The Red Sox Finally Spent Some Money Once Again & Signed A Legit Free Agent In Trevor Story

 

    Between the Patriots and Red Sox, it had been a very frustrating few weeks for fans as neither club had done much of anything to improve their team in free agency or via trades while many other teams loaded up and spent tons of money to improve their rosters. Thankfully that all changed today-at least for the Sox-as they reportedly signed shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal. In terms of both length and the amount of money, it's by far the most that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has given out since he came to Boston. It would also be the team's most years and money since they signed David Price. It always comes back to the Rays doesn't it whenever you mention Bloom? For a guy that I'm pretty sure should be reminded every day that he works for a big market club in the Red Sox and not the penny-pinching Rays, this was a welcome change from his usual habits of signing nobodies, injured and/or washed up guys because that best fits some goofy analytic models on his computer. 

    The obvious question with Story's signing is what happens with Xander Bogaerts? Both players have been exclusively shortstops in MLB so obviously one of them will have to try a new position (second base) starting now. It sounds like the newcomer will be the one to move over to his left in the infield which sounds scary except Story has been a Gold Glove finalist so unlike say Kyle Schwarber last season who had never played first base (and frankly shouldn't be allowed to play any position in the field), this transition figures to be much smoother. Boston's lineup was already pretty strong but the addition of a two-time All-Star and two-time slugger in the prime of his career (he's 29 years old) means that it will be even deeper and more powerful. 

    The only other major issue in my mind with this move is seeing how Story does outside of the Little League park that is known as Coors Field since he has only ever played for the Rockies in MLB. As you would expect, his numbers at home were much better than on the road: 95 HRs, 279 RBIs, .303 BA, .369 OBP & .603 SLG vs. 63 HRs, 171 RBIs, .241 BA, .310 OBP & .442 SLG. Then again, Fenway Park has always been known as a hitter's park as well particularly for right-handed guys with some pop in their bat. With that said, he should continue to be a star here because he's played on mostly crappy teams in Colorado (he's only appeared in five career playoff games) and for the Sox, he won't need to carry nearly as much of the load on a daily basis.

    Story has good size (6-foot-2, 213 pounds) and surprising speed with 100 career stolen bases. In six major league seasons, he has put together what I would count as two excellent campaigns-his All-Star years in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he hit .291/.348/.567 (tied career-high) with a career-best 37 HRs, 108 RBIs and 27 stolen bases (career-high) in 157 games. He played in 12 fewer games the following season but still managed to record some stellar statistics: .294 (career-high)/.363 (career-high)/.554 with 35 HRs, 85 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. 

    With Boston coming off a playoff run to the ALCS last fall and not to mention his huge paychecks, much will be expected of Story from day one. We won't know how he will be in a tough market like this until he goes through the inevitable prolonged slump. Let's hope that he is not similar to Price in that way in terms of a fragile ego and that he can power through any struggles that he might have getting acclimated to a new league, team and city. Overall, today was a great day for the Red Sox and easily the best that they have made us felt since last season ended. With Opening Day coming up soon on April 7, Bloom's next task has to be to find some more starting pitching, that appears to be their biggest hole at this juncture.

Former Red Sox 2018 World Series MVP (and future sports trivia answer) Steve Pearce Retires

Hello friends, how are you holding up during the Covid-19 pandemic? On a lighter note, do you remember baseball (or sports in general)? Other than what would have been MLB's opening day a few weeks ago (in late March which is always dumb) and the Fenway opener shortly after that, odds are that you haven't been thinking about the rebuilding Red Sox too much lately with more pressing matters in all of our daily lives. Still, hearing the news that utility/journeyman Steve Pearce had retired today from MLB at the age of 37 (poor guy had his birthday yesterday) took me away for a brief moment to his career highlight and basically the last great time with the Sox-the 2018 World Series victory vs. LA.

We don't have to review the myriad ways that baseball is trending towards irrelevance around the U.S. and especially with younger people but I'm willing to bet that many casual MLB fans outside of Boston have already forgotten that Pearce was the 2018 World Series MVP (and thankfully not that spoiled child David Price who was also nails in the gentleman's sweep of the Dodgers). The fact that a nobody like Pearce-who played for seven MLB teams including all five in the AL East-could capture such a big award is one of my favorite aspects of baseball. The inherent randomness of the game especially when it comes to best-of-five or best-of-seven playoff series is endearing and almost unheard of in the NBA or NHL. Granted, those leagues along with the NFL have plenty of unlikely heroes from time to time but to have that carry through for longer than a game or two only really happens in MLB.

