Will the Red Sox be toast by the trade deadline?

If you've learned anything from fantasy baseball (and hopefully I have since I currently run an obnoxious five teams), it's that when a starting pitcher returns, it always takes him at least a few starts to find his form. I don't know why hitters can seemingly adjust faster but Clay Buchholz proved this point once again yesterday afternoon.

He was at the top of his game on June 26 when he left a game in San Francisco with a strained hamstring (running the bases, don't get me started with the JV NL rules).

The Sox (53-42) desperately needed a win from him and a series victory over Oakland (48-47) but he couldn't deliver as the A's won 6-4 to take two out of the three from the free-falling Sox.

You can't blame Buchholz (10-5) for his sub par performance: 4 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts.

The A's have won seven of eight and they were able to scratch away despite an average start by Gio Gonzalez (9-6): 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts.

Adrian Beltre (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run, stolen base) continued to show why he's been the Sox MVP, keeping their patchwork lineup intact during all the lineup shuffling.

Shortstop Jed Lowrie (2 walks, hit, run, RBI) made his 2010 debut for Boston and he played well. To say the guy has been cursed with injuries and other problems (mono) would be an understatement. Hopefully he can stay healthy and get his career back on track.

Beltre gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single which knocked in Lowrie.

Buchholz had only given up three runs this season coming into yesterday but Matt Watson hit a solo shot in the second to tie it up then Jack Cust put Oakland ahead 3-1 in the third with a two-run bomb that scored Kurt Suzuki (2 hits, 2 runs).

Lowrie cut it to 3-2 A's in the fifth with an RBI single but Oakland added three in the home half of the inning. Mark Ellis had an RBI single and Rajai Davis knocked in two with his two-run single.

Beltre closed out the scoring with a two-run blast in the sixth.

Michael Wuertz had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his second save of the season.

Rumors are swirling about who the Red Sox are trying to acquire: Jayson Werth, David DeJesus, Chris Snyder, relievers. Theo Epstein has to go for it now or else he can raise the white flag ala 2006 and admit this season is going nowhere fast.

Boston begins a four-game series at Safeco Field in Seattle tonight. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in baseball so realistically the Red Sox need to win at least three of these games even though it seems like they always struggle in the Pacific Northwest. The good news is that they miss King Felix who pitched last night.

John Lackey opposes Ryan Rowland-Smith tonight at 10:10 p.m. EST.

Old Yeller starring Tim Wakefield

Earlier this season, I praised Red Sox greybeard Tim Wakefield so I can't go back now and bash the guy, that would be too easy.

I will say however, that when Wakefield's knuckleball isn't working, look out. You're in for an ugly game.

Such was the case yesterday afternoon as the A's (29-26) salvaged a 9-8 win at Fenway, avoiding sweep at the hands of Boston (31-24).

Wakefield (1-4) didn't have it as six earned runs on eight hits in six innings with four strikeouts will attest to. More than anything though, this was a game the Sox shouldn't have lost since they slugged 18 hits.

Third base coach Tim Bogar was enemy number one since he had two runners thrown out at home and both times they were the first out of the inning. To make it even worse, it was Victor Martinez (who has a toe injury) and Darnell McDonald (who had twisted his ankle at first base in the same inning).

Oakland starter Brett Anderson left after two innings with a sore elbow and the four relievers that followed him all gave up runs but they did enough. Closer Andrew Bailey even pitched two innings for his 12th save of the season.

Bill Hall went 4-for-5 with four runs, two RBIs and a solo homer off Bailey in the ninth. Jeremy Hermida was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer in the sixth. Kevin Youkilis had three hits, Dustin Pedroia and Martinez added two hits and Marco Scutaro had a solo homer in the eighth and three RBIs.

The A's were led by Kurt Suzuki who had two homers and three RBIs off Wakefield. Jack Cust was 3-for-5 with three runs and solo homer off Manny Delcarmen in the eighth. Mark Ellis, Gabe Gross and Eric Patterson each had two hits for Oakland which checked in with 14 hits.

Boston embarked on a seven-game road trip with three in Baltimore and four in Cleveland, the two worst teams in the American League.

Clay Buchholz takes the hill tonight against Orioles rookie Chris Tillman, who's making his second major league start. Baltimore is a mess as usual with reports that they're about to fire manager Dave Tremblay.

Now that's more like it Dice-K

As a sports fan, it's easy to write players and teams off. If you watch the games all the time, you get a feel for who has it and who doesn't. With that said, last night's 2-1 Red Sox win over the Oakland A's was very promising as Dice-K pitched a gem.

It was a far cry from his start last week in Japan-when he was understandably nervous and therefore pitched badly-as Dice-K went 6.2 innings, giving up two hits, one run and striking out nine. In probably the best sign of all, he didn't issue any walks and his pitch count was a tidy 96 pitches when he left. It was one of his best performances in his short career with the Red Sox.

With Beckett out until the weekend while Lester and Buchholz are in the rotation, the Red Sox (2-1) need Dice-K to pitch like the guy they paid all the money for last year. He's showed flashes of brilliance but all too often last year, his pitch count would go up way too early or he would have one disastrous inning.

The A's (1-2) got on the board first in the second when Jack Cust hit a solo home run.

Boston scored in the fifth when leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury singled to right, scoring Kevin Youkilis who somehow avoided catcher Mac Suzuki's tag at home.

The Sox looked poised for a big inning in the sixth when Youkilis tripled (3 hits, 2 runs) then scored on Jason Varitek's (2 hits) RBI double that should have been a home run. It hit above the yellow line on a platform in right then bounced back onto the field. The umpires talked about it but ruled incorrectly. It was a tough call but definitely showed that baseball could use replays at certain times, although that would slow down the game even more.

Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless inning then Jonathan Papelbon got four outs for his second save. Papelbon didn't allow a hit and struck out three.

A's starter Joe Blanton pitched well for the most part, going six innings, allowing seven hits, two runs (both earned) with one walk and three strikeouts.

Good signs for the Sox included Ellsbury delivering with a runner in scoring position, Youkilis looked locked in and Varitek actually had a couple good at bats. David Ortiz doesn't have a hit yet but that won't last much longer.

The short two-game series wraps up this afternoon with a rematch of Lester vs. Rich Harden.