That's More Like It, Red Sox Rally Falls Short Against Yankees

Jacoby Ellsbury had two walk-off hits in a row last season but he couldn't record the same feat this season-obviously-as the Red Sox fell 5-4 to the Yankees tonight at Fenway Park in the middle game of three.

Baltimore beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Nate McLouth so the Orioles and Yankees remain tied for first place in the AL East. The Rays dropped to three games behind both teams.

To show you how important this game was to New York (80-62, 39-34), Joe Girardi used seven pitchers in a nine-inning contest and nobody had to leave early with an injury.

Boston (64-79, 33-42 home) were down 5-1 in the seventh inning but scored twice in that frame on a ground out by Mauro Gomez and Mike Aviles' RBI double. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (double, triple, walk) cranked a solo homer in the ninth (his 24th of the season) against Yankees closer Rafael Soriano. After Aviles reached on an infield single, Ellsbury represented the winning run. He never swings at the first pitch, except then as he grounded to Soriano, who got his fourth and final out for his 37th save.

New York was 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position but it didn't matter since they scored all their runs on three homers. Curtis Granderson had a solo homer in the fourth and two-run bomb in the seventh (his 37th of the season). Robinson Cano had a two-run homer (30th of the season) of his own in the fourth.

David Phelps (4-4) earned the win after 5.2 innings, one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Aaron Cook (3-10) went five innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

Things got wacky in the late innings, try to keep up. Dustin Pedroia (2 for 3 with double, run) left in the seventh inning to attend the birth of his second child; Derek Jeter (2 for 5 with run) hurt his ankle running to first base in the seventh and had to leave the game. Cody Ross was called out on a totally bogus third strike to end the eighth with a runner on second, he went bananas leading to his ejection along with manager Bobby Valentine (6th of the season, new team record) and third-base coach Jerry Royster.

James Loney (2 for 4 with double) produced Boston's first run with an RBI single in the fourth which cut it to 3-1. Nick Swisher was 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles while Eric Chavez also had two doubles.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m.) is the series finale and the last Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway in 2012. Felix Doubront (10-8) faces Phil Hughes (14-12).

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When Ichiro Suzuki Is Hitting Tape-Measure Bombs Against You, Might As Well Look For Another Profession

Chew on this: with 40 games left in their 2012 regular season, the Red Sox could go 40-0 and they still wouldn't win 100 games.

Boston (59-63, 30-29 away) went quietly in the night with a 4-1 loss to New York (72-49, 39-24 home) to wrap up a series loss (2-1) at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox fell to 4-8 against the Yankees this season. There are two more series between these woefully mismatched rivals: at Fenway in September and closing out the regular season in the Bronx the first few days of October.

Josh Beckett (5-11) couldn't contain one of MLB's best sluggers as Ichiro Suzuki took him deep for solo homers in the fourth and sixth innings. The Texas Toughguy had about his best outing possible: six innings, four earned runs, seven hits, six strikeouts, three walks and two home runs allowed but he still lost.

Even with Beckett's extended breaks between pitches, this one was over in 2 hours and 51 minutes which has to be the quickest Red Sox-Yankees contest in years. Boston ended their 10-game, 11-day road trip (longest of the season) at 4-6.

Hiroki Kuroda (12-8, 2.96 ERA), who was a free agent that the Red Sox easily could have signed last winter, proved to be yet another wrong choice they have made in the last year-plus. He shut down Boston for eight innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his 31st save of the season and second of the weekend.

Curtis Granderson had an RBI double in the first since Beckett automatically has to give up at least one run every first inning. Derek Jeter (3 for 4, 2 doubles, stolen base) scored on a wild pitch in the third inning for a 2-0 New York lead.

The Red Sox had five total hits in the game and it would have been a shutout if not for the heroics of Adrian Gonzalez (15th of the season), who continued to pad his stats with a worthless solo homer in the seventh.

Boston returns to Fenway for seven games after an off-day tomorrow. We should all be thankful that they give us time to concentrate on the utterly meaningless Patriots-Eagles preseason matchup. There is a weird scheduling quirk since the Red Sox haven't played the Angels all season but Los Angeles (62-60, 3rd AL West) is in Boston starting Tuesday then the Red Sox are in Anaheim next week.

