Red Sox Lose On Soul-Crushing Walk-Off Walk, Haha

There is no other way to say it: the Red Sox pissed away a game tonight against the lifeless Giants and as a result of San Francisco's (56-69 overall, 32-32 home) 3-2 win at AT&T Park over Boston (74-54 overall, 34-31 away), the Red Sox find themselves tied with the Rays (7-4 winners vs. Orioles) for first place in the AL East.

It doesn't get much more frustrating than losing on a walk-off walk. Throw in the added bonus that poor Brayan Villareal entered his first game as a Red Sox and proceeded to walk Marco Scutaro on four pitches. We'll never understand why Boston manager John Farrell went with a new player (who has major control issues) when the bases were loaded but there were two outs and closer Koji Uehara was available (and has pitched once in a week).

The opportunities that the Red Sox left on the table were best illustrated by uber prospect Xander Bogaerts (batting seventh and playing shortstop in his first MLB game): in the first, he came up with the bases loaded but grounded out. In the third, he had runners on second and third with two outs but once again he grounded out to end the threat.

Boston got a run in the first on Mike Carp's sacrifice fly and a run in the third on Shane Victorino's solo homer but they should have had way more against Ryan Voegelsong (7 innings, 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts) who seemed to have nothing when the game started. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli both found themselves on the bench, meaning that Boston's lineup predictably lacked much pop (Victorino's homer notwithstanding).

Jake Peavy (5.2 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts) was pitching well but Farrell decided to yank him after 92 pitches. Um? Joaquin Arias had driven in San Francisco's first run with an RBI triple in the fifth.

Six of the Giants' eight hits were by Brandon Belt (3 hits; double, triple) and something called Roger Kieschnick. Craig Breslow got four outs on seven pitches but Junichi Tazawa gave up the tying run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Buster Posey.

We can blame Villareal but he was put into that impossible situation by Farrell and more importantly, Franklin Morales (who still has no idea where his pitches are going).

A bright spot in the loss and these past few weeks has been Will Middlebrooks (2 for 4) who appears to gain confidence with each passing game.

There is day baseball tomorrow (3:45, NESN) for the series finale as Felix Doubront (8-6) faces Barry Zito (4-8), who was summoned from the bullpen. Boston desperately needs another victory (and series win) before their off day on Thursday and a much-hyped series with the Dodgers this weekend.

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Scutaro Shipped To Rockies; Bard Avoids Arbitration

What is it with the Boston Red Sox and shortstops? Since they traded franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra in 2004 (which turned out well), the formerly coveted position has turned into a revolving door of mostly middling players.

Tonight, the Red Sox traded Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Clayton Mortensen. The righty is 26 and a former first-round sandwich pick in 2007 by the Cardinals. He was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday deal and then traded to Colorado last winter for a minor leaguer.

This will be Mortensen's fourth MLB franchise. He put up decent numbers last season: 2-4 with 3.86 ERA in 16 games (6 starts) but from the looks of this move, it was all about dumping salary.

Boston picked up Scutaro's $6 million option earlier this winter so needless to say, it was odd to see him get traded soon after that. Even worse, all that the Red Sox have left at shortstop for 2012 are the dynamic scrub duo of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. Don't tell me that Jose Iglesias will be the starter since he can't hit enough to play full-time in MLB.

The one positive aspect of this move is that it frees up money to pursue Roy Oswalt, who they desperately need. ESPNBoston also mentioned Cody Ross, a rumor that I hadn't heard before reading that tidbit. He's OK and he would help if Carl Crawford misses time (after wrist surgery) but I'm much more interested in Oswalt just because he has way more potential to help.

No matter how you spin it, the Red Sox seem destined for another third-place finish in the AL East again (for the third year in a row) behind the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. While those teams have improved themselves (NY) or kept its core intact (TB), the Red Sox have plugged holes (closer, set-up) but not improved their biggest issues (chemistry, starting pitching). Plus, they added the most self-absorbed and arrogant manager in MLB.

I'm not jumping off the bandwagon, I'll always root for the Red Sox but over the past few seasons, they've made it very hard to like them. Ownership is driven just by making money and not winning games, what should really matter. Likewise, many of their players over the last few years have been obsessed with personal statistics. how much they're getting paid and other inconsequential things. In other words, the Red Sox are now No. 4 in my top four (Bruins, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox) rankings of local professional teams. It will take so much to change that any time soon.

In other Red Sox news today, the team reached a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for 2012 with Daniel Bard. They avoided arbitration with the reliever who will try to become a starter in spring training. Now only Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey and David Ortiz are left to sign before February 1, the deadline for when the Red Sox are forced to go to a hearing with any of those guys if they haven't reached an agreement yet.

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Marco Scutaro Will Return To Boston In 2012

It will take years to get over the fallout from the 2010 season for the Boston Red Sox. However, at some point we all have to begin to move on.

Today was a start as the team made its first roster decision regarding one of its more notable free agents: shortstop Marco Scutaro will be back in 2012 as the Red Sox picked up his $6 million dollar team option.

There's a very short list of players that were completely unscathed by the 7-20 September. Alfredo Aceves, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon and Scutaro were from my point of view, the only players that seemed to consistently care about the results and/or put up strong individual performances admist all the Popeye's and beer stained drama.

Scutaro hit a career-best .299 for the 2011 season with seven homers and 54 RBIs. He also put up a .358 OBP with .423 slugging percentage, both career-highs. If that's not enough, he hit .387 in September which was third best in the American League.

Although Scutaro turned 36 on Sunday (shameless plug, my birthday too), he should be dependable next season (3rd in Boston, 11th in MLB) as well. Fingers crossed that Boston finally pulls the plug on the Jed Lowrie experiment (too injury prone, inconsistent, terrible defensively) while they wait for 21-year-old Jose Iglesias to learn how to become a better hitter in Pawtucket. His defense is MLB-ready, he just has no prayer at the plate right now.

The Red Sox have to decide before Monday night about a $3 million dollar team option on reliever Dan Wheeler (I think they'll let him go).

