Boston Sports Fans Turn Their Lonely Eyes to Red Sox & Betts Delivers His 1st Career Walk-Off Hit

The Celtics are done for the season after getting swept by the Cavaliers yesterday and the Bruins have been long gone for weeks so now, locally all we have left until August (when Patriots training camp and preseason begins) is the Red Sox. That is unless you count the Revolution (MLS), Cannons (MLL) and/or Breakers (women's professional soccer) which I'm pretty sure that you do not.

Boston (11-9 overall, 5-3 home) took advantage of this added attention with a thrilling 6-5 win at Fenway Park on Monday night vs. Toronto (9-11 overall, 4-6 away) to open a nine-game homestand vs. AL East foes (Blue Jays, Yankees, Rays). Mookie Betts (3 for 4 with 2 runs, 2B & BB) came through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth that scored Xander Bogaerts. It was particularly memorable for the rookie since it was his first walk-off hit in MLB.

It was a weird game from the start, as it was supposed to start at 6:10 p.m. (a nice new feature on weekdays in chilly April) but was delayed 33 minutes by rain. Then Toronto scored three runs in the first off Joe Kelly (6 innings, 5 earned runs, 5 hits, career-high 10 strikeouts, 3 walks) on an RBI single by Devon Travis (2 runs) and two-run double by Russell Martin.

Boston chipped away at the lead (and Aaron Sanchez) beginning with a two-run single by Pablo Sandoval in the bottom of the first. The Blue Jays built their lead back up to three with Travis' solo homer in the third and an RBI single by Kevin Pillar in the fourth. Sandoval hadn't hit a home run in a Red Sox uniform before yesterday's blowout loss in Baltimore but he made it two in two games with a line drive that got over the fence in right in the fourth, cutting it to 5-3.

Betts scored in the fifth after Sanchez made a throwing error, something which has been happening non-stop to the benefit of Boston so far this season. Other than everyone overrating the Blue Jays seemingly for the past decade, another staple of playing MLB's lone Canadian club is that their bullpen is always a complete joke. The Red Sox tied it in the eighth on Hanley Ramirez's sacrifice fly that scored Betts.

So far, Boston's pitching rotation has been even worse than we could have imagined. They are going nowhere with this sorry group of starters but on the other hand, their lineup is lethal and should keep them in most games. Oh and the bullpen is a mess too although Alexi Ogando pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Koji Uehara (2-1) had a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts (two nights after looking like toast when he gave up a walk-off homer to the Orioles).

The best thing you can say about this flawed squad is that they are certainly interesting so much like a car crash, we probably won't be able to turn away from these crazy games. Haha when you can't pitch and give up runs like a beer league softball team, who doesn't want to tune in to that? Maybe spring will appear as well, haha who knows? Tomorrow night (6:10, NESN) Clay Buchholz (1-2) faces Drew Hutchison (2-0). That has 10-8 written all over it, bring your glove if you are going to the game, you might catch a home run.

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Yankees Crush Red Sox 10-2, Only 2 More Games Left Of This Nightmare

I bet that the last start of 2012 will leave a bad taste in Clay Buchholz's (11-8) mouth for much of the winter, well in addition to the rest of the crap sandwich from this tour of misery.

Tonight, he was shelled (1.2 innings, 8 earned runs, 6 hits) in his worst outing of the year as the Yankees (93-67, 49-30 home) blasted the Red Sox (69-91, 35-44 away) 10-2 at Yankee Stadium in the series opener. The Orioles lost 5-3 to the Rays so the Yanks reclaimed a one-game lead in the AL East with two games remaining in the regular season.

New York didn't waste any time as they scored nine of their 10 runs in the second inning to take a 9-0 lead, giving that much more of a Spring Training feel with a fall breeze in the Bronx. I'm sure the leaves are beautiful there. New York improved to 11-5 against Boston this season and they have hit an incredible 38 home runs in that span.

