The Red Sox went up 2-0 in the third on Ellsbury's sacrifice fly that scored Crawford and Dustin Pedroia's RBI double off the Monster that plated Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 runs, 2 walks).

New York tied it up with a pair of runs in the fourth. A run scored on Nick Swisher's double play grounder and Eric Chavez (still alive and sporting a ridiculous moustache) hit an RBI single.

Boston scored five more times in the fourth. Crawford and Marco Scutaro had RBI singles which set it up for Ellsbury's big fly, a three-run bomb (his 19th of the season) to the first row of seats in right field.

The Yankees cut it to 7-4 as Derek Jeter had an RBI single in the fifth and Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer off Daniel Bard in the eighth.

Ellsbury added an RBI single in the eighth and Pedroia capped it off with a sacrifice fly.

If the rain lets up, Josh Beckett will face Freddy Garcia tonight in the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball. Beckett has absolutely owned the Yanks this season while Garcia has gotten roughed up in both his starts against the Red Sox this season. Boston looks to win the series and improve to 10-2 in 2011 against their biggest rivals.

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David Ortiz Gets His 1000th Career RBI In A Red Sox Uniform As Boston Deals Kansas City Another Beating

David Ortiz recorded his 1000th career RBI in a Red Sox uniform in about the greatest way possible (other than the opponent): by hitting a grand slam.

Yet again Boston's (64-38) offense was working overtime as it cranked out 16 hits in a 12-5 laugher over the Kansas City Royals (43-61) last night at Fenway Park.

The Royals are so bad that they let John Lackey (9-8) climb over the .500 mark for the season. In 5.2 workman like innings, he allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits with a walk and three strikeouts. They'll be talking about that start when he's inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

And speaking of Cooperstown, it takes a lot to make Lackey look like Roy Halladay but that's what happens when he opposes Bruce Chen (5-4). Don't ask me how Chen has been in MLB for 13 seasons (albeit on 10 teams) or has a 53-54 career record with last night's loss since every time I see him, I think he's the worst starting pitcher I've ever seen in MLB.

To say he throws meatballs is being kind. He's a lefty and he throws straight junk with no velocity. In four innings (haha 114 pitches!) Chen allowed ten earned runs on ten hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Eric Hosmer (4 RBIs, 2 hits) actually gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead in the first with a three-run bomb. He's such a stud.

Didn't matter one bit though as Boston's juggernaut of an offense scored two in the first, three in the second and four in the fourth to send Chen back to the visitors dressing room.

Jacoby Ellsbury (3 runs, 3 hits, 2 RBIs, walk, stolen base) and Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) went back-to-back to start the game. For Ellsbury, it was his 17th homer of the season (off Pesky's Pole) while Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 24 games with his 14th.

Fitting, Ellsbury tied it up in the second with his bases-loaded walk and Pedroia made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly. Adrian Gonzalez's groundout (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run) pushed it to 5-3.

Yamaico Navarro's (2 hits) RBI single in the fourth gave the Red Sox a 6-3 lead before Ortiz's bomb over the bullpen in right field.

Lackey tried his best to give the seven-run lead back as Billy Butler (3 hits) crushed a solo homer over the Monster in the fifth but Kansas City is too inept to comeback even against Lackey.

Gonzalez added an RBI single in the sixth and eighth, sandwiched around an RBI single by Hosmer in the eighth.

Not for nothing but 1-4 with Alex Gordon (3 hits, 2 runs), Melky Cabrera, Butler and Hosmer, the Royals have some serious pop. It's too bad with all their bats on the team and in their farm system, they don't seem to have any arms to match.

Boston ace Josh Beckett takes the mound in just a matter of minutes as the Red Sox look to finish off a successful home stand by taking three of four from Kansas City. The Royals counter with Luke Hochevar.

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The AL West Is And Has Always Been A Complete Joke, Just Ask John Lackey

I think I solved a riddle last night: how John Lackey was a successful MLB pitcher before coming to the Boston Red Sox last season.

Answer: he played in the AL West with the likes of the A's, the Mariners and the Rangers (before they were good). With only four teams, the AL West is the worst division in baseball without question. If you needed more empirical evidence, Lackey (8-8) got back to the .500 mark last night as the Red Sox (60-37) beat the Mariners (43-56) 7-4 at the sauna known as Fenway Park.

Last night was the start of a long homestand: 14 of Boston's next 17 games are at home and almost all of them are against bad teams so it's an opportune time for them to create some more distance between themselves, the Yankees and the Rays.

Seattle crawled into town on a 12-game losing streak and now they're just one loss away from tying the franchise mark for futility.

Lackey went seven solid innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts. As I always say with a good start from Lackey, let's see him do it consistently and against good teams before I start buying stock in him.

Poor Felix Hernandez (8-9) must hate his life in Seattle. You know the world isn't fair when you're one of the best pitchers in MLB-albeit having a down year-and Lackey has a better record than you.

