Red Sox Fall a Season-High 10 Games Under .500, Drop Into AL East Basement

Like a car crash or late night porn on HBO, I have to admit that I can't help but intently watch the Red Sox even when their season becomes more and more over by the day. This afternoon, Boston (39-49 overall, 21-24 home) lost 7-6 to Baltimore (48-40 overall, 25-19 away) in 12 innings (5 hours and 5 minutes!) at Fenway Park. The Orioles clinched the series and went up nine games on the Red Sox who also find themselves in last place in the AL East after Tampa Bay won at Detroit.

How can the defending World Series champs that didn't lose anyone of real importance besides Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (and that's stretching it) get this bad seemingly overnight? The easiest explanation is that Boston's offense is terrible which is totally true. There are rare occasions like this though where they score enough runs but the pitching stinks. It sounds simple but they can never get those two facets going at the same time. Plus their defense is spotty and baserunning could be described as incredibly poor.

The O's built a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning before the Sox battled back to tie it in the home half of the frame. After four scoreless innings, J.J. Hardy (2 for 4, run, walk, 3 RBIs) knocked in David Lough-who had tripled-with the winning run. Brad Brach (4-0) cruised through three innings of relief to earn the win and closer Zach Britton worked around a single and struck out two for his 14th save of the season.

It's easy to dump on him since he's close to being washed up and had many clunkers this season but lately, Jake Peavy (6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) has been the victim of virtually no help from his teammates. On a good team, he could have some value particularly in the JV NL so look for him to get traded before the deadline (July 31).

Orioles youngster Kevin Gausman (5.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts) is still very raw but with his stuff, he has the potential to be a top of the line starter which is what Baltimore still lacks. The O's led 2-0 after an error on Xander Bogaerts (2 for 5, run, RBI) in the fourth and sacrifice fly by Caleb Joseph in the sixth inning.

David Ortiz (4 for 5 with double, walk, 2 RBIs) cut it to 2-1 with an RBI single in the sixth. Baltimore put up four runs in the seventh as Nelson Cruz (3 for 6, 2 runs, double) had an RBI single, Hardy's single scored two and Ryan Flaherty's (2 for 4, walk) RBI single made it 6-1 Orioles. All-Star Adam Jones was 2 for 5 with a run and walk in the win for Baltimore.

Surprisingly enough, David Ross' solo homer (his 5th of the season) got the rally started for Boston then Bogaerts, Daniel Nava, Ortiz and Napoli kept the line moving with RBI singles of their own. Dustin Pedroia can't get extra base hits anymore but his batting average is rapidly climbing (3 for 6) with all those singles. Jackie Bradley Jr. (2 for 4 with run, walk) might have put together his best game of the season as he made a spectacular diving catch at the wall then also threw out Manny Machado at home on another play (he would have been credited with a second assist if Ross could have held onto a throw).

Losses like this are brutal for many reasons, foremost on the list is that Boston burned six relievers so you know a few of them won't be available tomorrow namely Koji Uehara (2 scoreless innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout). Boston has two more series, seven games in total (4 at Fenway, 3 in Houston) before the All-Star break officially starts a week from tomorrow.

The White Sox (42-47, 4th in AL Central) visit with Clay Buchholz (3-4) facing rookie Scott Carroll (2-5) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN), Brandon Workman (1-2) gets John Danks (7-6) on Tuesday (7:10), most likely Rubby De La Rosa will be recalled to take on Chris Sale (8-1) Wednesday (7:10, NESN) then Jon Lester (9-7) meets Jose Quintana (5-7) on Thursday afternoon (4:05, NESN). Chicago is similarly blah but at least you can see Sale (who is up for the final AL All-Star spot) and slugger Jose Abreu who is tied for MLB lead with 27 home runs.

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If Only The Red Sox Could Play the Braves Every Week, They'd Be in Great Shape

I get that it was a small sample size and any team can have a bad series or week (ahem) but I still can't believe that Atlanta came into Monday's opener vs. Boston seven games over .500. The Braves' record (28-25 overall, 10-13 away) took a nose dive though as they lost two at Turner Field then came to Boston and promptly lost two more at Fenway Park. The Red Sox (24-29 overall, 12-17 home) wrapped up this strange four-game/two-city set with their fourth straight victory, 4-3.

Atlanta made three errors in the last two innings so it was only fitting that this ended with a walk-off error on second baseman Tommy La Stella who couldn't handle Chris Johnson's throw from third base (that wasn't that difficult at all). The ball skipped away, allowing Jackie Bradley Jr. to come around from second with the winning run after Xander Bogaerts (3 for 5, run, RBI, double) got a good piece of Craig Kimbrel's (0-1) pitch and grounded it sharply to third.

Before yesterday, the Red Sox hadn't won three consecutive games this season so it's nice to see them finally start to find their way. As usual, starting pitching has been the key as Jake Peavy went eight innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk. From there, Koji Uehara (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his first win of 2014.