Pearce wasn't a bad player (lifetime .254 hitter with 91 homers and 303 RBIs) but his body could never hold up for the rigors of the typical absurd 162-game regular season. In fact, due to injuries and lack of playing time, he only appeared in over 100 games just once in his entire 13-year MLB career (102 games in 2014 with Baltimore). Of course, we have to note that the Red Sox made a regrettable mistake signing him to a one-year deal worth $6.25 million dollars after his flash in the pan postseason run in 2018. Predictably, he only appeared in 29 games last season for Boston as surprise (!) they couldn't come anywhere close to the franchise-best 119 wins the year before (regular season + playoffs) and he battled numerous ailments.

He wasn't signed by anyone in the abbreviated spring training and with the coronavirus putting the 2020 MLB campaign in serious jeopardy barring any outside of the box idea coming to fruition (all games in Arizona and Florida or Japan), you can't blame Pearce for realizing that now is as good a time as any to officially call it quits. Haha let's not forget how grossly overpaid any half decent baseball player that sticks around as long as Pearce can be. For his professional career (this is where you grab the nearest barf bag), he made just under $30 million dollars ($29,435,000). I'd argue that it's harder to make it to MLB than any other professional sports league in America simply because of all the minor league levels you have to get through to reach the big leagues but maybe that should serve as a reminder to those with young boys to try and get them into baseball. Then again, that ship has probably already sailed and they prefer the excitement of basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse or hockey over the boring slog of baseball.

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Turns Out We Might Have Been Overestimating The Rays Just a Tad

Listen, it's not over by any means but oh boy, Red Sox fans have to be thrilled with how things have gone so far vs. the Rays. Tonight, Boston beat Tampa Bay 7-4 to take a commanding 2-0 lead (they've outscored them 19-6) in the ALDS and put the Rays on the brink of elimination. Game 3 is Monday night (6:07, TBS) at Tropicana Field as Clay Buchholz faces Alex Cobb.

David Ortiz hit a pair of solo homers (first time he's done that in his career in a playoff game, crazy right?) and David Price (0-1) was awful in what could have been his last start for Tampa Bay: 7+ innings, 7 earned runs on 9 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. John Lackey (1-0) wasn't great but unlike in the regular season, his teammates picked him up when he needed it (5.1 innings, 4 earned runs, 7 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks) with some ample run support.

In their first somewhat difficult task, the Red Sox bullpen collectively was superb. Craig Breslow got five outs without allowing a hit, Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless eighth and Koji Uehara earned his first save with a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts (all 11 pitches were strikes!).

Boston never trailed in Game 2 as they scored twice in the first inning on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly and Ortiz's first long ball. Delmon Young had a sacrifice fly in the second but the Red Sox answered with two more runs in the third on Jacoby Ellsbury's (3 hits, 3 runs, stolen base) RBI double and a groundout by Pedroia.

Stephen Drew extended the lead to 5-1 with an RBI triple in the fourth but James Loney (2 hits) knocked in a pair of runs in the fifth with an RBI double. Pedroia finished his sneaky big performance with an RBI double in the fifth. Scummy Yunel Escobar (2 hits, run) cut it to 6-4 on an RBI single in the sixth but Ortiz's second homer-in the eighth-gave Boston some breathing room not that the bullpen needed it.

The other three series in MLB are all tied 1-1 after two games so the Red Sox are the only team with a chance to sweep their first round opponent. It would be most excellent if they could knock the Rays out and then watch the Tigers and A's go five games. First things first, take care of business on Monday in Tampa Bay.

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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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David Price Throws Tampa Bay's Second Gem In 3 Days

There are plenty of reasons for Red Sox fans to fear the Rays: they are fearless, overachievers, energized, they always seem to have great chemistry and Joe Maddon is an outstanding manager. Perhaps foremost on that list is Matt Moore and David Price. When they're right, neither Boston nor almost any other team in the AL has the arms to match them. Coming two nights after Moore blanked the Red Sox (3-0), Price (5-5) almost matched it as he threw a 5-hitter in Tampa Bay's (60-42 overall, 26-23 away) 5-1 win vs. Boston (61-42 overall, 34-19 home).

