Carl Crawford, for the win!

I think it's time for Carl Crawford to move up in the Red Sox' lineup. He is finally ready to get out of the eighth spot hitter's purgatory. Haha although don't ask me where to put him, maybe fifth?

For the second time on the homestand, he had a walk-off hit to help Boston win. Last night it was an RBI double in the 11th that took care of the Minnesota Twins (12-21) at Fenway Park.

It let the Red Sox (17-18) end the season-high 11 game stay at home 6-5 with their third straight win over the Twins while inching them one game away from .500. Baby steps right?

Josh Beckett was outstanding, throwing seven scoreless innings but he wound up with the no-decision after Jonathan Papelbon blew the save opportunity in the eighth (his first of the season). Beckett allowed six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Hideki Okajima (1-0) was the unsung hero as he threw a career-high 42 pitches and managed to submit a scoreless 10th and 11th despite allowing two hits and walking two. He also struck out three.

Nick Blackburn was similarly good for Minnesota but he departed with a no-decision as well. He went 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run with three walks and five strikeouts.

Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) continued his excellent play with an RBI single in the fifth that scored Jason Varitek (2 hits) and gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Jason Kubel broke his bat but was able to get an RBI single off Papelbon in the eighth which plated Denard Span.

Crawford's RBI double in the 11th was off the Monster and rookie Jose Iglesias (pinch running for Jed Lowrie who walked) raced around and just beat the relay for the exciting win.

Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hit streak to 18 games with a single.

Boston hits the road for two in Toronto then their first visit to Yankee Stadium this season takes place this weekend.

Jon Lester goes up against on Kyle Drabek tonight at the Rogers Centre.

Okajima lets his stinkbomb speak for itself

Just when it appeared the Red Sox were gaining a sliver of momentum, winning the first two games in Seattle, it all came crashing down as they couldn't pull out a win in Lester's gem on Saturday night and yesterday afternoon the bullpen imploded for the millionth time this season.

Seattle (39-60) won 4-2, to earn a split in a series that Boston (55-44) simply had to have. Now, the Sox are eight games behind New York (goodnight) and five behind Tampa Bay for the wild card (keep dreaming). Ugh.

Yesterday's goat was Hideki Okajima (3-3), who had another terrible outing in a terrible season for him that's been chock full of them.

Dice-K had given his team the standard six inning outing: four hits, one run (earned), five walks, four strikeouts. Typical with Matsuzaka, he pitched out of trouble well (including a bases loaded, one out jam) but his high pitch count (110) cost his team since someone other than Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon had to enter the game.

Okajima entered with no outs and a runner on first in the eighth and promptly gave up five hits for two runs (both earned). You have to believe me that none of the balls were hard hit, two were bunt hits, but that doesn't matter at all. He compounded things by screwing up one of the bunts, he fielded Casey Kotchman's (3 hits) bunt, turned to third, hesitated then threw to first. Everybody was safe.

Jose Lopez (2 hits) gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single.

Kevin Youkilis (2 hits) tied it up for Boston with an RBI double in the fourth and ex-Mariner Adrian Beltre put the Red Sox ahead with an RBI single.

In the fateful eighth, Michael Saunders drove in two with a bloop single and Kotchman scored on Milton Bradley's bunt.

David Aardsma, another ex-Red Sox player, got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 18th save.

After a 3-4 stretch in Oakland and Seattle, the Sox wrap up their west coast trip with three in Anaheim against the Angels. Clay Buchholz takes on Joel Pineiro, former Sox bum.

Lackey nearly throws no-hitter, Sox almost suffer worst loss in years but end up winning in 13 innings

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Friday, July 23, 2010
Lackey nearly throws no-hitter, Sox almost suffer worst loss in years but end up winning in 13 innings


To nobody's surprise, John Lackey has largely been a disappointment for the Boston Red Sox so far this season.

Last night though, he was on and he nearly threw a no-hitter. Lackey went 7.2 innings before giving up a hit and left with a 6-1 lead after eight innings (2 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts). Game over right? Not so much with this car crash version of the Sox.

Boston (54-42) gave up five runs in the ninth to the awful Mariners (37-59) but somehow recovered to win 8-6 in 13 innings after Safeco Field thanks to Eric Patterson's two-run double.

