Don't think, just throw Dice-K

Can we all agree that Daisuke Matsuzaka is the most unpredictable player in baseball, this side of Milton Bradley (who is a lunatic)?

After nearly no-hitting the Phillies two weeks ago, he walked eight against the Royals in his next start.

Last night began with another roller coaster first inning for Matsuzaka as he gave up three runs to the A's. However, he settled down enough to lead the Red Sox to a 6-4 win over Oakland at Fenway.

Ryan Sweeney had an RBI double and Kurt Suzuki blasted a two-run homer into the Monster seats before Dice-K decided to start pitching. From there, he went almost seven innings (6.2), giving up just those three earned runs on ten hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. He improved to 4.2 with an ERA of 5.49.

For the second straight night, Boston (31-23) rallied against Oakland (28-26). It also marked their fourth win in a row.

Kevin Youkilis drew the Sox closer with a two-run single in the bottom of the first off A's starter Ben Sheets (2-4).

David Ortiz continued to tear it up, cranking a two-run shot down the right field line and around Pesky's Pole to put Boston up 4-3 in the fifth.

Sheets was out after six innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Dustin Pedroia added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI double which scored Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 runs, RBI).

Scutaro did his part with an RBI single in the eighth which scored Bill Hall.

After four outs (14 of 16 pitches for strikes) by Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon gave up a solo homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the ninth but he recovered get his 13th save of the season.

The Sox look for the sweep this afternoon as Tim Wakefield takes the mound against young lefty Brett Anderson, who is sneaky good.

Dice-K, the best five inning pitcher I know

It only took until the start of June but Dice-K finally got his first win of the season in last night's 5-1 decision over the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Sure I should be easy on Matsuzaka (1-3), he did miss some time on the DL but other than that, he had been terrible.

Last night, he went five innings, allowing one run on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. In a sign that Dice-K might be feeling like himself again, he put a bunch of runners on but somehow stranded them.

The Red Sox (30-22) won their second in a row as they did enough against Tigers (28-22) rookie pitcher Rick Porcello.

Boston jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the first when J.D. Drew (2 hits, run) singled home Dustin Pedroia (hit, walk).

Stud Miguel Cabrera singled in Clete Thomas in the bottom of the first to temporarily tie it up for Detroit Rock City.

Jason Bay provided the winning hit as he hit a two-run shot to left off Porcello with Drew on base.

The Sox added two more in the sixth off reliever Ryan Perry. Pedroia walked with the bases loaded and Kevin Youkilis brought home a run when he was hit by a pitch.

Jonathan Papelbon made it interesting in a non-save appearance in the ninth. He gave up three straight hits then proceeded to strikeout the next three hitters. It took 35 pitches so he probably won't be available. Just like Terry Francona drew it up. Tito actually earned his 500th career win with Boston as well.

Josh Beckett goes tonight against struggling Armando Galarraga.

If you think the Rays were a fluke, you're an idiot (that probably calls WEEI every day)

Well what do you know, the Tampa Bay Rays took two of three in the season opening series at Fenway.

Yesterday afternoon, the Rays (2-1) won 4-3 behind three home runs and the strong pitching of Matt Garza (1-0).

The bat-shit crazy but extremely talented righty baffled the Sox (1-2) for seven innings: one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

On the other side, the mystery, wrapped inside an enigma, wrapped inside a Fenway Frank that is Daisuke Matsuzaka got his 2009 campaign off to a mediocre start.

Like most Americans, I could care less that the Dice man was the World Baseball Classic MVP for the second time in a row, just a few weeks ago. As much as ESPN will try to convince me otherwise, that competition means nothing. This is Matsuzaka's third season in MLB and I feel like I already know what to expect from him: a high-wire act that's usually successful but ultimately underwhelming long-term.

Dice-K (0-1) lasted 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Matt Joyce hit a solo homer in the second for Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria (3 hits)-who is easily one of the top young players in baseball-blasted a two-run bomb in the third and finally, backup catcher Shawn Riggens hit a solo shot in the fourth.

Once Matsuzaka exited, the Sox bullpen actually did a nice job keeping their team in the game while the bats slightly woke up.

Jason Bay's RBI triple knocked in Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 2 runs) to make it 4-1 in the sixth.

Mike Lowell doubled home Youk in the eighth to cut the lead to two (4-2).

Without question, the Rays' biggest weakness is at closer where fossilized relic Troy Percival still gets the call (for the next few weeks at least before he breaks a hip or throws out his back). Jason Varitek took him deep in the ninth and David Ortiz walked but Youk flew out to deep center to end it.

The Sox travel to Anaheim to face the Angels in a three game set. No clue what to expect from a team that was just struck by tragedy. Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on Wednesday night after starting for the team. Their game yesterday against the A's was cancelled.