The win for the Rays guaranteed at least a split in this pivotal series and more importantly, they can vault into first place in the AL East with a victory tomorrow night. Price's only mistake was a solo homer by Mike Napoli (his 14th of the season) over the Monster in the seventh. Other than that, he struck out four and didn't walk anyone in 97 economical pitches. It was his eighth career complete game and second against the Red Sox for the reigning AL Cy Young winner.

Felix Doubront (7-4) took the loss although it was the 13th straight start that he has allowed three runs or less meaning that he has really come into his own now. In 6.2 innings, he allowed three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks. On most nights with the way Boston scores runs, that's more than enough.

Wil Myers (2 hits, walk, stolen base) had a two-run single in the third and Luke Scott drove in Ben Zobrist (2 hits, stolen base) for a 3-0 lead. The Rays tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on RBI singles by James Loney (2 hits) and Jose Molina. Tampa Bay had 11 hits and scored five runs without the use of an extra base hit which is impressive.

Napoli also had a double and Shane Victorino contributed two singles so that pair of guys accounted for 80% (4/5) of Boston's hits.

John Lackey (7-7, 2.95 ERA) faces Jeremy Hellickson (9-3, 4.62 ERA) tomorrow (7:10, NESN) which favors the Red Sox given Lackey's top-notch performance this season.

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David Price's Gem Leads The Rays To Their 6th Straight Win, 5-2 Over Red Sox

Like Keith Richards or Lindsey Lohan, the Rays are impossible to kill. They simply never go away no matter what the long odds they might face. When the Red Sox left Tampa Bay last week, it looked like they had barely a sliver of hope to make the playoffs.

They are still three games back of the A's for the second wild card spot but Tampa Bay (84-70, 40-36 away) is doing all they can to stay in the race. Tonight, behind David Price's (19-5) fourth career complete game, the Rays beat the Red Sox (69-86, 34-46 home) 5-2 at Fenway Park in the series opener for their sixth straight win.

It was Price's second complete game of the season and it couldn't come at a better time for him or his team. He has to be the front-runner for his first AL Cy Young award. He allowed two earned runs on seven hits but struck out a season-high 13 and didn't walk anybody in 112 masterful pitches.

Clay Buchholz (11-8) couldn't match Price's sheer dominance. In six innings, he allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Jeff Keppinger (2 hits, 2 runs) had a three-run homer (his 8th of the season) in the second to stake Tampa Bay to a 3-0 lead. After Danny Valencia's RBI single in the home half of the second and a run scoring in the third on Price's balk, Boston was never heard from again. Jose Molina (2 hits) added a two-run single in the sixth to wrap it up for the offensively-challenged Rays.

Ben Zobrist (2 hits, double) and Evan Longoria (2 hits, run, walk) also had multiple hits in the win. Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, double) was the only Red Sox with more than one hit, not surprising since him and Cody Ross were the lone Opening Day starters left in the lineup. It was basically PawSox night at Fenway.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) is the final game at Fenway this season. After that, we won't see the Red Sox in town until next April which is probably the most appealing sentence I've ever written on this blog. Jon Lester (9-13) gets to put the cherry on top of his dogshit sundae of a season when he faces Alex Cobb (9-9).

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You Knew The Rays Wouldn't Go Down That Quietly, Especially Against The Red Sox

The Rays probably won't make the playoffs this season, since they are 5.5 games out of the second AL wild card with 12 games to go. However, it was nice of the Red Sox to leave them with a parting gift for their dozens of fans.

Boston (68-83, 35-40 away) led 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning tonight at Tropicana Field, poised to take three out of four from Tampa Bay (80-70, 41-34 home). That's when Andrew Bailey (1-1, 2nd blown save, 5 earned runs) completely imploded and the Rays rallied for a wild 7-4 walk-off win on B.J. Upton's (double) three-run homer (24th of the season) off Vicente Padilla.

Carlos Pena had cut it to 4-2 with an RBI single and Desmond Jennings (3 hits, double, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) tied it with a two-run single.