Robinson Cano started it off with a solo homer (his 32nd of the season) then Curtis Granderson (2 hits) hit a two-run shot (his 42nd of the season) and Russell Martin (21st of the season) went back-to-back. The Yanks weren't even halfway through the ridiculous frame as A-Rod had a sacrifice fly then Cano (2 doubles) added a two-run double and Mark Teixeira (24th of the season) hit a two-run shot in his first game back in nearly a month. Mercy.

CC Sabathia (15-6) pitched eight routine innings (2 earned runs, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk) to notch the win. Daniel Nava had a solo homer in the fourth (his 6th of the season and 2nd in as many days) while Jarrod Saltalamacchia tallied a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Something called Melky Mesa had an RBI single in the eighth for the Yankees. He must be the love child of Jose Mesa and Melky Cabrera that we just found out about.

Nick Swisher was 3 for 4 with a double and run. Since he is set to be a free agent in a few weeks, can I start the campaign to bring him to Boston? You might hate him (I used to) but he'd be a great fit since he's a proven and dependable winner.

Che Hsuan-Lin was 2 for 3 in the loss. Dustin Pedroia is missing the last two games of the season with a broken finger. No worries, he served his time on this prison team.

Jon Lester (9-14) faces David Phelps (4-4) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN).

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They Don't Call Them The Bronx Bombers For Nothing (Jumps Off Tobin Bridge)

The series opener at Yankee Stadium tonight followed the same script that's been well-established in 2012: New York hit plenty of homers (5, haha all solo) while Boston lost the game. The only plot twist was that it was over in 2:49 which is about two hours shorter than a normal Red Sox-Yankees marathon.

The Yankees (71-48, 38-23 home) beat the Red Sox (58-62, 29-28 away) 6-4 in a contest that never really felt in doubt even though Dustin Pedroia's three-run homer in the third (his 10th of the season) gave Boston an ill-fated 4-3 lead. So far, New York is 7-3 against Boston this season.

The Red Sox find themselves 13.5 games out of first place, the most since they were 14 games back on September 19, 2001. Something to keep in mind when they plummet below that tomorrow and we look for the next mind-numbing, soul-crushing statistic.

New York tied a franchise record for most players (10) with 10+ homers in a season, they also did that in 1998.

For whatever reason, Franklin Morales (3-4) gets rocked every time he faces the Yanks. Tonight, he allowed five earned runs on six hits in 5.1 innings with three strikeouts and a walk. He gave up the first four homers before reliever Clayton Mortensen served up the final one.

Nick Swisher (17th of the season) went deep in the first, Curtis Granderson (31st of the season) followed suit in the second inning and Russell Martin (13th of the season) went back-to-back to make it 3-0. The Yankees had nine hits, five of them were homers and they didn't have any other extra-base hits. I guess they love their home runs.

Boston got all four of their runs in the third as Pedro Ciriaco's ground out scored Mike Aviles (2 hits) then Pedroia hit a three-run homer on his 29th birthday.

Derek Jeter (10th of the season) tied it in the fifth with a solo homer then Jason Nix added an RBI single in the sixth and Swisher's second homer-in the seventh-gave New York a 6-4 advantage.

Phil Hughes (12-10) usually can't do anything against the Red Sox but even he gets it done against this sad-sack outfit these days. He went seven innings and allowed four runs (0 earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. The unearned runs were all the result of his throwing error, don't get me started on why that rule (pitchers not getting charged with runs on their own mistakes) doesn't make any sense.

David Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth for his 17th save of the season and Rafael Soriano had a strikeout in a clean ninth for his 30th save of the season.

I'm psyched that I'm going to a wedding tomorrow afternoon/night so I'll probably miss all of the game (4:05 p.m., NESN) unless I get bored and check Twitter/my phone or it's on at the bar. Jon Lester (6-10) faces David Phelps (3-3) in the middle game of the three-game weekend set.

