Alfredo Aceves Blows The Save, Red Sox Choke Away Series To Rays At Fenway

I'll keep this short and not so sweet since I didn't see one pitch live (I was at Gillette enjoying the NCAA men's lacrosse Division 2 and 3 finals) but I still checked my phone like a madman to see that the Rays beat the Red Sox 4-3 this afternoon at Fenway Park to take the series 2-1.

Boston (23-24, 10-3 home) looked poised to finally get over the .500 hump but for the fifth time this stupid season, they couldn't get it done as they fell to Tampa Bay (29-19, 12-12 away), a much better team. If you think about it, this would have been a Rays sweep if not for Salty's walk-off homer last night.

Staked to a 3-2 lead to start the ninth, Alfredo Aceves (0-2) blew the save after converting his last nine in a row. Mighty (.241 average) Sean Rodriguez (5th of the season) took him deep with a three-run no doubter over the Monster.

That wasted two very rare things for Boston: 1) a quality start for Clay Buchholz (7 innings, 2 earned runs, 8 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk) and 2) a clutch three-run homer (4th of the season, 1st opposite field!) by Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh when the Red Sox trailed 2-0. Of course, this being A-Gon, he had a chance to add an insurance run in the eighth but couldn't do it. Lefty Jake McGee (2-1) was summoned with the bases loaded and he got Gonzalez to ground out. I guess two clutch hits in the same contest is way too much to ask from him.

Jeremy Hellickson pitched well for Tampa Bay though not as stellar as Buchholz (best start of 2012, not that it was a long list). He went 7.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Rays scratched out a pair of runs on Ben Zobrist's ground out in the fourth and Will Rhymes' (3 hits) RBI single that scored Rodriguez in the seventh.

The Detroit Tigers (23-24) come to Fenway for a four-game series starting tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) on Memorial Day. Two bad teams, America, woo! The Tigers looked like world beaters in the opening series of the 2012 season when they swept the Red Sox in Motown but as you can tell by their third-place standing in the crappy AL Central, they have been a disappointment since then.

Felix Doubront (4-2) faces Doug Fister (0-2) tomorrow, Daniel Bard (4-5) gets MLB's best pitcher-Justin Verlander (5-2) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (3-4) takes on rookie Drew Smyly (2-1) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) while Josh Beckett (4-4) and Max Scherzer (4-3) wrap it up on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., NESN).

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Rays Squeak Out Weird Game Over Red Sox, 2-1

There's no other way to say it: tonight's Rays-Red Sox game was just bizarre for many reasons.

Tampa Bay (24-14, 14-3 home) beat Boston (17-20, 8-9 away) 2-1 in the series opener at Tropicana Field. Somehow the game took three hours and 29 minutes, maybe that had something to do with the three balks allowed by Red Sox pitchers (one proved especially costly). Oh and Rays second baseman Will Rhymes fainted and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher in the eighth after getting drilled on the arm by a Franklin Morales pitch.

Predictably, the Red Sox' fraudulent five-game win streak was snapped, along with their stretch of five quality starts in a row from their pitchers. Clay Buchholz (4-2) wasn't bad but he could only last five innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Andrew Miller, Matt Albers, Morales and Scott Atchison teamed up for three scoreless innings of relief.

Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson (4-0) stayed perfect this season, going six innings and allowing one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Jake McGee (7th) and Joel Peralta (8th) had scoreless innings before Fernando Rodney struck out two for his 12th save of the season.

Cody Ross reached on a two-out single in the ninth but Rodney retired Daniel Nava on a grounder to second.

Carlos Pena scored in the second on a balk by Buchholz but Nava tied it up in the fourth with an RBI single that brought home Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The winning run came on Luke Scott's sacrifice fly in the sixth but truthfully, it should be had some sort of assist to Ross. He didn't get a proper read on a routine fly ball to right, which allowed Matt Joyce to tag up and score-something he wouldn't have done if Ross didn't dance before catching it.

Felix Doubront (3-1) faces Matt Moore (1-3) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the abbreviated series finale. A win by the Red Sox would help prove that they can beat a good team on the road. Plus it would give them momentum heading into their first interleague series of the 2012 season-this weekend in Philadelphia.

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For The Second Day In A Row, The Red Sox Rock The Rays At Fenway

Well I guess all the Boston Red Sox had to do was return to Fenway Park and that would solve all their issues.