Eight other players: Erik Bedard (ha), J.D. Drew (haha), Conor Jackson (yeah right), Trever Miller (nope), David Ortiz (probably), Papelbon (most likely), Jason Varitek (please no) and Tim Wakefield (see Varitek) became free agents today and Boston has until Thursday at 12:01 a.m. to exclusively negotiate with them.

In other Red Sox news, they'll start interviewing manger candidates this week. First up, Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin and Brewers hitting coach (and former Red Sox third base coach) Dale Sveum. Granted, Terry Francona wasn't a big name when he got the job in 2004 but at least he had MLB managerial experience in Philadelphia before he took over in this pressure cooker. Please tell me they can do better than these bums.

UPDATE 10/31: The Red Sox declined to exercise Wheeler's option and he's a Type B free agent. Pap and Ortiz are Type A free agents, meaning that if they leave Boston receives a first-round pick and a sandwich pick from the club that signs them. If you lose a Type B free agent, you get a sandwich pick. Boston also declined an option on reliever Scott Atchison but he remains on the 40-man roster. You know he'll be back, making 50 trips between the Red Sox and PawSox next season and for the rest of his playing career.

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So I Guess The Season Is Truly Over For The 2011 Boston Red Sox, Good Riddance!

No matter how long any of us live, I guarantee that we'll never see a final day of an MLB regular season like the one we just witnessed tonight.

With both Wild Card spots up for grabs and four games going on simultaneously, it was baseball porn for a sport that desperately needs more moments like that. At the end of it all, the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals-two teams that came back from historical deficits-captured the Wild Cards while the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox likewise suffered catastrophic collapses.

Baltimore (69-93) had a walk-off win at Camden Yards, 4-3 on Robert Andino's single which mercifully ended Boston's season. Moments later at the Trop, Evan Longoria hit a walk-off homer in the 12th for an 8-7 Rays win over the Yankees, ensuring that there would be no one-game playoff on Thursday vs. the Red Sox.

Good lord, where to begin with this train wreck of a month that was capped off by tonight? The Yankees led the Rays 7-0 at one point while the Red Sox were ahead 3-2 on the Orioles before a rain delay of one hour and 25 minutes during the seventh inning.

Bottom line, the two teams that most deserved to make the playoffs made it. New York will host Detroit and Texas hosts Tampa Bay beginning on Friday. In the NL, Philly hosts St. Louis and Arizona travels to Milwaukee on Saturday.

This was a game that the Red Sox (90-72) shouldn't have lost but given the way September unfolded-tying the worst Sept. mark in franchise history-the end result was entirely predictable for anybody that was paying attention.

Jon Lester wasn't great but he gave them a decent enough start on three days rest. He went six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

In possibly his final game with the Red Sox, closer Jonathan Papelbon (4-1) blew the save in crazy fashion. He was down to the last strike with the bases empty before Chris Davis doubled, Nolan Reimold tied it with a ground-rule double and then Andino hit a sinking liner which most people not named Carl Crawford might have had a chance on. Don't ask me how a guy who won a Gold Glove last season could become this much of a liability in one year.

Alfredo Aceves had pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 seventh (his fourth consecutive day of work) while ultra-shaky setup guy Daniel Bard had a clean eighth to get it to best closer in franchise history.

To blame Papelbon is short-sighted and dumb. This was a teamwide failure on so many levels; it should have never gotten to this point. As GM Theo Epstein pointed out after the game, if they had only won two more games (9 instead of 7 out of 27) in September, they'd be in the playoffs.

Firing Terry Francona is probably the most likely option since who would ever take on Crawford, John Lackey, etc. at this point? However, while Francona's approach of not calling out players didn't help, ultimately it's the players that get the job done or not. Rumors of Theo going to the Cubs make sense and I wouldn't blame him for wanting a new challenge at this point in his career. Winning World Series championships in 2004 and 2007 changed everything for the Red Sox, the team and the fanbase just doesn't have the same passion and I don't that they ever will again.

The only positional players that showed up tonight for Boston were Dustin Pedroia (3 hits) and Marco Scutaro (2 hits). Pedroia had an RBI single in the 3rd (1-0) and solo homer in the fifth (3-2 Red Sox; 21st of the season). Scutaro scored on a balk in the fourth (2-2) and the pair also combined on a sick double play to get out of trouble in the sixth.

As every Red Sox fan thought during the slide, if only we had a couple more guys with the heart and desire of Pedroia. His energy and enthusiasm for the game can only go so far though. He's a winner and hopefully he plays for Boston his entire career.

Scutaro is a free agent and he figures to move on from here but he is also guilt-free as him and Jacoby Ellsbury (who should be AL MVP) basically tried to will this team offensively in September when every other bat flat-lined and any form of pitching was a disaster.

J.J. Hardy got the O's on the board with a two-run shot in the third which put Baltimore ahead 2-1.

Starter Alfredo Simon was pulled after 4.1 innings (3 earned runs, 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts) but Troy Patton (2.1 innings), Willie Eyre (1 out), Pedro Strop (1 inning) and Jim Johnson (6-5; 1 inning) combined to close the door on Boston's ill-fated season.

This loss should serve as a painful reminder to both the team and fans that getting to the playoffs and winning a World Series isn't a birthright by any means (in case we forgot). The Red Sox haven't won a playoff game since 2008 and this marks the second straight season that they've missed the playoffs (something they hadn't done in consecutive years since 2001). Hell, they only had one more win this season than last year's joke of a campaign. And please don't start with the injury excuse, in baseball everyone has a ton of injuries after the grueling 162-game regular season.

Let's remember that winning the offseason like the Miami Heat in the NBA or Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL doesn't mean anything. The results are all that matters and right now, this team has dissolved into one that lacks character and substance. We can only hope that this bitter end gets things turned back into a winning direction moving forward.

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Ryan Lavarnway Saves The Red Sox' Season (For Real)

Where were you when Ryan Lavarnway blasted two home runs and drove in four RBIs to help the Boston Red Sox (90-71) hang on against the Baltimore Orioles (68-93), 8-7 tonight at Camden Yards?