UPDATE 8/19: Felix Doubront was placed on the DL (retroactive to August 10) and infielder Mauro Gomez was recalled from Pawtucket to fill his roster spot in Boston.

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Felix Doubront & Pedro Ciriaco Run New York, Everybody Knows That

With only 60 games (basically two months) left of the 2012 regular season, now is not the time to celebrate simply getting back to .500 (for the 55th time).

However, the Red Sox (51-51, 26-23 away) should be happy after they took two of three games in New York (60-41, 31-19 home) this weekend and went 3-3 on a brutal road trip against the two best teams in the AL (Rangers and Yankees). Felix Doubront pitched well tonight and Pedro Ciriaco had an RBI single in the 10th that scored Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 runs, 2 walks) as Boston outlasted the Yankees 3-2 in 10 innings at Yankee Stadium.

After losing on Friday, the Red Sox won nail-biters last night (8-6) and tonight to make the season series 6-3 in favor of New York. There are nine remaining so you will have plenty more baseball games that are well over three hours long no matter what.

Trade bait Ryan Sweeney's two-run double in the second gave Boston a 2-0 lead it would carry until the sixth. New York cut it to 2-1 on Red Sox killer Russell Martin's solo homer (his 12th of the season) then he tied it with an RBI single in the seventh.

Jacoby Ellsbury (double) and Adrian Gonzalez (run) both had two hits for Boston while Nick Swisher added two hits for the Yankees. Somehow the Red Sox survived grounding into five double plays-the most they had recorded in over seven years.

Doubront and Ciriaco have been by far Boston's best players against New York this season. In three starts, Doubront has gone 18.2 innings and only allowed five earned runs on 12 hits. Ciriaco is 11-for-22 in five games against the Bronx Bombers with six RBIs. He has provided the winning hits the last two games as well (RBI triple on Saturday night in the 9th). Call it a small sample size, beginner's luck or not having a book on either guy yet but whatever the reason, two of the most unlikely players have carried the Red Sox to wins against their archrivals.

This evening, the young lefty went 6.1 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits with eight strikeouts and five walks. A high pitch count (109) was the only thing to complain about regarding one of the best outings of his career.

Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda went eight innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

Andrew Miller wiggled out of a jam (runners on the corners, 1 out) in the seventh but Alfredo Aceves (2-6) blew the save (5th time he's done that) by giving up Martin's hit in the eighth (charged to Miller). It didn't matter though since he stayed out there and eventually got the win following 2.1 innings. He struck out two and didn't allow a hit besides Martin's, the downside was that he threw 37 pitches.

The only thing I fear from these last two days is that the Red Sox front office will feel like they've figured things out so there is no need to make a big move (trading Josh Beckett). I really hope that is not the case since they should realize that he had less than nothing to do with either win or any positive things to come out of the weekend. They have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday to do the right thing and get him out of here before fans' heads explode with anger and frustration.

Boston returns to Fenway Park for its longest homestand of the season: 10 games (3 vs. Detroit, 4 vs. Minnesota and 3 vs. Texas). Their next road game is Thursday, August 9 in Cleveland which kicks off the longest road trip of the season: also 10 games.

Clay Buchholz (8-3) faces Max Scherzer (10-5) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN). Beckett (5-9) is scheduled to take the fall against Justin Verlander (11-6) on Tuesday (7:10 p.m., NESN) and Aaron Cook (2-4) gets Rick Porcello (7-6) on Wednesday (7:10 p.m., NESN).

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Apparently 9-Run Leads Aren't What They Used To Be

Leave it to the Red Sox to make New England sports fans even more depressed after the Bruins lost Game 5 to the Capitals earlier this afternoon.

The Yankees (9-6, 5-3 away) tied a franchise record for the biggest comeback ever as they recovered from being down nine runs to pull out a 15-9 win vs. the shell-shocked Red Sox (4-10, 3-5) at Fenway Park.

Boston's fifth straight loss of the season was one of the most insane defeats that I've ever seen, from the team that wrote the book on improbable losses.

