If The Angels Make The Playoffs, They Owe The Red Sox Big-Time

On the off chance that the Angels make the playoffs this season, they owe the Red Sox something special this winter. Maybe they could buy some of the thousands of unsold Fenway bricks that must be in every closet on Yawkey Way.

Zach Stewart (1-3) made his Red Sox (62-69, 30-31 away) debut and it was an awful one as Boston lost 10-3 to Los Angeles (68-62, 35-29 home) tonight at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

The Angels improved to 5-0 against the Red Sox in 2012 as they sit 3.5 games behind the Orioles for the second Wild Card spot and 4.5 behind the A's who own the first Wild Card in the AL after tonight's action.

Stewart never really gave his team a chance since it was 9-1 in favor of Los Angeles by the third inning. In three miserable innings, he allowed nine earned runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and two home runs allowed. The final insult was that he was shipped back to Pawtucket after the loss and Daniel Bard is expected to be activated (don't ask me why) for tomorrow night's game as a reliever.

C.J. Wilson (10-9) earned his first win in over two months (June 26) after he went six innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

The Angels had 14 hits and the Red Sox had 11 but they were all singles. Los Angeles was 6 for 16 with runners in scoring position while Boston's Spring Training type lineup was 1 for 10 in that situation.

Torii Hunter (3 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, run) led the Angels' attack while Kendry Morales (2 for 4, HR, double, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, walk), Erick Aybar (2 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 runs, RBI), Chris Iannetta (2 for 4, 2 RBIs, run) and Howie Kendrick (2 hits) all had multiple hits in the easy victory.

Mauro Gomez (3 for 4, run), Mike Aviles (2 for 4) and Scott Podsednik (2 for 4, run, RBI) provided most of the offense for Boston.

Alfredo Aceves clearly isn't the Red Sox closer anymore since he was sent in for mopup duty tonight in the seventh and eighth inning (33 pitches). He didn't allow any runs but this came on the heels of his blown save last night.

The Angels will complete their series sweep (3-0) and season sweep (6-0) tomorrow night (10:05 p.m., NESN) as Jon Lester (8-10) faces Zack Greinke (2-2).

UPDATE 8/30: Bard was officially added to the 25-man roster (not sure why they didn't' wait until Saturday, when the rosters expand to 40) and Stewart was sent back to Pawtucket.

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Red Sox bullpen blows Opening Day and it wasn't even Papelbon's fault

Opening Day is one of baseball's special moments. The season begins anew and even the hopeless franchises have something to celebrate for a day.

Seeing your newest players in action is always a highlight and yesterday, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford couldn't have scripted much different debuts for the Boston Red Sox.

Gonzalez had two hits and three RBIs while Crawford was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as the Sox lost 9-5 to the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Neither starting pitcher did much as Jon Lester (5.1 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 3 home runs) and C.J. Wilson (5.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts) looked better suited for some extended Spring Training.

The most surprising aspect was that Boston's bullpen imploded and yet Jonathan Papelbon didn't even get a shot to screw it up.

David Ortiz tied it up at five with a solo shot off Darren Oliver in the eighth inning but Texas scored four times in the home half of the inning.

Josh Bard was charged with four earned runs as David Murphy started it off with a two-run double down the left field line that hit the chalk. Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton followed with RBI doubles of their own and it was game over.

Boston was not going to score one run let alone four off All-Star closer Neftali Feliz.

The Red Sox got off to a nice start with two unearned runs in their first at bats of the season. Rangers center fielder Julio Borbon dropped a routine fly ball and Kevin Youkilis took advantage by knocking in Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs, walk, steal) with an RBI double. Gonzalez kept the line moving with an RBI single in his first plate appearance for the Red Sox.

The defending AL champions got to work immediately and Ian Kinsler hit a lead-off homer against Lester in the bottom of the first, cutting it to 2-1.

Nelson Cruz (2 hits, 2 runs) tied it in the second with another solo homer.

Gonzalez came through once again with a timely hit, a two-run single in the fourth gave Boston a 4-2 lead.