It had been a pitcher's duel with Clay Buchholz (7 shutout innings, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks) performing even better than AL Cy Young frontrunner David Price (7.1 innings, 3 earned runs, 8 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk).

This should have been remembered (mostly by me) as Jose Iglesia's big offensive output. After collecting just two hits in his first 37 at bats this season, he went 3 for 4 with two runs including a solo homer (the first of his MLB career) in the ninth which made it 4-1. It was nice to see something positive after all the bullshit he had to put up with from Bobby V's unfathomable move to pinch-hit for him mid-at bat. He deserved that.

Cody Ross broke the scoreless proceedings with an RBI double in the sixth. Ryan Lavarnway (2 for 4, run) added an RBI single in the frame and Mauro Gomez's (2 hits) RBI triple in the eighth gave Boston a 3-0 advantage.

Ben Zobrist got the Rays on the board with a sacrifice fly in the eighth that seemed innocent enough at the time.

Hallelujah, Boston comes back to Fenway for its final homestand of 2012. They play three against Baltimore (85-64, 2nd AL East, tied with Oakland for wild card lead) and then two against Tampa Bay after an off-day on Monday.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) Jon Lester (9-12) takes on Miguel Gonzalez (6-4). It is Aaron Cook (4-10) vs. Chris Tillman (8-2) on Saturday afternoon (1:10 p.m., NESN) then Felix Doubront (11-9) faces TBA on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN). The Orioles have been arguably the best story in MLB this season; they have pulled out countless extra innings and one-run contests. I don't know how they have made it happen but it's exciting to watch and it looks like they are a lock for October. Good for them.

UPDATE 9/21: Red Sox recalled pitchers Zach Stewart and Pedro Beato along with third baseman Danny Valenica from Pawtucket.

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Salty's 1st Career Walk-Off HR Gives Boston A Thrilling 3-2 Win Vs. Tampa Bay

I guess all we can surmise from tonight's final result is that the Boston Red Sox flourish the most when the pressure is not on them, namely in terms of viewing audiences.

Like most, I wasn't watching it live; I actually first noticed it on my stattracker for Yahoo fantasy baseball (on my laptop) and then Twitter but it counts just the same as the Red Sox (23-23, 10-12 home) beat the Rays (28-19, 11-12 away) 3-2 on a walk-off (1st of his career) two-run homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

It was the 10th comeback win for the Red Sox this season, a good sign that they might not be as average as their record suggests.

The pinch-hit bomb to right center (his 8th of the season) put Boston back at .500 (for the fourth time this season) while also causing the first blown save of the season for Rays closer Fernando Rodney (2-1), who had 15 saves in a row to start 2012.

It was a pitcher's duel as Josh Beckett and David Price both performed very well even though neither factored into the final decision. Price went seven innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Beckett also went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. He had 15 swinging strikes which has to be a season high.

As always, the only thing you can count on this season for Boston is their bullpen and tonight was no exception. Andrew Miller threw a clean eighth with a strikeout then Rich Hill (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and ended up getting the win.

The Red Sox broke the deadlock in the sixth on Will Middlebrooks's (2 hits) RBI single. The Rays scored both of their runs in the seventh on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Luke Scott.

Boston gets its fourth chance (5th if you count Opening Day) to go over .500 tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Clay Buchholz (4-2) takes on Jeremy Hellickson (4-1). It would be a shock if Buchholz is the one to get them there since he's been a complete mess basically all season despite somehow notching four fraudulent wins.

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Red Sox Roll Over The Rays In Home Opener But Ellsbury Got Seriously Hurt

Well this was one busy Opening Day at Fenway that potentially could have repercussions for a long time this season.

The Red Sox (2-5) scored eight runs in the eighth inning to put away the Tampa Bay Rays (4-3) in a 12-2 afternoon matinee. It was the eighth straight home opener that Boston has captured (a franchise record).

Josh Beckett (1-1) was excellent but that shouldn't be much of a surprise when you consider that he's 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA in his last six starts against Tampa Bay. He looked nothing like the chump that was throwing batting practice slop to the Tigers last Saturday. He went eight innings-he could have gone the whole way-allowing one run (earned) on five hits with one strikeout and one walk on an economical 94 pitches.

