Walk-Off Home Runs By David Ortiz Will Never Get Old

It had been almost four years (August 26, 2009 to be exact) but tonight at Fenway Park, David Ortiz proved that he can still hit a walk-off homer with the best of them. Ortiz's three-run shot off Michael Kirkman (0-2) gave Boston (37-24 overall, 19-13 home) a 6-3 win over Texas (36-23 overall, 18-15 away) coupled with a series victory against the American League's top team.

It was the 11th homer of the season for Ortiz and ironically enough his 11th walk-off homer (10th as a Red Sox) and 19th walk-off hit (regular season and playoffs) for Boston. He only needs one more walk-off homer to tie Babe Ruth, pretty elite company huh?

The funny part is that Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to intentionally walk Dustin Pedroia after Jonny Gomes (4 hits, run) had doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth. I'm not sure if Washington was doing lines in the tunnel but I couldn't tell you a logical explanation for pitching to Ortiz with two guys on and no outs. Oh well.

Lefties Derek Holland (6 innings, 2 earned runs, 9 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks) and Jon Lester (6 innings, 3 earned runs, 7 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks) pitched to a standstill, at least according to ESPN's game scores which gave them both a 47.

The Red Sox bullpen was flawless: Junichi Tazawa pitched around a double and single for a scoreless seventh, Koji Uehara had a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts before closer Andrew Bailey (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth.

Texas actually blew a three-run lead as Jeff Baker hit a two-run bomb in the second and former Red Sox Adrian Beltre (3 hits)-who always seems to kill Boston-added a solo homer in the third.

Dustin Pedroia's (walk, run) two-run double in the third brought Boston within a run (3-2) then Jacoby Ellsbury (4 hits, 2 runs, 2 doubles) tied it by scoring on Mike Napoli's fielder's choice in the seventh.

Weather permitting, the Red Sox get their first look at the underachieving Angels (26-34 overall, 3rd in AL West) this weekend with three games at Fenway. Felix Doubront (4-2) faces Tommy Hanson (2-2) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN), Clay Buchholz (8-0) looks to stay undefeated on Saturday night (7:15, NESN) vs. C.J. Wilson (4-4) and Ryan Dempster (3-6) closes it out Sunday afternoon (1:35, NESN) vs. Joe Blanton (1-9).

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Thank God The Patriots Preseason Games Start Tomorrow Night

Don't you wish the Red Sox could just end their 2012 season tomorrow? What good can come out of the next 50 games? Oh well, while they are playing out the string on a truly miserable season, we can at least take solace that the Patriots' first preseason game is tomorrow night (7:30 p.m. vs. New Orleans). There is nothing better than the NFL and we all need it more than ever right now.

Josh Beckett (5 innings, 8 earned runs, 8 hits, 3 home runs) provided another Fenway Turd this afternoon as Texas (65-45, 31-24 away) took the series with a 10-9 win against Boston (55-57, 29-34 home).

The sad part is that the Red Sox kept rallying, tying it at 3-3 in the third and 9-9 in the seventh but it didn't matter since Beckett could care less about competing as a professional athlete. You should never lose a game when you score nine runs.

The Texas toughguy and Jon Lester have combined for one win at Fenway Park since June 27. Since June 1, the Red Sox are 2-12 at home when Beckett or Lester start. Look on the bright side, Boston is only six games back in loss column for the second American League Wild Card going into tonight's action, oh wait.

Beckett was in a giving mood as he coughed up three runs in the first inning, three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth before Bobby Valentine finally took him out. Even the non-sellout (by my calculations) pink hat crowd booed Beckett, I guess the Red Sox front office are the only people in the world left that can't identify what a waste of a roster spot he has become. They had their chance to move him at the Trade Deadline and they didn't so here we are, watching a baseball team rot away from the inside out. What's the worst that could happen by either dumping him on waivers, releasing him or putting him on the 60-day DL for the rest of the season with a fake injury (after all, he loves those)?

Josh Hamilton was 3-for-4 with a triple, homer, 4 RBIs and two runs while Elvis Andrus was 3-for-4 with three runs and a walk in the win. Adrian Gonalez had three RBI doubles and scored three runs, Cody Ross was 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs, two RBIs and a walk while Dustin Pedroia had two singles and scored two runs in the loss.

The happiest guy to see Beckett do his thing was Matt Harrison (4.2 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 home run) since on most days, his outing would be considered a disaster. Compared to Beckett, he looked poise to make a run at the AL Cy Young award.

Hamilton had a two-run triple in the first against what had to be a hungover and bloated Toughguy. Former Red Sox Adrian Beltre added a sacrifice fly before Beckett stumbled out of trouble. Boston answered with two runs on Gonzalez's first RBI double and an RBI single by Ross. Cody tied it in the third with a solo shot-his 17th homer of the season.

Beckett must have been drinking Lonestar in the dugout between innings, it caught up to him in the fifth as he grooved meatballs to Mitch Moreland (solo homer; 12th of the season) and Hamilton (two-run blast; 30th of the season). Gonzalez's second RBI double cut it to 6-4 in the home half of the frame then he scored on Geovany Soto's passed ball.