The Yale product (Theo Epstein must be so proud) was called into duty as Boston's top two catchers-Jarrod Saltalamacchia (collarbone) and Jason Varitek (knee)-weren't able to play due to nagging injuries sustained the last few days.

Ironically, the rookie's bat made all the difference in a game that meant everything as the Red Sox had to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays who defeated the New York Yankees by a score of 5-3 and briefly led the AL Wild Card for about 30 minutes.

The regular season finale tomorrow night will be decided with Jon Lester and Alfredo Simon on the mound. In his career, Lester is unbeaten (14-0 in 17 starts) against Baltimore but he will be pitching on three days rest which he has only done once.

It wasn't pretty since of course Erik Bedard (3.1 innings, 3 earned runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts) failed to get out of the fourth inning but when you get to Game No. 161, all that counts is the final result.

I've run out of superlatives for Alfredo Aceves (10-2), he's like the overachieving kid in high school that everybody despises. Pitching for the third night in a row (really), Aceves and his rubberized right arm went 3.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with a strikeout.

Daniel Bard (1 inning, 2 earned runs, 3 hits) was up to his September tricks and Jonathan Papelbon (1 inning, 1 earned run, 2 hits) had to survive a 28-pitch ninth but he did it, getting Adam Jones (2 hits) to ground out to end it with the tying run on second.

Orioles youngster Zach Britton (11-11) is going to be good one day, well assuming he gets out of AL East hell but he couldn't get it done in the biggest start of his nascent career. He lasted 4.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Vladimir Guerrero (3 hits), who has found the Fountain of Youth (which probably exists wink wink in the Dominican Republic), put the O's up 1-0 in the first with an RBI double.

As always this special season for him, Jacoby Ellsbury put Boston on his back with a two-run blast in the third (his 32nd of the season).

Lavarnway made it 5-1 with his first career homer, a three-run shot in the fourth.

Bedard being Bedard he immediately yielded a two-run homer to Matt Wieters (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 runs) in the fourth to cut it to 5-3 Red Sox.

Marco Scutaro's seventh homer of the season, a two-run poke that just got over the wall, put it back to a four-run advantage (7-3) in the sixth.

Jones had a solo shot in the sixth but Lavarnway matched him with his second of the night in the eighth to give Boston its third four-run lead of the game.

Chris Davis (2 hits) had an RBI single in the eighth and Nolan Reimold's RBI triple made it 8-6 Boston. J.J. Hardy scored in the ninth on Wieters' ground out but Papelbon shut the door for his most nerve-wracking but vital save.

New York figures to lay down to Tampa Bay one more time so Boston will need to put together its first win streak in a month if they want the season to continue. A one-game playoff for the AL Wild Card would take place on Thursday afternoon at the Trop. Ironically, the NL is in the same position with the Braves and Cardinals tied going into tomorrow's action.

Can Lester continue his dominance against Baltimore or will he get shelled yet again in September? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

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Grandpa Wakefield Finally Records Win No. 200, Now Get Off His Damn Lawn!

It only took Tim Wakefield nine tries to get win No. 200 but he finally accomplished the milestone tonight and it couldn't come at a better time for the Boston Red Sox.

The 45-year old knuckleballer, MLB's oldest player, went six innings as the Red Sox (86-61) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 18-6 blowout of the Toronto Blue Jays (74-74) at Fenway Park.

Coupled with Baltimore's gift of a win over Tampa Bay, Boston moved back to four games ahead of the Rays in the AL wild card race. The Yankees held serve in Seattle with another win, New York leads the AL East by four games.

Since his last win took place way back on July 24, it was an honest question to wonder if Wakefield (7-6) would ever get to 200. Everything seemed to conspire against him: bad outings, the bullpen blowing it, tough luck, etc. The fact that it happened to be one of the most vital wins of the season for a team desperately trying to cling to a playoff spot is a feather in the cap of Boston's most professional athlete.

Wakefield went six innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Staked to a 10-5 lead, Boston's bats continued to come out of their recent coma as they piled up a season-high run total.

Brandon Morrow (9-11) was his typical erratic, not very good self. In 5.1 innings, he allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Another great sign for the Red Sox is that Dustin Pedroia (5 RBIs, 4 runs, 4 hits) broke his cold streak with one of his best games of the season. Jacoby Ellsbury (4 runs, 4 hits, 3 RBIs), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (4 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 hits), Carl Crawford (3 runs, 2 hits), Marco Scutaro (2 runs, 2 hits) and Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) all had multiple hits which made you quickly forget that David Ortiz was a late scratch with back spasms.

Toronto was competitive in the early innings as J.P. Arencibia hit a three-run blast into the Monster in the second inning and Jose Bautista (his MLB-leading 42nd of the season) added a two-run homer off Fisk's pole in the third.

Ellsbury (27th of the season) and Pedroia (19th of the season) went back-to-back to give Boston the lead for good in the fourth at 6-5. Pedroia padded his stats with a three-run shot in the sixth.

Alfredo Aceves locked it up for Wake with a scoreless seventh and eighth.

The record figures to skip tomorrow afternoon as John Lackey ushers out the last summer like day at Fenway with what's sure to be another unforgettable start. The Jays counter with Ricky Romero, who was great last week against Boston but typically struggles for some reason against the Red Sox.

One more time, give it up for Wakefield!

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Where's Bob Lobel When You Need Him?

Former Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel used to talk about the Red Sox and the panic button whenever the home team lost like two games in a row in September. God only knows where he is right now, probably at the bottom of a bottle and/or in the gutter, but no doubt Lobel is pushing his panic button non-stop.

The Red Sox (85-61) completed a nightmare of a road trip 1-6 with a 9-1 loss this afternoon at Tropicana Field to the Tampa Bay Rays (81-64). By sweeping the three-game set, the Rays climbed to within 3.5 games of the AL wild card behind the Red Sox. Oh and did I mention that they come to Fenway Park next week for four games? Yep.