Boston put up 16 hits, 12 runs, 12 RBIs and six walks. The negative part which I think overshadowed everything else was that Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, run, RBI) left in the top of the fifth inning with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury. He slid into second base and Rays shortstop Reid Brignac landed awkwardly on Ellsbury with his right shoulder taking the brunt of the fall. He appeared to be in plenty of pain and as he walked off the field, he was holding his arm to his chest. Gulp.

David Price (1-1) pitched like a guy with an injury or something else on his mind. He only lasted three innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Fittingly against his former team, new Red Sox backup catcher Kelly Shoppach (Beckett's personal catcher?) led Boston with three runs, three hits, two RBIs and the first stolen base of his career that was completed like a belly flop. Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, run, RBI), Kevin Youkilis (3 RBIs, 2 hits, run) and David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 RBIs) were the other Red Sox with multiple hits.

Tampa Bay actually scored the first and last runs of the game but ironically, that's all they had. Jeff Keppinger had an RBI double in the second and Ben Zobrist (2 hits, 2 runs) crushed a solo homer in garbage time-ninth inning-against Mark Melancon. You read that right, Melancon has already been delegated to mop-up duty.

Boston scored three times in the third inning, one in the fourth then they exploded for eight in the eighth.

Tomorrow afternoon, Clay Buchholz takes on Jeremy Hellickson at 4:05 p.m. Just like Beckett, the Red Sox need Buchholz to show that they can count on him this season. Otherwise, they have a huge hole-No. 3 starter-to fill. Hellickson is expected to start even though he got hit in the head during batting practice yesterday. Who knew pitchers had it so tough shagging flies in the outfield?

UPDATE 4/14: Ellsbury could miss 6-8 weeks and he was placed on the 15-day DL today with a partially dislocated right shoulder. Pawtucket outfield Che-Hsuan Lin was called up to take his place on the 25-man roster.

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Hey Rays, Get Out Of Our City!

I already posted my love letter to the Tampa Bay Rays last night so I'm not going to write any more unnecessary platitudes and slurping.

There's no need to dress anything up when Tampa Bay (85-67) closed out its season series with the Boston Red Sox (87-65) this afternoon at Fenway Park with a 8-5 win.

The victory propelled the Rays to a 12-6 advantage over the Red Sox this season and most importantly, it put Tampa Bay just two games behind Boston with 10 games left in the 2011 regular season. If necessary, Game 163 would be at the Trop next week.

If you can think of something nice to say about a team that lost six of its last seven against a divisional foe, including a four-game sweep this weekend at home, I'd like to hear it. To say the Red Sox are struggling is the understatement of the month. A split of the four games probably would have buried the Rays but now, Boston has to fight until the end of the regular season.

David Price didn't figure into the decision as he left after four innings (he was hit in the chest by a line drive). He allowed two earned runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

As expected, Tim Wakefield (7-7) was no match for Price or Tampa Bay. Career win No. 201 had to wait as he went five fruitless innings. He allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Two throwing errors by third baseman Mike Aviles proved to be particularly costly.

Tampa Bay took any intrigue out of it early on an NFL Sunday and we'll thank them for that since the Patriots were playing at 4:15 p.m. Johnny Damon had an RBI double, Matt Joyce (3 hits, 3 RBIs) had an RBI single and Desmond Jennings (2 hits) had an RBI single all in the second inning.

Sean Rodriguez's sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 4-0 before Darnell McDonald got Boston on the board in the frame with a two-run double.

Things got sloppy in the fifth (a trend in Boston's death spiral) as Jennings scored on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's passed ball and Evan Longoria scored on Aviles' error.

Joyce's two-run single in the seventh put it out of reach at 8-2 in favor of Tampa Bay.

Aviles (2 hits) had a great series as he added a three-run bomb (his seventh of the season) in the seventh.

Joel Peralta got four outs (what a concept) to record his fifth save and his second in the last two contests.

So it's all come down to this: 10 more games to decide who gets the AL Wild Card. While the Rays are playing so much better at the moment, the Red Sox do have a distinct advantage schedule-wise.

Boston has four more games at home against the Orioles, three against the Yankees next weekend in the Bronx and then closes with three against Baltimore in Camden Yards. Tampa Bay has four in New York followed by three at home against Toronto and they end with three at the Trop vs. New York.