I'm not Mike Minor (7 innings, 1 earned run, 7 hits, 3 strikeouts, 0 walks) but this was one that Atlanta truly choked away since they led 3-1 in the eighth after Freddie Freeman's RBI double. Setup man David Carpenter was charged with a pair of runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Bogaerts and A.J. Pierzynski (2 for 4). Kimbrel is normally the best closer in the National League but he hadn't worked in a while so the rust showed as he came on with two outs in the eighth and retired David Ross with the bases loaded but then couldn't get anyone out in the ninth.

Jason Heyward (2 for 5) handed the Braves a 1-0 lead in the third with a solo homer then Evan Gattis made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the fourth. Brock Holt (3 for 4, run, walk) cut it to 2-1 with an RBI double in the fifth that scored Ross.

For the second weekend in a row, the Red Sox square off with the Rays (23-31, 5th in AL East). The good news for Boston is that they can't possibly do any worse over these next three games at Fenway as they did last weekend (3-game sweep at Tropicana Field). Brandon Workman (0-0) faces David Price (4-4) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN), Rubby De La Rosa makes his 2014 Red Sox debut on Saturday night (7:15, Fox) vs. Jake Odorizzi (2-4) and Jon Lester (5-6) looks to bounce back on Sunday afternoon (1:35, NESN) vs. Erik Bedard (2-3).

Boston is 1.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay who come into town having lost three in a row. A good weekend by the Red Sox would push the Rays further back into last-place, where it looks like they'll remain all season in the mediocre AL East.

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Cue the Duckboats, Red Sox Finally Reach .500 Mark Again In 2014!

You know what they say, the ninth time is always the charm. Haha that's how many times it took the Red Sox to reach the .500 mark this season after they went 0-8 when they were one game under .500 following the first couple days. Boston (17-17 overall, 10-11 home) also picked up their first sweep of 2014 as they beat Cincinnati (15-18 overall, 7-11 away) 4-3 tonight at Fenway Park. Granted it was only a two-game set against a banged up and mediocre National League team but the Red Sox will take it and hopefully now they won't look back so they'll continue to climb the standings both in the AL East and AL as a whole.

It was a nice win for the home team for reasons other than what I just led with; they also rallied from two different deficits to come out on top. Skip Schumaker gave the Reds a 2-0 lead with a two-run bomb in the third. It was only the 26th home run of his 10-year MLB career.

Boston tied it in the sixth with a pair of runs on David Ortiz's (2 for 4) RBI single and Mike Napoli's (run, walk) RBI double. Both starting pitchers pitched pretty decently but neither factored into the decision: Mike Leake went seven innings for Cincinnati, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks while Jake Peavy went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks.

The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the seventh on a ground out but the Red Sox answered once again with two runs in the eighth. A.J. Pierzynski (2 for 3, walk) sliced a ground-rule RBI double into the right field stands by the Pesky Pole and Will Middlebrooks followed with one of the bigger hits of his young career-an RBI single.

Boston's bullpen was superb with every guy doing his job: Chris Capuano (1 out), Burke Badenhop (2 outs) and Craig Breslow (2-0; scoreless eighth) paved the way for Koji Uehara's first 1-2-3 inning since April 9. Oh by the way, his eighth save of the season was completed by striking out the side.

The Red Sox get their second off day in the last four days (when does that ever happen without a rain out?) before they go to Texas (17-17 overall, 3rd in AL West) for three this weekend then three in Minnesota (15-17 overall, 4th in AL Central). Boston's next game at Fenway isn't until Friday, May 16 vs. Detroit. Boston always seems to struggle in Texas but at least on paper their pitching matchups look OK: Clay Buchholz (2-2) vs. Yu Darvish (2-1) on Friday (8:05), Jon Lester (3-4) vs. Martin Perez (4-2) on Saturday (8:05, NESN) and John Lackey (4-2) takes on Robbie Ross (1-3) Sunday afternoon (3:05, NESN).

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It Can't Get Much Uglier Than This for the Red Sox

If you tried to draw up about the worst possible game in April for the Red Sox, Tuesday night's frozen contest at U.S. Cellular Park would do the trick. Chicago (8-6 overall, 6-2 home) beat Boston (5-9 overall, 3-5 away) 2-1 on a walk-off throwing error by Xander Bogaerts. Oh and it was in the 30s with a million empty seats at that big generic dump of a stadium. The Red Sox have now dropped eight of their last 11 games which is completely unacceptable particularly this early in the season.

More than his underachieving teammates (who combined for three total hits, three), Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy was really solid with his third straight quality start (6 innings, 1 earned, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts, 4 walks). The catch is that he's yet to record a decision as Boston continually struggles to put any runs on the scoreboard for any of their starting pitchers but especially him and Lester thus far.

White Sox rookie Erik Johnson (not the Avalanche defensemen) was even a little better than Peavy. He went 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. Chicago's bullpen combined for 2.1 innings broken up between Scott Downs (1 inning), Jake Petricka (2 outs), Donnie Veal (1 out) and Daniel Webb (last out which earned him the win).