I made the mistake of having dinner after Boston was up 9-1 in the sixth, I almost couldn't believe it when I flipped on the radio to find out that New York had pulled to within 9-8 in the seventh. Once the Yanks went ahead in the eighth, I knew it was over.

This one fell squarely on the bullpen's overmatched shoulders. No less than five different guys came in for the Red Sox and they all gave up runs before Junichi Tazawa (called up from the PawSox earlier this week) was able to get the last four outs.

Felix Doubront had his best MLB start, given the circumstances, so he deserved much better than what ended up happening. He held New York to one run (earned) over six innings with four hits, seven strikeouts and three walks.

Freddy Garcia was useless, he allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings, while the next New York relievers-Clay Rapada and David Phelps-also couldn't stop the bleeding. However, that's when Rafael Soriano (2-0), Boone Logan and Cody Eppley combined to shut out the Red Sox in the final three innings.

Mark Teixeira (6 RBIs, 3 hits, 3 runs) and Nick Swisher (6 RBIs, 3 hits, 2 runs) provided most of the damage for the Yankees. Derek Jeter (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, RBI), Eduardo Nunez (3 hits, 2 runs) and Russell Martin (2 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBIs) all had multiple hits as well.

You don't lose many non-beer league softball games where you have 17 hits but that's what the Red Sox accomplished today so there's that. David Ortiz (4 hits, run, RBI) is arguably the hottest hitter in MLB and it was nice to see Jarrod Saltalamacchia (4 hits, run) come out of his season-long slump too. Cody Ross (2 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Mike Aviles (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run, stolen base) are off to fine starts in their Red Sox careers at the plate. Dustin Pedroia added two hits and an RBI.

Boston hasn't scored first often this season but they went wild to begin today with two in the first, three in the second, two in the third and two in the fifth.

Adrian Gonzalez and Ortiz had RBI doubles to start things off. Aviles and Pedroia had RBI singles sandwiched around a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sweeney in the second. Darnell McDonald had a sacrifice fly in the third and Aviles put up another RBI single. Ross closed the binge with a two-run blast to center, his third home run of the season, in the fifth. Not bad, right?

Teixeira began the epic rally with a solo homer in the sixth, his second of the season. Swisher greeted Vicente Padilla with a grand slam, his fourth homer of the season, in the seventh. Matt Albers came on and he gave up a three-run bomb to Teixeira in the same inning.

New York tacked on seven more runs in the eighth. Alfredo Aceves entered in the eighth for a six-out save but that didn't go quite as planned since he allowed five earned runs on four walks (two intentional) and two hits. Swisher, Teixeira and Martin each had two-run doubles. Jeter finished it off with an RBI single.

Not that it matters, since they would probably lose anyway but it looks like we are getting some serious rain tomorrow so I doubt the Sunday Night Baseball game (8 p.m., ESPN) will happen. That's a shame too since Terry Francona would be in the booth and God only knows what he could say about this disaster.

The Red Sox' best bet is to duck the Yankees, get out on the road against the Twins and White Sox-two mediocre teams-and try to put all this failure behind them before this season is over before it has even really begun.

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Fenway 100 Was Great But The Reality Is There Are No Distractions Now From This Horrorshow

Now that Fenway 100 is behind us, I wonder how much time Tom Werner, Larry Lucchino and John Henry will devote solely to the Red Sox each day this season?

It's a disturbing thought and you can't help but be negative after the Yankees spoiled all the fun by crushing five solo home runs and beating the Red Sox 6-2 at Fenway this afternoon.

Yes all the pregame stuff (that I saw) was very well done and entertaining but now that's over and there's no way to hide how badly Boston (4-9, 3-4 home) is playing. They've lost four games in a row and by the ninth inning today, pink hat fans were chanting "We Want Francona." Um, he's not coming back folks. Well he did today but that's only because he probably received a huge paycheck.