No worries for the Rangers as Soto blasted a two-run shot off Beckett in the sixth, his first for Texas since being traded by the Cubs. Clayton Mortensen (1-1) ran into trouble in the seventh as Nelson Cruz (18th of the season) hit the final homer of the game for the Rangers.

Roy Oswalt allowed four runs in 1.1 innings as Gonzalez's third RBI double set the stage for a three-run blast by Will Middlebrooks (15th of the season) which knotted things at nine. However, Alexi Ogando (2-0) settled things down to pitch a clean seventh and eighth inning with two strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves is not a natural closer so he struggles with inherited runners but don't tell that to Bobby V who put him in with runners on first and third with no outs in the ninth. Oh and he let him face Hamilton rather than let Andrew Miller (a lefty) give it a shot. Beltre's second sacrifice fly turned out to be the game-winning play.

Ross hit a one-out double in the ninth but Joe Nathan struck out two for his 23rd save of the season.

Boston went 4-6 on its longest homestand of the season, now the Dead Man Walking squad hits the road for 10 games (4 in Cleveland, 3 in Baltimore, 3 in New York) in 11 days. Since there are two off-days between now and their next game at home, the Red Sox won't play at Fenway again until August 21. I shudder to think how many more games under .500 they will be by then. However, I will probably be paying much less attention to baseball with football even closer at that point. I'll be pouring over depth charts for Fantasy Football and reading Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue.

The Indians (51-60, 3rd AL Central) snapped an 11-game losing streak today with a 6-2 win vs. Minnesota, but that doesn't mean anything when the Red Sox are coming to play you. I'm sure Boston will make them look like the powerhouse Cleveland teams of the late 90s. Felix Doubront (10-5) faces Ubaldo Jimenez (8-11) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Clay Buchholz (9-3) gets Chris Seddon (0-0) on Friday night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Franklin Morales (3-2) opposes Zach McAllister (4-4) on Saturday night (6:05 p.m., NESN) and Jon Lester (5-10) takes the ball against rookie Corey Kluber (0-0) on Sunday afternoon (1:05 p.m., NESN).

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I Don't Think Even Aaron Cook Expected To Pitch That Well Against The Rangers

There was plenty to like about Monday night's game at Fenway Park. Boston blew out a very good team, they racked up 14 hits, Aaron Cook pitched a gem and it was all over in two hours and 47 minutes which gave us plenty of time to watch tape delayed London Olympics events in which we already knew the final outcome.

The Red Sox (55-55, 29-32 home) rolled 9-2 over the Rangers (63-45, 29-24 away) in the series opener.

Cook (3-5) went seven innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Yu Darvish (11-8) looked like Dice-K if he struck out more batters. He stayed out there for 6.2 innings (don't ask me why) and 123 pitches but was rocked for six earned runs on 11 hits with nine strikeouts and four walks.

The top of the Red Sox lineup had their most productive game of the season. Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez combined for seven runs, 11 hits (8 doubles) and eight RBIs. As a team, Boston went an impressive 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Ex-Red Sox David Murphy gave Texas a short-lived 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single. Boston responded with two runs in the third and three in the fourth. Crawford and Gonzalez had RBI doubles then Ellsbury had an RBI double, Crawford had a sacrifice fly and Pedroia had an RBI double.

Gonzalez's RBI single in the seventh made it 6-1 and the Red Sox scored three more times in the eighth. Crawford had an RBI double, Gonzalez added another run-scoring single and Cody Ross notched a sacrifice fly.

Another ex-Red Sox, Adrian Beltre, blasted a solo homer (19th of the season) in the ninth but Boston was able to limit the Rangers to that last run.

Boston looks for its third straight victory tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as Jon Lester (5-9) takes on Ryan Dempster (0-0). I've got a feeling it's going to be a high-scoring affair, a pitcher's duel would totally shock me.

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2nd Entry Into Biggest Shitshow Game Of The Season Category For The Red Sox

So who else is ready for the Bobby Valentine Show to make its debut on NESN? (Crickets)

It's easy to blame Valentine but what is he supposed to do with this group of unlikable losers? He's tries to make them accountable and they immediately bristle at the thought of doing anything differently despite the fact that they've finished in third place two years in a row and ran their last manager out of town.

All this needless drama just makes nights like tonight even more painful or laughable depending on your sense of humor. The AL's best team, the Texas Rangers came into Fenway Park and pounded the crap out of Jon Lester and the Red Sox, to the tune of 18-3.

I'm sure by the end of the season it will be a long list but for now, this has to be the most embarrassing loss. Yes, even worse than the two meltdowns in the same game against the Tigers two Sundays ago. At least in that one, they tried. Texas (9-2, 4-0) looked like the powerhouse they are while Boston (4-7, 3-2 home) lost its second in a row, already erasing any good feeling left over from taking three of four against the Rays over the weekend.

In their fifth straight win, the Rangers set a season-high for hits (21) and hit their most homers (6) in a game since August 2008.

Lester (0-2) was done in the third inning, after only recording six outs. He gave up seven runs (all earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and four walks. The Rangers hit five total home runs: one against Lester, one against Scott Atchison and three against poor Mark Melancon, who has to be a basketcase after allowing five home runs already this season in limited work. There's a real possibility that he could be sent down to Pawtucket. Talk about a hard fall.

