Red Sox Avoid 3-Game Sweep in Tampa Bay

You knew that at some point, the Red Sox (48-57 overall, 22-31 away) would stumble into another win maybe even before July ended. What perfect timing today as Boston beat Tampa Bay (51-54 overall, 24-20 home) 3-2 this afternoon at Tropicana Field in the series finale. The victory snapped Tampa Bay's 9-game win streak and their own five-game skid.

Allen Webster (1-0) made his 2014 Red Sox debut: 5.1 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits, 4 strikeouts and 5 walks. His location was off all game but Boston's bullpen bailed him out thanks to the work of Edward Mujica (2 outs), Andrew Miller (scoreless 7th), Junichi Tazawa (scoreless 8th w/2 Ks) and Koji Uehara (scoreless in 9th inning and he struck out of the side for his 21st save).

Tampa Bay's Chris Archer (6-6) was ok except for one big mistake: David Ortiz crushed a three-run bomb of him in the third inning for a 3-0 Red Sox advantage. It seems like every time Ortiz gets a hit, RBI or especially home run these days it's a new record and this was no different: it was his 25th homer of the season. I'm not going to delve too deeply in it since I think it's a moronic argument but I have to acknowledge that after the game, Archer was complaining about Ortiz flipping his bat after the homer. Here's a thought: make a better pitch. I'm so sick of the Rays and how much whining they do which is saying something for a baseball team.

Desmond Jennings hit a two-run double in the home half of the third but that would be the final time that either team scored a run. They combined for only 11 hits but Daniel Nava (2 for 4, walk, run) and Dustin Pedroia (2 for 3, walk, run, stolen base) both had good days at the plate. Oddly enough, the Red Sox won the first game of their just completed road trip and the last; it was those five games in between that proved to be so elusive.

Toronto won three of four vs. Boston to start the trip and now the Blue Jays (56-50 overall, 2nd in AL East) come to Fenway Park for three games (the final series before the trade deadline on Thursday). It's an interesting stretch as Boston then hosts the Yankees for three games and travels to St. Louis and Anaheim (I refuse to say LA)-both serious playoff contenders-for three games apiece.

Tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) it is Clay Buchholz (5-6) vs. R.A. Dickey (8-10), followed by Rubby De La Rosa (3-3) vs. Marcus Stroman (6-2) on Tuesday (7:10, NESN) and Jon Lester (10-7) vs. Mark Buehrle (10-7) on Wednesday (7:10, NESN). Those first two matchups occurred last week and Toronto won in each instance. Odds are that there will be at least one trade involving the Red Sox in the next few days as they continue to shuffle the deck. Reports have surfaced that they're looking at Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp which I'm all on board with. It's a weird position to be in as Boston tries to play spoiler against Toronto and to a lesser extent New York (since I don't think they can sustain a playoff push).

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Red Sox Have The Most Wins In MLB, Because America!

Today the Red Sox celebrated the Fourth of July exactly like our forefathers would want them to: by pummeling the hapless Padres 8-2 at scalding hot Fenway Park. With the win, Boston (53-34 overall, 31-16 home) swept the three-game series from San Diego (40-46 overall, 15-28 away), completed an impressive 8-1 homestand and head to the West Coast for a 10-game road trip heading into the All-Star break with the most wins in MLB (sorry Pirates).

There were many subplots in this victory for the Red Sox that could prove to be more important down the road later this season. Rookie Allen Webster (1-2) finally picked up his first career win in MLB: six innings, two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks. He will be in the rotation for at least a couple more turns so this should help his confidence. Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 3 runs, 14-game hitting streak) hit his first homer since April 7, haha seriously only his second of 2013. Last but not least, Andrew Bailey pitched a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts when Boston led 7-2. He might not close again this season but the Red Sox need him to be productive to help their bullpen survive the dog days of summer.

To move a season-high 19 games over .500, Boston had 18 hits. All nine guys in the lineup had hits and Brandon Snyder was the only one with just one hit but it was a solo homer (his 1st of the season) so he's forgiven. Shane Victorino was 2 for 4 with a double and run, Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a double, David Ortiz was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and a double, Mike Napoli was 2 for 5 with two runs and a double, Jonny Gomes was 2 for 4 with double and RBI, Ryan Lavarnway was 2 for 4 and Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with a double, run and RBI.

San Diego has lost six games in a row and it's not difficult to figure out why they were swept: they scored a grand total of four runs in the three games. Ouch babe. The Padres two run explosion today came on Chase Headley's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Jesus Guzman (3 for 3, double, walk).

Without question, these next 10 games are the toughest stretch of the season (so far) for the Red Sox: three at the Angels (40-44, 3rd in AL West), four at the Mariners (37-47, 4th in AL West) and three at the A's (50-36, 1st in AL West). Putting aside the fact that the Angels have been really disappointing again and the Mariners are awful as always, playing 10 games in a row on the other side of the country presents plenty of challenges.

Red Sox fans should get some rest since two games against the Angels, three against the Mariners and two against the A's will be 10:05 p.m. or 10:10 p.m. starts on the East Coast. Felix Doubront (4-3) faces C.J. Wilson (8-5) tomorrow night in Anaheim (10:05, NESN), Ryan Dempster (5-8) takes on TBA on Saturday night (10:05, NESN) then Boston gets the Sunday Night Baseball treatment (8, ESPN) as John Lackey (6-5) returns to face his former team and Jered Weaver (2-4)-storyline that they'll hit you over the head with alert!

