Orioles Clinch 1st Playoff Spot Since '97; Red Sox Secure Worst Record Since '66

Two franchises in the AL East are heading in completely different directions. The Orioles (92-67, 47-34 home) clinched their first playoff spot since 1997 with a 6-3 win against the Red Sox (69-90, 35-43 away) this afternoon at Camden Yards and a win by the Rangers over the Angels tonight.

The loss means that Boston (losers of 5 straight and 16 of their last 22) has secured a Top-10 pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, they are also one game behind Toronto for last-place in the AL East with three games remaining.

Baltimore swept the three-game series penultimate series of the regular season and they are still tied atop the AL East with the Yankees. On the other side of the spectrum, Boston locked up its first 90-loss season since 1966, you know 44 years ago. Facts like that really reinforce how this truly has been the worst Red Sox season that many of us have ever witnessed.

Joe Saunders (3-3) went 7.1 innings for the win. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Darren O'Day got the last two outs in the eighth and closer Jim Johnson had a 1-2-3 ninth on seven pitches (haha) for his MLB-leading 50th save of the season.

Zach Stewart's (1-4) second start for Boston was even more pathetic than the first. The guy that was traded for Kevin Youkilis clearly won't be back next season, or at least I hope not since he obviously blows. In 2.2 innings, he allowed five earned runs on seven hits.

Baltimore scored three runs in the first and two in the second to put it out of reach immediately. Nate McLouth (2 hits, stolen base) had a lead-off homer (his 7th of the season), a run scored on a double play and Jim Thome's RBI single.

J.J. Hardy (2 hits, 2 runs) hit a solo shot (his 22nd of the season) in the third and the ageless Thome added another RBI single.

Cody Ross had a solo homer of his own in the fifth (22nd of the season) and Daniel Nava added a two-run blast in the seventh (his 5th of the season). In between, Chris Davis (31st of the season) hit his third homer in as many days with a solo homer in the sixth.

Our long regional nightmare is almost over, the Red Sox are finally on death row with their execution scheduled for Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. Before that, they head to the Bronx for three games with the Yankees (92-67, tied 1st place AL East) to close out 2012.

Ryan Lavarnway was 2 for 4 with a double and run while Pedro Ciriaco was 2 for 4 with a double in the loss.

Clay Buchholz (11-7) faces C.C. Sabathia (14-6) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (9-14) takes on Ivan Nova (12-8) on Tuesday night (7:05 p.m., NESN) then Daisuke Matsuzaka puts the finishing touches on Boston's masterpiece as he opposes Hiroki Kuroda (15-11) on Wednesday night (7:05 p.m., NESN).

The two things you can count on if you bother to watch one second of this series: 1) the Red Sox will lie down like the losers they are and 2) the Yankees will get the sweep they desperately want.

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Red Sox Piss Another Season Down The Drain, Misery Continues In Baltimore

Aaron Cook had a no-hitter entering the sixth inning and the Red Sox led the Orioles 2-0. As quick as you could say, no October baseball at Fenway, Baltimore scored five runs en route to a 5-3 win tonight at Camden Yards.

Boston (57-61, 28-27 away) latest slide all but guarantees that September will be completely meaningless. There is no chance this team will push for a playoff spot, at this point they are going to struggle to finish over .500 and in front of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baltimore (64-53, 32-28 home) only had six hits but they made them count by going 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position while they both left six men on base.

The uniquely terrible aspects to this loss for Boston included a throwing error by Cook that led to three runs plus the ejections of Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Valentine. After Pedro Strop quick pitched Gonzo in the eighth then got him to ground out, the normally church mouse quiet first baseman sort of showed some emotion. Valentine came out to defend him/fire up his worthless team but you can see from the final score how that went.

Cook (3-6) went 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on three hits with one strikeout and three walks.

Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (5-2) went six innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Baltimore's bullpen locked it down, especially Strop who had a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts for his 20th hold and closer Jim Johnson who notched his 35th save with a clean ninth including a strikeout.

Jacoby Ellsbury's (2 hits) RBI double and Carl Crawford's sacrifice fly scored Nick Punto (2 runs) staked the Red Sox to a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.

The Orioles sixth included an RBI single by Nate McLouth, Adam Jones grounded into a fielder's choice and Cook threw the ball away which allowed J.J. Hardy to score, Matt Wieters had an RBI double and Mark Reyonlds ended it with a two-run double.

All Boston could muster after Baltimore's big sixth inning was an RBI ground out by Crawford in the seventh.

Clay Buchholz (10-3) is all that stands in the way of a three-game sweep by the Orioles tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) as he takes on Chris Tillman (5-2). The only question is how will the Red Sox find a new and different way to lose?

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Nick Green, more than just a temporary solution?

Somehow between our month-long rain showers, the Red Sox and Atlanta Braves managed to wrap up their series at Fenway yesterday afternoon.

Nick Green made sure it was a memorable Father's Day for all the rich dads in attendance as he hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch he saw from Braves pitcher Jeff Bennett in the ninth. It wrapped around Pesky's Pole in right, traveling probably about 305 feet but the degree of difficulty with the swirling winds and mist made it much harder than usual.

Boston (42-27) won 6-5 to take two of three from Atlanta (32-36). Coupled with the Yankees' loss in Florida, the Sox have a four game lead in the AL East.

Brian McCann gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run double off Boston starter Tim Wakefield.

Boston responded with three in the bottom of the first from a Jason Bay sacrifice fly and a two-run shot by David Ortiz over the Monster. Again, with the crazy weather, Papi truly crushed the ball to get it out.

George Kottaras added to the lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give Boston a 4-2 lead.

Wakefield didn't factor into the decision but he gave the Red Sox 6.2 innings. He allowed four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts.

Gregor Blanco and Nate McLouth (2 hits, walk) with RBI singles in the seventh.

After some controversy, J.D. Drew gave his team a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh. He looked at a 1-2 pitch that was clearly a strike from Braves pitcher Eric O'Flaherty but umpire Bill Hohn called it a ball. O'Flaherty, Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox all lost it and consequently were tossed. On the next pitch, Drew lined the single off the Monster that scored Kottaras.

Garret Anderson (2 hits) tied it up with an RBI single in the eighth off Hideki Okajima.

Jonathan Papelbon loaded the bases in the ninth with two walks and a hit but managed to strike Matt Diaz out. Papelbon earned the win (1-1) after Green's heroics.

The Sox are off today and they fly to our nation's capital to play the Nationals, starting tomorrow. Washington is the worst team in baseball so there should be plenty of Red Sox fans in attendance and John Smoltz makes his Red Sox debut on Thursday (Dice-K was placed on the DL).