So Far This Season: The Tigers are Good & The Red Sox Are Not, It's As Simple As That

To start their biggest series so far in 2014, the Red Sox might as well have stayed home (at least they would have stayed dry) as they were blanked 1-0 by the Tigers tonight at rainy Fenway Park. In a rematch of the 2013 ALCS, soon-to-be free agent ace Max Scherzer (6-1; 6 innings, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks) was a little better than soon-to-be free agent ace Jon Lester (4-5; 5 innings, 1 earned run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks) as Boston (20-21 overall, 10-12 home) fell back below .500 while Detroit (25-12 overall, 12-4 away) keeps setting the pace in the AL in terms of best winning percentage.

There was a 47-minute rain delay in the top of the fourth with the Tigers up 1-0 but as you can tell, it didn't disrupt either pitcher that much since they both returned to the mound when they game restarted. Scherzer threw 106 pitches and Lester was yanked after 94. The only run in the game was in the first as ageless Torii Hunter (2 for 4) singled in Ian Kinsler.

Boston had no extra base hits and they were limited to just five hits overall. They were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. You know that things are really going well for Detroit since former Yankees overhyped bum Joba Chamberlain pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the hold. This might be a slight exaggeration but I don't think Joba ever had a 1-2-3 inning while he was with New York vs. Boston, at least not in his last few forgettable years.

Detroit closer Joe Nathan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with one strikeout for his 11th save of the season. Boston will try to bounce back and get to .500 again tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) as John Lackey (5-2) faces Rick Porcello (6-1) who finally seems to have figured things out.


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Thank God The Patriots Preseason Games Start Tomorrow Night

Don't you wish the Red Sox could just end their 2012 season tomorrow? What good can come out of the next 50 games? Oh well, while they are playing out the string on a truly miserable season, we can at least take solace that the Patriots' first preseason game is tomorrow night (7:30 p.m. vs. New Orleans). There is nothing better than the NFL and we all need it more than ever right now.

Josh Beckett (5 innings, 8 earned runs, 8 hits, 3 home runs) provided another Fenway Turd this afternoon as Texas (65-45, 31-24 away) took the series with a 10-9 win against Boston (55-57, 29-34 home).

The sad part is that the Red Sox kept rallying, tying it at 3-3 in the third and 9-9 in the seventh but it didn't matter since Beckett could care less about competing as a professional athlete. You should never lose a game when you score nine runs.

The Texas toughguy and Jon Lester have combined for one win at Fenway Park since June 27. Since June 1, the Red Sox are 2-12 at home when Beckett or Lester start. Look on the bright side, Boston is only six games back in loss column for the second American League Wild Card going into tonight's action, oh wait.

Beckett was in a giving mood as he coughed up three runs in the first inning, three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth before Bobby Valentine finally took him out. Even the non-sellout (by my calculations) pink hat crowd booed Beckett, I guess the Red Sox front office are the only people in the world left that can't identify what a waste of a roster spot he has become. They had their chance to move him at the Trade Deadline and they didn't so here we are, watching a baseball team rot away from the inside out. What's the worst that could happen by either dumping him on waivers, releasing him or putting him on the 60-day DL for the rest of the season with a fake injury (after all, he loves those)?

Josh Hamilton was 3-for-4 with a triple, homer, 4 RBIs and two runs while Elvis Andrus was 3-for-4 with three runs and a walk in the win. Adrian Gonalez had three RBI doubles and scored three runs, Cody Ross was 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs, two RBIs and a walk while Dustin Pedroia had two singles and scored two runs in the loss.

The happiest guy to see Beckett do his thing was Matt Harrison (4.2 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 home run) since on most days, his outing would be considered a disaster. Compared to Beckett, he looked poise to make a run at the AL Cy Young award.

Hamilton had a two-run triple in the first against what had to be a hungover and bloated Toughguy. Former Red Sox Adrian Beltre added a sacrifice fly before Beckett stumbled out of trouble. Boston answered with two runs on Gonzalez's first RBI double and an RBI single by Ross. Cody tied it in the third with a solo shot-his 17th homer of the season.

Beckett must have been drinking Lonestar in the dugout between innings, it caught up to him in the fifth as he grooved meatballs to Mitch Moreland (solo homer; 12th of the season) and Hamilton (two-run blast; 30th of the season). Gonzalez's second RBI double cut it to 6-4 in the home half of the frame then he scored on Geovany Soto's passed ball.

No worries for the Rangers as Soto blasted a two-run shot off Beckett in the sixth, his first for Texas since being traded by the Cubs. Clayton Mortensen (1-1) ran into trouble in the seventh as Nelson Cruz (18th of the season) hit the final homer of the game for the Rangers.

Roy Oswalt allowed four runs in 1.1 innings as Gonzalez's third RBI double set the stage for a three-run blast by Will Middlebrooks (15th of the season) which knotted things at nine. However, Alexi Ogando (2-0) settled things down to pitch a clean seventh and eighth inning with two strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves is not a natural closer so he struggles with inherited runners but don't tell that to Bobby V who put him in with runners on first and third with no outs in the ninth. Oh and he let him face Hamilton rather than let Andrew Miller (a lefty) give it a shot. Beltre's second sacrifice fly turned out to be the game-winning play.

Ross hit a one-out double in the ninth but Joe Nathan struck out two for his 23rd save of the season.