Before the error, the only runs in the game came via home runs. Adam Dunn went deep against his former teammate and good pal Peavy in the second inning. Daniel Nava answered with a long blast, his second of the season, in the fourth inning. The problem with Boston's lineup is that they aren't doing anything right now. Dustin Pedroia is still out (although he did pinch run) and Mike Napoli-who's been their best hitter-gruesomely dislocated his finger trying to slide headfirst into second base (Little League coaches everywhere weep) in the ninth.

The Red Sox received a scoreless seventh from Junichi Tazawa but it was a certainty that they'd give up a run with the likes of Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop and Chris Capuano called on to keep it tied. In a way, it's kind of good that the game didn't go extra innings so the Red Sox didn't have to burn more of their bullpen than they had to.

Napoli was called day-to-day with his finger while Pedroia is reportedly coming back to full-time action tomorrow (8:10, NESN). Clay Buchholz (0-1) faces John Danks (1-0). It's hard to see Buchholz succeeding in crappy weather so get ready to watch him struggle. On second thought, the NHL playoffs start on Wednesday which is great news for the Red Sox: less people (myself included) will be focusing on them.

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He's Still the Same David Ortiz

It's hard to call any MLB game before say late August a must-win but it was clear that the Red Sox needed a jolt of life after scuffling through the first week plus of the 2014 regular season. Obviously David Ortiz (double) would be the one to deliver them out of their funk as he crushed a go-ahead three-run homer (his second roundtripper of the season) around Pesky's Pole in the eighth to spark a 4-2 win Boston this afternoon at Fenway Park vs. Texas.

The Red Sox (4-5 overall, 2-4 home) were able to take two of three from the Rangers (4-5 overall, 2-4 away) who are understandably a shell of themselves with the litany of injuries that they have already suffered in spring training and early on this season. Ortiz's usual heroics saved what had been a really solid outing by Jake Peavy (6.2 innings, 1 earned run, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts, 4 walks) that looked like it would be wasted.

Boston held a 1-0 lead on Dustin Pedroia's infield single and throwing error by the Rangers starting pitcher Robbie Ross in the third inning. Mitch Moreland tied it for Texas with a solo homer into a bullpen in the seventh then Alex Rios put them up 2-1 with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The teams combined for nine hits as reliever turned spot starter Ross was effectively wild (5.1 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, 6 walks).

Andrew Miller (1-0) allowed the run to Texas in the eighth but he still "earned" the win. Koji Uehara pitched a 1-2-3 ninth on 11 pitches including a strikeout for his second save of the young campaign.

Are you ready for Red Sox-Yankees? Me neither! However, we'll just have to deal with it as they meet four times this weekend in the Bronx. Sickly Clay Buchholz (0-0) opposes Michael Pineda (0-1) tomorrow night (7:05, NESN), Jon Lester (0-2) takes on anorexic C.C. Sabathia (1-1) on Friday night (7:05, NESN), John Lackey (2-0) gets Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) on Saturday afternoon (1:05, NESN) then Felix Doubront (1-1) wraps up what promises to be a very long series on Sunday night (8:05, ESPN) vs. Ivan Nova (1-1).

It is the first of 19 games against the Yankees over six series. This will be Boston's first look at Jacoby Ellsbury (assuming he can make it through the next few days healthy) in a New York uniform.

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Edward Mujica Picked the Right Day to Shit The Bed

If ever there was a day for the Red Sox to fall apart in the ninth inning with very few repercussions, this was it. You see today was the final celebration of the 2013 World Champions as Boston faced Milwaukee in its 2014 home opener at Fenway Park. It was a perfect celebration with the ring ceremony while Boston Marathon victims and the Boston firefighters that were killed last week were all honored as well.

A 2-2 game heading into the ninth turned into a 6-2 win for the Brewers (2-2) after they hung four runs on Edward Mujica in the ninth. In truth, the Red Sox (2-2) had no business winning this game anyway as they only managed five hits as a team. They continued to struggle with runners on base, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and leaving five on base.

Jake Peavy still looked very hittable but he went six innings and only allowed two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Something called Marco Estrada basically matched him (5.2 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks). Milwaukee's underrated catcher Jonathan Lucroy (double, 2 walks) hit a solo homer in the second inning and Carlos Gomez (4 singles) added an RBI single for a 2-0 Brewers lead.

Boston tied it on an RBI single by Ted Williams I mean Grady Sizemore in the second followed by a solo homer for Will Middlebrooks in the third. His first homer of the season went over the Monster, no doubt somewhere Jenny "Boom Boom" Dell smiled while shooting a show on NESN that'll never air. Former Brewers reliever Burke Badenhop (fantastic name) pitched two scoreless innings in his Red Sox debut. Mujica had pitched a scoreless frame at Baltimore on Wednesday but today he simply didn't have it as Milwaukee knocked him around to the tune of four earned runs on four hits.

Bet you didn't know that Lyle Overbay (who was cut in spring training last year with the Red Sox) was still in MLB. He had the go-ahead two-run double in the ninth for the Brewers while Gomez and Aramis Ramirez-who I think has played for every NL Central team-kept the line moving with RBI singles.

