It Can't Get Much Uglier Than This for the Red Sox

If you tried to draw up about the worst possible game in April for the Red Sox, Tuesday night's frozen contest at U.S. Cellular Park would do the trick. Chicago (8-6 overall, 6-2 home) beat Boston (5-9 overall, 3-5 away) 2-1 on a walk-off throwing error by Xander Bogaerts. Oh and it was in the 30s with a million empty seats at that big generic dump of a stadium. The Red Sox have now dropped eight of their last 11 games which is completely unacceptable particularly this early in the season.

More than his underachieving teammates (who combined for three total hits, three), Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy was really solid with his third straight quality start (6 innings, 1 earned, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts, 4 walks). The catch is that he's yet to record a decision as Boston continually struggles to put any runs on the scoreboard for any of their starting pitchers but especially him and Lester thus far.

White Sox rookie Erik Johnson (not the Avalanche defensemen) was even a little better than Peavy. He went 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. Chicago's bullpen combined for 2.1 innings broken up between Scott Downs (1 inning), Jake Petricka (2 outs), Donnie Veal (1 out) and Daniel Webb (last out which earned him the win).

Before the error, the only runs in the game came via home runs. Adam Dunn went deep against his former teammate and good pal Peavy in the second inning. Daniel Nava answered with a long blast, his second of the season, in the fourth inning. The problem with Boston's lineup is that they aren't doing anything right now. Dustin Pedroia is still out (although he did pinch run) and Mike Napoli-who's been their best hitter-gruesomely dislocated his finger trying to slide headfirst into second base (Little League coaches everywhere weep) in the ninth.

The Red Sox received a scoreless seventh from Junichi Tazawa but it was a certainty that they'd give up a run with the likes of Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop and Chris Capuano called on to keep it tied. In a way, it's kind of good that the game didn't go extra innings so the Red Sox didn't have to burn more of their bullpen than they had to.

Napoli was called day-to-day with his finger while Pedroia is reportedly coming back to full-time action tomorrow (8:10, NESN). Clay Buchholz (0-1) faces John Danks (1-0). It's hard to see Buchholz succeeding in crappy weather so get ready to watch him struggle. On second thought, the NHL playoffs start on Wednesday which is great news for the Red Sox: less people (myself included) will be focusing on them.

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All Good Things Must Come To An End: Red Sox & Jon Lester Edition

The Red Sox came into Chicago tonight having won an MLB-best five games in a row. They had Jon Lester on the mound against something called Dylan Axelrod. Of course the reverse lock was in effect as Boston (27-18 overall, 14-8 away) fell 6-4 to the White Sox (20-23 overall, 9-9 home) at US Cellular Field.

It was never really close or particularly interesting since Chicago jumped all over Lester (6-1) from the start. Adam Dunn hit a three-run bomb to right in the first inning, Alejandro De Aza had an RBI double and Alexei Ramirez added another RBI double (3 in a row for Chicago) for a 5-0 lead in the second.

Boston got on the board in the third via Jarrod Saltalamacchia's (2 hits) two-run homer (his fifth of the season) to left center but Dayan Viciedo tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single in the fifth. Middlebrooks atoned for his earlier error in a sense, although by then it was too late, with a two-run double in the seventh.

Lester's final line was ugly: six innings, six runs (five earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks. I guess that he was due for a loss. Axelrod (2-3) threw junk but it worked tonight: six innings, two earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk. White Sox manager Robin Ventura for some reason decided to take him out after only 83 pitches and he immediately paid for that curious decision since Matt Thornton served up Salty's homer.

The back end of Chicago's bullpen was solid though as Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless eighth for his 13th hold of the season and closer Addison Reed had a scoreless ninth with a strikeout to earn his 15th save of the season.

In the nightly injury to Shane Victorino segment, our favorite crippled Hawaiian left in the sixth inning with hamstring tightness. Listen, we all love the hard-nosed style he plays but it's clear that his body is completely breaking down on him. Oh well, at least the Red Sox signed him to a three-year deal. Ugh!

I'm not ready to fully devote my attention to baseball so I'm thrilled that the Bruins are still alive and playing well. Tomorrow night's Bruins-Rangers Game 3 will certainly distract me from the big Felix Doubront (3-1) vs. Jose Quintana (2-1) matchup (8:10 p.m., NESN) on the Southside of Chicago.

UPDATE 5/21: I forgot to mention yesterday that closer Andrew Bailey was activated and reliever Jose De La Torre was sent down to Pawtucket.

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Red Sox Fall in Series/Road Trip Finale To White Sox, 4-1

The Red Sox weren't able to complete a 7-0 road trip (or go over .500 for the first time this season) as they lost 4-1 to the White Sox this afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. Boston's six-game win streak was snapped while Chicago ended its five-game losing streak.

Still, 6-1 is perfectly acceptable for Boston (10-11, 7-6 away) who scored one run for the second game in a row. The Red Sox combined for seven hits between Saturday and Sunday so clearly it's time to get back to Fenway Park. Josh Beckett (2-3) pitched fine but he was no match for Gavin Floyd (2-3) who no-hit the Red Sox for 6.1 innings before Dustin Pedroia broke it up with a single.

The White Sox got all the runs they would need in the first as Alex Rios knocked in Alejando De Aza with an RBI single and Adam Dunn (5th of the season) hooked a two-run shot to right.

To his credit, Beckett didn't allow another run and lasted 6.2 innings. He threw an insane 128 pitches (tying a career high), allowing three earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Floyd is a decent pitcher but for some reason, he steps it up to another level when he faces the Red Sox. In 6.2 innings, he allowed one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts and a walk.

Cody Ross drove in Dustin Pedroia for the only Boston run, in the seventh but Chicago reliever Addison Reed was able to get Nick Punto to ground out with runners on first and third with two outs.

The Red Sox never threatened after that; Dayan Viciedo added an RBI single in the eighth off Junichi Tazawa but charged to Rich Hill (making his 2012 debut) and Matt Thornton retired the last four batters for his first save of the season.

After winning its first three games at Fenway this season, Boston lost its last five before they headed out of town following the Sunday rainout against the Yankees. Here's hoping that this homestand goes a little smoother and I don't see why it shouldn't since they play three against Oakland, an off-day then three against Baltimore. Both of those teams have overachieved so far, there's no way they'll keep this up (the Orioles particularly).

The A's (11-12) series begins tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) with Clay Buchholz (2-1) facing Tommy Milone (3-1). On Tuesday night aka May 1 (7:10 p.m., NESN), Felix Doubront (1-0) meets Jarrod Parker (0-0; making his third MLB start) and Daniel Bard (2-2) gets Brandon McCarthy (1-3) in the finale on Wednesday (7:10 p.m., NESN). Old friends Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp will return to face their former team and teammates.

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