Red Sox Should Have Paid Jonathan Papelbon, End Of Discussion

Jonathan Papelbon is a supreme bozo but more importantly, he's durable, consistent and he can play in a tough market. Any smart Red Sox fan appreciates what he did when he was here and we can't begrudge him getting paid by the Phillies while Boston didn't want to commit long-term after his rookie deal ran out.

Tonight was a reminder of what the Red Sox (32-21 overall, 17-12 home) have been missing since Papelbon left two winters ago, namely a good reliable closer. The Phillies (25-27 overall, 14-15 away) beat Boston 3-1 at Fenway Park behind Cliff Lee's (6-2) lights out performance and a 1-2-3 ninth by Papelbon for his 10th save of the season (during his first appearance at Fenway in an opposing uniform).

Lee (8 innings, 1 earned run, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks) absolutely cruised, Dustin Pedroia's RBI single in the first inning was his only mistake of the night. David Ortiz and Stephen Drew both hit long fly balls to center but each were tracked down by Ben Revere (2 hits, stolen base) before they could do any damage. If the Phillies don't improve by the trade deadline, there could be quite a market for Lee. Who wouldn't want a lefty that throws strikes, works quickly and has long outings almost every time he gets the ball?

Ryan Dempster (2-6) had three crappy starts in a row so even though he was charged with the loss, tonight's performance was definitely something to build on. Granted Philadelphia's offense is rather putrid. Dempster went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Michael Young hit a solo homer in the first over the Monster. Erik Kratz had an RBI single in the seventh then Domonic Brown added an insurance run in the ninth with a solo shot to right center off Junichi Tazawa.

After the game, reports came out that the Red Sox will recall outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. tomorrow and send reliever Alex Wilson back to Pawtucket. With goofy National League rules in effect in Philadelphia, Boston needs as many outfielders as they can get for double switches and all that jazz. Plus they were basically carrying an extra reliever or as I like to say, "anyone's better than Jonny Gomes."

Boston heads to Philly for two games at Citizens Bank Park beginning tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) with John Lackey (3-4) taking on Kyle Kendrick (4-3)-destined to be an instant classic pitching matchup for the ages.

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The Beat Goes On: Red Sox Clinch Another Series Win In Philadelphia

Even though they're in different leagues, the Red Sox and Phillies play basically every season during interleague play and Boston hadn't lost a series at Citizens Bank Park since 2003.

This season was no different as the Red Sox (20-21, 11-10 away) clinched the series (2-1) this afternoon with a 5-1 win over the Phillies (21-21, 10-11), who are really missing Ryan Howard and Chase Utley's big bats in their ravaged lineup.

Boston has won eight of their last 10 games so perhaps, now is the time they finally start putting things together and beating quality opponents. This series was nice but truthfully, Philadephia has been just as mediocre as Boston so I don't read too much into the final result.

Showing what a mess the Phillies offense is, Josh Beckett (4-4) was able to completely dominate them. The Texas Toughguy went 7.2 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. His stuff looked good today with 22 called strikes and 12 swinging strikes.

Before the game I felt this was a layup for Philadelphia with Cliff Lee (0-2) on the mound but I guess it was a classic case of a reverse lock. Lee went seven innings but he was hit hard: he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and a walk.

Mike Aviles (2 hits, 2 RBIs) was the unlikely offensive star of the weekend for the Red Sox, he homered in all three games, including leadoff shots last night and today (first guy to do that for Boston since Harry Hooper in 1913). Adrian Gonzalez had two hits and scored a run while Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit the third longest home run (466 feet) so far in MLB this season.

Aviles' leadoff homer in the first was his eighth of the season. He added an RBI single in the second before Salty's (7th of the season) moonshot to center in the third inning, a three-run jack.

Philly's lone run came in the eighth on Juan Pierre's sacrifice fly. On a day when Beckett was great and Lee was average, it only made sense (in bizarro world) that David Ortiz played very well defensively at first base. Vicente Padilla relieved Beckett and walked Hunter Pence to load the bases but retired Ty Wigginton on a grounder to second.

After getting humbled by the Baltimore Orioles (27-15, first place in the AL East) in a three-game sweep May 4-6 at Fenway, the Red Sox have a chance to exact some revenge as they travel to Camden Yards for a three-game set beginning tomorrow night.

Clay Buchholz (4-2) faces Tommy Hunter (2-2) tomorrow (7:05 p.m., NESN), Felix Doubront (4-1) gets Brian Matusz (3-4) on Tuesday night (7:05 p.m., NESN) and Daniel Bard (3-5) opposes Jake Arrieta (2-4) on Wednesday afternoon (12:35 p.m., NESN).

At 3-2 so far on this eight-game road trip, Boston has extra motivation since they finally get a day off (Beckett will probably shit his camo pants) on Thursday after 20 games in 20 days.

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Cliff Lee Is a Very Bad Man

The beginning of yesterday's "World Series preview" between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies was more like a prize fight.