Sporting a Fe-Hawk (haha the Mariners official Twitter told me that last night after I made a remark about it; guess they have some time on their hands), King Felix was roughed up in 6.1 innings to the tune of six earned runs on 11 hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

The Mariners actually grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first as Ichiro (2 hits) singled on the first pitch, then stole second and third base before rookie stud Dustin Ackley drove him in with a single.

Kevin Youkilis tied it in the bottom of the first as his RBI single scored Dustin Pedroia (who extended his hit streak to 19 games). Youkilis had two hits, two RBIs and a walk before leaving in the seventh with a right hand injury (not serious). Pedroia was 3 for 3 with two runs, a walk and a stolen base (his 19th!).

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs) gave Boston a lead it wouldn't give back with his 16th homer of the season, a solo shot in the third to right field.

The Red Sox poured it on with five runs in the seventh. Adrian Gonzalez had a two-run single, Youk had a two-run double and David Ortiz made an impact in his first game back from his three-game suspension with an RBI single.

Seattle made it sort of interesting as Mike Carp hit a three-run bomb off Franklin Morales in the eighth but Daniel Bard got the last out in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 22nd save with a 1-2-3 ninth (including a strikeout).

Miguel Olivo and Jack Cust each had two hits in the loss for the Mariners.

M's rookie Blake Beaven has the unenviable task of taking on Red Sox ace Josh Beckett tonight at Fenway and trying to snap Seattle's lengthy losing streak. Good luck guy.

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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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What The Hell Should The Red Sox Do With John Lackey?

It has reached the point with the John Lackey experience that I honestly don't even know what the Boston Red Sox can do with him at this point.

He has the worst ERA (7.47) of any pitcher in baseball who has thrown over 70 innings. His ERA at Fenway this season is 9.17 with a 3-4 record. Lackey has lost his last three starts after yesterday's 9-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway on the fourth of July.

It was the shortest outing of Lackey's (5-8) career (2.1 innings) as he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.

The Red Sox (49-35) can either stick with him in the rotation, put him in the bullpen or place him on the DL. We've all seen what having him pitch every fifth day is like. I don't think remaking him as a reliever will work either since he's never done that. Finally, Boston loves cooking up fake injuries (there were reports last week that he needed Tommy John surgery) so I wouldn't put it past them to go with the latter option.

As much as I'd love to see them simply release him, they're stuck with him after giving him such a big contract in December 2009. Even John Henry can't absorb a $53.38 million dollar loss (yet), after all he's got a trophy wife to please.

The ironic and cruel part of yesterday's Lackey implosion was that the Red Sox almost rallied for a ridiculous comeback after trailing 7-0 in the third inning.

Jacoby Ellsbury (4 for 5, 2 RBIs, run, stolen base) led off the ninth with a single off Blue Jays (42-44) closer Frank Francisco and stole second base but Francisco proceeded to strike out Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and Yamaico Navarro (who came in after Kevin Youkilis was hit in the back with a pitch in the fourth) to record his 10th save of the season.

Toronto starter Brandon Morrow (5-4) was his usual erratic self but when you're matched up against Lackey, anything better than the worst start of your career should get it done. He went five innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Rajai Davis (2 hits, run, RBI, stolen base) scored on Youk's error in the first for 1-0 Blue Jays lead. They tacked on two in the second on Aaron Hill's (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) solo homer and an RBI single by John McDonald (2 hits, run, RBI).

Lackey's holiday was quickly over in the third as he gave up an RBI single to Adam Lind, an RBI single to Hill and a two-run double to Travis Snider (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) that made it 7-0. I'm sure the crowd was filled with an extra amount of pink hats and goobers since it was the fourth but even they had the common sense to boo Lackey big time and cheer when Terry Francona emerged to take him out. Brutal.

The Red Sox started to comeback as they plated four runs in the fourth. Ellsbury started it with a two-run triple, Dustin Pedroia walked with the bases loaded and Adrian Gonzalez knocked in Pedroia with an RBI double off the Monster.

Dan Wheeler had by far his best outing in his brief Red Sox career as he got eight outs. He didn't allow a hit or walk anybody, it was good stuff after Lackey's latest turd salad.

Toronto got single runs in the seventh and eighth off Alfredo Aceves. Edwin Encarnacion scored in the seventh on Navarro's error and Davis drove in McDonald (Connecticut shoreline connection!) with an RBI double.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia provided another two-run triple, this time in the eighth and J.D. Drew knocked in Boston's final run with a sacrifice fly.

Two lefties duel tonight as Brett Cecil goes for the Blue Jays and Jon Lester takes the ball for the Red Sox.

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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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Padres take series against Red Sox, following four rain delays in one game and another John Lackey stinkbomb

The nice and mostly crazy people that live on Cape Cod year round were treated to quite a dog's breakfast of a game at Fenway Park yesterday afternoon.

You see it was Cape Cod Day at Fenway and the Boston Red Sox (44-30) celebrated by showing no signs of life in a 5-1 loss to the San Diego Padres (32-44). Did I mention there was four rain delays and John Lackey lasted 3.1 innings? All wonderful memories that I'm sure those in attendance will treasure forever.

