The Dog Days Of Summer Have Left The Red Sox All But Dead

When you really look at the numbers after a Red Sox loss this season, they will make your head spin. Take tonight's 6-5 setback to the Twins (46-60, 23-28 away) in 10 innings at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox (53-54, 27-31 home) blew a 5-1 lead as they went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, grounded into three double plays and left 10 runners on base. Apparently 14 hits aren't enough as they managed to not score a run with runners on first and third with no outs (1st inning); bases loaded with one out (8th inning) and a runner on second with two outs in the ninth. Oh and the Twins made three errors yet still found a way to beat these bums.

After winning four in a row, Boston has now lost the first two games of a series-at home-to one of the worst teams in the American League.

Justin Morneau (2 doubles, 2 RBIs, run) and Jamey Carroll (double, RBI, walk) both went 4-for-4 as the Twins made Felix Doubront (5 innings, 5 earned runs, 8 hits, 2 strikeouts, 4 walks) pay for his lack of control.

Caroll's RBI single in the 10th off Vicente Padilla (4-1) was the difference. Jeff Gray (6-1) picked up the win with a scoreless 1.1 innings while Jared Burton earned his fourth save of the season. You're not alone if you've never heard of many of the current Twins, who no doubt will be bagging groceries in a few years.

Brian Duensing was the victim of bad luck since he went six innings and allowed five runs (2 earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts and no walks. In the third, Morneau dropped an easy foul pop-up and on the next pitch, Carl Crawford (3 hits, 2 runs) took him deep for a three-run shot (his 3rd of the season, all in the last week).

Darin Mastroianni (2 hits, run) gave Minnesota an early 1-0 advantage with an RBI single in the second. Kelly Shoppach (2 hits) tied it with an RBI single in the second.

Boston did the rest of its work in the third with Adrian Gonzalez's (run, walk) RBI single preceding Crawford's blast into Minnesota's bullpen.

Due to a tight strike zone and a lack of focus, Doubront blew the four-run lead in the fifth. Josh Willingham walked with the bases loaded, Morneau had a run-scoring single and Danny Valencia tied it at five with a sacrifice fly.

Just in case you forget that Bobby V is in over his head, he made sure to remind us by leaving Ryan Lavarnway in to bat with runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh. I know I was shocked when he fouled out to catcher Joe Mauer to end the threat. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was unavailable because of an ear infection. Haha really. I think most Little League teams are tougher collectively than this group.

Dustin Pedroia (run), Cody Ross (double, run) and Mike Aviles (walk) all padded their stats-what's really important-with a pair of hits in the loss. Ben Revere had two hits and a run for the Twins.

I have become totally numb to the brutal losses and general apathy surrounding this suddenly floundering franchise. I can't deal with any of the drama surrounding Bobby Valentine and the players since it never ends. I truly believe the only way to get the Red Sox front office to pay attention is by not going to Fenway anymore and to stop spending money on all the Red Sox related crap. It's clear that they don't care about wins or losses, otherwise they would have done something to change the makeup of this toxic team last winter.

Clay Buchholz (9-3) faces rookie Cole De Vries (2-2) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as Boston tries to get back to .500 and find a way to beat mighty Minnesota.

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Well At Least We Know The Red Sox Aren't Going To Go Winless The Rest Of The Way

Conveniently, with the Red Sox' season fully going down in flames, I've been off the grid for a few days. Yes, I kept up with the pathetic sweep by the Blue Jays last weekend but not enough to write anything of substance.

Tonight, I caught much of the game on the radio as Boston (49-49, 24-21 away) edged Texas (57-39, 30-17 home) 2-1 at sauna-like Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. It snapped a four-game losing streak for the Red Sox and also handed them their first win of the season against the Rangers (1-3).

Mike Aviles broke the 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth with a bloop RBI single that scored Daniel Nava, who came on as a defensive replacement for Carl Crawford in the seventh. The Red Sox bullpen was fantastic as Vicente Padilla (4-0) pitched a scoreless eighth despite giving up a hit and beaning Adrian Beltre. Closer Alfredo Aceves retired the Rangers on eight pitches for his 21st save of the season.

It was a weird night as Ian Kinsler was ejected in the first inning for arguing a strike call and Beltre had to leave after getting hit in the head by Padilla's pitch.

Clay Buchholz didn't get credit for the win but once again, he performed like Boston's much-needed ace/stopper. In seven innings, the Lonestar State native allowed one earned run on four hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Rangers rookie Martin Perez pitched very well in a spot start. In six innings, the young lefty allowed one earned run on five hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Boston went ahead 1-0 in the fourth on Kelly Shoppach's RBI double that scored Cody Ross. Texas tied it in the sixth as Josh Hamilton's ground out plated Elvis Andrus.