Mike Napoli (2 hits, 2 runs) wrestled the lead back for the Rangers with a three-run bomb in the fourth inning (5-4 Rangers). Lester only allowed 14 home runs last season but he gave up three yesterday.

Boston's 1-6 in the lineup is lethal but it's clear that 7-9 is likely to be a black hole. Yesterday against the lefty Wilson, Mike Cameron, Jarrod Saltlamacchia and Marco Scutaro combined to go 0-for-11 with three strikeouts.

John Lackey goes for the Red Sox tonight and he'll be opposed by Colby Lewis. Needless to say, expect a high-scoring game.

The Texas Rangers are a legitimate World Series contender, fact

When you watch the AL East (baseball's best division) day in and day out, it's easy to overlook other AL divisions and especially the National League.

However, seeing quality teams like the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox allows you to know talent when you see it and this season, the Texas Rangers appear to have the right combination of pitching, great lineup and a closer to go deep into October.

The Rangers (67-49) took two out of three from the Sox (67-52) over the weekend, sealing it with yesterday afternoon's 7-3 win.

The temperature hovered around 100 degrees for each game and it was an easy metaphor to say that Boston's playoffs hopes continue to wilt as the summer quickly vanishes.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (8-4; 6.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts), who has quietly become Boston's third best starting pitcher, deserved a better fate on this scorcher of a day.

Dice-K left down 2-0 (sacrifice fly in the second and bunt single in the seventh) with two outs in the seventh but Manny Delcarmen allowed a three-run homer to Michael Young (2 hits) on his first pitch of his outing.

Down 5-0, the Red Sox decided to make it somewhat interesting. Marco Scutaro had an RBI double and Darnell McDonald hit a two-run homer which cut it to 5-3.

It wasn't enough though as Texas added two more in the eighth to close it out.

C.J. Wilson (11-5) beat Boston for the third time this season. He went 7.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

The big 10-game road trip fittingly ended 5-5 for the Red Sox. They're six games behind New York in the AL East and five games behind the Rays for the wild card. Neither of those teams are playing particularly well at the moment either but Boston has been unable to gain any ground.

Dustin Pedroia is returning to the lineup tomorrow (out since June 25) as the Sox kick off a nine-game homestand vs. a favorable trio of teams (Angels, Blue Jays, Mariners). Boston will not go anywhere unless they catch fire in the next week or so, time is running out.

Rangers take 3 of 4 at Fenway, send Sox on do or die West Coast swing

Even before they acquired ace Cliff Lee, I thought the Texas Rangers were finally a legitimate threat to take the sisters of the poor AL West and more importantly, make some noise in October.

They always have a formidable lineup and this year is no exception. Now with Lee, they boast one of the most underrated and deep pitching staffs in MLB.

It's no surprise that they took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend. What's surprising is the one game they lost was the one that Lee started on Saturday night. Granted, he went nine innings and the Sox tied it in the ninth before winning in 11 innings.

Yesterday it was former closer C.J. Wilson's turn to completely shutdown to Boston (52-40) as the Rangers (53-39) won 4-2.

Wilson (8-5) went 6.2 innings, striking out a career-high 10 as he gave up one earned run on three hits with five walks.

As of today, the Red Sox are 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL wild card and 6.5 games behind the Yankees. The good news is that Clay Buchholz is scheduled to start Wednesday in Oakland and Josh Beckett is set to return on Friday in Seattle. The bad news is that Boston's next 10 games are on the West Coast and 20 of their next 27 are away from the friendly confines of Fenway.

They are not going to catch New York period, end of discussion. I don't think they'll catch the Rays either but that's their only hope. The A's are average, the Mariners are terrible and the Angels are OK, so even though this trip will be a test of endurance, a .500 mark is certainly reasonable.

Sox ace Jon Lester (11-4) couldn't win yesterday despite eight solid innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Possible trading chip Michael Bowden made his first appearance of 2010 for Boston and it was a good one: a clean inning with two strikeouts. Time will tell if he's a solution in the bullpen but right now, he's a better option than Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Scott Atchison, Manny Delcarmen or Dustin Richardson.

Adrian Beltre gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double.