Jon Lester (15-7) took the hill today and as Boston's ace you would have to think he'd give them a good chance to win. Thanks to their inept offense, he basically had to throw either a no-hitter or shutout to do it and thankfully that was out the window in the first inning.

Tampa Bay scored three runs in their first time up and later added a grand slam by B.J. Upton (4 hits, 3 runs) in the fifth to take it.

Rays starter James Shields (15-10) came up two outs short of his 12th complete game of the season (absurd) but that's about the only way he failed. He went 8.1 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

I'm not enough of a contrarian to say he deserves the AL Cy Young (he doesn't) but he should get a decent amount of votes since he's been awesome (2.70 ERA) all season-long.

Marco Scutaro (2 hits) provided the only Red Sox run with a solo homer (his 6th of hte season) in the third. Mike Aviles (2 hits) was his only teammate with multiple hits since Boston managed seven in the latest depressing loss.

The Red Sox seemed poised to break out of their recent slump as they loaded the bases with one out in the third but Shields buckled down to get David Ortiz to fly out to left and Josh Reddick fouled out to end their last real threat.

Unlike Boston who has now lost five in a row, the Yankees snapped their four-game losing streak today in Anaheim. They're up 3.5 games in the AL East and for all intents and purposes, Boston can kiss the division goodbye. Now it's all about survival mode.

After a much-needed off-day tomorrow, Toronto comes to Boston for two games, Tampa Bay is here for four games and then Baltimore shows up for three games. It's one of the longest homestands of the season and it couldn't come at a more opportune time.

Tim Wakefield pitches on Tuesday night (only the eighth time he's gone for win No. 200) as the Red Sox try to get this whole mess turned around.

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A Laugher, Just What The Red Sox Desperately Needed

Let's be honest, yesterday's loss given the length (11 innings) and outside factors (Beckett getting hurt, Yankees winning) was one of the worst ones of the second half for the Boston Red Sox.

Their annual August choke job seems to have taken a vacation and begun a few weeks later, in early September. Therefore it was nice that for one night at least, thoughts of Beckett's ankle and Clay Buchholz's back were put aside for a moment as Boston (85-56) absolutely crushed Toronto (70-72) 14-0 at the Rogers Centre.

With Jon Lester (15-6) on the mound, the Red Sox were heavily favored especially with the Blue Jays countering with a bad reliever that they're trying to convert into a starter-Luis Perez (3-3)-does that ever work?

Lester's ERA has dipped below 3.00 (2.93) as he has really found a groove in the stretch run. He went seven crisp innings, allowing three hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts in 100 pitches. Rookie Kyle Weiland threw two scoreless innings, getting his feet wet for another start on Saturday (in Tampa Bay; for Beckett).

This was over almost immediately as Perez was tagged for eight earned runs on ten hits in 2.2 innings.

Boston put up two or more runs in each of the first five frames.

The offensive stars in the 20-hit, 14-RBI night included Marco Scutaro (4 hits, 4 RBIS, 2 runs), David Ortiz (4 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), Kevin Youkilis (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, RBI), Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, 2 hits) and Darnell McDonald (2 hits, RBI).

Ironically, with all those runs (two touchdowns and PATs) the Red Sox only had two home runs. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (two-run; his 15th) and Josh Reddick (solo; 7th) had the honors.

Tim Wakefield faces Brandon Morrow in game three of the series tomorrow night.

As of this post, Boston trails New York by two games. Believe it or not, the Yankees are currently in the sixth (leading 3-2) vs. the Orioles. Their game started at 11pm in the Bronx due to the rain. Really. I'm sure the Bombers will pull it out, all you can count on from the Orioles is a whole bunch of losing.

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Beckett Sprains Ankle, Lawrie Hits Walkoff Homer in 11th

All I can say is thank God I was at the beach for all of today's game.

Well, to be specific, I listened to the first 10+ innings of the Red Sox-Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre on the radio and was walking back into our condo when Toronto (70-71) rookie Brett Lawrie (haha great picture by the way) hit a walk-off homer in the 11th against Dan Wheeler (2-2).

Why does that always seem to happen? You invest so much time into a baseball game and then it's over in one second when you're not paying attention.

The sting of a 1-0 loss in 11 innings for Boston (84-56) would have been much easier to take with the sun in the sky and the sand at my feet. Back home, the bleak reality set in. First, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left in the fourth inning with a sprained ankle. He had been cruising, striking out six and only giving up three hits in 3.2 innings.

With Erik Bedard skipping a start due to his back and Beckett being sent back to Boston for a further examination, this is not the time for the Red Sox rotation to be falling apart.

Second, the Yankees beat the Orioles this afternoon meaning that New York is now 2.5 games ahead of Boston in the AL East.

As always, a rookie pitcher facing the Red Sox for the first time excelled. 21-year-old Henderson Alvarez went six innings for Toronto, scattering four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Charlie Villanueva (1 inning), Casey Janssen (1 inning), Frank Francisco (2 innings) all paved the way for Shawn Camp (3-3) who got a 1-2-3 top of the 11th.

Among other things, this loss wasted another outstanding effort by Alfredo Aceves. Summoned early, Boston's unsung hero went 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit with three walks and four strikeouts.

Daniel Bard got the last five outs in the eighth and ninth leading to Jonathan Papelbon who was sketchy (as always in a non-save situation) but was able to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th.

Josh Reddick and Marco Scutaro each had two hits in the loss.

Jon Lester and rookie Luis Perez will get the starts tomorrow night in the second of four in Toronto.

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CC Sabathia Finally Solves The Red Sox In 2011

It's almost impossible to win at any level of baseball when you leave 16 runners on base. Even more so when you face CC Sabathia and your team counters with John Lackey.

Sabathia (18-7) finally got over his funk against Boston (0-4) coming into tonight as the Yankees (81-52) climbed within half a game of the Red Sox (82-52) with a 5-2 win at Fenway Park.

The series opening win gave New York some early momentum heading into the last series at Fenway in the regular season between the rivals while also cutting the season series to 10-3 in favor of Boston.