Colby Lewis (2-0) allowed a two-run homer to Dustin Pedroia (his 3rd of the season) in the first but settled down after that to go seven innings. He allowed two earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Josh Hamilton (3 hits, tying his career-high with 5 RBIs), Mike Napoli (3 runs, 3 hits, 4 RBIs) and Nelson Cruz (3 runs, 3 hits, 2 RBIs) treated Red Sox pitchers like it was the Home Run Derby. Even Craig Gentry was 3 for 6 with three runs. Fantasy Baseball tip: pick up any Rangers.

Napoli got it started with a two-run shot in the second inning to tie it, from there the Rangers scored 16 straight runs. After scoring four in the second, they tacked on three in the third, one in the sixth, eight in the eighth and two in the ninth. Napoli ended the incredible barrage with a two-run blast in the ninth. In between, Michael Young, Hamilton, former Red Sox 3B Adrian Beltre and Cruz all went deep as well.

Adrian Gonzalez (2nd of the season) had a solo homer in the eighth for the other Boston run. Ryan Sweeney was 3 for 4 with two doubles.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) Josh Beckett (1-1) gets to prove if his win against the Rays on Opening Day at Fenway last Friday was a fluke or not. Derek Holland (1-0) starts for the Rangers in the finale of this two-game set.

UPDATE 4/18: Melancon was sent down to Pawtucket and Junichi Tazawa was called up to take his spot in the bullpen. Wow.

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John Lackey is hopeless

Oh John Lackey, you make it too easy.

While the rest of the United States was captivated by the NCAA basketball men's Final Four (count me among them), the Boston Red Sox were getting smoked by the Texas Rangers last night.

Every Ranger had a hit (15 total) as Texas (2-0) rolled to a 12-5 win over Boston (0-2) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

As I predicted, this one wasn't a pitcher's duel. Well at least Colby Lewis showed up (6 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts). Lackey (3.2 innings, 10 hits, 9 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) couldn't make it out of the fourth inning. Yikes.

It's only a matter of time before Lackey is moved to third or even fourth in the rotation, assuming that Josh Beckett is a shell of his former self. Nobody not named Lackey can honestly believe he's a No. 2 starter on an AL East team and a World Series contender.

Ian Kinsler had a leadoff homer for the second straight game but David Ortiz answered with a two-run bomb, his second of the season, in the second inning for a 2-1 Boston lead.

That's when the wheels started to fall off for Lackey and the Red Sox. Elvis Andrus (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) had an RBI triple in the third and Josh Hamilton (2 hits, stolen base) added an RBI single.

Ortiz tied it at 3 with an RBI groundout in the fourth but Texas exploded with six runs in the fourth. Julio Borbon (2 hits) had an RBI triple and Andrus had an RBI double. Former Red Sox Adrian Beltre took any intrigue out of this one with a grand slam off Lackey.

All that was left was to pad the stats for the Rangers as Yorvit Torrealba took Dan Wheeler deep (two-run homer in the fifth) and Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer off Tim Wakefield in the sixth.

The only other highlight for Boston was Jacoby Ellsbury's two-run homer in the seventh.

The Red Sox will try to avoid the sweep and an unsightly 0-3 start this afternoon as Clay Buchholz faces Matt Harrison. That matchup clearly favors Boston so Buchholz needs to settle down his team and quiet the Rangers' potent lineup.

Goodnight Red Sox, see you next spring

Going away on vacation for a week to the Cape allowed me to fully withdraw from the 2010 Boston Red Sox (even though I still paid attention to their games) and admit that this season is over, on to the next one (with apologies to Swiss Beatz).

I faithfully kept up with this ill-fated team from the beginning but from the start (even before all the injuries), you had the feeling that this edition couldn't go anywhere based on their shortcomings and the fact that they play with two of the best teams in baseball in their division (New York and Tampa Bay).

Most will remember this Red Sox season for the injuries but mostly it was about the failure of GM Theo Epstein and the owners to spend money on the right players or make the right moves befitting of such a big market, high spending team.

Their bullpen was a joke all season and that never really changed. They threw money at John Lackey and Mike Cameron and predictably both have been busts based on performance and getting injured respectively.

In a season full of bad losses, yesterday might have taken the cake. The Red Sox (76-51) took a 5-3 lead into the ninth and it looked like they might avoid the sweep at Fenway Park by the White Sox (76-60).

Not so fast my friend. After entering in the eighth, Jonathan Papelbon blew his seventh save of the year and threw a career-high (out of the bullpen) 48 pitches as Chicago won 7-5.

Josh Beckett (6.1 innings, 3 runs, 1 earned, 9 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts) was better than Mark Buehrle (7 innings, 4 earned runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts) but Chicago's superior bullpen was the difference. Other than the fact that they're in the inferior AL Central, the White Sox are still alive thanks to a solid bullpen, Boston's biggest flaw.

Alexi Ramirez put Chicago up 1-0 in the second with an RBI single. David Ortiz made it 2-1 in the third with a two-run double.

