Red Sox Officially Clinch Their First Losing Season Since 1997, Thanks Dice-K

It's been a formality for weeks, hell maybe even months, that this would be the Red Sox' first losing season since 1997 (15 years!); still, it is perfectly fitting that Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-6) was the losing pitcher in the game that put them officially over that super depressing edge.

Tampa Bay (79-70, 40-34 home) snapped its four-game losing streak with a 13-3 laugher tonight at Tropicana Field against Boston (68-82, 35-39 away). The Rays dormant offense exploded for 15 hits (6 extra base hits) and 10 walks. Tampa Bay was up 5-3 until they hung seven runs in the sixth on Red Sox relievers Alfredo Aceves (4 earned runs) and Daniel Bard (3 earned runs).

In what I pray is his final outing in a Red Sox uniform, Dice-K was shelled for five earned runs on nine hits in three innings. Like Josh Beckett earlier this season, all I want is to see Matsuzaka leave this team. He is pitiful and a constant reminder of where dumb spending on free agents gets you.

Rookie Chris Archer (1-3) picked up his first MLB win with five innings of work. He allowed three earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and four walks.

Jacoby Ellsbury (3 for 3, 2 RBIs) and Pedro Ciriaco (2 for 4, 2 runs) had the only hits for the Red Sox.

Jeff Keppinger (3 for 4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, solo homer) led the Rays with Carlos Pena (2-run homer, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, 3 walks), Desmond Jennings (2 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, walk, triple), Luke Scott (2 for 3, run, RBI, walk, double), Matt Joyce (2 for 3, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, run) and Jose Molina (2 for 3, run, RBI, walk, double) also coming through at the plate.

This four-game series ends tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) with the one juicy matchup of the week: Clay Buchholz (11-6) vs. Cy Young candidate David Price (18-5). With a decent college football game on (Boise State vs. BYU) and even better NFL game (Panthers vs. Giants), odds are that I will only flip to Red Sox-Rays during commercials or halftime.

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Salty's 1st Career Walk-Off HR Gives Boston A Thrilling 3-2 Win Vs. Tampa Bay

I guess all we can surmise from tonight's final result is that the Boston Red Sox flourish the most when the pressure is not on them, namely in terms of viewing audiences.

Like most, I wasn't watching it live; I actually first noticed it on my stattracker for Yahoo fantasy baseball (on my laptop) and then Twitter but it counts just the same as the Red Sox (23-23, 10-12 home) beat the Rays (28-19, 11-12 away) 3-2 on a walk-off (1st of his career) two-run homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

It was the 10th comeback win for the Red Sox this season, a good sign that they might not be as average as their record suggests.

The pinch-hit bomb to right center (his 8th of the season) put Boston back at .500 (for the fourth time this season) while also causing the first blown save of the season for Rays closer Fernando Rodney (2-1), who had 15 saves in a row to start 2012.

It was a pitcher's duel as Josh Beckett and David Price both performed very well even though neither factored into the final decision. Price went seven innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Beckett also went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. He had 15 swinging strikes which has to be a season high.

As always, the only thing you can count on this season for Boston is their bullpen and tonight was no exception. Andrew Miller threw a clean eighth with a strikeout then Rich Hill (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and ended up getting the win.

The Red Sox broke the deadlock in the sixth on Will Middlebrooks's (2 hits) RBI single. The Rays scored both of their runs in the seventh on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Luke Scott.

Boston gets its fourth chance (5th if you count Opening Day) to go over .500 tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Clay Buchholz (4-2) takes on Jeremy Hellickson (4-1). It would be a shock if Buchholz is the one to get them there since he's been a complete mess basically all season despite somehow notching four fraudulent wins.

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Red Sox Win Their Third Straight Vs. The Rays

So anyone finding that this Red Sox-Rays series isn't going exactly as you expected?

Not that I'm complaining as Boston beat Tampa Bay for the third straight game, 6-4 this afternoon at a summer-like Fenway Park. The Red Sox (4-5, 3-0 home) will look for the rare four-game sweep on Marathon Monday while the Rays (4-5, 1-5 away) try to leave town with some dignity.

The Red Sox failed to score double-digit runs for the first time this weekend but they used some timely hitting and a lockdown bullpen to get the job done just the same.