Francisco Rodriguez is Milwaukee's closer and even though it wasn't a save situation, he was summoned for the ninth. He got a 1-2-3 inning including one strikeout in 13 pitches.

Boston's enigmatic fifth starter (really) Clay Buchholz makes his first start of 2014 tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) vs. Wily Peralta. As always with Buchholz, he could pitch a no-hitter or also be out for the rest of the season with a sore throat or broken nail. I guess we'll have to wait and see, the good news for the Red Sox is that they don't have any more openers (0-2) this season as far as I know.

UPDATE 4/6: Will Middlebrooks went on the 15-Day DL with a Grade 1 calf strain (whatever that means). Brock Holt was called up from Pawtucket to take his place.

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Another Head-Scratching Brutal Loss By a Boston Sports Team, This Time in the World Series!

When the Patriots lost last Sunday on a call that had never been made before in NFL history, we shrugged our shoulders (after throwing things at the TV) and said, oh well "it's only October." It was a much different story tonight as the Red Sox lost 5-4 to the Cardinals in Game 3 of the 2013 World Series at Busch Stadium. St. Louis takes a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 tomorrow night (8:15, Fox).

The winning run came home on an obstruction call against Will Middlebrooks vs. Allen Craig that negated what would have been one of the most famous double plays (Pedroia to Salty to Middlebrooks and back to Salty). It's impossible to make a full-proof case either way on that plus Salty was dumb to throw it to third to begin with; what I'm more interested in is the fact that it apparently had only decided a game once before in MLB history (a 2004 regular season game: Tampa Bay vs. Seattle) so it will keep us up at night wondering why this had to happen?

Of course, this ignores the fact that Boston was lucky to be hanging around in many ways. They are struggling to hit again like in the ALCS (aside from Game 1's blowout). The Red Sox only had six hits tonight while the Cardinals had 12. Likewise, St. Louis left 12 men on base and Boston only left six. In the biggest start of his career, Jake Peavy could only give his team four lousy innings. You get the point.

St. Louis wasted no time grabbing a pair of runs in the first on RBI singles by Matt Holliday (double, run) and Yadier Molina (3 hits, walk). Joe Kelly (5.1 innings, 2 earned runs, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks), another child that throws nearly 100 MPH for St. Louis kept Boston scoreless through the first four innings before Xander Bogaerts tripled to lead off the inning and pinch-hitter Mike Carp drove him in with a fielder's choice.

Starting in place of Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava proved his worth with an RBI single in the sixth that tied it at two. Holliday hit a clutch two-run double in the seventh to put the Cardinals back on top at 4-2. The Red Sox refused to die as they scored twice against Carlos Martinez on Nava's fielder's choice and Bogaerts' chopper up the middle.

Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal blew the save but picked up the cheap win. The good news for the Red Sox is that both Martinez and him threw 20 pitches apiece in high leverage situations; that should tax them if they're used in Game 4. Keep in mind Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara all worked as well but Breslow (5) and Uehara (3) were kept to a minimum amount of pitches.

Both leadoff hitters had two hits as Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with a run (they've gotta find a way to get him running) while Matt Carpenter was 2 for 5 with two runs. Fat lard Matt Adams was 2 for 5 with a double for St. Louis.

I'm confident in terming tomorrow night's game a must-win for the Red Sox; they won't win three in a row (facing elimination) against the Cardinals, they're too good and I doubt that their pitching would crack like that. If you're positive, Boston's most talented pitcher Clay Buchholz takes the ball and they've been so resilient all season. However, he's been shaky in this postseason plus all these rumors swirl about his bizarre health status. Another kernel of positivity: St. Louis starter Lance Lynn stinks so maybe Boston's bats from Game 1 will reappear. All I do know is that it should be another hell of a game, let's just hope this time it doesn't end on some cheesy call (either way) that makes us want robot umpires.

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Tigers Dominate Game 4, 7-3, to even ALCS at Two Games Apiece

After three one-run games in a row, the 2013 ALCS was due for a blowout. Unfortunately, the Red Sox found themselves on the wrong side of that equation as they lost 7-3 to the Tigers in Game 4 this evening at Comerica Park. The all-important Game 5 is tomorrow night (8:07, Fox) back in Motown. This victory ensured that there will be another game(s) at Fenway in the series: Game 6 on Saturday afternoon (4:37, Fox).

The series is even at two now with Detroit's win which truthfully wasn't all that competitive. The Tigers went up 5-0 in the second inning and added two runs in the fourth before the Red Sox scored in baseball's equivalent of garbage time. Jake Peavy (0-1) just didn't have it in the biggest start of his MLB career although who knows how things would have gone if Dustin Pedroia had turned an inning-ending double play (that he usually makes in his sleep) when it was 1-0?

The two main takeaways from this are that Boston has to do something about the bottom of its batting order: Stephen Drew was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and Will Middlebrooks struck out in both of his plate appearances. To plead his case on the field, rookie Xander Bogaerts had a pinch hit double in the ninth and scored a run. Manager John Farrell admitted after the game that Bogaerts could very well be in the lineup for Game 5. Please do that!