In the seventh, two Chicago runners scored on Daniel Bard's throwing error. That appeared meaningless in the bottom of the seventh when Victor Martinez blasted a two-run homer over the Monster. Bill Hall added an RBI groundout in the eighth.

However, Carlos Quentin's (3 hits, 2 RBIs) two-out, two-strike bloop double cut it to 5-4 in the ninth and Ramon Castro's RBI single tied it at five. After Papelbon was pulled, PawSox bum Robert Manuel came on and walked two White Sox with the bases loaded. Thanks for playing, season's over.

Darnell McDonald and Adrian Beltre both had three hits in the loss. They've been two of the only brightspots this whole season.

Telling ourselves that the Red Sox had any chance to make the playoffs the last few weeks (months really) has been avoiding the obvious. With college football underway and the NFL kicking off for real on Thursday, now is a fitting time to bid adieu to the Red Sox.

Sure I'll still follow them for this last pitiful month but barring a crazy win-streak or choke job by the Yankees or Rays (both unlikely), the Red Sox will be done in less than a month. It's the first time since 2006 that they'll miss the playoffs.

Red Sox improve to 9-0 against hapless Angels

Other than the playoffs last season, it's safe to say that the Boston Red Sox own the Los Angeles Angels (or whatever you want to call him).

John Lackey (11-7) tried his hardest to lose to his former team: seven innings, five earned runs on ten hits, five strikeouts but he was overshadowed by Scott Kazmir, who got a no-decision.

Do you remember how good Kazmir was with the Devil Rays (when they weren't just the Rays)? He's my age but he's already washed up, pretty sad. He went five innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. It's obvious why Tampa Bay dumped him last season, they could see he didn't have anything left.

This was a back and forth game with both offenses running wild on bad pitching. Adrian Beltre gave Boston (69-52) a 1-0 in the first inning with an RBI single.

Mike Napoli tied it up with a solo homer in the third and Howie Kendrick put Los Angeles (60-61) up 2-1 in the fourth with an RBI single.

Bill Hall made it 2-2 with a solo homer in the fourth before Alberto Callaspo crushed a three-run bomb in the fifth.

No problem though as the Angels and their B-squad of relievers couldn't hold the lead. Beltre cut it to 5-4 with a two-run homer in the fifth before Boston scored two runs in the seventh without getting a hit.

Victor Martinez (3 hits) scored on a wild pitch and then Daniel Nava drove in a run by getting hit by a pitch.

The Sox added an insurance run in the eighth when V-Mart hit an RBI single.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the ninth, probably his best outing of the season. It was a historical feat too since with that he became the first closer with 30+ saves in his first major league season.

Josh Beckett takes the mound tonight as the Red Sox look to sweep the Angels, Ervin Santana will pitch for Los Angeles.

Bill bleepin' Hall

Remember when you wrote the Boston Red Sox off this season?

Well it's time to jump back on the bandwagon because this team is playing well and they're inching closer and closer to an improbable playoff spot.

The Sox (66-49) smoked the Blue Jays (59-54) 10-1 last night at the Rogers Centre.

Clay Buchholz (13-5) just did what he's been doing for the last year: embracing his role as the best Red Sox starting pitcher.

He allowed Jose Bautista's sacrifice fly in the first (scoring an unearned run) but other than that, he went eight innings, allowing five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Shawn Marcum (10-6) is a good pitcher but he was no match for Buchholz or Boston. In four innings, he allowed eight earned runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. A 36-pitch first inning was a sign of ominous things to come for Marcum.

I don't know what it is about the Rogers Centre but the ball is flying out of there for the Blue Jays (most homers in MLB) and the Red Sox (second most homers).

Boston slugged four home runs last night, including two from Bill Hall (3 hits, 4 RBIs).

Mike Lowell (3 hits) walked with the bases loaded in the first as the Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Hall hit two towering shots to left field in the second (solo) and fourth inning (two-run). The Sox knocked out Marcum and sewed up the result with five runs in the fifth: J.D. Drew had a solo homer, Adrian Beltre had an opposite field three-run bomb and Hall had an RBI single.

Victor Martinez (2 hits) closed out the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth.

Adam Lind had three hits for Toronto in the one-sided loss.

John Lackey opposes rookie Brad Mills this afternoon as the Red Sox look for the sweep. They enter today, 3.5 behind Tampa Bay in the wild card and five games behind the Yankees.

Beltre and Dice-K help Red Sox split with Indians

The bad news seems to come daily for the Boston Red Sox and yesterday was no different as Kevin Youkilis will miss the rest of the season with his random thumb injury.

Every time you want to bury this team you can't though as they emerge from their shallow grave with a nice win. Last night, the Sox (62-47) earned a split with the Indians (46-63) thanks to a 6-2 win at Fenway Park.

There were basically two reasons why Boston won this game: Daisuke Matsuzaka and Adrian Beltre. Dice-K (8-3) had probably his second best start of the season (behind the near no-hitter at the Phillies) as he went eight impressive innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

For much of the game, Cleveland rookie Josh Tomlin matched Dice-K, starting out the first three innings with a perfect game. However, with one swing, Beltre gave Boston all the runs they would need as he crushed a fourth inning grand slam over the Monster.