It made sense that after struggling so much against the Red Sox that Sabathia would eventually pitch as well against them as he does vs. the rest of MLB. It took a season-high 128 pitches just to get through six innings. He allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts (including Adrian Gonzalez three times) in a bizarre outing.

Lackey (12-10) threw nearly as many pitches (119) in one more inning of work. That amount of pitches from the starters alone is the main reason why this contest took place at the standard glacial pace for Red Sox-Yankees (3:59). Lackey allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Eric Chavez and Francisco Cervelli were unlikely heroes that turned in nice performances in the win. Chavez had RBI singles in the second and fourth (sandwiched around an RBI double by Robinson Cano) for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

Two equally unexpected guys cut it to 3-2 for the Red Sox in the fourth. Carl Crawford (2 hits, walk) hit a solo homer (his 10th of the season) and Marco Scutaro (2 hits) had an RBI double.

Cervelli hit a solo bomb in the fifth (his second career home run) and was going crazy around the bases which led to Lackey plunking him to start the seventh. Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild was tossed after the benches cleared (but nothing happened) and manager Joe Girardi was ejected in the ninth for arguing about Jarrod Saltalamacchia swinging when he got hit by a Mariano Rivera pitch.

It was a testy night as Jacoby Ellsbury was hit by Sabathia and Matt Albers plunked Jorge Posada.

Jed Lowrie had three hits and David Ortiz had two hits in the loss.

Cory Wade got an out in the seventh and Boone Logan had the last two outs in the frame, paving the way for Rafael Soriano (scoreless eighth) and Rivera who got his 35th save thanks in part to a bogus strikeout of Lowrie (two ultra shaky called strikes).

Albers was a bright spot as he got the last two outs of the eighth to keep Boston within three runs. He needed a positive outing like that since he's gone off a cliff in August. Alfredo Aceves also had a 1-2-3 ninth in four pitches.

Phil Hughes faces Josh Beckett tomorrow night in a matchup that clearly favors the Red Sox. Beckett has owned the Yankees this year although as Sabathia showed, things can change when you face a team so much.

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Wakefield Remains Stuck On 199 Career Victories But Red Sox Still Rally For Another Win

Just like the 16-inning game in Tampa Bay three weeks ago didn't seem to affect the Boston Red Sox too much (as they pummeled the Orioles the next night), they pushed on through their fatigue again tonight with a 8-6 win at Target Field over the Minnesota Twins.

For the second game in a row, the Red Sox (71-43) rallied for a win. This one lacked the Hall of Fame closer (Mariano Rivera) but Boston trailed 5-1 before tying it in the sixth.

For the third straight time, Tim Wakefield sat on the brink of 200 career wins going into a start and he couldn't get it done. Terry Francona left Wake in as long as he could handle tonight, in an attempt to get that mark out of the way. He went seven innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Twins (51-64) starter Scott Baker's performance was about as uneven as his team's this entire season. For once, I think you can stick a fork in Minnesota in August. The injuries have been too much to overcome. Baker couldn't protect the 5-1 lead; in six innings, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia-hitting fifth and sixth with Kevin Youkilis having the night off-provided the power with a combined four runs, six hits and five RBIs. Ortiz had four hits (a triple shy of the cycle), three runs and three RBIs. Saltalamacchia had two hits, two RBIs and a run.

Big Papi's three-run homer (22nd of the season) in the sixth cut it to 5-4 while Salty tied it up with a solo shot of his own (11th of the season).

Marco Scutaro put together probably the best two-game stretch of his life with three more hits and an RBI (after four hits on Sunday night). Scutaro's RBI single in the second scored Ortiz and gave Boston a 1-0 lead.

Minnesota put up three runs of their own in the second. Jason Kubel (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) had an RBI single, Jim Thome had an RBI double and Thome came around on Salty's passed ball.

This one seemed to get away as Kubel hit a solo homer in the fourth and Joe Mauer made it 5-1 with an RBI double in the fifth.

Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) got the Red Sox rally started in the sixth with a sacrifice fly which scored Carl Crawford-hitting second for one night.

Ortiz scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on an error by Mauer. The All-World catcher dropped a routine throw at the plate, Papi would have been out by a good distance.

Kubel took away the possibility of a win for Wakefield with another RBI single in the eighth off Alfredo Aceves (8-1) but Ortiz (RBI double) and Saltalamacchia (RBI single) got to Twins closer Joe Nathan in the ninth when he came on in a 6-6 game to start the frame.

Dustin Pedroia added two hits and two runs while Jed Lowrie had a hit in his return from the DL (shoulder injury). In total, the Red Sox pounded 17 hits and yet this game was exactly three hours long, go figure.

Trevor Plouffe had two hits and two runs for the Twins while Matt Tolbert notched two hits in the loss as well.

Aceves got out of the eighth allowing just the one run and he ended up snaking away another win (22-2 career record). Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 25th save of the season.

A pair of lefties go tomorrow night as Erik Bedard makes his second start for Boston against Minnesota's Francisco Liriano (who is either great or terrible, nothing in between).

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Josh Reddick's First Career Walk-Off Hit Sparks Red Sox' First Season Series Win Over Yankees Since 2004

Something about Sunday Night Baseball seems to bring out the drama for the Boston Red Sox.

While it's hard to top their 16-inning win over the Rays three weeks ago on July 17 (1-0 in Tampa Bay), tonight's 10-inning victory over the New York Yankees carried some extra significance for a couple reasons.

For starters, the 3-2 win at Fenway Park by the Red Sox (70-43) not only clinched the weekend series (2-1) and season series over New York (69-44)-it stands at 10-2 right now-but it put Boston back on top of the AL East by a game.

I'm not going to use the cliched term of magic but there was something in the foggy air as the Red Sox rallied for a run against the greatest closer in MLB history (Mariano Rivera) in the ninth to tie it 2-2 on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly (scoring Marco Scutaro).

Then Josh Reddick picked a fine time for his first MLB walk-off hit as his RBI single drove in pinch runner Darnell McDonald in the tenth against Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes (2-4). David Ortiz (2 hits) had started the sequence with a ground-rule double to right, McDonald pinch ran for him and then Hughes intentionally walked Carl Crawford (3 hits) to get to Reddick.