No rest for the weary as the Red Sox have a day-night doubleheader tomorrow with the O's. Kyle Weiland takes on Jeremy Guthrie at 1:05 p.m. and John Lackey faces Brian Matusz at 7:10 p.m. Two awful matchups in a season that is quickly dissolving into a complete debacle.

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Rays Hold Red Sox To Three Hits For Third Straight Game At Fenway Park

Well it's a good thing that the Tampa Bay Rays will likely miss the playoffs this season. I can say with a straight face that they pose a much bigger threat to the Boston Red Sox than the New York Yankees because of their stellar top of the rotation.

Buoyed by the third consecutive outstanding start by their pitchers, the Rays (66-56) blanked the Red Sox (74-48) 4-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park. It helped them take the series 2-1 and move to 6-5 against Boston so far this season (seven more meetings remain).

Boston was held to three hits in each of the three games against Tampa Bay yesterday (doubleheader) and today. That's the first time since 1974 that the Red Sox have been held to three hits three games in a row.

Following James Shields and Jeff Niemann's lead, David Price (11-10) completely shutdown Boston's lineup that is without David Ortiz (heel) for the next 10 days. Price went eight innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

It was a perfect day weather wise and a rare afternoon start but the fans that were lucky enough to get a ticket had to pay their debt by sitting through the usual torture of a John Lackey (11-9) start. By his terrible standards, he wasn't bad at all but Price vs. Lackey is a matchup Boston will never win.

In 6.2 innings, Lackey allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Ben Zobrist's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) ground out in the first scored Johnny Damon (2 hits) with Tampa Bay's first run. B.J. Upton hit a solo homer in the fourth, Evan Longoria followed suit with a solo bomb in the fifth and Zobrist rounded it out with an RBI double in the seventh.

The Royals did the Red Sox a favor by somehow beating the Yankees tonight in a game which Bruce Chen started. New York still leads Boston for first-place in the AL East by half a game.

After three days at home (three games in two days) including the off-day, the Red Sox go back on the road for one of their most difficult trips of the season: four in Kansas City followed by four in Texas.

Josh Beckett faces Luke Hochevar tomorrow night in a rematch of a game the Royals won 4-3 back on July 28 at Fenway, the finale of a four-game series split. After losing five of its last seven games and dropping out of first-place in the AL East while its offense has went missing, the Red Sox need to wake up. They want no part of the AL Wild Card and a trip to Texas in the ALDS.

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Red Sox put a bow on best nine-game road trip in 34 years

The Boston Red Sox return home from an extremely successful road trip, 8-1 over the nine games in New York, Toronto and Tampa Bay.

Last night, Boston (41-27) closed out the Rays (36-33) with a 4-2 win at Tropicana Field. The nine-game road trip was Boston's best in 34 years and they come into Fenway Park and a stretch of 15 interleague games having won 11 of their last 12 games.

The only negative things to come out of last night were the fact that Jed Lowrie is likely headed to the disabled list (not a huge deal) and Clay Buchholz's creaky back is acting up again (which could possibly shelve him).

Buchholz (6-3) was pitching well when he was forced to depart after five innings. He allowed one earned run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Rays starter-and one of the my favorite pro athletes on Twitter-David Price (7-6) continued his up and down season (trust me, I have him in Fantasy Baseball). He labored through five innings, throwing 106 pitches and allowing three earned runs on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

David Ortiz got the Red Sox on the board in the first with a bases-loaded walk. Darnell McDonald extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with an RBI single and then Dustin Pedroia drove him in with an RBI double.

Sam Fuld (2 hits), one of the only good things to ever come out of New Hampshire, had an RBI double in the third as Tampa Bay cut it to 3-1.

Casey Kotchman (2 hits) made it interesting with a solo home run off Alfredo Aceves in the sixth to make it 3-2 Boston.

Daniel Bard secured the hold with the last out in the seventh and a 1-2-3 eighth. Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits, 2 walks) gave Boston an insurance run in the ninth with his 14th homer of the season off Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Jonathan Papelbon gave up two hits to start the ninth but he recovered to get three straight outs (the last two on strikeouts) for his 13th save of the season.

The Milwaukee Brewers are coming to Boston for only the second time since they went to the National League in 1998 and I couldn't be more thrilled. The Brew Crew are one of baseball's best teams this year but they're never on national TV. Looking forward to seeing Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks and Co. up close.