Shin-Soo Choo had given the Indians an early 1-0 lead in the first with a solo homer to center.

J.D. Drew added two important insurance runs in the eighth with a clutch two-run single.

Even a 6-1 lead at home isn't safe for Hideki Okajima (2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk). Luis Valbuena hit an RBI single in the ninth and when two runners were on base, Terry Francona had to go to Jonathan Papelbon since they needed this game bad.

Papelbon made it interesting as usual, walking the bases loaded (putting the tying run at the plate in the form of nobody Trevor Crowe) but striking out two batters to end it. It was his 26th save of the season.

For the first time since before Memorial Day (it's an absolute joke that it's been that long), the Red Sox will play the Yankees. The two teams have four in the Bronx this weekend, starting tonight and ending Monday afternoon.

Clay Buchholz faces Javier Vazquez tonight at Yankee Stadium. The Bombers come in six games ahead of Boston and half a game ahead of Tampa Bay (the wild card leaders). Needless to say, the Red Sox have to win at least a couple games in the series to stay alive. They simply can't afford to be swept.

Red Sox do nothing meaningful at trade deadline but produce two straight walk-off wins

As expected, the Boston Red Sox did nothing substantial (sorry Ramon Ramirez, you bum) at the non-waiver trade deadline (Saturday) but that mundane news was tempered with the excitement of two straight walk-off wins over the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday.

I was lucky enough to be sitting on the Monster with some buddies from college on Saturday night as David Ortiz came through with a bases-loaded, three-run double. It's the first walk-off I've seen in person (as far as I can remember) so it was a cool moment.

Yesterday's didn't have quite the same panache since it came when Marco Scutaro (2 hits, steal) bunted and Tigers (52-52) reliever Robbie Weinhardt threw it away, allowing Darnell McDonald to score for the 4-3 Red Sox (60-45) win.

Truthfully, it shouldn't have come to that since Clay Buchholz (8 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts) completely silenced Detroit until the ninth when a lucky bounce led to an infield hit and he walked the last batter he faced.

Jonathan Papelbon (4-4) was summoned and on the first pitch, Miguel Cabrera cranked a two-run double (that missed being a homer by a few feet) as Detroit cut it to 3-2. Then Papelbon blew his fifth game of the season when Jhonny Peralta tied it with a groundball up the middle.

Making the win even more impressive is that the Sox beat Tigers ace Justin Verlander (7 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts).

Eric Patterson gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single and Adrian Beltre (2 hits) doubled the Sox advantage with an RBI single in the third. Rookie Ryan Kalish (who went 2-for-4 in his MLB debut on Saturday) added a sacrifice fly in the third for the surprising 3-0 lead.

The time is now for the Red Sox, they're still 6.5 games behind the Yankees and 5.5 in back of the Rays for the wild card. The good news is that the miserable Indians come to Fenway for four games beginning tonight. For any chance to make the playoffs, Boston has to pretty much at least split every series and when they play garbage like this, they need to win three or sweep them.

Tonight John Lackey takes on Fausto Carmona as Lackey tries to keep his streak of three straight great starts going down the stretch.

Scutaro's slam helps Red Sox sweep the Angels

It's time for everyone to jump back on the Boston Red Sox' bandwagon.

They're still seven games behind the Yankees and five behind the Rays for the wild card but at least now, it looks like August and September will be competitive as they went 6-4 on their West Coast trip and wrapped it up with a nice 7-3 win and a sweep of the Angels yesterday afternoon in Anaheim.

Josh Beckett (2-1) was solid in his second start back from the DL. Beckett went seven innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

In a game that both Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were promised a day off, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings respectively.

Just before the series finale began, the Angels (52-52) found out starter Joel Pineiro was scratched with an oblique injury (which will keep him out 6-8 weeks). The Red Sox (58-44) caught a big break by facing five Angels relievers but for most of the contest, it didn't seem like they'd fully take advantage of that.

Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall hit solo homers in the second for the early 2-0 lead.

Bobby Wilson and Reggie Willits were both credited with RBI singles in the bottom of the second but they didn't deserve them since Boston fielders made mistakes on both plays. Jeremy Hermida, who is brutal in the field, hesitated on Wilson's liner to left and Hall lost Willits' pop-up in the sun.

Maicer Izturis hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Los Angeles a momentary 3-2 lead but Kevin Youkilis tied it up with a solo homer in the seventh.

Finally, Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 walks, career-high five times on base) came through with one of the biggest plays of the season: he hit a grand slam off Fernando Rodney with no outs in the top of the eighth.

Eric Patterson (3 hits, run) also had a good game hitting out of the ninth spot.

Boston comes home and gets a three-game set beginning tomorrow against the sinking Tigers.

Will the Red Sox be toast by the trade deadline?

If you've learned anything from fantasy baseball (and hopefully I have since I currently run an obnoxious five teams), it's that when a starting pitcher returns, it always takes him at least a few starts to find his form. I don't know why hitters can seemingly adjust faster but Clay Buchholz proved this point once again yesterday afternoon.