The Rays ride the Dice-K roller coaster, puke Problem Child 2 style

When Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced that Daisuke Matsuzaka would be the ALCS game 1 starter, many Red Sox fans questioned the move. Why not start Jon Lester or Josh Beckett? I'll admit, that I didn't have much confidence in the Dice-Man going into tonight but he proved me and many of my fellow Masshole brethren wrong by spinning a gem.

Boston shutout Tampa Bay, 2-0 as Dice-K threw seven scoreless innings. In true Dice-K fashion, he never made it look easy yet he was spectacular. He walked the bases loaded in the first but got out of the jam. He had a no-hitter through six innings before Carl Crawford singled to lead off the seventh. In 7+ innings, Matsuzaka gave up four hits, walked four and struck out nine.

He ended up throwing 115 pitches and Francona made the curious decision to leave him in to start the eighth (instead of a reliever?) but was bailed out by Justin Masterson who got slumping rookie Evan Longoria to ground into an inning ending double play.

The Red Sox scored a run in the fifth as Jed Lowrie's sacrifice fly brought home Jason Bay. Kevin Youkilis (3 hits) added the key insurance RBI in the eighth as his shot to left was dropped by Crawford. Dustin Pedroia (run, hit, walk, stolen base) scored on Youkilis' double.

Tampa Bay starter James Shields was good. He lasted 7.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts for the save. He's now set a major league record by going 20-2/3 scoreless postseason innings to start his career.

Back to Francona's gutsy call on Dice-K that paid off. By starting Dice-K in game 1, Francona was stacking the deck (on normal rest) by pitching Josh Beckett in game 2 and Jon Lester back at Fenway in game 3. In essence, this was a game the Rays had to have since you'd have to bet that Beckett will only improve on his start vs. the Angels and Lester has been the most dominant starter in the playoffs this season.

I wouldn't call Saturday night a must-win for the Rays since they've defied so many expectations this season but it's mighty close. If they lose and/or if Beckett shakes off some of the rest, they're done. Lester in game 3 is almost a given. Scott Kazmir (who's struggled for most of the second half and in his start against the White Sox last week) gets the ball for Tampa at the Trop.

Sox end road trip and regular season road games on a high note

Another Red Sox game was completely forgotten on a Sunday afternoon as it was on at the same time as the Patriots' debacle against the Dolphins.

Unlike their football counterparts, the Sox (91-64) took care of business in their last road game of the regular season, shutting out the Blue Jays (83-73), 3-0.

Dice-K improved to 18-2. For real. He went seven innings, allowing only two hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. Hideki Okajima had a 1-2-3 eighth and Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 40th save of the season (the first time he's reached 40 in his career).

Boston's offense was all from David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. Pedroia knocked in Ellsbury with a sacrifice fly in the first. Ortiz hit a two-run bomb-his 22nd of the season-in the third which also scored Ellsbury. Pedroia added a hit and a steal while Ellsbury notched two doubles and a triple. He has seemingly found his way at the plate at just the right time.

Coupled with Tampa Bay's loss, the Sox are just 1.5 games back in the AL East (2 in the loss column) and their magic number is down to one in the Wild Card.

Cleveland comes to Fenway tonight for four games and then the regular season closes with the Yankees in town for three over the weekend. October baseball can't come soon enough.

Sox tied for AL East lead

The Tampa Bay Rays had been sitting pretty in first place in the AL East since July 24. Not so much anymore. The Red Sox smoked the Rays, 13-5, last night behind six home runs and the teams are now tied.

For a team that hadn't won in Tampa all year, the Red Sox (89-61) made last night a laugher pretty quickly which was appreciated with the Cowboys-Eagles game on Monday Night Football. Boston led 11-1 going into the bottom of the fourth and 13-1 going into the bottom of the sixth before the Rays (88-60) woke up.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, king of the fraud pitchers, continued to pile up impressive numbers despite less than masterpiece quality starts every time out. Five innings and 101 pitches later, Dice-K was 17-2, the most wins for a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB. He allowed one run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

The Sox' lineup pounded Scott Kazmir (11-7) and a host of Rays relievers for 11 hits and nine walks. David Ortiz (2 hits, 4 RBIs) started it off with a three-run bomb in the first, knocking in Coco Crisp (3 walks, 2 runs, hit) and Dustin Pedroia (run, hit, RBI, walk) who had both walked to begin the game. Kazmir was knocked out after three innings, allowing nine earned runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

Two batters later, Mike Lowell hit a solo shot. Tampa Bay got one back in the third when Akinori Iwamura hit a solo homer but Boston exploded for seven in the fourth. Bay got it going with a solo homer, Jason Varitek hit a two-run bomb which scored Jed Lowrie (3 walks), Pedroia knocked in Ellsbury with an RBI single, Crisp came home on Ortiz's fielder's choice and Kevin Youkilis brought home Ortiz with another homer.