New York (8-6, 4-3 away) had to play last night in the Bronx, travel then sit through all the hoopla today but they weren't fazed at all. Clay Buchholz (1-1) became the second Red Sox pitcher (Josh Beckett) already this season to serve up five batting practice homers in one outing. Yeesh. I'm no Dave Duncan, but when you throw 91-mph fastballs right down the middle of the plate, teams like the Yankees will make you pay every time.

Buchholz lasted six innings but it was ugly since he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Ivan Nova (3-0) won his 15th consecutive decision in the regular season for New York. He went six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks. His stuff isn't overpowering but he seems to have good command and he doesn't give up too many hard hit balls.

The Yankees wasted no time jumping in front as Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single in the first inning then Nick Swisher (3rd of the season) and Eric Chavez (1st of the season) got the home run barrage started with two in the second. Swisher's bomb went over the Monster in left center and Chavez's landed in the Red Sox bullpen.

David Ortiz (2 hits) answered with his second blast of the season, to left center (it had to be reviewed since it just over the lip of the Monster) in the second. Unfortunately, nobody was on base for him.

Chavez homered to straightaway center in the fourth and A-Rod (2nd of the season) crushed one over everything in left in the fifth.

Mike Aviles's (2 hits) double in the fifth scored Cody Ross for Boston's final run.

New York didn't need it but Russell Martin added his first home run of the season in the sixth, over the Monster.

Freddy Garcia (0-1) faces Felix Doubront (0-0) tomorrow afternoon (4:05 p.m., Fox) in a game that I can totally see turning into a shootout. I don't have faith in either pitcher's ability to put up zeros but we'll see. Regardless, Game 5 of Bruins-Capitals starts at 3 p.m. so I know where all my energy will be devoted to.

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Yankees Win Marathon 9-Inning Game, Burnett Shocks World By Not Imploding

The super slow motion of a typical Red Sox-Yankees game is bad enough but when somebody like A.J. Burnett wins for New York, a contest that takes way too long turns into a marathon (four hours and twenty one minutes) of torture.

The Yankees (82-53) took two out of three at Fenway Park as they beat the Red Sox (82-53) 4-2 tonight. Boston is back to the slim half game lead atop the AL East while the season series moves to 11-4 in favor of the Red Sox (three left in NY in a few weeks).

Logic dictated the first two outcomes of this latest series: CC Sabathia was due for a win against the Red Sox while Josh Beckett is light years ahead of Phil Hughes at this point. This was the game that on paper that seemed to be a lock for the home team since Jon Lester was starting. As the crappy cliche goes, that's why they play the game.

Burnett got a no-decision but by not completely shitting the bed, he was wildly successful. He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

A high pitch count (114 pitches) was the thing that caused Lester to crumble. He lasted only five innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Robinson Cano's (2 doubles) first inning double drove in Curtis Granderson (2 hits) for a 1-0 Yankees lead.

With both starters out relatively early, it became a battle of the bullpens and to their credit, New York was better. Alfredo Aceves (9-2) was charged with two earned runs and Daniel Bard gave up an earned run and two hits.

Russell Martin put New York ahead with a two-run double in the seventh and pinch-hitter Eric Chavez came through with an RBI single for a 4-2 cushion. Those guys have both been Red Sox killers this season.

Boone Logan got an out, Cory Wade got an out (and earned a fraudulent win) while Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless seventh and David Robertson had a scoreless eighth. Mariano Rivera had to work in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs and Adrian Gonzalez at bat but Rivera struck him out looking with his 28th pitch to get his 36th save.

One positive for Boston is that Felix Doubrant made his first appearance since April 17 and it was a good one. He recorded four outs, gave up no hits and struck out two. If he can give them anything, it could be big since they desperately need a lefty out of the bullpen for the playoffs that's not named Franklin Morales.