Interleague play started out as a gimmick but I see it as a welcome diversion from the boring monotony of baseball's way too long regular season. After facing the Brewers, the San Diego Padres (Gonzalez's former team) come to Fenway. Then the Red Sox travel to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Houston. It also helps that Boston has the best record (97-50 since 2003) during interleague play in the last nine seasons.

This couldn't come at a better time since all the focus in New England is finally on the Red Sox after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night. It's going to take some time to adjust to how boring baseball is compared to playoff hockey (and basketball) but we've got all summer to get reacquainted.

Former Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum (who is sneaky good) opposes John Lackey tonight.

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Getting worse by the day

You can't win a pennant in April but you can lose one if you dig yourselves too deep of a hole.

The Boston Red Sox in 2011 are currently a case study to see how poorly they can start and still compete for the AL East title.

For the second time in a row, Jon Lester (0-1) pitched well enough to win but didn't since his teammates couldn't score him enough runs in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park last night.

Lester went seven innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Tampa Bay (3-8) ace David Price (1-2) was just a notch better going 7.1 innings and giving up five hits and two earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts.

Boston (2-9) has the worst record in MLB and they're living up to that billing by finding a million different ways to lose every game.

Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless eighth and Bobby Jenks threw a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout but the Red Sox couldn't get to Joel Paralta (1 out) or Kyle Farnsworth, who struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season.

Terry Francona loaded his lineup with righthanded bats to face Price and it paid off when Darnell McDonald hit a solo homer in the third for a 1-0 Boston lead.

Granite State folk hero Sam Fuld tied it up in the fifth with a ground out and Johnny Damon (2 hits) had the game-winning hit, a two-run double following Fuld in the fifth.

Jed Lowrie (2 hits) cut it to 3-2 with an RBI double in the sixth but that's all Boston could muster.

The series finale is scheduled for tonight with John Lackey facing James Shields but I doubt it happens since it's been pouring all day.

Don't know which is better for the Red Sox right now: to sit around for a day and here how bad they are or try to get a game in with Lackey pitching. Either way, not good options.

Is it time for the All-Star break yet?

Yikes, this is getting ugly. With the Triple A lineups the Red Sox are forced to trot out each night, they have no chance against anyone, particularly a good team like the Rays. Boston's hand is forced too because they don't really have many trade chips and not to mention there have so many needs (middle of the lineup bat, relievers) to fill.

Last night, Tampa Bay (51-33) swept the Sox (49-36) 6-4 at Tropicana Field as David Price became the first 12-game winner in the AL (probably solidifying that he'll start the All-Star game next week).

Price (12-4) went 7.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield fell to 3-7, lasting 5.2 innings but allowing six earned runs on four hits with six walks and three strikeouts.

Mercifully the Red Sox have an off-day today and then a three-game series in Toronto before they can regroup and hopefully return somebody next week when they start back up.

This was actually a game that Boston deserved to win but unfortunately they got in way too big a hole early. The Rays went up 2-0 in the fourth on Evan Longoria's solo homer and B.J. Upton's infield single. Tampa added three more in the fifth: Kelly Shoppach scored on a passed ball, Carlos Pena had an RBI single and a run scored on Sean Rodriguez's groundout.

David Ortiz started the ill-fated Sox comeback with an RBI double in the sixth. Carl Crawford answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth which turned out to be the deciding run.

Mike Cameron (3 hits) hit a solo homer in the seventh then a sacrifice fly in the ninth. That wacky Joe Maddon even had Matt Garza close out the Sox (since Rafael Soriano had worked four games in a row) and he nearly gave it away as Darnell McDonald (3 hits) hit an RBI double and Ortiz walked before Kevin Youkilis flew out to center to end it.

Are we looking at 2006 all over again?

As the Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Rays last night at Tropicana Field, moving their record there to 2-13 since the start of last season, you had to wonder, is Boston (62-44) about to have an epic collapse?

That might seem like a stretch for a team that is in control of the AL wild card and 18 games over .500 but anyone that has watched closely realizes that this is a very flawed squad.

Nobody outside of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester has stepped up; Tim Wakefield might return at the end of next week and Dice-K possibly in September (not holding my breath on that). Clay Buchholz, Brad Penny and John Smoltz are each almost automatic losses.