Don't get your hopes up for tomorrow night (8:05 p.m., NESN) as Josh Beckett (5-8) takes on Derek Holland (6-5) in the series finale. There is no way the Texas Toughguy will be able to shut down that lineup and/or concentrate in his natural habitat.

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The Red Sox Absolutely Have To Trade Josh Beckett, It's The Only Solution

Honestly, what else will it take for the Red Sox to realize that trading Josh Beckett in the next 10 days would be the best move they've made in years? The Texas Toughguy (5-8) just doesn't care anymore and the team will never get anywhere with him stinking up the clubhouse and dugout, not to mention his often abysmal starts.

Tonight, Boston (48-46, 25-26 home) was down 4-0 in the second inning and never really had a chance (I've said that before) as Toronto (46-47, 21-27 away) won the series opener 6-1 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox' offense certainly didn't help matters as they only avoided a shutout by scoring a run in garbage time-down 6-0 in the ninth with a fielder's choice by Mike Aviles. Boston had nine hits, including two apiece from Will Middlebrooks and Kelly Shoppach but as a team they were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Laffey (2-1) added seven shutout innings to the six he threw at Fenway nearly a month ago. He allowed eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Beckett went six innings but he gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The Blue Jays scored twice in the first, on Edwin Encarnacion's (2 runs, single, walk) fielder's choice and J.P. Arencibia's RBI single. Toronto added two more in the second on a two-run double by Colby Rasmus (run, triple).

Adam Lind (2 hits) had an RBI single in the fifth and my man Yan Gomes pushed across the final run with an RBI single in the ninth. Toronto went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Cook (2-2) faces Carlos Villanueva (4-0) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the middle game of this three-game set.

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Red Sox Get Back Over .500 Thanks To 3 Home Runs, 7-5 Win Vs. Marlins

After they had a 2-1 pitcher's duel (won by Boston) last Tuesday in Miami, it's only logical that tonight Clay Buchholz and Mark Buehrle both faltered as the Red Sox slugged their way to a 7-5 win in the interleague series opener at Fenway Park.

Boston (34-33, 15-19 home) climbed back over the .500 mark with their fifth win in six games as they sent Miami (33-34, 16-16 away) under it with the Marlins' 11th loss in their last 13 games. The victory was somewhat tempered by the fact that Dustin Pedroia left in the 7th inning after he popped out. It appeared like he re-injured his thumb but I guess we'll have to wait and see since the Red Sox act like the Patriots now when it comes to talking about hurt players.

Far more than starting pitching, this outcome was decided by three Red Sox home runs and a few other hits which were enough to overcome a career-high 5 RBIs from Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison (3 for 4, 2 double, 1 HR).

For the fourth straight game, Buchholz (8-2) still got the win but it broke up a string of four quality starts in a row. In six innings, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

Buehrle (5-8) was hit even harder as he gave up six earned runs on seven hits in only five innings. He struck out one and walked none but allowed all three longballs.

Morrison gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his sixth homer of the season.

David Ortiz (17th of the season) tied it with a two-run blast of his own that just got over the wall in right during the home half of the first. Kelly Shoppach (4th of the season) continued his mastery of Buehrle (don't ask me why) with a two-run homer of his own over the Monster in the second inning.

Morrison's RBI double in the third scored Hanley Ramirez (3 hits, 2 runs, walk) and cut Boston's lead to 4-3.

Cody Ross had a memorable first game back from the DL (Scott Podsednik went on the DL with a groin strain) as he connected for a solo home run (his 9th of the season) in the fourth which made it 5-3.

Morrison tied it with a two-run double in the fifth but Adrian Gonzalez had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Will Middlebrooks (2 hits) doubled in Kevin Youkilis (who had also doubled) in the sixth for the last Red Sox run.

It's become redundant to say but Boston's bullpen was superb again tonight: three innings, one hit, zero walks and three strikeouts. Matt Albers got the first two outs of the seventh before Andrew Miller got Morrison to fly out with Jose Reyes on third base and two outs.

Vicente Padilla allowed a hit but still got his 16th hold with a scoreless eighth (6.2 scoreless innings in a row). Alfredo Aceves struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save of the season.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) is another repeat from a week ago as Felix Doubront (7-3) faces Ricky Nolasco (6-5) with the Red Sox looking for their fourth consecutive win. Last Wednesday, Doubront flirted with a no-hitter as Boston rolled 10-2.