Ellsbury homered in the fifth and Youkilis added an RBI double in the sixth, putting the Red Sox ahead 13-1. After that, the benches were emptied as both teams put in the scrubs that were called up when the rosters expanded.

Justin Ruggiano and Dan Johnson each had two-run dingers for Tampa Bay in the sixth and seventh respectively.

Tonight's the big night where the Sox can finally pull ahead in the AL East. Who better to take the ball than Josh Beckett (who should be able to reach 100 pitches after having abbreviated starts recently while he returned from injury)? Andy Sonnanstine tries to save the Rays' division hopes which are quickly fading.

a pride win for a young team

Barring any crazy collapses, the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Your defending World Champion Boston Red Sox should be there as well.

Last night, the Rays (86-57) refused to lose and survived to post one of the biggest wins in Rays history, 5-4 over the Red Sox (85-59) at Fenway.

Jason Bay hit a two-run rope over the Monster in the bottom of the eighth off Dan Wheeler, putting Boston up 4-3 going into the ninth. Jonathan Papelbon had to loosen up quickly but everything seemed to be aligning perfectly for the Red Sox. If they could hold on, they'd regain first place in the AL East for the first time since June 28.

Instead, the Rays rallied to tie it on Dan Johnson's pinch hit homer to right and took the lead on Dioner Navarro's RBI double which knocked in Fernando Perez. Papelbon (5-4), pitching for the third straight day, was ineffective and charged with the blown save, his fifth of the season.

Injury-prone, over-the-hill closer Troy Percival nailed down the final three outs for his 28th save of the season. Mark Kotsay led off the inning with a lenghty at-bat which led to a walk. Jacoby Ellsbury pinch ran. Jason Varitek struck out looking, David Ortiz gave it a ride to right (but this is not the Ortiz of '03-'07) but it fell just short for an out and Coco Crisp popped out to end the game. Ellsbury had stolen second (his 45th steal of the season) and advanced to third on a throwing error on the same play so all Coco had to do was get a hit.

The game was extremely slow, due to the two starting pitchers: Scott Kazmir and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Kazmir was a little more successful: six innings, two runs on five hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Dice-K went 5 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

Boston's bullpen before Papelbon was lights out. Javier Lopez threw a scoreless sixth, Manny Delcarmen got five outs and Hideki Okajima struck out the only batter he faced.

Kevin Youkilis doubled in Dustin Pedroia in the first, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. The Rays came back with two in the third. Dice-K hit Cliff Floyd with the bases loaded and Willie Aybar hit a sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, Jason Bartlett doubled which scored Gabe Gross. Mike Lowell homered in the bottom of the inning for the Red Sox, setting the stage for Bay's clutch homer.

Josh Beckett faces Andy Sonnanstine tonight in the series finale. After the Rays finally won its first game at Fenway this season, Boston will need a strong outing from its big game ace. Papelbon shouldn't be available so the late innings could be a nightmare for Boston.

The Orioles will be soon starring in Will Ferrell's latest garbage comedy

Down 4-0 going into the seventh inning yesterday afternoon at Fenway, the Red Sox were not in good shape. No worries though since they were facing the Baltimore Orioles, a team notorious for giving away games (particularly the ones that really matter in August, September, etc).

The fact that the suddenly charmed Sox (82-57) pulled it out, 5-4, was not surprising. The player that jump started Boston was also utterly predictable if you've been paying attention: Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia hit a solo homer into the Monster in the seventh-his 17th of the season. Later in the inning, Coco Crisp (2 hits, RBI walk), walked with the bases loaded to cut the Orioles lead in half.

Alex Cora (3 hits, 1 run) had an awesome defensive play in the eighth which saved a run as he gathered a groundball to short, turned and quickly fired to third where Jed Lowrie tagged out Aubrey Huff. It was a rough day for Huff (2 hits, run, steal) who earlier had a sure homer robbed by a leaping Jacoby Ellsbury in right field.

Mark Kotsay tied it up with a two-run triple to center in the eighth.

Dice-K had a rather pedestrian outing: four runs, four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. Javier Lopez pitched a scoreless seventh and Justin Masterson (5-4) threw two clean innings with two strikeouts. It's easy to see that should the Sox make the playoffs (which is looking more likely by the day), Masterson will be a very valuable piece. A reliable reliever outside of Papelbon, what a concept.

Cora had a single to lead off the ninth. Coco tried to bunt him over but luck was on the Red Sox' side as the ball rolled fair after looking like it would go foul. Cora and Crisp were on first and second. Ellsbury also looked to sacrifice the runners over but Orioles rookie reliever Jim Miller tossed the ball well wide of third, into left field. Cora walked home with the winning run.

The Rays have lost two in a row and the Sox have won their last three games so Boston sliced Tampa's AL East lead to three games. Boston is in control of the Wild Card, five games ahead of Minnesota and seven in front of the Yankees.