Also, the media will prepare a tongue bath for Tigers manager Jim Leyland after he changed his lineup: having Torii Hunter (double, run, 2 RBIs) bat leadoff and Austin Jackson (2 hits, 2 RBIs, walk, run, stolen base) move to eighth couldn't have possibly worked out any better.

Doug Fister (6 innings, 1 earned run, 8 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk) wasn't as sharp as his numbers suggest but he was helped out by a Red Sox offense that went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position. Boston had 12 hits including five extra base hits but they left 10 men on base.

One of the main positives for the Red Sox to take out of his mostly lifeless loss is that Jacoby Ellsbury (4 for 5, double, run, RBI), Mike Napoli (2 for 4, double, run) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 for 4, RBI) all broke out of their respective slumps at the plate. And yes, I remember Napoli's home run in Game 3.

Detroit's first two runs came on Jackson's bases loaded walk and a fielder's choice. Hunter's two-run double and Miguel Cabrera's RBI single (2 hits) made it 5-0. When Jackson's infield single scored another run and Cabrera added his second RBI single in the fourth for a 7-0 lead, you knew the Red Sox were done given their struggles at the plate by and large in this series.

Boston did show plenty of pride (no surprise there) with Salty's RBI single in the sixth, Shane Victorino's RBI double in the seventh and Ellsbury's RBI triple in the ninth. Leyland threw his embattled closer Joaquin Benoit out there in the ninth and he had to throw 21 pitches before retiring David Ortiz (irony) on a fly ball to right for the third out. Benoit should be tired or at least shaky if he gets used in Game 5 (ala Game 2).

Game 5 is a rematch of Game 2 as Jon Lester (0-1) faces Anibal Sanchez (1-0). As far as I'm concerned, it's easily the biggest game of the season thus far for the Red Sox. Going up 3-2 and heading home would be a great scenario to find themselves in. Either way, at this time tomorrow one of these teams will be one out away from advancing to the World Series.

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Goodnight Rays, Red Sox Advance to their 1st ALCS since 2008

It was not easy but the Red Sox survived Game 4 at Tropicana Field, defeating the Rays 3-1 to win the ALDS 3-1 and advance to their first ALCS since 2008 (10th in franchise history) with their 100th win of the season. Boston now awaits the winner of Game 5 between Oakland and Detroit, which takes place Thursday (8:07, TBS) in Oakland. Those teams are both excellent so I don't really have a preference about who I want Boston to face. Selfishly, I think it'd be more fun to see the A's since they have so many ex-Red Sox in unlikely starring roles.

Jake Peavy (5.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts, 0 walks) was very good, Craig Breslow (1.2 IP, 1 hit, 4 strikeouts) was incredible and Koji Uehara (4 outs, 2 strikeouts) bounced back from Game 3 to earn his second save of the series. Poor Jeremy Helickson lasted three batters into the second inning before crazy Joe Maddon pulled him out for a conga line (8!) of Rays relievers. Jake McGee (2 runs) and Fernando Rodney (1 run) were the only Tampa Bay pitchers to allow runs.

Boston was 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 guys on base. For a while, this felt like another gut-wrenching loss in the making since the Rays went up 1-0 in the sixth when David Dejesus singled in Yunel Escobar (3 hits, double). Never fear though, the Red Sox went ahead with two runs in the seventh: Jacoby Ellsbury (single, walk) stole second while Xander Bogaerts scampered home on a wild pitch. Shane Victorino's infield single scored Ellsbury who has been money all series (9 for 18, 7runs, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, walk and 4 stolen bases).

The Red Sox added a key insurance run in the ninth as Dustin Pedroia knocked in Bogaerts with a sacrifice fly. Tampa Bay's lack of offense came back to bite them as it always does (6 hits). After he came on with two outs in the eighth-striking out Dejesus-Uehara had a 1-2-3 ninth that ended with a strikeout of Evan Longoria.

Over-the-top clubhouse celebration aside (everyone in MLB does it), this is a remarkable turnaround for Boston who became only the third team in MLB history to finish last one season then win their division series the next. The best part is that this was not a fluke by any means and they're not just happy to be here. They are the team to beat in the American League and MLB as a whole.

Not going back to Boston for a Game 5 vs. Tampa Bay is huge for many reasons: they get extra rest over Detroit and Oakland plus they can use Jon Lester on Saturday in Game 1 of the ALCS at Fenway Park. After back-to-back long nights of baseball and marathon games four out of the last five days, take a break the next few days and enjoy Cardinals-Pirates Game 5 tomorrow night (8:07, TBS) then A's-Tigers Game 5 on Thursday. The Red Sox are four wins away from the 2013 World Series and eight wins away from their third World Series title in 10 years.