He was at the top of his game on June 26 when he left a game in San Francisco with a strained hamstring (running the bases, don't get me started with the JV NL rules).

The Sox (53-42) desperately needed a win from him and a series victory over Oakland (48-47) but he couldn't deliver as the A's won 6-4 to take two out of the three from the free-falling Sox.

You can't blame Buchholz (10-5) for his sub par performance: 4 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts.

The A's have won seven of eight and they were able to scratch away despite an average start by Gio Gonzalez (9-6): 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts.

Adrian Beltre (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run, stolen base) continued to show why he's been the Sox MVP, keeping their patchwork lineup intact during all the lineup shuffling.

Shortstop Jed Lowrie (2 walks, hit, run, RBI) made his 2010 debut for Boston and he played well. To say the guy has been cursed with injuries and other problems (mono) would be an understatement. Hopefully he can stay healthy and get his career back on track.

Beltre gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single which knocked in Lowrie.

Buchholz had only given up three runs this season coming into yesterday but Matt Watson hit a solo shot in the second to tie it up then Jack Cust put Oakland ahead 3-1 in the third with a two-run bomb that scored Kurt Suzuki (2 hits, 2 runs).

Lowrie cut it to 3-2 A's in the fifth with an RBI single but Oakland added three in the home half of the inning. Mark Ellis had an RBI single and Rajai Davis knocked in two with his two-run single.

Beltre closed out the scoring with a two-run blast in the sixth.

Michael Wuertz had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his second save of the season.

Rumors are swirling about who the Red Sox are trying to acquire: Jayson Werth, David DeJesus, Chris Snyder, relievers. Theo Epstein has to go for it now or else he can raise the white flag ala 2006 and admit this season is going nowhere fast.

Boston begins a four-game series at Safeco Field in Seattle tonight. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in baseball so realistically the Red Sox need to win at least three of these games even though it seems like they always struggle in the Pacific Northwest. The good news is that they miss King Felix who pitched last night.

John Lackey opposes Ryan Rowland-Smith tonight at 10:10 p.m. EST.

Teach me how to dougie Dice-K

What do I always say about Dice-K? He is the single most unpredictable player in MLB and probably professional sports. Therefore after I bashed him and Ben Sheets going into last night's series opener in Oakland, they responded by turning in a classic pitcher's duel.

It figures that one of the most exciting games of the season was a 10:05 p.m. EST start so who knows how much of Red Sox nation actually saw it, especially considering how low their television ratings are this season.

The Red Sox (53-40) started off the pivotal 10-game West Coast trip with a 2-1 win at the Oakland Coliseum. Dice-K (7-3) went 6.2 innings and allowed one earned run on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Most surprisingly, Dice-K worked quickly and efficiently and was only on 89 pitches when he got yanked in the seventh.

Ben Sheets (4-9) nearly matched him going 6.2 innings and giving up two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Daniel Bard went 1.1 scoreless innings and Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 21st save of the season. Dice-K's fine work allowed Terry Francona to skip over all the bum relievers that have been omnipresent this season.

Rajai Davis gave Oakland (46-47) a 1-0 lead in the third with a solo home run.

David Ortiz tied it up in the fourth when his sacrifice fly knocked in former A's outfielder Eric Patterson, who had tripled. Adrian Beltre (3 hits) produced the winning run with a solo shot two batters later.

In his last start before Josh Beckett returns to the rotation, Tim Wakefield goes tonight against Dallas Braden, he of the perfect game on May 9. Braden has been on the DL and also has struggled since then, he hasn't won a game since then.

The Sox are morphing into a very likable team

Remember when the Tampa Bay Rays looked unbeatable in April and May and the Red Sox looked like a third-place team that was going nowhere?

It's funny how much can change in the grind of a MLB season, I'm just glad that I didn't put money on the Rays to win the World Series (in Vegas) since they look like a talented team that's coming apart at the seams for whatever reason.

In the first game of a short two-game set, the Sox (47-31) beat the Rays (44-32) 8-5 last night at Fenway Park behind one of John Lackey's best starts and some pop from David Ortiz (3-run homer) and Bill Hall (2-run homer).

Lackey (9-3) has amassed a nice record but he's mostly been the beneficiary of some fine run support. Last night, he was the innings eating horse he was touted as. He went seven innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

This one was a laugher (8-1) that got serious as Tampa Bay scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth. This ensured that Daniel Bard (1 out) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 out, 18th save) had to be roused from the bullpen but they threw six and five pitches respectively so they'll be available tonight.

James Shields (6-8) was matching Lackey for the first few innings but he ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up the three-run bomb to Big Papi.

Jason Varitek added an RBI single in the sixth and Daniel Nava reached on an infield single with a run scoring and Shields' night was over. He lasted five innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Evan Longoria got the Rays on the board in the seventh with an RBI single but Varitek (sacrifice fly) and Hall (two-run homer) increased the Sox lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

Willy Aybar hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Ben Zobrist added an RBI single in the ninth. Carl Crawford had four hits in the loss for Tampa Bay.

Adrian Beltre was 4-for-4 with two runs scored in the win.

Dice-K takes on Matt Garza tonight as the Sox tries to sweep the Rays.