Today is an offday then the Sox begin three games in Texas against the playing-for-pride Rangers. Their offense is deadly as usual so the Sox will need to get some pitching in Texas. Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett (who's supposed to start tomorrow), Sean Casey and Kevin Youkilis are all scheduled to be back for the series which is great news. Everything seems to be coming together at the perfect time for the Red Sox.

Jed Lowrie, You Give Me the Business

With the injuries piling up lately, it hasn't been pretty but the Red Sox took care of business (baby) with a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings yesterday at the Rogers Centre.

Boston (75-55) won two of three in Toronto and has a day off today before playing its final regular season series at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto (67-63) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Daisuke Matsuzaka and with A.J. Burnett on the mound, the Blue Jays looked poised to take another one from the Red Sox.

It was a true team win as numerous guys on the Red Sox contributed in big ways. Jacoby Ellsbury ran into a wall to make a catch, Jason Bay made a leaping catch at the left field fence to end the 10th, Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run bomb, Jonathan Papelbon threw two scoreless innings, Manny Delcarmen recorded a save and Jed Lowrie put Boston up for good with a homer in the 11th inning.

On a day where Dice-K really needed to give his beleaguered bullpen some innings, he came through. Kinda. Matsuzaka lasted six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Now that Rich Harden is healthy (knock on wood) and racking up wins and double digit strikeout totals for the Cubs, Burnett has officially taken over the title of baseball's most hyped pitcher, who has never put it together for a full season. Believe it or not, for as good as Burnett's stuff is, he's never had more than 12 wins in a season.

He entered yesterday on a hot streak, with a career-high 16 wins to his name but his record didn't change. Burnett went seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

No hitter has killed the Red Sox as much this season as Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells (2 runs, 2 hits, 3 RBIs, walk). He added to his stats with a two-run homer in the first off Dice-K.

Pedroia put the Sox up 3-2 in the third with his 14th homer of the season. Boston's other hitter having a dream season, Kevin Youkilis, increased the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single later in the frame.

Lyle Overbay hit a solo homer in the fourth and the Jays tied it in the sixth on Wells' RBI double. Rod Barajas put Toronto up 5-4 but Matt Stairs was thrown out at home to end the inning.

Coco Crisp hit a solo homer in the seventh to tie it up and then Lowrie hit his first lefthanded homer (and second overall) in the majors, to put Boston up 6-5 in the 11th.

The Red Sox bullpen gets an A yesterday as they combined for five scoreless innings. Justin Masterson (who's settling down nicely in his new role) got four outs before Hideki Okajima (who has quietly turned his season around) got the last two outs of the eighth. Even in a tie game on the road, Papelbon went two innings and Delcarmen managed to nail down the save after walking the leadoff hitter.

The Rays lost in 10 innings yesterday to the White Sox so they're currently 4.5 games up on Boston. The Yankees are five games behind Boston and the Red Sox lead the Wild Card by one game.

Clearly, the three games against the Yankees could prove pivotal as the Sox could put the final nail in the Bombers' coffin by taking at least two games. Nothing is ever that easy though and with Tim Wakefield (fresh off the DL) and Paul Byrd scheduled to start the first two games, it could turn into batting practice quickly.

The Worst 15-2 Pitcher in MLB History

In 2008, Daisuke Matsuzaka defies all logic and reason of baseball. He leads the AL in walks and consistently has trouble getting out of the fifth or sixth inning, yet last night he won another game he probably didn't deserve, improving his record to 15-2 with a 2.77 E.R.A.

Boston (73-53) won 7-2 at Camden Yards as the Orioles (60-65) hot offense was once again shut down by a slew of Boston pitchers.

So how come Dice-K's Cy Young campaign as taken about as seriously as John McCain's presidential campaign? If you've seen more than one or two of his outings, you notice that there's absolutely no flow. He seems to pitch much better when there's runners on base. With the bases loaded this season, hitters are 0-for-14 against him. How is that possible?

Dice-K went five innings but still threw 105 pitches (60 strikes). He gave up two runs (both earned) on six hits with five walks and six strikeouts.

Big ups to the Sox bullpen which pieced together four scoreless innings between three guys. Javier Lopez had a clean sixth, Justin Masterson struck out two in his two innings and Manny Delcarmen (Dice-K junior in terms of putting guys on for fun) gave up two hits but no runs in the ninth.

Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera still can't beat the Red Sox as he dropped to 2-11 lifetime against Boston. Cabrera seems to have slightly harnessed his wildness from years past but he still is nothing special. Going in, a seasoned fan knew this would be a marathon and the teams didn't disappoint, clocking in at three hours and twenty one minutes.

Cabrera (8-8) gave up six runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two.

The Sox lineup continues to get the job done post-Manny, with Mike Lowell on the DL and J.D. Drew out with a typical fake injury. Most "experts" say that the Red Sox don't have a chance to win the World Series this year without Manny. That's false as even more important than the offense is the health of our pitchers which right now is shaky at best. They're pushing Josh Beckett's next start back because of soreness in his right arm. Yikes.

Leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits, two runs and two steals (his 39th and 40th of the season, the first Red Sox player since Otis Nixon in '94 to get 40). David Ortiz had two hits, two walks and an RBI. The Kevin Youkilis for MVP talk slowly increases each night as Youk went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs. Jason Varitek had a double and homer (second night in a row with a home run), proving that he's not quite dead yet at the plate. Must have been the divorce that was holding him down. Uh yeah.

Ortiz singled home Ellsbury in the first and Jason Bay drove in Dustin Pedroia with a sacrifice fly to give Boston a 2-0 lead.

Varitek homered to right in the second and then the Orioles responded with two in the third. Ramon Hernandez drove in Melvin Mora with a single and Luke Scott followed with an RBI single of his own.

Three runs in the fifth by the Sox put it away. Youkilis' two run jack made it 5-2 before Varitek drove in Bay with the RBI double.

Youkilis closed it out with an RBI single in the eighth which scored Ellsbury.

Tonight's series finale is a toss up as Clay Buchholz goes against Orioles rookie Chris Waters, making his fourth major league start. Should be another game determined by the bullpens as I can't see either of these guys lasting long.

Oh Texas Rangers, When Will You Learn?

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, I couldn't update the ol' blog the last few days and that was a bummer since the Sox' series against the Rangers was something straight out of RBI Baseball for SEGA. It was bat-shit crazy with ridiculous comebacks and a revolving door of ineffective pitchers.

The Sox took game one, 19-17 after being up ten runs in the first inning yet facing a deficit in the eighth inning. David Ortiz hit two three-run homers and Kevin Youkilis was the other star with two homers of his own.

Wednesday, Jon Lester pitched the Sox to an 8-4 win over the Rangers. Once again, Boston had a big lead (8-0) but the Rangers at least made it interesting before falling.

Finally, last night Boston (71-51) shutout the Rangers (61-61), 10-0 behind a typical Dice-K outing.

The Red Sox put up a nine-spot in the second vs. Tommy Hunter. The poor guy gave up nine runs on seven hits, recording only five outs.

Coco Crisp had an RBI single, Alex Cora was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and J.D. Drew had an RBI groundout to make it 3-0. Take a breath, Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 runs, RBI) had an RBI double, Ortiz blasted his third three-run bomb of the series, Jason Bay added an RBI single and Jed Lowrie (3 hits, run, RBI) finished the inning with an RBI double.

The Dice-Man as per usual for his starts, couldn't find the plate and yet the Rangers couldn't score any runs off him. It took 115 pitches to get through seven innings but when all was said and done, Dice-K is 14-2 with a 2.74 ERA. He gave up six hits, five walks and five strikeouts.

Could Dice-K win the Cy Young? Surprisingly yes. Cliff Lee is the frontrunner but since he's on a going-nowhere Indians team, his impressive season could fall apart at any point. Dice-K has seemed like about the 20th best pitcher in baseball this season but you can't argue with the numbers.

Pawtucket's Jeff Bailey was called up before the game and was rewarded with some garbage time action. He had an infield single in the eighth which scored Pedroia.

Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin each had scoreless frames to end the game.

Over the three games, the Red Sox suddenly smoking hot offense scored 37 runs off the beyond pathetic Ranger pitchers. Kevin Youkilis, Jed Lowrie (who already has more RBIs than Julio Lugo) and David Ortiz were the stars.

A completely opposite type of team comes to town tonight as the Toronto Blue Jays, they of no hitting and lots o' pitching, arrive for three games. The newest Sox pitcher Paul Byrd goes tonight in his Boston debut against Roy Halladay.

Props to Billy Beane for throwing away another season

It turns out that the 2008 Oakland Athletics as currently constructed are the cure for what ails you.

After a week of doom and gloom, with the Sox playing terribly against the Yankees and Angels before shipping away Manny Ramirez, everything is bright and sunny once again on Yawkey Way.

Boston won 5-2 yesterday at Fenway, sweeping the three games against the A's, who have traded Joe Blanton and Rich Harden earlier this season, all but surrendering the rest of the year.

Dice-K improved to 12-2 with a typical start. Six innings, two runs allowed on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He would have been gone anyway after 105 pitches but a short rain delay made that a moot point.

The Red Sox (64-48) offense was paced by Kevin Youkilis (2 hits, RBI), Jason Bay (2 hits, 2 runs), Jed Lowrie (run, 2-run triple, walk) and Coco Crisp (2 RBI sacrifice flys).

Dustin Pedroia led off the bottom of the first with a double. Youk followed with an RBI single and moved up to second on the throw.

Boston put three up in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Lowrie drove in Mike Lowell and Bay with a two-run triple to the triangle in center. Coco knocked in Lowrie with his first sacrifice fly.