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Red Sox Spoil Todd Helton's Final Game at Coors Field

It seems apropos that Todd Helton's final game at Coors Field would more closely resemble a softball game, oh and also that his team lost since they were known to do that for many of his days (17 years) in Colorado. Tonight, the Red Sox (96-63 overall, 43-35 away) outslugged the Rockies (72-87 overall, 45-36 home) 15-5 in the series finale. The victory was extra sweet for Boston because this afternoon, the Angels beat the A's 3-1 putting the Red Sox two games up (with three to go) for the best record in the AL.

Helton did his part with a line straight out of a movie: solo homer, RBI double and sac fly. Unfortunately, the rest of his team weren't really on the same page. The Red Sox got most of their runs from extra-base hits: Will Middlebrooks had a grand slam and three-run homer; Shane Victorino hit a three-run homer and Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 4 for 5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs.

A nice footnote for Boston: David Ortiz's two-run double gave him an even 100 RBIs on the season. That's the seventh time he's done it in a Red Sox uniform, trailing only Ted Williams (9) and Jim Rice (8). The big news in this game for the Red Sox is that Jacoby Ellsbury returned after missing 16 games. He batted leadoff and was 1 for 2 with two runs scored before getting replaced in the fourth inning.

Jake Peavy (12-5) struggled mightily but still made it through six innings. This was the final interleague game of the season for Boston, the only other way they'll see an NL team in 2013 is if they reach the World Series. The Red Sox finished with the second best record (14-6) in Interleague play this season so they have no reason to fear anyone from the weaker league.

The Red Sox are coming back this way (relatively speaking) with an off-day tomorrow followed by a three-game series in Baltimore. The Orioles have been eliminated from playoff contention and perhaps after Friday, Boston will have wrapped up the top seed in the American League playoffs. You can't overstate the importance of that well-earned honor. The regular season concludes on Sunday.

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Red Sox Prove That The Dodgers Are Overrated (When Kershaw and Greinke aren't pitching)

Before this trip started, I recognized that the Red Sox were lucky to miss both Matt Cain and Ryan Bumgartner in San Francisco then Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke in Los Angeles. Boston (77-55 overall, 37-32 away) took advantage of their favorable schedule by going 4-2 on their West Coast swing. They ended their stay at Dodger Stadium with a 8-1 stomping of the Dodgers (76-54 overall, 38-27 home) on Sunday Night Baseball. LA hadn't lost a series in over two months and came in as the hottest team in MLB.

Jake Peavy (10-5) was the story since he improved to 14-2 lifetime against the Dodgers with his 16th career complete game: 3 hits, 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. His only blemish was a solo homer/bomb to former Red Sox great Adrian Gonzalez in the fourth.

Boston's pitching was top notch all series, allowing five total runs to a legit National League lineup (normally an oxymoron) and finally their bats came alive this evening. The Red Sox had 12 hits including three homers and four doubles.

Possibly dating a porn star seems to have reinvigorated (see what I did there?) Mike Napoli's 2013 season. He bookmarked the win for Boston with an RBI double in the first and a two-run homer (his 16th) in the ninth. In between those, Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, double, run) notched a sacrifice fly in the third, Xander Bogaerts (2 hits) recorded his first MLB RBI with a run-scoring double in the fifth then Jarrod Saltalamacchia (two-run homer; his 11th of the season) and Shane Victorino (solo homer; 9th of the season) brought the power in the sixth and seventh innings respectively.

They only went 9-10 but the Red Sox survived a brutal stretch where they played 16 of their last 19 games on the road. Boston originally left town one game up in the AL East on Tampa Bay and ironically enough, they return in the exact same position. Their reward is that their next nine games: 3 vs. Baltimore (70-59 overall, 3rd in AL East), 3 vs. White Sox and 3 vs. Tigers are all at Fenway Park. In fact, they won't play another road game until September 5 (the same night the NFL regular season begins) and don't look now but there are only 30 games left in the regular season.

After tomorrow's much-needed off day in Boston, on Tuesday (7:10, NESN) Felix Doubront (9-6) takes on Wei-Yin Chen (7-6). Wednesday (7:10, NESN) finds John Lackey (8-11) vs. Bud Norris (9-10) with the series finale on Thursday (7:10, NESN): Jon Lester (12-7) against Chris Tillman (14-4).

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Who Needs Timely Hits? Not The Red Sox In Another Frustrating Loss, 2-1 to Blue Jays

For most of the season, the Red Sox' patchwork lineup has been better than the sum of its not that impressive parts. However, that wasn't the case tonight in Toronto (56-65 overall, 31-32 home) as Boston (72-51 overall, 33-30 away) fell 2-1 to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Red Sox lost the series (2-1) and as a result went 4-6 on this bumpy road trip through Houston, Kansas City and ending in Toronto. They head back to Fenway for the weekend before going away for six more games.

You might never see another game where a team has 11 hits and three walks yet they only score one run. Boston went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and they left an alarming 12 men on base. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5, Daniel Nava was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run while Ryan Lavarnway went 2 for 4. Nobody on the Red Sox could get a key hit when it mattered though and Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 22nd save of the season.