The loss would have been particularly tough to take since Josh Beckett pitched well but Boston kept leaving runners on base (12) against Freddy Garcia and four other Yankees relievers before finally getting to Rivera and Hughes.

Beckett got a no-decision but it's safe to say that he still has New York locked down this season. As useless as CC Sabathia is against the Red Sox in 2011, Beckett is the opposite against the Yankees. Tonight, he went six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Similar to Bartolo Colon on Friday, New York manager Joe Girardi didn't hesitate to get his overachieving starter out at the first sign of trouble. That sketchy strategy worked the first time but not the second time. It's hard to see it being successful in the playoffs either as the Yankees presumably will be relying heavily on their bullpen since outside of Sabathia who can they count on to go 6+ innings?

Garcia went five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Marco Scutaro (4 for 4) drove in Kevin Youkilis with an RBI single in the second, making it 1-0 Boston.

Beckett was dealing until Eduardo Nunez lost one just over the Monster in the fifth. Another very unlikely Yankee went deep as Brett Gardner (3 hits, 2 stolen bases) hit a solo homer off Matt Albers in the seventh.

That measly run figured to stand up as Rafael Soriano got a 1-2-3 seventh for New York and David Robertson likewise got a hold with a scoreless eighth.

Scutaro led off the ninth with a wall ball double that just miss being a homer to right against Rivera. Jacoby Ellsbury got him over to third despite a terrible bunt. Pedroia's sac fly tied it and the Red Sox were on their way.

After Albers and Franklin Morales (9 of his 12 pitches were balls; 2 walks but somehow no runs allowed) shaky relief, Dan Wheeler struck out the side in the seventh, Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth and Daniel Bard (2-5) got a 1-2-3 10th with two strikeouts for the eventual win.

There's only six more regular season games between these teams (3 in Boston Aug. 30-Sept. 1 and 3 in New York Sept. 23-25) but this latest marathon (4 hours, 15 minutes) proved that the Red Sox have the Yankees' number. As I alluded to in the headline, it's the first time since 2004 that Boston has won the season series against New York and who knows how long it's been since they clinched it so early on.

Boston heads out for three games in Minnesota followed by three in Seattle. They return for only two against Tampa Bay then hit the road again for four in Kansas City and four in Texas. Without a doubt, this is the toughest stretch of the season travel-wise for the Red Sox.

Tim Wakefield gets his third crack at 200 wins as he opposes Scott Baker of the Twins tomorrow night at Target Field. It's Boston's only visit to Minnesota this season, the Red Sox won three of four against the Twins on May 6-9 at Fenway.

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Even On No Sleep, The Red Sox Pummel The Orioles

Just as I've exhausted all ways of bashing John Lackey and J.D. Drew, I've come to a similar crossroads with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Boston Red Sox arrived in Baltimore at 6 a.m. yesterday but that didn't seem to matter for their offense as they won a slugfest 15-10 over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Boston (58-36) has now won seven straight over Baltimore (38-55). The O's are completely hopeless against the Red Sox, no matter what big talk they provide to the media.

Even though David Ortiz (and Kevin Gregg) started their three-game suspensions, the Red Sox offense came one run away from a season-high along with 16 hits.

Jacoby Ellsbury paced them with three hits, three runs, a walk and a run. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis had three RBIs, two hits and a run. Carl Crawford returned and added two hits, two runs and an RBI while Josh Reddick (4th) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (7th) notched home runs.

Marco Scutaro had two runs and two hits while Darnell McDonald cleared the bases with a three-run double.

Neither Tim Wakefield (4.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs, 3 earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) nor O's starter Brad Bergesen (5 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned, 3 strikeouts) stuck around long.

Baltimore put up 12 hits, including three RBIs and two hits by JJ Hardy (including his 14th homer) and two hits, two runs and an RBI (his 16th homer by Adam Jones). Matt Wieters (two runs) and Derrek Lee (two RBIs) had two hits while Nolan Reimold added two RBIs.

Dan Wheeler (2-1) got the win with 2.1 scoreless innings. The Warwick, RI native had a brutal start to the season but since returning from an injury he seems to have found the form he had with the Tampa Bay Rays all those years. He walked one and struck out three.

Tonight figures to be another shootout as Jeremy Guthrie (3-13) takes on Red Sox rookie Kyle Weiland (0-0) in his second MLB start.

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Red Sox Sweep Orioles, Head Into All-Star Break Up 1 Game On New York

After one more win (8-6) over the Baltimore Orioles (36-52), completing a four-game sweep at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox (55-35) head into the All-Star break on a real high.

The Red Sox have won 10 of their last 11 games, including six straight, and they hold a one-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees. Most importantly as they sit a season-high 20 games over .500, they've made the 0-6 and 2-10 starts to the season a distant memory that's pretty much laughable now.

Boston is the powerhouse that we all knew they would be. They lead the AL in most offensive categories: batting average, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, doubles, RBIs, slugging percentage and OBP. This is the sixth time in the last seven seasons that they've led the AL East at the All-Star break (showing how irrelevant that stat can be).

They're sending six players (Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester) to represent the team in the All-Star Game in Arizona.

Kyle Weiland made his MLB debut yesterday afternoon for Boston and it was memorable, albeit not for positive reasons on a personal level. In four innings, he gave up six earned runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He was ejected in the fifth after hitting Vlad Guerrero with an errant pitch. Terry Francona was also tossed since both managers had been warned.

Later, Orioles manager Buck Showalter and reliever Mike Gonzalez were thrown out in the sixth after Gonzalez threw behind Ortiz.

Baltimore jumped out to a 6-2 lead on Weiland with six runs in the second but predictably, they couldn't hold on as Mitch Atkins was gone after 1.2 innings and Jeremy Guthrie (3-12) took the loss.

Boston went up 2-0 in the first on an RBI single by Ortiz and a sacrifice fly by Josh Reddick.