Crippled Sox close out 2010 interleague play with 13-5 record

After beating Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum and doing everything but grab a win vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, the 2010 interleague season for the Boston Red Sox was a complete success as they wrapped up their domination over the NL with a 5-1 win over the Giants yesterday afternoon at AT&T Park.

As they usually do in baseball, the expected pitcher's duel between Lincecum and Jon Lester never panned out. We'll have to see if it's because of an injury or maybe just a severe case of the munchies but Lincecum (8-3) was off in his meager three innings of work. He gave up four earned runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Conversely, Lester (9-3) put up a good case for why he just might be the best starting pitcher in baseball. He threw a complete game, giving up one earned run on five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

It's hard to believe how well the Sox are playing given their absurd rash of injuries: on top of Josh Becket and Jacoby Ellsbury missing most of the season, in San Francisco this weekend, Dustin Pedroia broke his foot (Friday), Clay Buchholz pulled his hamstring running the bases (Saturday) and yesterday Victor Martinez broke his thumb.

Pedroia is going to be out for at least a month you'd have to assume. That's a fatal blow for the Sox since he's the heart and soul of the team. Buchholz should be fine and who knows if Martinez will go on the DL or try to play through his injury.

In the top of the first, David Ortiz continued his resurgence with a solo homer (16th) into the water in right, the 53rd splashdown in AT&T Park history.

Aubrey Huff tied it up in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout but that's all the offensively challenged Giants would get. With their pitching, imagine if they had any type of lineup?

With the bases loaded and one out in the second, Lester gave it a ride (would have been well gone at Fenway) but he had to settle for a long sacrifice fly. Marco Scutaro (2 hits) added an RBI single in the inning.

Bill Hall (2 hits) had an RBI single in the third and finally Adrian Beltre notched a solo homer (his 12th) in the ninth.

The Sox came home last night and gratefully had today off. They have two against the reeling Rays at Fenway and then some more AL East matchups (vs. Toronto and Baltimore) before the All-Star break in two weeks.

Laser show bro, relax!

It's official: laser show, relax has jumped the shark since Don Orsillo said it twice last night but who cares?

Dustin Pedroia had a career night, going 5-for-5 with three home runs, five RBIs and four runs. The Sox (44-30) needed all of it as Jonathan Papelbon blew another save for the second night in a row.

Boston held on for a 13-11 win in 10 innings, salvaging a game at Coors Field after losing the first two to the Rockies (38-24).

It figures that one of the wackiest games of the season would be started by Dice-K. Matsuzaka only went five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

Brad Hawpe (4 RBIs) got things rolling for the Rockies with a two-run single in the first but like most Dice-K starts, he settled down after a shaky first inning.

In fact, Boston jumped ahead with four runs in the fourth. Pedroia had his first laser (solo style), Mike Cameron added a two-run double and Dice-K hit an RBI single off Rockies starter Jason Hammel (4 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits), who had come in on fire.

Adrian Beltre (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 3 runs), who has been unbelievable so far in his Red Sox career, continued the hit parade with a two-run homer in the fifth.

The Rockies started to beatdown the Red Sox bullpen with four runs in the sixth inning leading to a 8-6 advantage.

In the seventh, Beltre cut it to 8-7 with an RBI single and then Jason Varitek put his team ahead with a two-run double.

Pedroia's second bomb (a two-run shot) in the eighth made it 11-8 and it looked like things were wrapping up nicely.

However, Jason Giambi (Wednesday night's hero) came through once again as a pinch hitter, this time in the eighth with an RBI single. That set the stage for Hawpe's two-run single off Papelbon in the ninth.

Pedroia is the hottest hitter in baseball at the moment and he closed out his memorable night with a two-run homer in the 10th off Huston Street.

Papelbon (3-4) was put back out there in the 10th but he got three outs and ended this bonkers game.

The Sox end interleague play this weekend in San Francisco. Tim Wakefield takes the ball tonight against the underrated Jonathan Sanchez.

Sox choke away game in Cleveland

Up 5-0 and with Jon Lester on the mound, the Red Sox were in perfect position to take three out of four in Cleveland.

For some reason, Lester didn't have it (6 innings, 6 earned runs, 9 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts) and the Indians (23-36) won 8-7 on a walk-off two-run single by Russell Branyan.

Boston (35-27) had gone up 7-6 in the top of the ninth when Adrian Beltre (2 hits) crushed a two-run homer off Indians closer Kerry Wood. Yes, he's still alive, barely. J.D. Drew was hit by a pitch and he scored on the bomb to left center, Beltre's eighth homer of the season.

The Sox scored four runs in the first, on a Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) RBI single, Victor Martinez's sacrifice fly and two runs scored on a Andy Marte error. The former Sox prospect had three errors in the inning, tying a MLB record.

Martinez's RBI double in the second, which scored Marco Scutaro (2 hits, 2 runs), made it 5-0 and it looked like it would be a happy late-night flight back home for the Red Sox.

The Indians scored three in the third on Trevor Crowe's RBI double, Shin-Soo Choo's (2 hits) sacrifice fly and Austin Kearns' RBI single.

Cleveland went ahead for the first time with three more runs in the sixth on Marte's RBI single and a two-run single by Lou Marson.