Aaron Cook (3-6) faces Ervin Santana (6-10) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Clay Buchholz (11-3) gets Jered Weaver (15-3) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in what could be a classic pitcher's duel and Franklin Morales (3-4) takes the hill against fellow lefty C.J. Wilson (9-9) in the finale on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN).

I'm just excited to see Mike Trout and see up close why the Angels have struggled so much lately when it looks like they put together a powerhouse team. They should benefit greatly from playing the Red Sox six times in 10 days.

After that, Boston takes on Kansas City in four mind-numbing games wrapped around this weekend.

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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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So Yeah, This Weekend At Fenway Could Get Pretty Ugly For The Red Sox

It only took one inning of tonight's game to get us back into full Red Sox-Yankees marathon mode. Josh Beckett allowed five runs in the top of the first but Hiroki Kuroda did the same in the bottom of the first. The tone was set as it would be a slow-pitch softball game (that took 3 hours, 59 minutes) in the guise of an AL East meeting at Fenway Park.

Boston (42-41, 21-22 home) rallied once but they couldn't do it twice as Beckett and their bullpen let them down in a 10-8 series opening loss to New York (50-32, 25-16 away). The Red Sox lost their fourth straight game overall as they fell to 0-3 against the Yankees this season (all at Fenway).

This excruciating loss was a microcosm of the Red Sox' terrible first half: they got unexpected contributions from nobodies like Mauro Gomez (2 for 5, RBI) and Nick Punto (double, threw A-Rod out at home) but when it came time for a star to step up he didn't do it.

Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, double, 2 runs, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 16 games but in the biggest at bat of the game, he couldn't produce. With runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, Yankees closer Rafael Soriano came in to face Gonzalez. The former Rays closer got Gonzalez to ground out then he had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save of the season. That's Gonzalez in a nutshell: he puts up numbers that look good at first glance but when you see him up close every day, he is not that impressive. Well at least not this season.

The Red Sox wasted 14 hits by leaving nine guys on base. This wasn't the offense's fault though as Beckett, Andrew Miller and Vicente Padilla all failed to contain the Yankees. The Texas Toughguy had nothing to start and New York scored five runs on a bases-loaded walk to Robinson Cano (run, hit, RBI), Mark Teixeira's (2 runs, 2 hits, 4 RBIs) two-run single and sacrifice flies by Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez (2 hits, 2 RBIs).

Boston tied it on Ryan Kalish's sacrifice fly, Gonzalez's RBI double and Jarrod Saltalamacchia's three-run homer (his 17th of the season, a career-high).

A run scored on Rodriguez's (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) ground out in the second but David Ortiz (3 hits, walk, run) made it 6-6 with an RBI single in the home half of the second.

With a day-night doubleheader looming tomorrow, both teams had no choice but to stick with their ineffective starters. They actually settled down and didn't allow any runs in the third or fourth which was shocking. Gomez's RBI single in the fifth gave the Red Sox their only lead at 6-5.

Ironically, as news of Ray Allen going to Miami broke in the seventh inning, Miller and Padilla decided to shit the bed. Miller walked Curtis Granderson (3 runs, 2 hits) and allowed an infield single to A-Rod. That was nothing compared to Teixeira greeting Padilla with a two-run triple which put the Yanks ahead for good. Raul Ibanez (2 hits, run) added an RBI double and Chavez's RBI single increased the margin to 10-7 New York.

Cody Ross blasted a solo homer (13th of the season) off Boone Logan (4-0) in the seventh but the Yankees bullpen was still able to outperform the Red Sox'. David Robertson struck out two in the eighth for his ninth hold of the season while Soriano struck out two of the three he faced in the ninth.

Matt Albers pitched a scoreless sixth but the most promising development in the loss for Boston's bullpen was Mark Melancon, who has been lights out since he returned from Pawtucket (hope Daniel Bard is watching). He only allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless eighth and ninth.