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Koji Uehara Scoffs At Your Days Off As He Converts His Third Save In As Many Nights

Baseball seasons are so long that oftentimes you stumble into the right role for a player when it was only supposed to be a temporary solution. I don't want to get too ahead of myself here but by notching his third save in three games, I think that Koji Uehara looks very promising as a closer this season for the Red Sox. Boston (49-33 overall, 27-15 home) beat Toronto (39-40 overall, 17-23 away) 7-5 tonight at Fenway Park for their fourth straight win that put them a season-high 16 games over .500.

Staked to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, Red Sox rookie pitcher Allen Webster had everything lining up for his first MLB win. However, when he left after six innings the Blue Jays had cut it to 5-4 and Andrew Bailey (remember him?) allowed a solo homer to Edwin Encarnacion (2 for 3, 2 RBIs, walk) in the seventh that tied it at five and handed Webster a no-decision.

Boston manager John Farrell pushed all the right buttons against his former team as Jonny Gomes-pinch hitting for Daniel Nava (2 for 3, run)-came through with an RBI single in the seventh which put the Red Sox back on top for good. Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked with the bases loaded for the final margin.

Andrew Miller (1-2) got four outs in relief for his first win of 2013 then Uehara had his third consecutive clean ninth with two strikeouts for his fourth save of the season. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with a triple and run plus Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with a run and stolen base. New London CT native Rajai Davis was 2 for 4 with two stolen bases and a run for the Blue Jays.

Stephen Drew had a two-run triple in the second but he left in the fourth with a hamstring injury following a double. It is truly shocking to see a warrior like one of the Drew brothers get hurt. I'm sure he'll be right back in the lineup tomorrow. Mike Napoli had an RBI single in the third and Jacoby Ellsbury (2 for 5, run) knocked out overrated Josh Johnson with a two-run single in the fourth.

For once, Toronto got back into a game by playing small ball and not simply relying on homers. Jose Bautista and Encarnacion had RBI singles in the fifth while Adam Lind added a sacrifice fly. Maicer Izturis trimmed it to 5-4 Boston with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Boston and Toronto face each other tomorrow afternoon in a rare 4:05 p.m. start on NESN. Felix Doubront (4-3) takes on mighty Esmil Rogers (3-3) and people have been talking about this matchup for weeks, haha yeah right.

UPDATE 6/29: Drew isn't on the DL (yet) but the Red Sox called up Jonathan Diaz from Pawtucket. Diaz is in the lineup today at third base, making his MLB debut. To make room on the roster, Clayton Mortensen was designated for assignment.

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The Red Sox Finally Start To Learn From Their Mistakes Over The Last Few Years

If only there was a way the Dodgers could take John Lackey and deploy Bobby Valentine as a clubhouse attendant-a job that's much more his speed these days. Still, getting rid of $262.5 million owed to Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto means that Boston is finally admitting that they needed a big change in terms of players.

James Loney is an average MLB first baseman and who knows if right-hand pitchers Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa or outfielder Jerry Sands will pan out for the Red Sox at the Major League level. That's besides the point and obviously, on paper in terms of talent the players that the Red Sox gave up are on a whole other level than the Dodgers.

No, this was a salary dump as the stubborn Red Sox owners and front office were able to get rid of the team's biggest pain in the ass-Beckett. Gonzalez is a fine player but he proved in his year and a half here that he's not East Coast material. He's not a leader and he seems like a guy that only really cares about his personal numbers. If the team wins or loses, well that doesn't matter as much. Bottom line, he's not a winner. He is one of the most skilled first basemen in MLB but that doesn't make him clutch or likable for that matter. He never understood that we care way too much about the Red Sox and we overanalyze everything. He's from California so I'm sure he'll be comfortable in LA. The fans (when they show up) just want to be seen there and have fun, that's all they care about.

As for Crawford, his signing even more than Gonzalez in that ill-fated week in December of 2010 never made much sense. The Red Sox already had a center fielder and leadoff hitter-Jacoby Ellsbury-that is a better all-around player than Crawford. He was wildly overpaid and clearly pressed from day one to try and justify it. Unlike Beckett who is an asshole or Gonzalez who is clueless, Crawford is a decent guy. He wanted fans to like him and with his salary and lack of production, that was probably never going to happen. After last season's nightmare, he couldn't stay healthy this season. I honestly hope he is healthy next season with the Dodgers so he can get back to the player he used to be with the Rays.

What is there left to say about the Texas Toughguy? He morphed into a super villain, the likes of which I can never recall on the Boston sports scene. He kept digging himself into a deeper hole with his terrible performances capped off by ridiculous comments to the media and general surliness. In the last year, he has dragged down many teammates around him, notably Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. By shipping him out of town and hopefully getting rid of Lackey this winter, there is hope that the Red Sox will start to get part of their soul back.

Maybe the failure of these big-ticket players, along with Daisuke Matsuzaka whose career in Boston is quickly winding down, will make the Red Sox change how they evaluate free agents going forward. It is one thing to have good numbers in Tampa Bay, Florida (now Miami) or San Diego. Those markets are nothing like Boston and the inherit pressures you get by playing here. Boston now has plenty of money to use the next few offseasons. This was a huge step in the right direction, by also moving on from Lackey and Dice-K while (please God) not bringing back Bobby Valentine, the fans will return. We can live with some rebuilding if the team suddenly is likable easy to cheer for again.

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