Felix Doubront got a no-decision which is what he deserved. He cruised through four scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the fifth and a solo homer in the sixth before he was done. In 5+ innings, he allowed four runs (all earned) on nine hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

Tampa Bay used a young lefty of its own, Matt Moore (0-1), and he was even less effective. He saved the bullpen by laboring through 109 pitches in 6.1 innings but Boston tagged him for six runs (all earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts, four walks and two home runs allowed.

The Rays outhit the Red Sox 13-8 but Tampa Bay struggled with runners in scoring position (3 for 14) which will happen when Jeff Keppinger is your cleanup hitter (for a day at least).

For once, Boston scored first as Cody Ross crushed a three-run homer in the second over the Monster. His second of the season (and in as many days), it scored Kevin Youkilis (2 runs) and David Ortiz (3 hits, 2 runs, RBI). Former Ray Kelly Shoppach continued his tear against his old team, he had an RBI double in the fourth which made it 4-0. Ortiz scored on the play and Ross was tagged out at home after he should have been out at third except Evan Longoria dropped the ball.

Tampa Bay might have a top heavy and mediocre lineup without B.J. Upton (can't believe I'm writing that) but they still have as much fight in them as any team in MLB. That's what makes them the Rays. They put up three runs in the fifth on Carlos Pena's two-run double and Longoria's ground rule RBI double. Luke Scott's solo home run to right in the sixth tied it at four.

Ortiz hasn't been this hot in years, at least before the middle of the summer, but he delivered an RBI double in the sixth which scored Youk. New leadoff hitter Mike Aviles homered for the second straight game, his second of the season, a solo shot in the seventh just over the wall in center.

After Scott Atchison struggled to get one out after relieving Doubront, the Red Sox bullpen really turned it up. Vicente Padilla (1-0) had his second outstanding outing in a row. He went 1.2 innings, allowing only one hit with two strikeouts and no walks. Franklin Morales got to be the setup guy in the eighth and he recorded his second hold despite giving up two hits.

Alfredo Aceves notched his second save on his third consecutive 1-2-3 appearance. He had a strikeout and even saw his ERA go under 10 (it's now 9.00).

Boston will look for the sweep tomorrow morning (11:05 a.m., NESN) and it will be the toughest matchup on paper: Daniel Bard (0-1) makes his Fenway debut as a starter against James Shields (1-0). If the Red Sox win that one, I'll really be impressed. Shields had a career-year last season and he is Tampa Bay's ace these days.

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For The Second Day In A Row, The Red Sox Rock The Rays At Fenway

Well I guess all the Boston Red Sox had to do was return to Fenway Park and that would solve all their issues.

For the second straight day, they lit up the Tampa Bay Rays and a quality starting pitcher. Boston (3-5) hit five homers in a 13-5 laugher over Tampa Bay (4-4).

David Price was no match on Opening Day and this afternoon, reigning AL rookie of the year Jeremy Hellickson (5 innings, 5 earned runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 3 home runs allowed) was similarly knocked around by the suddenly explosive Red Sox offense. Boston put up double-digit runs for the second game in a row.

The Red Sox cranked out 15 hits with 13 RBIs and six walks. David Ortiz led the attack, going 4 for 5 with 5 RBIs and two runs. New leadoff hitter Mike Aviles was 3 for 5 with two runs, Cody Ross had four RBIs, Kevin Youkilis scored three runs and Dustin Pedroia had two hits and two runs.

If Carmine the computer could get a boner, you know he would have had a huge one today as the Red Sox saw a staggering 174 pitches (vs. 129 for the Rays). Every starter but Darnell McDonald had hits but even D-Mac had two walks.

Clay Buchholz (1-0) was very shaky to start as he spotted four runs to the Rays in the first but he settled down from there and lasted seven full innings. It helped that the Red Sox outscored Tampa Bay 13-1 after the first. Buchholz allowed five earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Ugly numbers for sure but the fact that he was able to hold on and give Boston innings is the more important point.

After scoring 12 runs yesterday on mostly small ball, Boston looked like the familiar team that usually crushes the ball at home. They had 10 extra base hits (to six hits total for Tampa Bay) and before today, they had only hit two home runs.

Carlos Pena put Tampa up 1-0 in the first with an RBI double and noted redneck asshole Luke Scott made some more fans by hitting a three-run homer (1st of the season) later in the frame.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (1st of the season) woke up Boston's bats with a two-run blast to straightaway center in the second. Scott's RBI double in the third made it 5-2 Rays but that would be it.