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Clay Buchholz Makes Sure The Red Sox Win Once Every Five Games Or So

It was only a month ago that 2012 was starting to look like a lost season for Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, who seemed destined for a trip to Pawtucket. Now, he's pitching like the staff ace as he had his fourth consecutive quality start.

Boston (30-32, 16-13 away) broke its four-game losing streak with a nifty 2-1 win against Miami (32-30, 17-17 home) this evening at Marlins Park.

It was only the second win in the last nine games for the Red Sox, the common thread in both? Buchholz took the ball. The Marlins have lost seven of eight.

Buchholz (7-2) was outstanding in a game when the Red Sox needed nothing less since their offense couldn't do much either against Mark Buehrle (5-7). Buchholz went seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and a walk.

His only mistake was a solo home run to Logan Morrison (his 5th of the season) in the seventh inning. Jose Reyes (2 hits) had led off the first with a triple but Buchholz proceeded to strike out the side to get out of trouble.

Vicente Padilla survived an infield single and bloop single in the eighth to strike out two and get his 14th hold of the season. Alfredo Aceves earned his 15th save (1st in 10 days) after allowing a single but also striking out one in the ninth.

Always one of the fastest workers in MLB-wish he'd give some tips to Boston's ultra slow pitchers-Buehrle went seven innings as well. He allowed two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

Boston's two runs came in the seventh on Kelly Shoppach's (2 doubles) RBI double that drove in Will Middlebrooks and Shoppach came around on an RBI single by Mike Aviles.

Felix Doubront (6-3) faces Ricky Nolasco (6-4) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the series finale as both teams go for the deciding game.

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Daniel Bard Isn't Cut Out To Be A Starting Pitcher In MLB, That Much Is Clear

Outside of bad Little League games (where a kid that never pitches briefly tries to), I'm pretty sure I've never seen a starting pitcher meltdown quite like Daniel Bard did this afternoon in Toronto.

The Red Sox (28-26, 15-12 away) had a chance to sweep the Blue Jays (28-26, 16-12 home) but Bard (5-6) never gave them a chance as they lost 5-1 at Rogers Centre. Boston enjoyed exactly one day in fourth place, now they are back in the AL East basement tied with Toronto.

Bard lasted 1.2 innings (55 pitches/24 strikes), allowing five earned runs on one hit with two strikeouts and six walks. He also hit two batters. To say he didn't have control would do a great disservice to Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn in Major League and Rick Ankiel. It got to the point where you felt bad for the Blue Jays hitters that had to step in against him since he throws so hard but he had absolutely no clue where it would end up. Yunel Escobar was hit on the hand and Edwin Encarnacion was hit on the wrist and ended up leaving later in the game.

Of course, the one hit Bard allowed was a three-run bomb by Jose Bautista (14th of the season) in the first inning. I've said all along that moving Bard to the rotation was pointless but still, I never wished this on him. He went from being one of the top setup men in MLB and top young arms to a complete mess as a fifth starter in a mediocre rotation on an average team. Don't ask me how to fix this huge problem since I don't have a clue. His confidence must be completely shot.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the second on Bautista's bases loaded walk and Encarnacion's painful hit by pitch.

Kelly Shoppach (3rd of the season) provided the only Red Sox run with a solo home run in the fifth inning.

Boston played like a team in the last game of a series on the road (aka getaway day), with tomorrow off. Although no excuse since it was only a three-game road trip. They managed just six hits against rookie Drew Hutchison (5-2) and a trio of Toronto relievers. Hutchison went seven easy innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk.

Franklin Morales went an absurd 4.1 innings, he was the first reliever out of Boston's bullpen and he submitted his longest relief work in his MLB career. He didn't allow a run with only two hits and four strikeouts. Morales as a starter? Haha just kidding but he was awesome.

Fenway Park will have a distinct DC-Metro area feel this week as Baltimore comes for three games beginning on Tuesday then the Washington Nationals restart Interleague play with a visit next weekend for three.

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Red Sox Clinch Series With Orioles Thanks To Some Unlikely Power

The beauty of baseball and what keeps us tuning in despite a regular season that's way too long (162 games) and tedious is the chance to see something crazy that you'll surely never witness again.

This afternoon was one of those type of contests as the Red Sox (22-22, 13-11 away) beat the Orioles (28-17, 13-11 home) 6-5 at Camden Yards.

The win clinched the series for Boston (2-1) while also keeping them hot (10-3 in their last 13 games). Best of all, they completed their absurd 20 games in 20 days stretch (11-9) and eight-game road trip (5-3) in good shape. This is the third time that the Red Sox have reached .500 this season, hopefully now they'll take the next step and get over it-something they haven't done yet.