Lackey (5-6) had somehow won his last three starts but he returned to his pathetic form yesterday by allowing five earned runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts. He also hit two batters and had a wild pitch.

Listen, I'm extremely sorry that Lackey is going through so much while his wife battles cancer but if he's showing up to work, he has to perform better. At the moment, he's one of the biggest busts in Theo Epstein's reign as Red Sox GM and I don't have much faith that anything will really change in the next few years for Lackey.

The Padres took advantage of Boston's misfortune as Clayton Richard (3-9) went five innings for the cakewalk win. He allowed one earned run on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Ernesto Frieri threw a scoreless sixth and seventh and that's all San Diego needed as the game was mercifully called before the bottom of the eighth.

Lackey made sure to get off to one of his trademark fast starts by allowing a leadoff homer to Will Venable. They added four runs in the fourth on a bases loaded walk, a bases loaded hit by pitch, a wild pitch and an RBI single by Chase Headley. Excuse me while I go vomit after just reliving that miserable half inning.

Adrian Gonzalez (4 hits) provided the only highlight for Boston with an RBI single in the fifth which scored Jacoby Ellsbury. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis each had two hits in the loss, further indications that they're both heating up.

Interleague play is over at Fenway for this season and now the Red Sox wrap up facing the National League by visiting Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Houston for three games apiece. Boston won't return to Fenway until July 4.

Jon Lester takes on Paul Maholm and the surprising Pirates (37-37) tomorrow night at PNC Park. It sounds like Gonzalez will play some left field on the road trip since Terry Francona has to find a way to keep both him and David Ortiz in the lineup. No easy solutions for that one with no DH.

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You can't stop the Red Sox' offense, you can only hope to contain it

John Lackey is about the last guy I'll ever praise on the Red Sox but last night, I'll give him credit for once: he gave up four runs in the first three innings and looked destined to get shelled but he recovered and was able to go eight innings as Boston beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 at Fenway Park.

It was the 12th win in the last 13 games for the Red Sox, who are the undisputed best team in the American League at this moment.

Lackey (5-5) gave up four earned runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Jonathan Papelbon began serving the first of his two-game (it was reduced by a game) suspension so Boston's (42-27) bullpen was notably shorthanded.

The Brewers (39-32) were put behind the eight ball early as starter Shaun Marcum left after throwing 44 pitches in an eventful first inning. He hurt his left hip but it also has to be noted that Boston was very familiar with him from his days with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Casey McGehee gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the top of the first.

Jacoby Ellsbury answered with a leadoff homer (his eighth homer of the season, one shy of his career-high). David Ortiz (3 hits) tied it with an RBI double that scored Adrian Gonzalez. Carl Crawford beat out an infield single in the first but he left with a strained hamstring, let's hope he's not out for too long.

Kevin Youkilis had a two-run single in the second off Brewers reliever Marco Estrada. Youk left in the fifth due to illness, poor guy must have eaten some bad Mexican or something pregame.

Milwaukee tied it in the third on an RBI single by Prince Fielder (2 hits) and a run scored even though McGehee grounded into a double play.

Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, 3 runs) put the Red Sox ahead for good with a solo homer, his 15th of the season, in the fifth.

Jason Varitek had an RBI double and Dustin Pedroia added an RBI single in the sixth. A run scored on Darnell McDonald's ground out in the seventh and J.D. Drew made it 10-4 with a two-run single later in the frame.

The Red Sox rightly moved their game today from the afternoon to tonight to accommodate the Bruins parade. Jon Lester faces Randy Wolf.

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The Red Sox freight train is coming down the tracks, good luck stopping it

Nothing can stop the Boston Red Sox at this moment, they are the hottest team in MLB as they won their eighth straight game 16-4 yesterday afternoon at the Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Boston (38-26) climbed a season-high 12 games over .500 (remember the 2-10 start?) with an 18 hit attack.

Toronto (32-33) had no chance as they were held to only six hits in their second straight loss to the Red Sox.

John Lackey (4-5) got the win but he was about the last guy on Boston that you would cite in the win since every starter in the lineup had an RBI. It was a game that was all about the offense. Lackey went six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow (2-4) has always had a great arm but he walks way too many batters and as a result, his pitch count always seems to get high early on. He lasted 4.1 innings, tagged for nine earned runs on 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Marco Scutaro led Boston with four hits and three runs. Dustin Pedroia had three hits, three RBIs and two runs. David Ortiz had two hits, three RBIs and two runs and Jason Varitek added two hits, four RBIs and three runs. J.D. Drew had two hits, two runs and an RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury notched two hits, a run and RBI.

Boston scored four runs in the third to take an early 4-0 lead. It was 5-0 in the fourth after an RBI double by Pedroia. Toronto got a two-run double by Rajai Davis to make it 5-2 but that was sadly as close as they would get.

Varitek and Ortiz had three-run homers in the fifth and the rout was on for the Red Sox.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer off Lackey in the sixth but it didn't matter.

Boston will go for the sweep and its ninth straight win this afternoon as Jon Lester takes on rookie Kyle Drabek.

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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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