With Jonathan Papelbon unavailable for one more day (on the bereavement list), closer in waiting Daniel Bard proved that he's not quite ready for primetime. He loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth before striking out one and getting a popout before Branyan came through with the bloop single to right just over Pedroia's glove.

Interleague play starts back up this weekend with the Philadelphia Phillies invading Fenway Park for three games. The Sox won two of three at Citizen's Bank Park a few weeks back.

Jamie Moyer, a former Sox pitcher, takes on John Lackey tonight.

V-Mart goes 5-for-5 in Sox win

For most of the season, Victor Martinez has been a forgotten man. His bat hasn't really shown up and his defense is still somewhere slightly above Little Leaguer.

That all hopefully changed for the better last night as he went 5-for-5 with a MLB tying record four doubles, two runs and two RBIs and Boston (30-23) rallied to beat the Oakland A's (28-25) 9-4 at Fenway Park.

The opener of a three-game series was a strange one as it was delayed 20 minutes by rain and then John Lackey struggled out of the gate, leading to a 4-0 Oakland lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Daric Barton hit a two-run homer in the third while Jack Cust (RBI single) and Mark Ellis (RBI double) gave the A's the 4-0 advantage in the fifth.

Adrian Beltre (3 hits) started the comeback with a three-run bomb off Gio Gonzalez in the bottom of the fifth. It was a tie game as a run scored on Dustin Pedroia's double play ball in the sixth then Martinez put the Sox ahead for good with a ground rule double later in the inning.

Bill Hall had an RBI triple in the seventh then Boston tacked on three more in the eighth with Martinez smacking another ground rule RBI double, an RBI single by Kevin Youkilis and an RBI single by J.D. Drew.

Lackey improved to 6-3 but in his six innings, he gave up four earned runs on twelve hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The bullpen work of Manny Delcarmen (7th), Daniel Bard (8th) and Joe Nelson (8th) was stellar as they combined for three scoreless innings, only one walk and three strikeouts.

Things figure to slow to a crawl tonight as the oft-injured Ben Sheets takes on Dice-K.

The Sox kindly ask for some attention

Most had already written off the 2010 Boston Red Sox but take a look at who's the hottest team in baseball: that very same team that looked done in early May.

Boston (27-21) just finished what has to be one of the toughest 13 game stretches for any team this season with a 9-4 mark. Very impressive indeed and they capped it off with a 11-3 destruction of the Tampa Bay Rays (32-15) last night at Tropicana Field.

After the Rays-MLB's best team-had swept the Sox in April at Fenway, Boston repaid it with a sweep (albeit three games instead of four) of their own.

Outstanding starting pitching has been the crux of the upswing but last night, Adrian Beltre was the story with a career-high 6 RBI game. He had a solo homer (in the 2nd), a three-run bomb (off one knee, in the 3rd) and a two-run triple in the ninth.

John Lackey (5-3) outpitched Matt Garza (5-3) with 6.1 innings of work. He worked around eight hits and two earned runs with four walks and a strikeout. Garza, normally a Sox killer, wasn't his usual self as he gave up six earned runs on five hits with five walks and three strikeouts in five innings.

Outside of the team's recent great play, the other revelation has been David Ortiz. The guy that was written off by everyone in the world except Terry Francona has delivered, slugging nine homers in May. He was moved back to the number 3 spot last night (with Victor Martinez nursing a big toe injury) and he smacked a two-run homer in the fifth.

After finally getting back to third place in the AL East, Boston needs to continue to play well and for now, the schedule eases up significantly with home games against the Royals and A's followed by trips to Baltimore and Cleveland.

Adrian Beltre, steroid-free yet finding his stroke

What has happened to the Los Angeles Angels? The darlings of the AL West look awful, they lost their third straight (and sixth overall) to the Boston Red Sox last night 3-1 at Fenway Park.

Former Angels pitcher John Lackey faced his old mates and he clearly paid attention on his off-days, he wasn't just dipping and checking out women in the stands.

He went seven innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. It was his fifth quality start in six starts this season and he improved to 3-1.

It's a little early to hand him the AL comeback player of the year award but Sox (14-14) third baseman Adrian Beltre is starting to catch fire at the plate while also settling down defensively and flashing the leather like the Gold Glover he's been.

Beltre gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single which drove in J.D. Drew. Beltre added a solo bomb (424 feet) in the eighth off Angels (12-17) closer Brian Fuentes, who was getting some work.

Joel Pineiro (2-4), who was on the Red Sox for a hot second a few seasons ago, pitched well in defeat. He gave up two earned runs in six innings on eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

His biggest mistake was a meatball that ice cold David Ortiz hit over the Monster in the fourth for a solo home run. Ortiz also had a single and a walk, frontpage news for him since he's in the biggest slump of his life.

LA only had two hits in the game and one was a solo homer by third baseman Brandon Wood in the fifth.

Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts and Jonathan Papelbon had a clean ninth for his eighth save (in eight chances).

The Sox look for the four-game sweep tonight as Dice-K takes the mound vs. Scott Kazmir. Bring a pillow if you're going to the game, it could take six hours.