Sorry, I just puked a little in my mouth

When you look up what the fuck in your baseball dictionary (Red Sox edition), chances are a picture of last night's game in Baltimore will be front and center.

It had a little bit of everything: a rain delay, a historical comeback and a bullpen implosion which all added up to the worst loss of the season for the Red Sox, 11-10.

Behind John Smoltz and a locked in offense, Boston (47-30) led 9-1 in the top of the fifth when the rains came. After a delay of an hour and 11 minutes, the game restarted.

The Sox actually pushed across another run in the seventh to go up 10-1 before the O's (35-42) scored five in the seventh and five in the eighth against the best bullpen (statistically) in baseball. It tied for the second-worst loss in Red Sox history, in terms of largest lead blown.

Smoltz deserved better. He cruised through four innings, allowing a run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts. He only threw 52 pitches so he looked poised to record his first win for Boston.

Rich Hill didn't stand a chance against the Red Sox' lineup. He gave up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits in 3.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three in what might be his final start for Baltimore.

Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the first as he hit a two-run shot to center just out of the reach of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. On Monday, Jones had robbed Youkilis of another home run and it looked like he caught the ball last night, but after running into the wall he dropped his glove over the wall. He was shaken up and left the game after the second inning.

Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 3 RBIs, steal) increased the Red Sox lead to 4-0 in the second with a two-run double.

Felix Pie (2 hits, 2 RBIs) replaced Jones and delivered an RBI triple in the bottom of the second to make it 4-1 Boston.

It looked like it was going to be a laugher as the Red Sox scored five more runs in the fourth. Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 2 RBIs) crushed a solo homer to right center, Youkilis had an RBI double, David Ortiz added an RBI single, Jason Varitek pretended to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Ellsbury closed it out with an RBI single.

Pedroia produced the Sox' last run with an RBI single in the seventh which scored Jeff Bailey (3 hits, 3 runs).

After two scoreless innings (with five strikeouts), Justin Masterson was knocked around big time in the seventh. Luke Scott hit an RBI double, Oscar Salazar (2 hits) hit a pinch hit, three-run bomb and Pie closed it to 10-6 with an RBI single.

Manny Delcarmen settled things down and got the final two outs of the seventh but Hideki Okajima was also completely ineffective, giving up four runs on five hits.

Orioles rookie Matt Wieters had an RBI single, Ty Wigginton hit a sac. fly, Brian Roberts hit an RBI single and finally, against Jonathan Papelbon, Nick Markakis (2 hits) hit a two-run double to the gap in left center.

Papelbon came in (after Takashi Saito) and was trying to get a five-out save, with runners on first and second in the eighth.

Boston couldn't do much in the ninth vs. Orioles closer George Sherill. Bailey led off with a single and Youk was hit by a pitch with two outs but Sherill got Jason Bay to strikeout for the third out and his 17th save of the season.

There's no question that this was a terrible loss that could stick with the Red Sox for a while but the good news is that they get right back at it this afternoon with their ace Josh Beckett on the mound in the series finale.

Demolition Man, tell your friends I'll demolish ya

Through the first month and a half of the season, the Boston Red Sox vaunted pitching rotation has been complete garbage, to the tune of the worst ERA in the American League.

Dice-K got hurt, Brad Penny has been up and down and most surprising of all, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have been equally terrible.

Last night was a step in the right direction as Beckett and the Sox (22-15) broke a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 win at Safeco Field in Seattle.

Beckett (4-2) was not great but he battled through seven innings, throwing a season-high 120 pitches. He gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Boston teed off on former Orioles' bum Garrett Olson, hitting three home runs and scoring five runs in his six innings of work.

Jason Bay started it off with a two-run bomb in the first, followed by Jason Varitek's two-run blast in the second.

Yuniesky Betancourt (who for some reason seems to kill the Sox) started the Seattle (17-20) comeback with a two-run shot of his own in the second.

Russell Branyan's RBI double in the fourth cut it to 4-3 Boston but Jeff Bailey responded with a solo shot in the fifth for the game's final run.