Pedroia (2nd of the season) hit a solo shot in the third, Ortiz (1st of the season) tied it with a two-run homer in the fifth then Aviles put Boston ahead for good with his first of the season, a solo home run in the seventh. Ross added a two-run double in the seventh before Ortiz cleared the bases with a three-run double in the eighth and Ross hit a two-run homer (his first of the season) later in the eighth.

Two young lefties face each other tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Felix Doubront opposes Tampa Bay's Matt Moore. Something tells me the Rays are due to breakout at some point, especially since they are 1-4 in their last five games.

UPDATE 4/15: After an appearance as a defensive replacement in the ninth yesterday, Lin was sent back to Pawtucket. Reliever Michael Bowden was designated for assignment while outfielders Nate Spears and Jason Repko were called up from the PawSox.

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Red Sox lose another game that nobody watches or cares about

Didn't see more than a few minutes of the Red Sox-Orioles game last night and can't say I missed much.

Baltimore (10-12) beat Boston (10-13) 5-4 at Camden Yards as Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard (0-3) had another bad outing (3 hits) and a comeback went for naught.

Jeremy Guthrie (6 innings, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts) outpitched Josh Beckett (6 innings, 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 4 strikeouts).

Derrek Lee led the Os with three hits while Adam Jones had two hits.

Jacoby Ellsbury had three more hits for Boston from the leadoff spot while Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz had two hits.

The bad Beckett popped up as he gave up back-to-back homers to Luke Scott and Adam Jones in the fourth inning to give Baltimore a 3-0 inning. Beckett did his usual tough guy/Texas bad ass bullshit as he stared down Scott running around the bases (he was mad that Scott flipped his bat, lol). Hey Josh, give it a rest. This isn't Little League, that crap doesn't work.

Brian Roberts' sacrifice fly scored Matt Wieters in the fifth for a 4-0 Orioles lead.

Gonzalez started a rally in the eighth with an RBI single that drove in Ellsbury and then Kevin Youkilis delivered with a three-run bomb to tie it up.

Vlad Guerrero hit an RBI single off Bard in the eighth that scored Lee with the winning run. For the second straight night, Kevin Gregg recorded the save, his fourth of the season.

The Red Sox will try to avoid the series sweep and get some momentum back tonight as Jon Lester takes on Brad Bergesen. It's the last game of Boston's road trip so a win would be doubly nice.

Limping home to Boston

After starting out this 10-game road trip on a high note by taking three of four in Motown, the Red Sox have lost four of its last five in Minnesota and Baltimore.

In the first game in Baltimore last night, the Orioles (20-19) won 5-4 as Boston (24-18) once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first but couldn't hold it.

Ace Josh Beckett (4-3) took the loss as he gave up 11 hits and five runs in 5.2 innings of work. Beckett walked two and struck out five.

Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (who always seems to pitch well against the Sox) earned the win (2-3) after going six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Manager Terry Francona missed last night and he'll miss today's game after his mother-in-law passed away. Bench coach Brad Mills took over managerial duties.

J.D. Drew hurt his wrist trying to make a diving catch in the third and left the game while Coco Crisp later left in the sixth with an upset stomach.

Manny Ramirez (2 hits) had an RBI single in the first then Boston scored twice on Baltimore errors.

Jay Payton had an RBI single in the second then Baltimore put up four as Kevin Millar had an RBI single and Luke Scott (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) hit a three-run homer.

In the seventh, the Red Sox blew a golden opportunity as Manny came up with the bases loaded against Jim Johnson and nobody out. After a 10-pitch at-bat, Manny grounded to Johnson, who started the 1-2-3 double play. Mike Lowell flew out in the next at-bat.

Alex Cora cut the Orioles lead to one in the eighth with an RBI single but it wasn't to be for Boston.

Baltimore closer George Sherrill recorded five outs (including two strikeouts) for his 14th save. He got a gift in the ninth when Ortiz was called out on a questionable swing (it looked like he held up). Big Papi was kicked out as he tossed his bat in frustration.

Overshadowed in the loss, relievers Manny Delcarmen (1.1 innings) and David Aardsma (2 strikeouts in 1 inning) didn't allow a run.

The teams wrap up this bizarre two-game series with an afternoon game today. The Red Sox will try to break even (5-5) on this trip. After that Boston comes home to Fenway and begins interleague play against the Brewers.