Texas scored two in the fourth on Nelson Cruz's (2 hits) double and an error by Beltre. The Rangers added a run in the fifth on a double steal by Elvis Andrus (3 hits) and Julio Borbon, the latter whom stole home. Finally, Ian Kinsler added an RBI single in the eighth when Andrus just beat the tag at home by Kevin Cash.

Mike Cameron hit a solo homer in the ninth off Rangers closer Nefalti Perez but he was able to work around that with two strikeouts for his 24th save of the season.

As if the 10:07 EST start time tonight in Oakland wasn't bad enough, Dice-K faces Ben Sheets. This could very likely set the record for longest game in MLB history after they faced each other earlier this season in a complete shitshow.

Red Sox forget how to score runs, win baseball games

Ok, what gives? Since returning from the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox have been terrible. They lost their fourth game in a row (first time that's happened in a year) last night, 4-2 to the host Texas Rangers.

For the most part, the pitching has been fine, it's the lack of timely hitting that's become an epidemic for the slumping Sox (55-38). To make matters worse, the Yankees are on fire and with their win last night, they took over first place in the AL East.

Hank Blalock gave Texas (51-41) a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run single off Josh Beckett.

Kevin Youkilis cut it to 2-1 with an RBI double in the sixth which scored Dustin Pedroia.

The Rangers couldn't do much against Beckett after the first inning but they kept chipping away and David Murphy had a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Josh Hamilton singled home Michael Young in the eighth.

Beckett (11-4) went all eight innings for Boston, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Rangers youngster Tommy Hunter (2-1) went 6.1 innings, allowing only one earned run on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

The Sox got one in the ninth off Rangers closer C.J. Wilson as Mike Lowell singled home Jason Bay (3 walks) but if you were watching the game, you knew there was zero chance they were coming back.

Wilson walked one and struck out one for his ninth save of the season.

Tim Wakefield went on the DL yesterday with a back strain, meaning Clay Buchholz is back up already and will pitch the series finale tonight. Let's hope the Texas native has better luck than Beckett did.

What about John Smoltz?

After losing 6-3 to the Texas Rangers last night at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the Boston Red Sox have to ask themselves, how much longer do they let the John Smoltz experiment play out?

He actually cruised through the first five innings last night and entered the bottom of the sixth with a 2-1 lead. As fast as you can say, deep in the heart of Texas, his outing was over as the Rangers (50-41) exploded for five runs in the inning, including three home runs.

Michael Young (3 hits, 2 runs; captain of the All-Underrated team) started it off with a solo bomb to left center. Hank Blalock (2 hits, 2 runs) singled home Josh Hamilton and then former Sox outfielder David Murphy (2 hits) golfed a fastball for a two-run homer. Finally, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who the Sox desperately wanted over the winter) hit the first pitch he saw out of the park.

Smoltz's (1-3) final line was 5.2 innings, six earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts. Terry Francona seemed to leave him in too long but then again his pitch count was still low and he had been great up until then.

With Clay Buchholz pitching great in Pawtucket (and good enough last Friday vs. Toronto), I have to think that Smoltz has a short leash. He's had a Hall of Fame career and from all reports, he's a nice veteran presence to have around but this isn't a Hollywood movie, it's a pennant race. The Red Sox can't afford to have Smoltz (and Brad Penny) being such liabilities as the season turns to August and September.

Boston (55-37) took a 1-0 lead in the first on David Ortiz's RBI double which scored Kevin Youkilis. Like Friday night in Toronto, Ortiz just missed a homer as his shot glanced off the top of the wall.

Jason Varitek made it 2-0 Sox in the fourth with an RBI double scoring J.D. Drew. Unfortunately, Mike Lowell was gunned down at the plate on the same play.

Kevin Millwood (9-7) prevailed in the battle of former Braves pitchers. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Youk knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single in the eighth but the Red Sox offense continued to sputter in the team's third straight loss. Ellsbury was moved back to the top of the lineup but Jason Bay, Varitek, Drew and Nick Green are all in big time slumps at the same time.

C.J. Wilson notched his eighth save for Texas as he got four outs including two strikeouts.

Texas native Josh Beckett looks to get his team back on track tonight.