For the second time in three starts, Jake Peavy (9-5) pitched very well for Boston: 6+ innings, 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts and 0 walks. On the other side, Mark Buehrle (9-7) wasn't fooling anyone but he kept getting out of trouble. In seven innings, he allowed 10 hits but only one earned run with four strikeouts and two walks.

Darren Oliver allowed a two-out double to Nava in the eighth then he walked Will Middlebrooks (not an easy thing to do) but he recovered by striking out Ellsbury to end Boston's last great threat.

Ellsbury drove in the only run for the Red Sox, a fielder's choice in the fourth inning, but even that illustrated their struggles all night: it happened with one out and runners on first and third.

Brett Lawrie tied it for Toronto in the seventh with an RBI single and Mark DeRosa's sacrifice fly turned out to be the difference. Boston was 9-5 vs. Toronto after Tuesday's 11-inning win but following back-to-back crushing losses, they settled for 9-7 vs. Blue Jays with three left at Fenway September 20-22.

With Boston's loss and Tampa Bay's win, the Rays pulled to within two games in the AL East. More troubling is the fact that they are now tied in the loss column so the Red Sox have played four more games than never-say-die Tampa Bay.

Alex Rodriguez's Circus featuring the Yankees (62-58 overall, 4th in AL East) pays a visit to Fenway for three games beginning with tomorrow night's matchup of Felix Doubront (8-5) vs. Andy Pettitte (7-9). The rivalry isn't what it once was but don't tell that to the network executives since they gave it the usual primetime treatment: John Lackey (7-10) faces Hiroki Kuroda (11-7) on Saturday afternoon (4:10, Fox) then Ryan Dempster (6-8) takes on C.C. Sabathia (10-10) in Sunday Night Baseball (8, ESPN).

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Jake Peavy Makes Quite The Positive Impression In His Red Sox Debut

The natural fanboy/honk reaction to Jake Peavy's excellent start tonight is to think "see, that's why the Red Sox traded for him!" Clearly I'm excited that he looked really good but let's pump the brakes before we start anointing him as the starter for Game 1 of the World Series this October.

Boston (67-45 overall, 38-21 home) beat Arizona (56-54 overall, 26-30 away) 5-2 at Fenway Park as Peavy (9-4) was able to outduel young Diamondbacks ace Patrick Corbin (12-3). It was 1-1 in the seventh until Jacoby Ellsbury (40th stolen base) drove in Stephen Drew (2 hits) with an RBI single and Shane Victorino (2 hits) scored Brock Holt with a sacrifice fly.

Aaron Hill (2 hits) cut it to 3-2 in the eighth with an RBI single but Junichi Tazawa was able to get out of an inherited bases loaded and no outs jam by only allowing one run. Jonny Gomes-who is making a late run at a Gold Glove (haha)-threw out Cliff Pennington at home to keep the Red Sox ahead by a run. That was Tazawa's 18th hold of the season.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia added two important insurance runs with a two-run homer to center, his 10th of the season, in the home half of the eighth. From there, Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save of the season. Uehara walked a batter (his ninth of the season) but I guess he's excused since he has 70 strikeouts and a 1.43 ERA.

Let's be real, Peavy is not an ace anymore but maybe he can catch lightning in a bottle (cliché alert) for a few months and get the Red Sox deep into the playoffs. Who is Clay Buchholz? The native of Alabama (Roll Tide!) went seven plus strong innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Corbin matched him most of the way, he went six innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks. As a lefty, his stuff is nasty so there is a reason he looks destined to win many awards this season and in his entire MLB career.

Paul Goldschmidt has enjoyed his weekend at Fenway, he cranked his second homer in as many nights. This time it was to straightaway center, for a 1-0 Arizona lead in the fourth. Victorino answered with a rocket that just found its way into the first row of the Monster seats, his seventh homer of the season, in the fifth inning to tie it at one.

Diamondbacks catcher Wil Nieves was 2 for 3 with a run in the loss.

Both teams go for the series victory tomorrow afternoon (1:35) as Felix Doubront (7-5) takes on Brandon McCarthy (2-4), who is coming off the DL.

UPDATE 8/4: Daniel Nava will go on the paternity list for the Astros series and Brandon Workman will replace him on the active roster.

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Red Sox Trade Away Future (Iglesias) For Present (Peavy) In 3-Way Deal With Tigers & White Sox

We are still roughly 13 hours away from the 2013 MLB non-waiver trade deadline (that was a mouthful) but the Red Sox have likely already left their mark on this important day on the baseball calendar. Tonight after they trounced the Mariners, they traded for starting pitcher Jake Peavy from the White Sox and they also received Triple-A reliever Brayan Villarreal from the Tigers. To complete the three-team deal, Boston sent shortstop Jose Iglesias to Detroit and three Single-A prospects to Chicago.

I'm not a huge Peavy fan, I think that he's injury prone and overrated but the guy did win the 2007 NL Cy Young with the Padres (19-6, 2.54 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 254 strikeouts). It seems like he's been around forever and he made his MLB debut in 2002 with San Diego but Peavy is only 32. After not going over 200+ innings since 2007, he performed well in a contract year (surprise surprise) last season: 219 innings, 11-12 with 3.37 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 194 strikeouts. The best part of this is that he's not a rental and the three-time All-Star will be under contract through next season with an option for 2015.