Boston went 4-6 on its longest homestand of the season, now the Dead Man Walking squad hits the road for 10 games (4 in Cleveland, 3 in Baltimore, 3 in New York) in 11 days. Since there are two off-days between now and their next game at home, the Red Sox won't play at Fenway again until August 21. I shudder to think how many more games under .500 they will be by then. However, I will probably be paying much less attention to baseball with football even closer at that point. I'll be pouring over depth charts for Fantasy Football and reading Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue.

The Indians (51-60, 3rd AL Central) snapped an 11-game losing streak today with a 6-2 win vs. Minnesota, but that doesn't mean anything when the Red Sox are coming to play you. I'm sure Boston will make them look like the powerhouse Cleveland teams of the late 90s. Felix Doubront (10-5) faces Ubaldo Jimenez (8-11) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Clay Buchholz (9-3) gets Chris Seddon (0-0) on Friday night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Franklin Morales (3-2) opposes Zach McAllister (4-4) on Saturday night (6:05 p.m., NESN) and Jon Lester (5-10) takes the ball against rookie Corey Kluber (0-0) on Sunday afternoon (1:05 p.m., NESN).

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Jon Lester Is A Lost Cause In 2012, Might As Well Put Him On Ice Until Next Season

2012 has been a nightmare for Jon Lester (5-10) not to mention his employers. Even when he pitches decent like his last two starts, he can't get the run support from his teammates. The bottom line remains that he is 0-5 in his last five starts at Fenway Park after a 6-3 loss to the Rangers tonight in the middle game of a three-game series.

Texas (64-45, 30-24) received a great outing from Ryan Dempster (1-0) who picked up his first win a Rangers uniform (2nd start). He went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs (0 earned) on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Dempster likely wouldn't have given up any runs except that Ian Kinsler kept the seventh inning alive for the Red Sox (55-56, 29-33 home) with a gift error. Pinch hitter Will Middlebrooks delivered a clutch pinch-hit home run (his 14th of the season) which cut the Rangers lead to 4-3.

Lester matched zeroes with Dempster through five innings but as it usually does for him, he became unraveled by allowing two runs in the sixth and being charged with two more in the seventh. In 6.2 innings, he gave up four earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

Kinsler and Josh Hamilton (2 hits, walk, run) broke the deadlock with RBI singles in the sixth. David Murphy had a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Kinsler added another run-scoring single in the frame. Nelson Cruz's RBI single in the eighth made it 5-3 and Elvis Andrus rounded out the scoreline with an RBI single in the ninth.

Texas was 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position while Boston went 1-for-6. Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (run) each had two hits in the loss.

Mike Adams struck out the side in the eighth for his 20th hold which was bullshit because Dustin Pedroia was called out on one of the worst calls (checked swing) that I've ever seen in MLB. Joe Nathan picked up his 22nd save in 23 chances for Texas; I thought his career was over a few years ago but it's funny what a change of scenery to an outstanding team can do to a player's career.

The Red Sox are 4-5 on their longest homestand of the season which ends tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) with the Texas Toughguy (5-9) facing Matt Harrison (13-6). I could pretend that Boston a chance but unless Beckett gets hurt in pregame warmups (always a possibility), this has loss written all over it.

UPDATE 8/8: Vicente Padilla was put on the 15-day DL with a bicep strain, Clayton Mortensen was recalled from Pawtucket.

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Red Sox comeback falls short as they lose to the Twins

There was no reason the Red Sox should have had a chance last night, after going behind 5-0 and 7-1 but they almost pulled off an improbable win before losing 9-8 to the Twins at the Metrodome on Mother's Day.

Boston pounded out 15 hits, led by Alex Cora (3), Kevin Cash (2), David Ortiz (2), Kevin Youkilis (2), J.D. Drew (2) and Coco Crisp (2).

Twins starter Nick Blackburn (3-2) seemed to be on the ropes for most of his six innings: he allowed four runs on nine hits but struck out five to get the win.

Craig Monroe was the catalyst for the Twins, hitting two homers and driving in four RBIs. Justin Morneau added three hits and two runs.

Tim Wakefield (3-2) gave up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, with two walks and two strikeouts in 2.2 innings. The knuckleball was completely unpredictable last night for Wake and that wasn't a good thing. Kevin Cash had two passed balls and when Cash wasn't chasing it, the outfielders were watching it leave the yard.

Monroe hit a three-run homer in the second and later in the inning, light-hitting Adam Everett cranked a two-run bomb.

Boston (24-16) got one back but Mike Lamb added two more with a two-run single.

After Wakefield was pulled for Julian Tavarez, the Sox scored three runs in the fourth.

Minnesota (19-17) scored once in the fourth before Crisp (2 runs, 3 RBI, stolen base) hit a two-run homer off reliever Matt Guerrier, cutting it to 8-6.

Monroe added a solo shot in the seventh off Mike Timlin that proved to be a huge run. Timlin's ERA is now a cool 10.00.

Without a doubt, the Sox biggest weakness so far is it's middle relief. Luckily, those are the easiest pieces to add during the season. Timlin, Tavarez, Delcarmen and Co. simply aren't getting it done. Okajima and Papelbon are about as good a set-up man and closer as you'll find but they can't do anything if there's nobody to pitch the seventh.

Joe Nathan came on in the ninth with the three-run lead and almost blew it after not appearing for a week. Drew hit an RBI double that Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez mistimed. Crisp hit a fielder's choice to score a run but Drew got tagged out on a close play at third.

Manny Ramirez, representing the winning run, pinch hit for Cash but grounded out to end it and give Nathan his 12th save.

Boston looks to take the series with the fourth and final game tonight as Clay Buchholz faces Livan Hernandez, who's off to a 5-1 start.