I'm very confident that Daniel Nava (2 hits), Kelly Shoppach (2 hits) and Scott Podsednik (2 hits, 2 runs) will never all hit home runs in the same game again but that's exactly what they did today. Boston needed all those longballs since Daniel Bard (4-5) didn't give them anything more than an average start. In 5.1 innings, Bard allowed two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and four walks. As always, I ask: why isn't he in the bullpen? He's not nearly the same guy when he starts, he's lost his velocity and he can't put any batters away.

Jake Arrieta (2-5) wasn't good either for the O's. He went 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

The Red Sox had 13 hits, including two from Kevin Youkilis (run, walk) and Will Middlebrooks (RBI). The Orioles were limited to seven, basically by three players Xavier Avery (2 hits, run), Adam Jones (2 hits) and Nick Johnson (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 runs), who hit not one but two home runs. I said it was a strange day, right?

Alfredo Aceves had his third straight perfect outing as he got four outs for his 11th save of the season.

Baltimore went up 1-0 in the first on Chris Davis's sacrifice fly. Boston tied it on Podsednik's double play ball in the second. Johnson (3rd of the season) hit a solo shot in the second. Middlebrooks tied it with an RBI double in the third although Youk was easily gunned down at the plate to end the inning on the same play.

Nava (2nd of the season) and Shoppach (2nd of the season) both went deep in the sixth, Shoppach's was a two-run blast. Johnson answered with his second home run, in the sixth, but Podsednik made it 6-4 with a solo homer in the eighth-his first since Sept. 2010 with the Dodgers.

The Orioles threatened in the eighth and pulled a run back on Wilson Betemit's sacrifice fly (that would have been more if not for a great diving catch by Che-Hsuan Lin in right field) but Aceves struck out Johnson to end the frame.

After a much needed day off tomorrow, the Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays for three games this weekend then the Detroit Tigers for four games at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay (27-18, 2nd place AL East) has already played Boston six times with the Red Sox going 4-2 so far.

Jon Lester (3-3) faces rookie Alex Cobb (1-0) on Friday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Josh Beckett (4-4) gets David Price (6-3) on Saturday night (7:15 p.m., FOX) and Clay Buchholz (4-2) opposes Jeremy Hellickson (4-1) on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN).

It's Memorial Day weekend in a few days so it's about time that the Red Sox get over the hump and don't look back to their pitiful start to 2012.

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Wake Me When The Red Sox Beat A Good Team

There's nothing like padding your win total against some crappy teams that are going nowhere fast; at least that's what you have to say when you objectively look at the Red Sox right about now.

Boston (16-19, 8-11 home) won its fourth straight game, 6-1 over the Seattle Mariners (16-21, 9-13 away) tonight at Fenway Park.

Pardon me if I don't sound very excited about this fraudulent win-streak vs. the Indians and M's. I will only start to take the Red Sox seriously if they can beat quality opponents and/or do that on the road against non-AL Central squads.

So I don't sound too negative, I can be happy about the fact that Jon Lester (2-3) nearly recorded the shutout but more importantly, he pitched his first nine-inning complete game in almost two years. The perennially poor hitting Mariners could only squeeze one run across in the ninth inning when it was long over. Lester's pitch count was high (119) but he didn't walk anybody, he struck out six and he scattered eight hits.

Jason Vargas (4-3) allowed five earned runs in six innings which meant that Seattle might as well have been down 20-0 with the way that they struggle to score runs.

David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez had RBI doubles in the first but Daniel Nava (2-run, his 1st of the season) and Kelly Shoppach (1st of the season) bested that with homers over the Monster in the fourth. It was Nava's second career home run, everyone remembers that he hit a grand slam two years ago in his first MLB at-bat. Shoppach had a cup of coffee with Boston in 2005 but this was his first long ball for them. Marlon Byrd drove in the final Red Sox run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.

Thankfully, this series which bores me to tears is over tomorrow afternoon (4:05 p.m., NESN) as Josh Beckett (2-4) takes a break from his main duty-golfing-to face Blake Beavan (1-3). Best case scenario for Boston is that Beckett somehow gets the win (completing a full turn around the rotation, with each guy winning) and the Red Sox head out for a very important eight-game road trip with some momentum, namely in the form of a five-game win-streak.

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Red Sox Roll Over The Rays In Home Opener But Ellsbury Got Seriously Hurt

Well this was one busy Opening Day at Fenway that potentially could have repercussions for a long time this season.

The Red Sox (2-5) scored eight runs in the eighth inning to put away the Tampa Bay Rays (4-3) in a 12-2 afternoon matinee. It was the eighth straight home opener that Boston has captured (a franchise record).