The Texas Rangers come to town this weekend for a three-game series: Andrew Miller vs. Derek Holland tomorrow night, Erik Bedard vs. Colby Lewis on Saturday afternoon and John Lackey vs. Matt Harrison on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully the Red Sox can keep their momentum going vs. the Rangers that they gained last week in the Lonestar State.

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Beating the Yankees cures all

After a slow start to his 2011 season, Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz has settled in during May. He's 3-0 so far this month and shows signs that last season wasn't a fluke and likewise he won't be suffering much of a sophomore slump.

Boston (18-20) won 5-4 last night at Yankee Stadium behind another strong outing from Buchholz (4-3), a nice start to an important series against the Yankees.

He went seven innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, one walk and seven strikeouts.

After his shady stem cell surgery, Yankees (20-16) pitcher Bartolo Colon (2-2) is pitching like it's 2005. He went six innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned), three walks and four strikeouts.

I for one am not surprised at all that he's throwing in the upper 90s again. Makes total sense really, haha!

The Red Sox got out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a solo homer by Adrian Gonzalez (eighth of the season) and a ground out by Carl Crawford, which scored Kevin Youkilis.

Russell Martin, that noted Boston killer, tied it with a two-run bomb in the fifth (his seventh of the season). Once again, I'll note that we could have had him for peanuts this season.

Gonzalez put the Red Sox back ahead with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Youkilis followed with a two-run blast (his sixth of the season) off his nemesis Joba Chamberlain.

Daniel Bard came in for the eighth and he was erratic. Curtis Granderson scored on his wild pitch but he survived by only giving up the one run.

Jonathan Papelbon entered in the ninth and also gave up a run, on an RBI single by Granderson (which scored Jeter) but he did enough for his sixth save of the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits, a run and stolen base in the win.

Josh Beckett and the Red Sox will try to build some momentum as he takes on CC Sabathia tonight in the Bronx. Beautiful scheduling there by MLB, three straight night games. Don't ask me why today isn't an afternoon game, especially with the Bruins-Lightning series starting tonight at 8 p.m. Just Bud being Bud.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is no Russell Martin

Over the winter, the Boston Red Sox had the chance to pick up former Dodgers All-Star catcher Russell Martin.

Coming off injury-plagued seasons, he could have been had for cheap money but the New York Yankees snatched him up and gave him the starting job as Jorge Posada was shifted to DH.

The Red Sox chose to go with Jarrod Saltalamacchia (don't ask me why) and Jason Varitek as the backup.

Only eight games into the 2011 season and that seemingly minor decision has already completely blown up in Boston's face.

Martin had two home runs yesterday and four RBIs as New York (5-3) beat Boston (1-7) 9-4 yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Saltalamacchia doesn't call a good game as far as I can tell and he can't hit a lick. So yeah, don't ask me what Theo Epstein and Co. were thinking there.

Clay Buchholz (0-2) faced Ivan Nova and surprisingly, Buchholz was worse. He only went 3.2 innings, giving up eight hits, five runs (four earned), three walks and two strikeouts.

Nova wasn't much better: 4.1 innings, seven hits, four earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts.

The Yankees jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning on a groundout by Nick Swisher and an RBI double by Eric Chavez (3 hits).

Kevin Youkilis' groundout cut it to 2-1 in the third but Martin's three-run homer made it 5-1 in the fourth.

Boston had one last comeback attempt with three runs in the fourth. Jacoby Ellsbury had an RBI groundout and Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 RBIs) added a two-run double. Once again, Pedroia is the only Red Sox hitter that was able to come through with a big hit in a big spot. Hopefully his clutchness becomes contagious soon.

Three more homers from the Yankees ended it. Curtis Granderson had a two-run bomb in the fifth while Robinson Cano (3 hits, 2 runs) and Martin had solo shots in the sixth and seventh respectively.

Josh Beckett takes on CC Sabathia tonight in a Sunday night game that is basically must-win for the Red Sox. That's not good news either since the pitching matchup is really shaky for Boston.