Milton Bradley had walked, stolen second base, moved over on a grounder then scored in the second on a passed ball so Seattle had a 1-0 lead without a hit. It was crazy that they almost got no-hit after that.

Bill Hall gave Boston a 2-1 lead in the third with a two-run homer and David Ortiz (2 hits) drove in Marco Scutaro (2 hits, 2 RBIs) with an RBI single.

J.D. Drew added to the Red Sox tally with a two-run bomb in the sixth and Scutaro notched a solo shot in the seventh.

Manny Delcarmen completely melted down in the ninth against Seattle's pathetic lineup. Delcarmen gave up four runs (three earned), two hits and a walk; he didn't record an out.

Franklin Gutierrez cut it to 6-3 with a two-run homer and Casey Kotchman notched an RBI double. Jack Wilson grounded into a fielder's choice, allowing Bradley to score but then Hall threw away the relay to first and the tying run scored. With that, Jonathan Papelbon blew the save.

Hideki Okajima (3-2) pitched his best game of the year, getting two scoreless innings in the 11th and 12th, including wiggling out of a bases-loaded, one out jam in the 12th.

Ramon Ramirez pitched a clean 13th, with a strikeout to get his second save of the season.

So this game went from a revelation from Lackey, to the worst loss in years and then finally, an incredible win when it looked over.

Josh Beckett returns tonight and faces Jason Vargas, a quality lefty.

Jason and Jed Get it Done for BoSox

The ninth inning was once again the Red Sox' best friend last night in Cleveland, as they broke a tie game (3-3) with two runs in the ninth.

Hideki Okajima got a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for the save as the Red Sox (9-6) beat the Indians (5-9), 5-3.

Jed Lowrie made his major league debut, he played third base and collected his first career hit (a two-run single). He also had another RBI on a ground out.

Tim Wakefield started and had a good outing: six innings, seven hits, two runs (both earned), four walks and four strikeouts.

Cleveland starter Paul Byrd shut down the Sox, allowing just one run on six hits in six innings. He struck out six with no walks. He only threw 78 pitches so it was surprising that Eric Wedge yanked him so early when he was clearly effective.

David Aardsma (1-1) picked up his first win in a Red Sox uniform and it only took two pitches in the eighth.

Jason Varitek pinch hit and hit a solo home run in the ninth off Jensen Lewis before Kevin Youkilis (two hits) singled home Coco with the insurance run.

Boston goes to New York tonight for another of these dinky two-game series. Sox-Yankees in April, does it get any better?

A Manny For All Lands

It figures that Manny Ramirez seemed to be least effected by the change in scenery for the Red Sox season-opener in Japan. We've known for a long time that Manny is not from this planet.

Down 2-0 to the A's in the first then 4-3 going into the ninth, the Sox were bailed out by rookie Brandon Moss, who hit a tying home-run off closer Huston Street. Moss was a last minute addition to the lineup after J.D. Drew hurt his back in warmups (too easy).

That laid the groundwork for a crazy 10th. First, Manny added his second two-run double of the game (but thinking it was gone, he stood and admired it at home plate). Papelbon came on for the save but was shaky as the A's kept getting on. He lucked out when Emil Brown doubled but tried to advance to third. He was promptly gunned down.

Oakland's next batter got a hit (meaning Brown would have tied the game) but Papelbon eventually got Kaz Suzuki to ground out to end it.

Not surprisingly after the game, Manny was named MVP-which in Japan is accompanied by a check for a million yen (10,000 dollars). A man could get used to that.

Dice-K was brutal through two innings, needing 60 pitches to get the weak A's lineup out. He somewhat settled down, going five innings, giving up two runs, two hits, five walks and six strikeouts. He gave up a solo homer to Mark Ellis.

We'll give him a pass since it was opening day and the pressure he faced coming back to Japan was insane.

Dustin Pedroia-hitting leadoff-had two hits and Moss had two hits and two RBIs. The home run was the first of his major league career. Jacoby Ellsbury made a sweet catch in center in the eighth.

Oakland third baseman Jack Hannahan hit a two-run bomb off Kyle Snyder in the sixth, giving the lead back to the A's.

Hideki Okajima got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth before his old home fans.

The win was a nice, albeit strange way to start the 2008 season.