The Orioles put up six thanks to a two-run bomb by Derrek Lee and four RBI singles (three of the infield variety).

The Red Sox immediately tied it up at six in the second as Marco Scutaro (fourth), Dustin Pedroia (11th; 3 runs, 2 hits) and Youkilis (13th, two-run) all went deep.

Ortiz walked with the bases loaded in the fourth and Ellsbury (2 hits) produced an RBI single in the seventh for an insurance run.

As he's been most of the first half, Red Sox jack of all trades pitcher Alfredo Aceves (4-1) was the unsung hero. He pitched three scoreless innings with no hits allowed and four strikeouts.

Daniel Bard got his AL-leading 21st hold in the eighth, extending his career-long scoreless streak to 19 1/3 innings, before Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 20th save (out of 21 chances) with a walk and two strikeouts in the ninth.

The best team in the American League earned its four days off while everyone scatters to different parts of the country. If possible, enjoy Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game. The Red Sox get back to work on Friday with three games in Tampa Bay (who are six games behind Boston) then three in Baltimore.

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Just another afternoon in the City of Champions

Yesterday was a formerly rare occasion that has happened all too often in the last decade in Boston: one of our local teams celebrated the championship of another one.

With the Boston Bruins parading around Fenway Park on Duck Boats during the pregame, holding the Stanley Cup, I can say that you're an extremely lucky bastard if you were at yesterday's Red Sox-Brewers game. The Bruins wore their jerseys and Red Sox hats, then threw out the ceremonial first pitches.

There's not much cooler than the synergy between the four pro sports franchises in Massachusetts and that's also one of the best parts about living in this area, at this time. The unscripted scene at Fenway is something that people in most other parts of the country can't even imagine and we've been witness to that a bunch of times. It's also a symbol of how much we love all our teams, not just one or two. If you win here, you'll be extremely popular.

The Red Sox (43-28) certainly didn't spoil the good times as for the second time in three games, they smoked Milwaukee (40-33), this time it was 12-3 as Boston took two out of three in the series.

Brewers ace Yovani Gollardo (8-4) was knocked around for eight runs (five earned) on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three innings.

Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield (4-2), who had just turned 40 the last time the Bruins won the Cup in 1972, was the third straight Boston pitcher to throw eight innings. Wake allowed three earned runs on three hits with a walk and six strikeouts. With Clay Buchholz placed on the DL with back trouble, Wakefield's spot in the rotation is locked in for at least the next few starts.

Carl Crawford was also placed on the DL (on Saturday) with a hamstring strain but that didn't stop the Red Sox from getting 14 hits including three homers.

Boston put up six runs in the first inning to take most intrigue out of it on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 RBIs) scored on Gallardo's error, Kevin Youkilis crushed his 11th home run of the season (a three-run bomb) and Ellsbury delivered a ground-rule two-run double in his second at-bat of the frame.

Crazy Nyjer Morgan got the Brewers on the board with a two-run homer in the second.

Boston added two more runs in the fourth including a solo home run by Dustin Pedroia (his sixth).

Pedroia's sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 9-2 and Marco Scutaro hit a two-run shot (his 2nd of the season) in the sixth.

Prince Fielder hit a solo homer in the seventh and Adrian Gonzalez closed out the scoring with an RBI triple (the 1000th hit of his career) in the seventh.

The San Diego Padres, Gonzalez's former team (and his hometown), come to Fenway for three games beginning tonight. Andrew Miller was called up from Pawtucket to make his first start for the Red Sox. Padres left-hander Wade LeBlanc takes the ball for the worst team in the NL West.

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The Red Sox freight train is coming down the tracks, good luck stopping it

Nothing can stop the Boston Red Sox at this moment, they are the hottest team in MLB as they won their eighth straight game 16-4 yesterday afternoon at the Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Boston (38-26) climbed a season-high 12 games over .500 (remember the 2-10 start?) with an 18 hit attack.

Toronto (32-33) had no chance as they were held to only six hits in their second straight loss to the Red Sox.

John Lackey (4-5) got the win but he was about the last guy on Boston that you would cite in the win since every starter in the lineup had an RBI. It was a game that was all about the offense. Lackey went six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow (2-4) has always had a great arm but he walks way too many batters and as a result, his pitch count always seems to get high early on. He lasted 4.1 innings, tagged for nine earned runs on 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Marco Scutaro led Boston with four hits and three runs. Dustin Pedroia had three hits, three RBIs and two runs. David Ortiz had two hits, three RBIs and two runs and Jason Varitek added two hits, four RBIs and three runs. J.D. Drew had two hits, two runs and an RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury notched two hits, a run and RBI.

Boston scored four runs in the third to take an early 4-0 lead. It was 5-0 in the fourth after an RBI double by Pedroia. Toronto got a two-run double by Rajai Davis to make it 5-2 but that was sadly as close as they would get.

Varitek and Ortiz had three-run homers in the fifth and the rout was on for the Red Sox.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer off Lackey in the sixth but it didn't matter.

Boston will go for the sweep and its ninth straight win this afternoon as Jon Lester takes on rookie Kyle Drabek.

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Three aces down, Red Sox are on a roll

It took a full month for the Boston Red Sox to get on track in 2011 but thankfully baseball seasons are way too long anyways.

For the third straight night they faced an ace last night in Dan Haren. Like Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver before him, he was decent but he couldn't completely quiet Boston's offense in a 7-3 Red Sox (14-15) win at Fenway Park.

Jon Lester (4-1) showed that his early season struggles seem to be a thing of the past. The ace in Boston's rotation went seven innings, allowing six hits, one earned run with a walk and 11 strikeouts.

Haren (4-2) suffered his second loss to the Red Sox in less than two weeks. He went seven innings, allowing nine hits, four earned runs with eight strikeouts.

Boston's lineup produced double digit hits (12) for the second straight game. Adrian Gonzalez (2 RBIs), David Ortiz, Jed Lowrie, Marco Scutaro (2 RBIs) and Carl Crawford all had two hits in the win.

Mark Trumbo gave the Angels (16-14) their only lead of the game, with a solo homer in the top of the first.