For the second straight day, they lit up the Tampa Bay Rays and a quality starting pitcher. Boston (3-5) hit five homers in a 13-5 laugher over Tampa Bay (4-4).

David Price was no match on Opening Day and this afternoon, reigning AL rookie of the year Jeremy Hellickson (5 innings, 5 earned runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 3 home runs allowed) was similarly knocked around by the suddenly explosive Red Sox offense. Boston put up double-digit runs for the second game in a row.

The Red Sox cranked out 15 hits with 13 RBIs and six walks. David Ortiz led the attack, going 4 for 5 with 5 RBIs and two runs. New leadoff hitter Mike Aviles was 3 for 5 with two runs, Cody Ross had four RBIs, Kevin Youkilis scored three runs and Dustin Pedroia had two hits and two runs.

If Carmine the computer could get a boner, you know he would have had a huge one today as the Red Sox saw a staggering 174 pitches (vs. 129 for the Rays). Every starter but Darnell McDonald had hits but even D-Mac had two walks.

Clay Buchholz (1-0) was very shaky to start as he spotted four runs to the Rays in the first but he settled down from there and lasted seven full innings. It helped that the Red Sox outscored Tampa Bay 13-1 after the first. Buchholz allowed five earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Ugly numbers for sure but the fact that he was able to hold on and give Boston innings is the more important point.

After scoring 12 runs yesterday on mostly small ball, Boston looked like the familiar team that usually crushes the ball at home. They had 10 extra base hits (to six hits total for Tampa Bay) and before today, they had only hit two home runs.

Carlos Pena put Tampa up 1-0 in the first with an RBI double and noted redneck asshole Luke Scott made some more fans by hitting a three-run homer (1st of the season) later in the frame.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (1st of the season) woke up Boston's bats with a two-run blast to straightaway center in the second. Scott's RBI double in the third made it 5-2 Rays but that would be it.

Pedroia (2nd of the season) hit a solo shot in the third, Ortiz (1st of the season) tied it with a two-run homer in the fifth then Aviles put Boston ahead for good with his first of the season, a solo home run in the seventh. Ross added a two-run double in the seventh before Ortiz cleared the bases with a three-run double in the eighth and Ross hit a two-run homer (his first of the season) later in the eighth.

Two young lefties face each other tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Felix Doubront opposes Tampa Bay's Matt Moore. Something tells me the Rays are due to breakout at some point, especially since they are 1-4 in their last five games.

UPDATE 4/15: After an appearance as a defensive replacement in the ninth yesterday, Lin was sent back to Pawtucket. Reliever Michael Bowden was designated for assignment while outfielders Nate Spears and Jason Repko were called up from the PawSox.

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This Shit Is Starting To Get Real

If you're a Red Sox fan, you're more than used to August swoons and September slides, but all of that past history can't prepare you for what's going down now: another possibly monumental collapse.

Boston (85-60) lost its fourth straight, 6-5 to Tampa Bay (80-64) in 11 innings tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays have climbed within 4.5 games of the wild card lead (5 head-to-head matchups left).

About the only glass half full thing I can muster is that the Yankees are in a similar downward spiral, losing four straight as well and dealing with countless injuries of their own. The bad part is that New York is ahead of Boston by 2.5 games.

After Jonathan Papelbon was excellent, throwing the very rare two innings of relief (no hits, 14 of 16 pitches were strikes), Daniel Bard (2-7) came on and had his second straight meltdown. He gave a lead-off triple to Desmond Jennings (2 hits, 2 runs), got B.J. Upton to ground out but then Evan Longoria (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 walks) hit a walk-off single.

In a market filled with so many clown Red Sox writers, it's hard to tell sometimes when to panic since some are known to constantly fan the flames (cough, Shaughnessy) but this has gotten serious my friends. Boston's starting rotation is a shell of itself, meaning the bullpen is taxed and the lineup isn't what it used to be with Youk out and Pedroia not himself.

The Sox actually rallied in the ninth from down 5-3 as Jarrod Saltalamacchia (16th of the season) and Jacoby Ellsbury (26th of the season) hit back-to-back homers off Rays closer (and former Yankees scrub) Kyle Farnsworth; the eighth time the team has done that this season.

It didn't look good early for Boston as rookie Kyle Weiland (making his third MLB start) loaded the bases with no outs in the first. He somehow escaped and just allowed one run in that frame on a ground out. He lasted four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.