Franklin Morales (1-1) faces Phil Hughes (9-6) tomorrow afternoon (12:35 p.m., NESN) then Felix Doubront (8-4) opposes Freddy Garcia (2-2) in the nightcap (7:15 p.m., Fox). On paper, I feel (and hope) that the first game will be fast and low scoring with the exact opposite happening in the second game. We shall see. All I ask is that they go by a little more quickly and oh I don't know, maybe the Red Sox can win a game if that's not too much to ask.

UPDATE 7/7: The Red Sox recalled Clayton Mortensen for today's doubleheader.

Prior to Game 2, Ryan Sweeney was activated off the DL and he'll start in center field. Ryan Kalish is expected to be sent down to Pawtucket.

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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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Ride it 'til the wheels fall off

If you've been paying attention to the Red Sox lately, you had to see this coming. With an unfathomable amount of injuries to key players piling up each day, the Sox were getting by with backups and scrubs but right now, it seems like the wheels are beginning to fall off.

For the second night in a row, Boston (49-35) lost to Tampa (50-33) at Tropicana Field, this time it was 3-2. After losing their way a bit, the Rays seem to have regained their step, no surprise with all the talent they possess and the Yankees continue to chug along at the top of the AL East.

Rookie Felix Doubront (1-1) did enough in his second MLB start to garner a win or at least no decision for the Red Sox but instead he was saddled with the loss. He went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Rays starter Jeff Niemann improved to 7-2 with six innings of fine work: one run (unearned), four hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

Jason Bartlett gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the third with a sacrifice fly that scored John Jaso.

Boston tied it up in the fourth with an RBI infield single by Daniel Nava (2 hits).

A run scored on Jaso's groundout in the fifth and then Carl Crawford had the game's biggest hit: a solo homer off Hideki Okajima in the eighth.

Boston scratched out a run in the ninth with an RBI triple by Eric Patterson which scored Bill Hall. However, with Kevin Youkilis pulled in the fourth inning with an ankle injury and David Ortiz getting intentionally walked, Niuman Romero ended the game with a harmless groundout.

Rafael Soriano converted his 23rd save despite allowing two walks.

Marco Scutaro had two hits, a walk and a stolen base in the loss.

Tim Wakefield takes on David Price tonight as the Red Sox try to avoid the sweep and tread water in the AL East.

Same old Dice-K

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Dice K's pitch count gets way too high early, he can't hold a lead and the Sox end up losing a game they had firmly in their grasp.

I've said before that Matsuzaka is the most unpredictable player in MLB but you have to admit that he's good at racking up insane pitch counts and blowing leads.

Last night in Tampa was an especially ugly one as the Sox (49-34) led 5-1 going into the bottom of the fifth but eventually lost 6-5 to the Rays (49-33).

Dice-K went five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

One of the most frustrating parts of the loss was the fact that Boston had gotten Rays starter Matt Garza (4 earned runs, 7 hits) out after just three innings. No surprise though, Tampa's bullpen is better than Dice-K and our god-awful middle relievers (Ramon Ramirez).

The Red Sox also wasted a career night by utilityman Eric Patterson who is filling in for Dustin Pedroia. Corey Patterson's little bro had two solo homers and a double.

Carl Crawford (3 hits) put the Rays up 1-0 in the first with an RBI double.

Boston answered with four two-out runs in the top of the third. Patterson hit his first homer, Kevin Youkilis had an RBI triple, Adrian Beltre had an RBI single and Bill Hall (2 hits) had an RBI single.

After Patterson's second blast in the fourth, Boston's offense was completely silenced.

Tampa Bay scored two in the fifth on Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly and Crawford scored on Kevin Cash's passed ball.

John Jaso tied it up with a two-run single in the sixth and Jason Bartlett produced the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Rafael Soriano (who somehow didn't make the All-Star team even though he's 22 of 23 on save chances) worked the ninth for the save.

Felix Doubrant gets his second start for Boston tonight against Jeff Niemmann. Coupled with a Yankees win last night in Oakland, the Red Sox are 2.5 games behind New York and half a game behind Tampa Bay. They can't afford a slide going into the All-Star break even though they're completely decimated by injuries.