Gonzalez knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single in the sixth and Lowrie put Boston ahead 2-1 with an RBI single later in the frame that scored Gonzalez.

Haren started to falter in the seventh as Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit an RBI double that drove in Crawford.

There's a reason the Red Sox are 15-1 (6-0 this season) in their last 16 games against the Angels since they find every conceivable way to beat them.

Gonzalez's solo homer in the eighth knocked Haren out of the game. Ortiz and Scutaro (two-run) broke it open with homers in the inning as Boston went ahead 7-1.

Jonathan Papelbon came on in a non-save situation and did what every closer has to do in such an event: shit the bed. Erick Aybar had an RBI double and Trumbo had a sacrifice fly.

On the plus side, Daniel Bard had a scoreless eighth on nine pitches.

It's raining now and supposed to rain tonight so we'll see if Josh Beckett vs. Ervin Santana takes place as scheduled.

Geez, the Red Sox straight up own the Angels

If the Boston Red Sox played in the American League West, they might set a record for divisional wins in a season. Not that anybody didn't know it already but that division is an absolute cake walk compared to the AL East.

The Red Sox (10-11) continued their victory tour of the West Coast with a 7-0 shutout of the Angels (12-10) yesterday afternoon. The four-game sweep of Los Angeles enabled Boston to continue its hot streak (five straight wins, eight of its last nine) while also posting back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2007.

John Lackey and Carl Crawford were the heroes in yesterday's lopsided triumph. Lackey (2-2) went eight scoreless innings, allowing six hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Crawford is still a puddle at the plate (he hit eighth on Saturday night) but he did crush his first home run of the season in the sixth, a two-run shot. He also had a single and scored another run so hopefully he can get going sometime soon.

Adrian Gonzalez is heating up too, he had three hits, two RBIs and a run. Even Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, run) and Marco Scutaro (2 hits, 2 runs) had multiple hits in this laugher.

It started early as Boston got three runs in the first off Angels star Matt Palmer (1-1). Gonzalez's RBI double scored Ellsbury, David Ortiz knocked in Gonzalez with an RBI single and Kevin Youkilis scored on Mike Cameron's fielder's choice.

Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly in the fifth plated Scutaro. Lastly, Gonzalez's RBI single in the seventh scored Scutaro and made it 7-0 Red Sox.

The abysmal start is all but forgotten since Boston is only one game under .500 and 3.5 games out of first place. They have today off before beginning a three-game series in Baltimore who is currently struggling big time.

Josh Beckett brings you back from the edge of the Tobin Bridge

After Saturday's latest pathetic loss, the Boston Red Sox were in desperate need of a quality start from a starting pitcher.

Shockingly, it came from former ace Josh Beckett, who turned back the clock last night and was lights out in a 4-0 win over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.

I don't think anyone in world expected Beckett (1-1) to deal like he did. It was incredible especially after a middling performance last week in Cleveland. He went eight innings, allowing only two hits with a walk and ten strikeouts.

Boston (2-7) won two out of three against New York (5-4) and fingers crossed, now they can put their miserable opening week behind them. This team is way too good to be as awful as they've been for the first nine games by and large.

CC Sabathia (0-1) was effective but couldn't get out of the sixth inning. The big lefty went 5.2 innings, giving up nine hits, one earned run, four walks and four strikeouts.

The Red Sox were a mind-numbing 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and they left 16 on base and yet, they won.

Dustin Pedroia led Boston with three hits while David Ortiz and Marco Scutaro had two hits.

Boston scored its first run in the third inning. It came by way of an infield single by Mike Cameron.

Scutaro had the most important hit, a two-run double in the seventh, which scored Ortiz and J.D. Drew.

Ortiz added an RBI double in the eighth for some valuable insurance.

At only 103 pitches, Beckett could have started the ninth but why push him in April? Jonathan Papelbon came on for the second time in the series and was great (two strikeouts, no hits or walks).

So yeah, who knows what to expect from Beckett next time out. At least we don't have quite bury the guy yet since he couldn't have done more in one outing to prove that he can still be Josh Beckett circa 2003 or 2007 when he wants to be.

Tampa Bay (1-8) comes to town for three games starting tonight. Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Jeremy Hellickson in game one. The Red Sox should take advantage of a team that's playing even worse than them and cannot score any runs with Evan Longoria out.

OK this is starting to get funny

At this point, you have to laugh. The Boston Red Sox are off to their worst start since 1945 and they seem to find a more ridiculous way to lose each day or night.

Yesterday afternoon, Jon Lester and Fausto Carmona had a classic pitcher's duel in the series finale at Progressive Field.

Cleveland (4-2) pushed across a run in the eighth inning as Asdrubal Cabrera put down a squeeze bunt which scored Adam Everett. That 1-0 lead turned out to be the only run that was necessary as the Indians held on for a 1-0 win and a series sweep of the Red Sox (0-6).

Lester (0-1) deserved a better fate in his second start of the season. He went seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out nine.

Carmona matched him. He also went seven innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four.

Daniel Bard (0-2) took the loss after walking Everett, who stole second base then advanced to third on a sacrifice by Orlando Cabrera (small ball!).

This excruciating loss wouldn't be complete with a baserunning gaffe to end it.

David Ortiz walked with two outs against Indians closer Chris Perez and Darnell McDonald pinch ran for him. J.D. Drew hit a hot shot off Perez but McDonald took a big turn around second base and fell down. He couldn't recover in time and was thrown out at second on a heads up play. Haha, that's how it ended.

Perez earned his second save of the season with that big mistake.

Well things can only get better, right? The Red Sox come home for Opening Day at Fenway Park (your favorite theme park). All the frauds and big money bozos will be in the house so I wouldn't be surprised if those clueless idiots don't even really boo the team like they should.

John Lackey takes on Phil Hughes this afternoon. Look at it like this: if New York wins two of three this weekend, Boston will be 1-8. God forbid if the Yankees sweep, Boston will be 0-9. Oh my. Needless to say, it's long past the time to wake up and start playing.