The A's (53-57) made it slightly interesting in the fifth as Daric Barton hit a two-run homer to right off Matsuzaka.

Coco's second sac. fly in the sixth scored Bay with the last run of the game. It was a great first weekend for Bay at Fenway, he also threw out Mark Ellis at second, trying to stretch a single into a double.

Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless seventh, Manny Delcarmen worked a clean eighth and Jonathan Papelbon recorded a 1-2-3 ninth for his 31st save.

Boston heads out on the road for a seven game trip: three at Kansas City then four at the White Sox. Hopefully the Sox can continue their solid play against the Royals, another team that has little but pride to play for as we had into the dog days of Summer.

R.A. Dickey, one step closer to his true calling of porn actor

So far so good in the Emerald City as the Red Sox took game two vs. the Mariners, 4-2, last night at Safeco Field.

Another outstanding start by a Boston (59-43) pitcher was the story. Dice-K breezed through seven scoreless innings before the Mariners (38-62) scored twice in the eighth to make it competitive.

Matsuzaka (11-1) was economical with his pitches (throwing 99 total) and lasted 7.1 innings, giving up five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Since winning the MVP at the All-Star game last week, J.D. Drew had been M.I.A. until last night. He drove in the first two Sox runs with a solo homer off Seattle knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-5) in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Drew also had a single and a walk.

Mike Lowell (2 hits, walk) doubled in Dustin Pedroia in the fifth to make it 3-0 before Jed Lowrie (hit) knocked in Manny Ramirez with a sac fly of his own.
The Mariners cut it to 4-2 in the eighth with an RBI double by Ichiro (2 walks) and an RBI single by Jose Lopez that scored Ichiro.

Hideki Okajima was put into an important situation-for the first time in ages-and he got two outs to quiet the Seattle rally in the eighth.

Jonathan Papelbon had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save. He's the first Red Sox closer to record three consecutive thirty save seasons. He now has career 102 saves, third in Boston history behind the late Dick Radatz (104) and Bob Stanley (132).

A sweep will be tough to complete as the Sox have to face Mariners ace Felix Hernandez this afternoon in the series finale. Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz will try to give his team some additional momentum as they head home to face the Yankees and Angels.

Not One Minute Men

The Boston Red Sox made their first game in Houston's Minute Maid Park a memorable one, taking a 6-1 win over the Astros last night.

Dice-K was back to his early season top-notch self, improving to 9-1 after five scoreless innings. Matsuzaka gave up two hits with three walks and four strikeouts. He was yanked after 87 pitches as Terry Francona didn't want to stretch him out too much in his second start for the Sox after coming back from the DL.

Kevin Youkilis had four hits, the locked in Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with two runs, one walk and an RBI while J.D. Drew (three-run homer) and Mike Lowell (two-run single) had the most important swings of the game.

The Sox (50-32) jumped out to the 3-0 lead in the third with Drew's home run. Pedroia extended the advantage to 4-0 with an RBI single in the seventh which drove in Julio Lugo.

Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen each put up scoreless innings (the sixth and seventh respectively) before the increasingly shaky Hideki Okajima gave up two hits, including a solo home run to Houston's (37-43) Reggie Abercrombie.

Jonathan Papelbon came in to strike out Lance Berkman with a nasty splitter, stranding Miguel Tejada at first.

Lowell's two-run single gave the Sox some more breathing room in the ninth and Papelbon recorded the final three outs for his 24th save of the season.

Jon Lester-who's been in a groove lately-goes for the Red Sox tonight against the Astros' Brandon Backe.

Timlin has gotta go

Listen, I will always hold a special place in my heart for Mike Timlin and all he's meant for the Red Sox from 2003-2007. However, in his 17th season, at age 42 and with an ERA at 6.89 in 18 appearances this season, it's time for Timlin to call it a career. He's looked bad in previous seasons and returned to form but I think it finally might be over for him.

Timlin (2-3) gave up a two-out, walk-off hit to Jose Lopez (2 hits, RBI) in the bottom of the ninth last night as the Mariners won 4-3 at Safeco. The win snapped Seattle's season-high seven-game losing streak.

Of even more concern than Timlin's woes is the health of Dice-K. He left yesterday before the bottom of the fifth with "shoulder fatigue." Yikes, that's not exactly what you want to hear about your pitcher. He had gone four innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits with two strikeouts.

The Mariners (19-34) jumped ahead with two in the bottom of the first. Jose Vidro had an RBI on a fielder's choice and Raul Ibanez drove in Vidro with an RBI double.

Seattle scored once in the third after Ichiro (2 runs, 2 hits, walk, SB) got a hit, stole second and scored on Sean Casey's (3 hits) error.

Terry Francona and Julio Lugo were both ejected in the fifth for arguing balls and strikes.

The Sox (32-23) tied it in the sixth with one swing of the bat as Manny Ramirez hit a three-run jack, the 499th of his career. He also had an outfield assist at third base, with help from Mike Lowell who blocked the bag from Adrian Beltre.

