Red Sox Can't Beat David Price or Jerry Meals

In any sport, I hate to blame the refs/umpires/officials since I think it's a juvenile thing to do that's both lazy and petty. However, once in a while you have to acknowledge particularly awful calls. Tonight in a makeup game from last Thursday's rain out, Tampa Bay (63-43 overall, 29-24 away) beat Boston (63-44 overall, 34-20 home) 2-1 at Fenway Park. This put the Rays back on top in the AL East by a half game over the Red Sox.

David Price (6-5) was excellent for the second time in a week against the Red Sox: 7.1 innings, 1 earned run on 2 hits with 8 strikeouts. Felix Doubront's (7-5) old and bad habit of racking up pitches early crept back into his game as he only last five innings because he threw 104 pitches.

The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Sean Rodriguez's RBI double that scored Yunel Escobar (2 for 3). Wil Myers' (single, walk, stolen base) fielder's choice made it 2-0 in the following frame. Evan Longoria was 2 for 5 with a double and run.

Getting a rare start, Brandon Snyder cut it to 2-1 in the sixth inning with a sliced shot off Pesky's Pole in right. The controversial play happened in the eighth as Daniel Nava was called out on what would have been a sacrifice fly by Snyder. It was a bang bang play at the plate but replays showed that Nava's foot touched the plate before he was tagged. John Farrell was thrown out for arguing the bogus call which home plate umpire Jerry Meals later admitted was a mistake on his part. Nava also deserves some blame from the previous play when he should have scored a run on Stephen Drew's double to right.

Boston threatened in the ninth as Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, stole second base and eventually ended up at third base with Jose Iglesias (who pinch ran for David Ortiz) on second. Fernando Rodney struck out Mike Napoli to end it for his 26th save of the season.

Even though they lost on what should have been an off day, the Red Sox catch a break with six more games at Fenway during this homestand against teams from outside the AL East that they need to beat: 3 vs. Seattle (50-55, 3rd in AL West) and 3 vs. Arizona. Tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) Brandon Workman (0-1) faces Joe Saunders (9-9). On Wednesday (7:10, NESN) hours after the non-waiver trade deadline passes, John Lackey (7-8) takes on Hisashi Iwakuma (10-4). Finally, Thursday (7:10, NESN) Ryan Dempster (6-8) battles Felix Hernandez (11-4).


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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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John Lackey: Red Sox Ace, Wait What?

(ESPN's 30 for 30 voice) "What if I told you that John Lackey has been Boston's best pitcher for the last month and a half?" This extremely unlikely scenario has become the reality for the Red Sox (51-34 overall, 29-16 home) with Clay Buchholz out indefinitely due to his annual mysterious injury and Jon Lester unexpectedly struggling. Lackey (6-5) pitched his second gem in a row as Boston beat San Diego (40-44 overall, 15-26 away) 4-1 tonight at Fenway Park in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Lackey won his fourth straight decision as he went eight innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk. You know the shameless Red Sox honk media will be writing poems about Lackey while this run continues but he is turning into the main individual story (see: redemption) on a team full of overachievers.

The Red Sox improved to a season-high 17 games over .500 and they are 6-1 on this current homestand. Brandon Snyder-who?-had the biggest play of the game, a three-run double in the fourth which gave Boston a 3-0 lead. That came after a great nine-pitch at bat against Padres rookie pitcher Robbie Erlin (1-1). Jose Iglesias (2 hits) added an RBI single in the sixth before Jesus Guzman hit a solo homer in the seventh just over the Monster for San Diego's lone run.

Not counting Iglesias, three other Red Sox had multiple hits in the victory: Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, stolen base), David Ortiz (2 hits, double, run) and Jonny Gomes (2 hits, double, run) while Dustin Pedroia walked three times and stole a base. Former Red Sox great Pedro Ciriaco singled and stole two bases in his first game against Boston since getting traded to San Diego last month.

Joining Lackey, Snyder and Iglesias, the night's other star was Boston's closer Koji Uehara. Yes, I can't believe I just typed that sentence either. Uehara had a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts for his fifth save of the season (and fourth in a week).

Lester (8-4) faces Edinson Volquez (6-6) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) as Boston goes for their seventh win in their last eight games.

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Red Sox Are 1st AL Team To 50 Wins This Season, Thanks To Walk-Off Error By Blue Jays

Who knows if they'll keep it up the rest of the season but for now, we can reasonably conclude that things are going the Red Sox' way when it comes to wins and losses. Boston (50-34 overall, 28-16 home) beat Toronto (40-41 overall, 18-24 away) 5-4 at Fenway Park to take three of four in the series and keep the best record in the AL. This is only the fourth time in franchise history that they've reached 50 wins before July, the last time was in 2008.

The Red Sox concluded June as the first team in the American League to reach 50 wins and it happened in bizarre fashion since Shane Victorino's easy chopper to first baseman Josh Thole (a defensive sub for Adam Lind who left with back tightness) went under his glove and allowed pinch runner/journeyman Jonathan Diaz to score the winning run. Did I mention that Brandon Snyder (2 for 4) had a two-run double in the second for Boston? Or how about how Ryan Dempster (5.1 innings, 2 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks) and Craig Breslow wiggled out of a bases loaded no out jam in the sixth without allowing a run?

Ryan Lavarnway fittingly began the strange game with an ground-rule RBI double in the second. Toronto cut it to 3-2 in the fourth on Colby Rasmus' (2 hits) RBI single and a ground out by Maicer Izturis.

Jonny Gomes put Boston back up by two runs with an RBI double in the fifth. The Blue Jays tied it with solo homers for Jose Reyes in the seventh and Jose Bautista (3 hits) in the ninth which spoiled the fourth save in five days for Koji Uehara (1-0).

Daniel Nava was 2 for 4 with a run in the victory while Edwin Encarnacion (2 for 5 with run) and Rajai Davis (2 for 5 with run and stolen base) each had multiple hits in the loss.

Andrew Miller pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief for the Red Sox with a pair of strikeouts, his sixth hold of the season.

Boston gets tomorrow off before they wrap up the final series of this long and productive homestand (5-1) with an interleague matchup: three games against San Diego (40-42 overall, 3rd in NL West). John Lackey (5-5) faces rookie Robbie Erlin (1-0) on Tuesday (7:10, NESN), Jon Lester (8-4) is scheduled to take on Edinson Volquez (6-6) on Wednesday (7:10, NESN) and on the Fourth of July (1:35, NESN) rookie Allen Webster (0-2) gets the ball opposite Eric Stults (6-6).

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