Penny (7-6) went six innings last night but gave up five runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa Bay (60-48) starter David Price (5-4) looked like the stud from last fall's playoffs. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Victor Martinez was a great addition but he can only do so much for a lineup that just doesn't have the juice it had in the first half of the season. Martinez was the only player from either team to have two hits, a double and a homer.

Jason Bay crushed a homer to left in the second to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead.

The Rays answered with Carlos Pena's two-run homer in the third and birthday boy Carl Crawford's (28) two-run blast in the third.

Martinez's solo shot in the sixth cut it to 4-2 but Penny gave up his third long ball of the night as bum Pat Burrell went deep for a 5-2 Tampa Bay advantage.

Every time the Sox scored, Tampa quickly responded. Jed Lowrie's groundout in the seventh made it 5-3 in the seventh but Jason Bartlett hit a solo homer off Manny Delcarmen.

Kevin Youkilis produced the last run with an RBI groundout in the eighth but Rays closer J.P. Howell struck out two in the ninth for his 12th save of the season.

The Sox travel to Yankee Stadium, the four-game series starts tonight and it should be a great barometer for where this team is going. New York has been the best team in baseball for months now, a far cry from their 0-8 early-season record against Boston.

New York is 2.5 games up on Boston and the Red Sox are just three games ahead of Tampa Bay. The Yankees are obviously going to win at least one game this series but the Red Sox need at least a split to show they're doing more than treading water.

John Smoltz pitches against Joba tonight, a complete mismatch if I've ever seen one. I think Boston's relievers are warming up as we speak.

It is the Rays' Year

The Tampa Bay Rays have been the best team in baseball all season (forget the Angels' impressive record, the AL West was a joke) so it seems only fitting that they're moving on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. The Rays clinched the trip with a nail-biting 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in game 7 of the ALCS at the Trop last night.

As a Sox fan, I'm obviously disappointed and went into the game thinking Boston would find a way to win since that's what they've done in recent big games but it wasn't to be. They lost to a better team, I don't hesitate to admit that. I'm sure a majority of simple-minded fanboys from New England and beyond won't be able to deal with this blow for a while but when you lose and there's nothing to gripe about, you have to let it go.

Matt Garza outdueled Jon Lester and Tampa Bays bullpen held the lead. Garza got off to a shaky start as he gave up a solo home run to Dustin Pedroia in the first but he settled down after that. In the biggest start of his career, Garza went seven innings, giving up just the one run on two hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon got all Tony LaRussa on everybody by using four relievers to get six outs but it worked. The headliner was stud David Price, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, who recorded the last four outs and the save. Price walked one and struck out three, leaving little doubt that the hard-throwing lefty will soon be one of the top pitchers in the AL and probably baseball.

In seven innings of work, Lester gave up three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. Lester was good but he had to be perfect in this game since the Sox lineup couldn't give him anything.

The Rays tied it in the fourth when Evan Longoria knocked in Carlos Pena with an RBI double.

Tampa Bay would take the lead for good in the fifth as Rocco Baldelli singled home Willy Aybar.

Aybar provided the play of the game as he hit a solo homer in the seventh off Lester that gave Tampa a 3-1 lead.

Boston had five walks but they couldn't deliver the big hits as they left 18 men on base. Hideki Okajima gave the Sox another clean inning, a 1-2-3 eighth.

Price came into the game with two outs in the eighth and struck out J.D. Drew looking with the bases loaded. He walked Jason Bay to lead off the ninth but stuck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek (no pinch hitter?). Jed Lowrie came up for Alex Cora and hit a hard grounder to second baseman Akinori Iwamura that took a sharp hop but Iwamura gloved it and stepped on second for the third and final out.

It's all too easy to be bummed out since the Red Sox fell short so close to another World Series appearance, where they would have had the chance to get two titles in a row. In all honesty, it shouldn't have gotten to that point. Tampa Bay dominated the first 4+ games in the series, the Sox had an amazing comeback then won game 6. Boston had too many injuries and guys in slumps to overcome a young, talented, hungry team like the Rays.

There's many questions to answer in the offseason but the Red Sox have nothing to hang their heads about. They went as far as this flawed team could take them.

World Series prediction: Rays in 6.