An unlikely trio of David Aardsma, Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima combined to pitch four scoreless innings before Timlin's predictable finish.

Timlin walked Ichiro intentionally and gave up two hits while recording two outs.

Mariners closer J.J. Putz (2-2) had a scoreless ninth to earn the win.

Boston looks to take the series tonight as Tim Wakefield opposes Eric Bedard, who so far been a disappointment in Seattle.

Red Sox pull off something even more rare than a no-hitter

It's hard to believe that the Kansas City Royals (21-26) came into town playing good baseball since the Red Sox embarassed them in a four-game sweep.

In its seventh consecutive win, Boston (31-19) closed it out yesterday afternoon by hitting two grand slams-by J.D. Drew (2 for 4, 2 runs) and Mike Lowell (3 for 4, 3 runs). Something Red Sox teammates hadn't done at home since 1984. Bill Mueller (from both sides of the plate) actually hit two grand slams in a game at the Rangers in 2003.

Dice-K (8-0) was pretty terrible yet nobody can lose with that kind of run support. He went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with six walks and seven strikeouts. He threw a whopping 118 pitches. It also marked the third time already this season that Dice-K has walked six or more batters.

Jose Guillen (4 for 5, 3 runs, 3 RBIs) had an RBI single which scored Alex Gordon in the first but Drew hit his grand slam over the Monster in the bottom of the second off Royals starter Brian Bannister (4-6).

Kevin Youkilis (2 hits) added an RBI single in the third before Guillen and Miguel Olivo (3 for 5, 3 runs, 5 RBIs) both had RBI doubles in the fifth.

Facing Manny Ramirez with men on first and second, Royals manager Trey Hillamen elected to have Jimmy Gobble walk Ramirez. Lowell made them pay by crushing the grand slam over the Monster to give the Red Sox an 11-3 lead.

Sox relievers Craig Hansen (1 inning, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks) and David Aardsma (1 inning, 3 hits, 3 runs) did their best to make it interesting. Guillen had a solo home run off Hansen and Olivo had an RBI double. Finally, Olivio notched a three-run bomb off Aardsma.

Jonathan Papelbon was forced to come in the ninth and despite giving up two hits, he recorded his 14th save of the season.

Boston left after the game for another 10-game road trip. They go from Oakland to Seattle and then another series in Baltimore.

Who drinks Miller Lite anyway?

After a rain-out on Friday night, the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers played a day/night doubleheader yesterday at Fenway.

The Red Sox (26-19) snapped their four-game losing streak in style by taking game 1, 5-3 and game 2, 7-6.

Dice-K (7-0) became the second pitcher in the AL (Joe Saunders was the first) to reach seven wins and he's the first to do it while unbeaten.

He went 6.2 innings, giving up two runs (0 earned) on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. With two outs in the seventh, Kevin Youkilis (playing third) made an error on Ricky Weeks' hot-shot. Mike Cameron followed that with a two-run bomb.

The other run by the Brewers (20-23) came in the ninth when stud Ryan Braun (3 for 5) hit a rocket over the Monster off Jonathan Papelbon.

Three defensive changes paid huge dividends for the Sox in the ninth as Youk (over at first), Mike Lowell and Alex Cora all many solid plays to end it and give Pap his 12th save of the season.

J.D. Drew had a bases loaded walk in the first to put Boston up 1-0 before David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 runs) hit an opposite-field, three run homer off Jeff Suppan (2-3) in the second to give the Sox a 4-0 lead.

Jason Varitek and Sean Casey each had two hits in the win while Jacoby Ellsbury knocked in Varitek with a RBI double in the eighth.

In the nightcap, the Red Sox once again jumped on the Brewcrew early. Boston led 4-0 after three and 5-0 after five innings.

Mike Lowell accounted for the first four RBIs. He had a two-run double in the first and a two-run homer in the third.

No word if the teams were doing shots or chugging beers in the clubhouse between games as the Brewers committed four errors and the Red Sox had three in the second contest.

Corey Hart (2 hits, stolen base) hit a solo homer off Tim Wakefield in the sixth which started a Milwaukee rally. Ricky Weeks (2 hits) added a two-run single later in the inning to cut it to 5-3.

Mike Rivera's fielder's choice and Craig Counsell's two-run double gave the Brewers a 6-5 lead in the seventh.

David Ortiz had an RBI groundout in the home half of the seventh and Youk (2 hits, run, RBI) finished the scoring with an RBI single that plated Dustin Pedroia (2 runs, hit, stolen base).

Craig Hansen (1-0) was credited with the win despite giving up three runs (all unearned) on two hits.

With Pap unavailable and Okajima nursing a sore wrist, Javier Lopez (eighth) and Mike Timlin (ninth) teamed up to pitch two scoreless innings. It was Timlin's first save of the season.

