Alfredo Aceves walks six, Padres luck out to gift win at Fenway

Basically the only way the San Diego Padres can win at Fenway Park this season is by some divine act of God or a completely uncharacteristic performance.

They got one of the latter last night as Red Sox starter Alfredo Aceves walked six batters (including five in the second inning alone) as the Padres (31-44) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Boston (44-29).

Aceves is known for his fine control but he was a mess. In five innings, he allowed four earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts. It's a miracle that he didn't give up more runs, lasted that long and wasn't even charged with the loss.

Padres starer Mat (one t?) Latos wasn't exactly the picture of efficiency either as he lasted just 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. He also did not factor into the decision.

San Diego's offense didn't do much, they had more walks (eight) than hits (seven) which is pretty hard to do. Nick Hundley, their catcher and No. 9 hitter, was the only Padre with two hits. Jason Bartlett walked three times with a hit and RBI. Cameron Maybin scored twice for this offensively-challenged squad.

The Red Sox wasted 13 hits by its offense as they struggled with runners in scoring position (3 for 13) and left 11 on base.

Kevin Youkilis went 4 for 5 with an RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury (RBI), Marco Scutaro (run) and Josh Reddick (run, RBI) all had two hits in the loss.

Youk gave Boston a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first which scored Adrian Gonzalez.

San Diego scored twice in the second on bases loaded walks (maybe the most boring play in sports).

Maybin's RBI single and Hundley's RBI double in the third pushed the San Diego advantage to 4-1.

The Red Sox tied it with single runs in the third, fourth and sixth. Ellsbury had an RBI single, Reddick added and RBI double and Gonzalez tied it with an RBI single.

San Diego's winning run was plated by Anthony Rizzo's ground out in the seventh. The great duo of setup man Mike Adams and closer Heath Bell teamed up to hold Boston scoreless in the eighth and ninth. Adams struck out two in the eighth and Bell gave up a hit and struck one for his 19th save of the season.

John Lackey and Clayton Richard (two complete bums) close out the series this afternoon and with that interleague play is done at Fenway this season. The next time a National League team could play in Boston would be in October but let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

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Sox bullpen is a complete mess

It's a familiar complaint by fans of pretty much any MLB team: we don't have enough arms in the bullpen.

However, the Red Sox (47-32) are in a serious crisis mode with their bullpen in 2010 because Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez all have ERAs over 4.5 and they are struggling with a capital S.

The Tampa Bay Rays (45-32) salvaged a game at Fenway Park last night with a 9-4 win as they scored six runs in the eighth off Delcarmen and Ramirez.

All told, Dice-K gave Boston a good start by his low standards. He walked the bases loaded in the first but obviously got out of it. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Matt Garza (9-5) continued his mastery of the Sox as he gave his team the solid outing that desperately needed: seven innings, three earned runs on six hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa went up 3-0 in the fourth on a two-run double by Kelly Shoppach and an RBI single by Ben Zobrist.

David Ortiz cut it to 3-1 in the sixth with an RBI double which scored new guy Eric Patterson.

The Rays clinched this one with the six runs in the eighth. Carlos Pena hit an RBI double, Sean Rodriguez had a two-run single and Jason Bartlett hit a three-run bomb off Ramirez and into the Monster seats.

Ortiz fueled a minor comeback in the eighth with a two-run double and Adrian Beltre drove in the other run with a long sacrifice fly. That was one of at least three or four deep fly balls the Red Sox hit to the warning track.

The Fourth of July is always a big deal in Boston and the Sox will be home with the Orioles playing the role of jobber for what should be some big holiday weekend crowds.

The Red Sox are off tonight and then they get things started against the hapless O's tomorrow night.

2008 was a great year for some

The Tampa Bay Rays completed their first four-game sweep in team history at Fenway Park yesterday afternoon on Patriots Day.

The 8-2 shellacking sent Tampa Bay (10-3) to their seventh straight win while Boston (4-9) has lost five in a row in this very ugly start to the 2010 season.