In other words, it didn't live up to the hype as one side basically knocked out the other without really breaking a sweat which is precisely why I could give two shits about boxing (well that and the ridiculous pay per view prices).

Cliff Lee threw his third consecutive shutout (really) as the Phillies (50-30) rolled 5-0 over the Red Sox (45-33) at Citizens Bank Park.

Boston lost for the fifth time in its last six games, falling 1.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East while the Rays are creeping up behind them (only 1 game back). The team has scored only 14 runs in its last six games meaning that David Ortiz is likely to start at first base with Adrian Gonzalez in right field (haha).

Philadelphia extended their MLB-best record, including a ridiculous 31-13 clip at home, while staying 4.5 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East.

Lee (9-5) proved why he's the best left-hander in baseball and easily one of the top starting pitchers. He allowed only two hits with two walks and five strikeouts, throwing 112 pitches (71 for strikes).

Josh Beckett (6-3) couldn't match Lee's superb stuff as he went six innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.

The Phillies crushed a pair of two-run bombs off Beckett: one by rookie Domonic Brown in the second and another by Shane Victorino.

As if he didn't have enough highlights last night, Lee scored Brown in the fifth with a deep sacrifice fly. It reminded me of a Little League player that dominates in every way possible. He got a standing ovation for the RBI and earlier in the game when he almost beat out an infield hit. Mercy.

Tonight figures to be much longer (last night was two hours and 37 minutes) and ugly as John Lackey opposes Phillies rookie Vance Worley. This might be the old reverse lock where you know Lackey will get shelled but then he pitches a gem but I wouldn't count on that. I get the feeling that he'll got rocked and leave after a few innings, call me an optimist.

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The Red Sox are playing some decent ball

Busy times in New England. The weather has been amazing lately and there's been plenty of actions in the arenas, fields and war-rooms of our favorite teams.

For the reasons just outlined, it has been overshadowed by the Celtics' mediocrity, the Bruins' dominance and the Patriots' 2009 draft class but last night at Progressive Field (no longer Jacobs Field?), the Sox (13-6) won their 11th game in a row.

Everyone's new favorite player Jason Bay provided all the offense in the 3-1 win as he bashed a three-run bomb off Indians (7-13) closer Kerry Wood in the ninth.

He had three of Boston's eight total hits. David Ortiz added two hits although he's still looking for his first homer of the season.

2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield had his third straight outstanding start as he departed after seven scoreless innings. Manny Delcarmen (he of the 0.00 ERA) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Jonathan Papelbon was shaky in the ninth but recorded his fifth save of the season.

Mark DeRosa's RBI single in the ninth plate Shin-Soo Choo with the Indians' only run.

Boston looks to make it twelve in a row tonight as Brad Penny opposes Anthony Reyes.

For the fifth time in six years, the Red Sox will play in October

Not to get all Bill Simmons on you (my friends and dad are the coolest!) but I thought the text I received from my buddy last night perfectly summed up the Sox' playoff clincher: "Ortiz out for two months, Manny shipped off, Beckett hurt and not himself, Drew lost on August 7, Lowell fucked for much of the year, no depth in the bullpen....How are we going to the playoffs again??" The fact that my friend Will (from Belmont, MA) currently lives in Chicago, just proves how much of a fan that he is since he summed up the season better than I could have and I've been writing about them for months!

Boston (92-65) beat Cy Young favorite Cliff Lee (22-3; it was his first loss since July 6) and the Cleveland Indians (79-78) last night at Fenway, 5-4, to clinch a playoff spot.

The celebration may have been a bit over the top but as the past Wild Card winners have shown, if you can make the playoffs in baseball, you have as good a shot as any other team to advance deep into it and maybe even win the World Series. This Sox team has been held together by band aids and supporting players for the past few months but if Lowell and Drew can comeback, not to mention if Beckett can continue to rebound in his favorite time of year no less, Boston just might be celebrating another World Series title in a little over a month.

Kevin Youkilis (three walks) hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give his team a 2-0 lead. Cleveland scored four runs off Tim Wakefield in the fifth, to temporarily go up 4-3. Grady Sizemore had an RBI single, Jamey Carroll had an RBI groundout while Shin-Soo Cho and Jhonny Peralta added RBI doubles.

In the fifth, Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run) knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury (who extended his career high 14 game hit streak) and Coco Crisp. Jason Bay knocked in Pedroia with an RBI single that turned out to be the winning run.

Wakefield (10-11) wasn't great but he got the win after six innings of work. He allowed four earned runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

The Red Sox bullpen stepped up as Manny Delcarmen got two outs, Hideki Okajima made Victor Martinez pop up with the bases loaded and two outs to end the seventh. Justin Masterson recorded the first two outs in the eighth before running into trouble. No problem though as Jonathan Papelbon retired Carroll on his first pitch, stranding the bases loaded again. Papelbon struck out two in the ninth with some gas as the 1-2-3 inning gave him his 41st save of the season.