This season he was on the DL for almost two months with a broken rib. In 13 starts, he is 8-4 with 4.28 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 76 strikeouts but keep in mind that the White Sox are one of the worst teams in MLB. This is a depth move for the Red Sox who realize that they need a sharp rotation to reach the playoffs for the first time in four long years and then do damage against loaded teams like the Rays and Tigers. Brandon Workman has looked real good in three starts but he'll go to the bullpen with Peavy aboard. Another factor in this move had to be the health of Clay Buchholz. I assume the Red Sox are worried that he might not return this season so this gives them more veteran experience and skill.

Seeing Boston dump Iglesias appears cold but when you think about it, probably a wise decision. In the few months where he was getting on base and piling up hits, we fooled ourselves into thinking that he'd really improved at the plate. The huge slump of the last few weeks shows that he's still the same guy for the most part and that hot streak was completely out of character. We would all rather have him than Stephen Drew but the Red Sox screwed themselves by overpaying that sack of crap. Furthermore, Iglesias has been playing third base but his natural position is shortstop (where I predict one day he'll win a Gold Glove).

Boston was about to have a logjam on the left side of the infield anyways with Will Middlebrooks hopefully returning to the club later this season if he continues to work out his issues on the field with the PawSox. Plus, the franchise's top prospect-Xander Bogaerts-is already knocking at the door and likely to make his MLB debut any day now. It should be some consolation to Iglesias that he's likely to fall into a great situation since the Tigers are a World Series contender (again) and their starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta is expected to be suspended (as soon as later this week) 50 games for his shady ties to Biogenesis.

Veteran third baseman Michael Young is still on the Phillies and the Red Sox have been mentioned in plenty of rumors involving him earlier this week. I don't know if they'll pull the trigger on that but I'm thinking Peavy will be their biggest new player. I hope they trade for another reliever though since their bullpen could certainly use some help.

UPDATE 7/31: Brock Holt was called up by the Red Sox to presumably play third base, not Middlebrooks.

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Lester Outduels Peavy In An Instant Classic

Games like this are the reason that you flip to MLB on a cold April night, when there are so many other better sporting options (NHL playoffs and NBA playoffs) on television. Moreover, maybe it is MLB's way of rewarding its fans.

The Boston Red Sox (10-10, 7-5 away) climbed to .500 for the first time this season with a scintillating 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox (10-11, 3-7 home) at U.S. Cellular Field, their sixth consecutive victory overall.

It was a pitcher's duel as both teams combined for just 10 hits (6 for Chicago, 4 for Boston). Jon Lester (1-2) picked up his first win of the season despite the fact that Jake Peavy (3-1) was even slightly better than him. In seven innings (122 pitches, 78 strikes), Lester allowed five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk. Peavy went the distance-all nine innings-but he allowed one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

The Red Sox' run came in the fourth thanks to Adrian Gonzalez's RBI single that scored Ryan Sweeney (2 hits).

Franklin Morales got the first two outs of the eighth before Vicente Padilla walked Paul Konerko (2 doubles) but forced Alex Rios to ground out with runners on first and second. Alfredo Aceves picked up his fifth save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth that included a strikeout.

Boston will look to complete a remarkable road trip at 7-0 tomorrow afternoon (2:10 p.m., NESN) as Josh Beckett (2-2) faces Gavin Floyd (1-3). Chicago should be desperate to get a win while the Red Sox look for the series sweep and perfect trip.

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Red Sox honor the troops and veterans on Memorial Day by laying down to the White Sox

Boston (30-24) came home last night for the start of a homestand against the Chicago White Sox (25-31) at Fenway Park and they lost again, 7-3.

A two-game losing streak is hardly news in baseball, the streakiest of all sports, but more puzzling was Jon Lester's latest struggles. Lester (7-2) had an seven-game win streak snapped but that was deceiving since he hadn't pitched well in his last few starts but still picked up wins.

Last night, he threw a season-high 127 pitches but only went 5.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

The White Sox were bolstered by Jake Peavy (2-0) who many moons and shoulder surgeries ago used to be one of baseball's best pitchers. The hard drinking, dippin' good old boy went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

Chicago loaded the bases in the first inning and A.J. Pierzynski (2 hits) came through with a two-run single up the middle.

Boston got a run back in the first as Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) crushed his tenth homer of the season, a solo shot into the Red Sox bullpen.

Providence, RI native Paul Konerko (2 hits) smacked a solo homer over the Monster in the third for a 3-1 White Sox lead.

Dustin Pedroia tied it up in the third with a two-run single of his own.

That's as close as the Red Sox would get through as Alexei Ramirez (2 hits) knocked Lester out of the game with a bloop two-run double in the sixth. The next batter, Carlos Quentin, added a two-run single off Dan Wheeler and that was it.

Alfredo Aceves goes for his third straight solid start tonight as he takes on Phil Humber.