After making the World Series in 2008 out of nowhere, the Rays came back down to earth last season and didn't make the playoffs as they failed to live up to expectations. The team is still young and supremely talented and there's no reason they can't go deep into the playoffs this fall barring any huge injuries or major slumps.

Jeff Niemann (1-0) got his first win of the season, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

In his third start for the Red Sox, John Lackey (1-1) got completely shelled and looked like the loser that routinely choked at Fenway when he was with the Angels. He only last 3.1 innings, getting touched for eight earned runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Tampa Bay went up 1-0 in the first on Ben Zobrist's groundout which scored Jason Bartlett (3 hits, 3 runs) who had doubled.

The Rays added five in the third on Evan Longoria's two-run double and B.J. Upton's three-run homer into the Boston bullpen.

After Bartlett's RBI triple in the fourth and Carl Crawford's sacrifce fly, Lackey's early day was already done.

Jeremy Hermida helped Boston avoid the shutout with a two-run homer to right in the seventh.

The Sox look to get something positive going tonight as they play a team more at their level right now-the Texas Rangers-who come to Fenway for three games.

Are we looking at 2006 all over again?

As the Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Rays last night at Tropicana Field, moving their record there to 2-13 since the start of last season, you had to wonder, is Boston (62-44) about to have an epic collapse?

That might seem like a stretch for a team that is in control of the AL wild card and 18 games over .500 but anyone that has watched closely realizes that this is a very flawed squad.

Nobody outside of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester has stepped up; Tim Wakefield might return at the end of next week and Dice-K possibly in September (not holding my breath on that). Clay Buchholz, Brad Penny and John Smoltz are each almost automatic losses.

Penny (7-6) went six innings last night but gave up five runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa Bay (60-48) starter David Price (5-4) looked like the stud from last fall's playoffs. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Victor Martinez was a great addition but he can only do so much for a lineup that just doesn't have the juice it had in the first half of the season. Martinez was the only player from either team to have two hits, a double and a homer.

Jason Bay crushed a homer to left in the second to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead.

The Rays answered with Carlos Pena's two-run homer in the third and birthday boy Carl Crawford's (28) two-run blast in the third.

Martinez's solo shot in the sixth cut it to 4-2 but Penny gave up his third long ball of the night as bum Pat Burrell went deep for a 5-2 Tampa Bay advantage.

Every time the Sox scored, Tampa quickly responded. Jed Lowrie's groundout in the seventh made it 5-3 in the seventh but Jason Bartlett hit a solo homer off Manny Delcarmen.

Kevin Youkilis produced the last run with an RBI groundout in the eighth but Rays closer J.P. Howell struck out two in the ninth for his 12th save of the season.

The Sox travel to Yankee Stadium, the four-game series starts tonight and it should be a great barometer for where this team is going. New York has been the best team in baseball for months now, a far cry from their 0-8 early-season record against Boston.

New York is 2.5 games up on Boston and the Red Sox are just three games ahead of Tampa Bay. The Yankees are obviously going to win at least one game this series but the Red Sox need at least a split to show they're doing more than treading water.

John Smoltz pitches against Joba tonight, a complete mismatch if I've ever seen one. I think Boston's relievers are warming up as we speak.

Nine out of ten blue hairs agree: the Rays own the Sox

Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays continued their recent dominance over the Boston Red Sox as they outlasted the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 last night in 13 innings at Tropicana Field.

Longoria hit a walk-off two run bomb (his second homer of the game) in the first of two games between these two playoff contenders (one of which will likely miss the playoffs).

In a pitching rematch from last fall's ALCS game 7, Jon Lester and Matt Garza proved why their some of MLB's best starting pitchers. Neither earned a decision but they were both on top of their games.

Lester went six innings, allowing a run on three hits, with two walks and ten strikeouts.

Garza lasted seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Boston (62-43) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on Kevin Youkilis' solo homer. Things looked even better in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) made it 2-0 with another solo shot.

As per usual, the Rays (59-48) didn't go way as Jason Bartlett (2 hits, 2 walks, RBI) knocked in Carlos Pena with an infield single in the seventh.