Boston and Milwaukee wrap up their first interleague series this afternoon.

Resilient Red Sox Bounce Back after another Tough Loss

Just like last week against the Tigers, the Red Sox bounced back after a crushing defeat to win the next night in Minnesota.

Mike Lamb of all people had a two-run walk-off single against Jonathan Papelbon as the Twins won 7-5 on Friday night. Julio Lugo wasn't to blame on this one as Pap had two outs but walked Carlos Gomez with two outs then gave up the Lamb hit.

From the fifth inning on, the Sox led 6-5. Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis all had two hits in the loss.

Boof Bonser was touched up for six runs in four innings but four Twins relievers not named Joe Nathan teamed up for five scoreless frames.

Jon Lester had a pretty typical start for him: 5.1 innings, eight hits, five runs (3 earned), one walk, two strikeouts.

Saturday night was all about Dice-K (6-0) and home runs. Boston (24-15) slugged four solo shots en route to a 5-2 win.

Most surprisingly, neither David Ortiz nor Manny Ramirez had any of the homers. They were provided by Youk, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie (in probably his last game before he gets sent down to make room for Alex Cora) and Lowell.

The Dice man went seven innings, giving up six hits, two runs, three walks and seven strikeouts. His ERA is 2.45 and he only threw 96 pitches. Granted, he was a little overhyped coming to the Red Sox but I'll admit, the guy can pitch. A future rotation with him, Beckett, Buchholz, Lester, Masterson, etc. is rather attractive.

Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless eighth (after two scoreless innings on Friday) and Papelbon got two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth to earn his 11th save.

Ironically, Lowrie led the way with three hits and two runs while Pedroia, Lowell and Youk each had two hits again. Jason Varitek also notched two hits.

The Twins (18-17) were held to seven hits, three by Lamb and two from Justin Morneau (former MVP, what a joke).

Glen Perkins (0-1) was called up and didn't make a bad start: three runs in six innings but got the loss. Pat Neshek is out for the season so the Twins are missing a good reliever and luckily for the Sox, they have yet to see Nathan-one of the top closers in the game.

You're not going anywhere with no pitching

The Detroit Tigers (14-20) had a nightmarish, 0-7 start to the season. They recovered somewhat but now they've lost five in a row.

The Red Sox (22-13) conversely have won five in a row thanks to outstanding starting pitching.

Boston won 6-3 on Monday despite Dice-K's (5-0) eight walks while Tim Wakefield spun a gem last night as the Sox won 5-0. Dice-K couldn't find the plate and threw 108 pitches in five innings yet still picked up the win.

Craig Hanson (who was recalled Monday) gave up two runs and two walks in 1.2 innings.

On Monday, Mike Lowell had a big game (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) including a two-run homer off Jeremy Bonderman (2-3). Kevin Youkilis also added a two-run homer while David Ortiz (who is suddenly swinging a hot bat) hit a solo shot off Todd Jones in the ninth.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched a clean ninth for his 10th save of the season.

Wakefield (3-1) threw eight scoreless innngs of two-hit ball with six strikeouts. Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless ninth.

Manny (3 hits) and Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning. Kevin Youkilis had two doubles and Kevin Cash had three hits.

Uh Yes Please, Two Walk-Off Wins

After coming home saddled with a five-game losing streak, the Boston Red Sox (17-12) quickly made fans forget about that as they've won their last two games over the Toronto Blue Jays (11-17) in style: walk-off, ninth inning wins after pitcher's duels.

Tuesday night, Jon Lester and Roy Halladay were locked in a tight battle until Kevin Youkilis knocked in David Ortiz with the game-winning RBI single as the Red Sox won 1-0. Not lifting Ortiz for a pinch runner seemed questionable (even with only two guys on the bench) but Vernon Wells' bobble in center gave Papi just enough time to score.

Lester went eight innings, giving up only one hit, four walks and striking out six. Halladay (2-4) pitched his fourth straight complete game (and third straight loss), giving up five hits, one walk with six strikeouts.

Given that he only threw 97 pitches and who he was going up against, I'd say it was the best MLB start of Lester's short career.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to earn the win.

Last night Dice-K and Dustin McGowan thrilled Fenway with another low-scoring NL style game. Dice-K went seven innings, giving up two hits, two walks and four strikeouts. McGowan went 7.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Once again, Papelbon pitched a clean ninth thus earning the win.

David Ortiz broke the shutout with a solo home run in the seventh. Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios hit a sac. fly in the eighth to tie it up.

Jason Varitek was the hero this time as his RBI single knocked in Manny Ramirez, who promptly spiked his helmet after he got the safe call. Ironically, Brandon Moss had hit a single in the previous at-bat but pinch runner Jed Lowrie was tagged out in a close play at the plate.

The three-game series closes tonight as Tim Wakefield goes vs. A.J. Burnett.