Miguel Batista pitched three scoreless innings for Seattle.

The Red Sox trio of Hideki Okajima (2 outs), Ramon Ramirez (1 out) and Jonathan Papelbon (10th save) teamed up for two shutout innings.

Boston looks to end the West Coast trip on a high note by winning this series this afternoon.

Just Manny being Manny

Somehow it all seems fitting that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez still overshadows the Boston Red Sox, even during a memorable game like last night.

The reports surfaced yesterday afternoon that Manny was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for taking a performance enhancer, a drug that was used to up testosterone levels after a steroid cycle. It was the biggest name and incident since baseball started this steroid witch hunt.

I love baseball but I'm not surprised by anything that comes out these days. Can't we just assume if A-Rod and Manny were juicing that everyone except maybe David Eckstein was in the same boat?

It is MLB's fault for not policing it at the time and letting it get way out of control. And here we are.

The Sox (18-11) did everything they could to let fans forget about Manny's public relations disaster. Boston tied a major league record by scoring 12 runs in the sixth as they smoked the Cleveland Indians, 13-3 at Fenway.

Tim Wakefield continued his hot streak as he improved to 4-1. He went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Boston led 1-0 in the first after Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, walk) knocked in Julio Lugo (3 hits, 3 runs) with an RBI single.

Cleveland (11-18) jumped ahead 2-1 in the fifth as Matt LaPorta scored on a Wakefield wild pitch. Then Asdrubal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly which scored Luis Valbuena.

It's still obviously early in the season but the Indians bullpen came into this two-game series with the worst ERA in the league and they didn't disappoint.

In the sixth, Jason Bay (2 runs, 2 hits, 4 RBIs) hit a RBI double, Rocco Baldelli hit a two-run single, Jeff Bailey (2 hits) added a two-run double, George Kottaras produced a two-run single, Pedroia hit a two-run single and finally Bay capped it off with a three-run bomb over the bullpen in right center.

Ryan Garko completed the scoring for the Indians with an RBI double in the eighth.

The Tampa Bay Rays (Boston's biggest obstacle in the AL) come to Fenway starting tonight for three games.

A-Rod, still choking in the clutch like noneother

For only one game, last night provided immense pleasure for a Red Sox fan. The Sox beat the Yankees, 7-3, in game one of the last Sox-Yankees series at Yankee Stadium.

Secondly, A-Rod shat the bed in epic proportions. He was 0-for-5, grounded into two double plays (one with the bases loaded), made an error and struck out twice (once to end the game). At least he has that hag Madonna to console him as the Yankees' (70-61) season continues to fall apart.

Fresh off the DL, Tim Wakefield (8-8) pitched five innings to get the win. Wake gave up three runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Andy Pettitte, who had such a great start to the season, can't seem to get untracked lately. Boston (76-55) made the lefty throw 101 pitches in 4.2 innings. Pettitte allowed six runs (all earned) on 10 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

In total, the Sox banged out 14 hits and worked seven walks from the Yankees subpar bunch of relievers. Coco Crisp led the way with three hits, a run, an RBI and a steal. David Ortiz had two doubles, two walks and a run. Jason Bay and Jeff Bailey each added two hits and two RBIs while Kevin Cash added two hits.

Johnny Damon was the lone brightspot for the Yanks. He hit a solo homer in the first and another solo shot in the fifth.

Jacoby Ellsbury tied it at 1 in the second with an RBI single. Jose Molina gave New York its last lead in the second with an RBI single.

Boston scored twice in the third on Kevin Youkilis's RBI double and a Bay RBI single. The Sox opened it up with three more in the fifth. Coco knocked in Bay with a single and Jeff Bailey brought home two with an infield single that Jason Giambi forgot to throw home (he was too busy growing his moustache, damn it).

Jason Bay's sacrifice fly in the sixth was the last run for the good guys.

Hideki Okajima got the first two outs in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon came on to recorded his 34th save after retiring four Yankees hitters.

Paul Byrd goes for the Sox tonight against Sidney Ponson, something you probably didn't expect to say at the beginning of the season.