Longoria tied it with a solo homer in the eighth and predictably ended it with his bomb in the 13th. For the season, Longoria has seven homers and 25 RBIs against the Red Sox.

Boston's bullpen danced out of trouble in the 8th and 10th as they somehow escaped bases-loaded, no out jams without giving up a run.

Brad Penny goes against David Price tonight so who knows what to expect from either unpredictable guy.

Season's over: Sox lose a game

As quickly as the bandwagon fans and brain-dead media get hyped after a relatively easy opening day win, it takes roughly the same amount of time to get down as the Red Sox came back to earth last night with a 7-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway.

In a duel of great lefties, Tampa's Scott Kazmir (1-0) came out on top of Boston's Jon Lester (0-1). Kazmir went six innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Lester was gone after five innings of work. He gave up five runs on eight hits, with two walks and five strikeouts.

Lester is thought to be a top contender for the AL Cy Young this season so seeing him start out really well (all five strikeouts in the first two innings) then completely unravel was surprising to say the least.

The Rays pushed across their first run in the third on a throwing error by Kevin Youkilis.

He atoned for that mistake with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning which scored Dustin Pedroia. Youk finished with three hits, the only bright spot in a Sox lineup that struck out eight times and left nine on base.

Tampa Bay (1-1) showed it can play any style of baseball in the fifth inning. First, Jason Bartlett (three hits) executed a perfect safety squeeze, which scored former Sox player/minor league manager/bodybuilder Gabe Kapler. Lester got Evan Longoria to ground into a double play but a run still scored.

The most damaging play of the game was later in the fifth when Carlos Pena hit a two-run bomb to center, giving Tampa a commanding 5-1 lead.

Longoria hit a solo shot in the eighth off Takashi Saito (making his Red Sox debut) and Boston responded with one in their half of the inning when Jason Bay doubled home David Ortiz.

Carl Crawford's infield single in the ninth accounted for the last run of the game.

The series wraps up this afternoon with a day game pitting Matt Garza against Dice-K.

Red Sox force Game 7 in ALCS

I thought the Tampa Bay Rays were different. After being the better team for games 1-5 (until the final seven outs of game 5), the Rays appear to have unraveled as the Red Sox took game 6 at the Trop, 4-2.

Yet another Boston Red Sox playoff comeback that seemed so unlikely, now seems almost inevitable. How much can one crazy rally change?

Josh Beckett was the Sox' biggest question mark heading into game 6 and he submitted a fine performance given the circumstances (and his probable injury). He went five innings, giving up two runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

For Tampa, Big Game James Shields failed to live up to his name as he gave up four (three earned) runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings, with three walks and three strikeouts.

TBS had a power outage so the first 21 minutes of the game were blacked out (really). That means the national audience missed Babe Ruth, I mean B.J. Upton's solo homer off Beckett in the first.

Boston responded as Kevin Youkilis hit a matching solo blast in the second off Shields. Youkilis put the Sox up 2-1 in the third with an RBI groundout that scored Dustin Pedroia.

The Rays tied it up with another long ball, from the most unlikely of sources: Jason Bartlett (his second of the season) hooked one down the left field line.

Maybe even more improbable than that was when Sox catcher Jason Varitek recorded his first hit in the sixth: a solo homer to right center off Shields. David Ortiz made it 4-2 with an RBI single to right which beat the shift.

Coco Crisp once again was great in the leadoff spot with three hits, a walk and a run.

From there, Boston got outstanding work from its bullpen. Hideki Okajima (who hasn't given up a run in the playoffs) went two scoreless innings, Justin Masterson (how good is he?) pitched a scorless eighth before handing it over to Mr. Automatic, Jonathan Papelbon. The 1-2-3 ninth from Pap gave him the save and more importantly forced a winner-takes-all game 7 tonight at the Trop.

It'll be Jon Lester against Matt Garza. You have to feel like the Sox have all the momentum in the world plus Lester will almost certainly have a better start than he did in game 3 (five runs). Just sayin'.