His short outing meant that Alfredo Aceves had to come in earlier than usual. He wasn't as good as he usually is but you can't complain about four innings, two earned runs, three hits, one walk and three strikeouts. With those type of numbers, he could be the number two starter at the moment. Sadly, that is kind of true.

Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson bolstered his case for AL Rookie of the Year with a quality start: six innings, three earned runs, five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

Boston tied it in the second on Jed Lowrie's ground out but Tampa Bay added a run in the second (on Jennings' ground out) and in the third on Casey Kotchman's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) sacrifice fly.

Adrian Gonzalez tied it at three with his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot. Ellsbury's single earlier in the inning increased his latest hit streak to 15 games.

Kotchman took Aceves deep in the fifth and Longoria had a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 5-3 in favor of Tampa Bay.

An interesting side note to the game is that the winning reliever for the Rays was none other than Brandon Gomes (2-1) who is a Fall River, Mass native and Tulane graduate. He got the last four outs for what I'm going to assume was his most memorable MLB win.

Jon Lester vs. James Shields is the juicy pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Unfortunately, the ratings should be terrible since tomorrow is the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL regular season. I'll be checking my phone, Twitter and the gamecast while also peeking at the game between commercials or when I need a break from the Red Zone.

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If Josh Beckett throws a one-hitter but nobody watches, did it really happen?

I'll never feel remotely bad for a professional baseball player who has won two World Series titles and made more money in his life than I can ever imagine.

Regardless of that fact, it was a funny feeling to see how well Josh Beckett pitched last night against the Tampa Bay Rays. Beckett (6-2), who has morphed into the AL's top pitcher, threw a one-hitter (his first shutout in almost two years) as the Red Sox (40-27) won 3-0 over the Rays (36-32) at Tropicana Field.

However, who knows how many miserable souls tuned into the baseball game while the Boston Bruins won their first Stanley Cup Final in 39 years and put up their highest ever rating on TV.

Beckett lowered his AL-best ERA to 1.86, walking none and striking out six in what has to go down as one of the best starts of his life.

Reid Brignac had the lone hit for Tampa Bay, an infield single in the third, so there was never any intrigue of a no-hitter even though Beckett ended up almost getting a perfect game in the process.

Jeremy Hellickson (7-5), who looks about 12-years-old, matched Beckett until the seventh inning. After a triple by Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) and an intentional walk to Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis hit a three-run bomb for his 10th homer of the season. It just got over the fence in left field, providing Boston with all the runs it needed. Hellickson allowed three earned runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Clay Buchholz and David Price duel tonight in the series finale. With no basketball or hockey left, the eyes of the sporting world in America turn to MLB. It makes sense to pay attention too since the summer weather is finally here.

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Go home Dice-K, we don't need you

Just when you think the Boston Red Sox have built some momentum after taking two of three from the New York Yankees over the weekend, Daisuke Matsuzaka submits the worst outing of his MLB career.

Matsuzaka allowed seven runs in the first two innings and was yanked without recording an out in the third as the Tampa Bay Rays (2-8) rolled to a joke of a 16-5 win last night at Fenway Park.

I honestly don't know what the Red Sox (2-8) can do right now with Matsuzaka (2 innings, 8 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 homers allowed). Tim Wakefield is the most obvious replacement and he actually was the first guy summoned from the bullpen last night to clean up Dice-K's mess.

Wakefield (3.1 innings, 7 hits, 5 earned runs) isn't the answer either, the guy is 45 and even though he's so likable, he's painfully washed up.

Tampa Bay had 20 hits and almost scored as many runs as they had in the first nine games (20).

Philips Exeter alum and New Hampshire native Sam Fuld led the Rays with four hits, three RBIs and three runs. He had a two-run homer off Matsuzaka. Johnny Damon had a solo homer in his first at bat against Dice-K and finished with three hits, three RBIs and two runs. Ben Zobrist (3 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs), B.J. Upton (3 hits, 3 runs), Reid Brignac (2 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and John Jaso (2 hits, 3 RBIs) all feasted on poor Boston pitching.

Jeremy Hellickson (5.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout) didn't have to do much for his first win of the season (1-1).

Carl Crawford had two hits, David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez had triples (really) and Jacoby Ellsbury had a solo homer for Boston after the game was long over.

Jon Lester takes on David Price tonight in a game that should be much more competitive and interesting.