Josh Beckett (1-1) was excellent but that shouldn't be much of a surprise when you consider that he's 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA in his last six starts against Tampa Bay. He looked nothing like the chump that was throwing batting practice slop to the Tigers last Saturday. He went eight innings-he could have gone the whole way-allowing one run (earned) on five hits with one strikeout and one walk on an economical 94 pitches.

Boston put up 16 hits, 12 runs, 12 RBIs and six walks. The negative part which I think overshadowed everything else was that Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, run, RBI) left in the top of the fifth inning with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury. He slid into second base and Rays shortstop Reid Brignac landed awkwardly on Ellsbury with his right shoulder taking the brunt of the fall. He appeared to be in plenty of pain and as he walked off the field, he was holding his arm to his chest. Gulp.

David Price (1-1) pitched like a guy with an injury or something else on his mind. He only lasted three innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Fittingly against his former team, new Red Sox backup catcher Kelly Shoppach (Beckett's personal catcher?) led Boston with three runs, three hits, two RBIs and the first stolen base of his career that was completed like a belly flop. Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, run, RBI), Kevin Youkilis (3 RBIs, 2 hits, run) and David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 RBIs) were the other Red Sox with multiple hits.

Tampa Bay actually scored the first and last runs of the game but ironically, that's all they had. Jeff Keppinger had an RBI double in the second and Ben Zobrist (2 hits, 2 runs) crushed a solo homer in garbage time-ninth inning-against Mark Melancon. You read that right, Melancon has already been delegated to mop-up duty.

Boston scored three times in the third inning, one in the fourth then they exploded for eight in the eighth.

Tomorrow afternoon, Clay Buchholz takes on Jeremy Hellickson at 4:05 p.m. Just like Beckett, the Red Sox need Buchholz to show that they can count on him this season. Otherwise, they have a huge hole-No. 3 starter-to fill. Hellickson is expected to start even though he got hit in the head during batting practice yesterday. Who knew pitchers had it so tough shagging flies in the outfield?

UPDATE 4/14: Ellsbury could miss 6-8 weeks and he was placed on the 15-day DL today with a partially dislocated right shoulder. Pawtucket outfield Che-Hsuan Lin was called up to take his place on the 25-man roster.

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See You Later Jason Varitek, Welcome Back Kelly Shoppach

Very slowly the Boston Red Sox are starting to make good decisions in this off-season that up until now has been nothing short of a nightmare which isn't nearly good enough considering how things ended in September.

Today, the team reached a one-year agreement with free agent catcher Kelly Shoppach, formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays and once upon a time a 2001 2nd round draft pick by the Red Sox.

I'm psyched about this move for two simple reasons: 1) it means that Jason Varitek's reign is over at Fenway. 2) It makes one of Boston's AL East rivals worse (in a not so obvious way). He'll make a base salary of $1.35 million in 2012 plus performance bonuses.

Coming out of Baylor University, Shoppach was mostly (9 games in 2005 with the Red Sox) in the minors until 2006 before he was part of a seven-player trade to Cleveland that netted Coco Crisp for Boston.

He's never been known as an offensive catcher although he had a nice season in 2008 with the Indians: 21 home runs, 55 RBIs, .261 batting average, .348 OBP and .517 slugging percentage. For his career, he's hit .224 with a .315 OBP and .417 slugging percentage. He's also coming off a brutal 2011 with the Rays: in 87 games, he had 11 home runs, 22 RBIs and hit .176 with .268 OBP and .339 slugging percentage.

So why am I excited to get this guy that can't hit? It's all because of his defensive prowess, something the Red Sox have lacked in recent years with their catchers. Shoppach led the American League in 2011 by throwing out 41% of base-runners.

I respect Varitek for all he did in the past for the Red Sox, 2004, 2007, blah blah blah (most years, games and homers in team history for a catcher) but it's a joke how long him and Tim Wakefield have basically held the team hostage. They haven't been good players for years but for the Pink Hat fan value, they've been kept around past their welcome like a washed up mall Santa (see the Christmas theme I used there?). Like Mike Felger says, the Red Sox had to get over their case of sacred cowism.

It also means that while Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be the starter for the near future, this gives promising Ryan Lavarnway time to work on his game in Pawtucket. No doubt, he'll be called up at times since catchers always get banged up and miss time during the excruciating 162 game regular season.

Since Salty struggles so much against lefties (.603 OPS) and Shoppach excels (.909 career OPS against lefties, fourth-highest in MLB), it makes perfect sense that they'll be a nice platoon combination for new manager Bobby Valentine.

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