Red Sox Win Their Fourth Straight, 7-2 Over Indians In First Game After Marathon Bombings

The Red Sox will lose plenty of games this season but it was nice that they could do their very small part to bring some smiles to a stunned region tonight. Since the Bruins' game was postponed last night and the Celtics' game tonight was cancelled, the Red Sox had the honor of being the first Boston team to play after the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Boston (9-4 overall, 5-2 away) opened up a three-game set at nearly empty Progressive Field with a 7-2 win over Terry Francona's Indians (5-7 overall, 2-4 home). It was their fourth straight win after sweeping Tampa Bay. The game took 3:30 but really the second inning was all that mattered. Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) couldn't get out of it as the Red Sox batted around and scored all seven of their runs. Part of the reason it took so long was that Boston struck out 16 times and walked nine times.

Felix Doubront (1-0) was the lucky recipient of the offensive explosion/Jimenez's meltdown. He had his usual five inning outing with two earned runs on four hits, seven strikeouts and four walks on 104 pitches.

David Ross walked with the bases loaded to start the onslaught in the second. Pedro Ciriaco hit a sacrifice fly then Jacoby Ellsbury (run, stolen base) knocked in a run with a single. Dustin Pedroia walked with the bases loaded then Mike Napoli (double, run) cleared the bases with a wall ball double.

Former Red Sox great "Friendly" Mike Aviles provided Cleveland's first run with a sacrifice fly in the second. Their other run came in the fifth on Ross' passed ball. It was a reunion of old Red Sox as Milton, MA native Rich Hill pitched a scoreless eighth for the Indians.

Clayton Mortensen and Alex Wilson both had two scoreless innings of relief for Boston.

Good seats are still available if you want to fly out (haha yeah right) to Cleveland tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) as Justin Masterson (3-0) faces Alfredo Aceves (0-0). Another former Red Sox, Masterson is off to a brilliant start with an ERA of 0.41, 0.82 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 22 innings.

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Terry Francona Will Be Taking Over The Worldwide Leader's Baseball Coverage

Well as I predicted, Terry Francona has found gainful employment after only a month and change out of the limelight.

The former Boston Red Sox manager (it feels weird typing that) has joined ESPN as a baseball analyst. Ironically, he'll be replacing Bobby Valentine (Boston's new manager) on Sunday Night Baseball with Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser.

Also, Tito will appear on Baseball Tonight (which is still a good show even though I often watch MLB Network instead) and Little League World Series coverage. Finally, he will be a featured guest on ESPN Radio's national shows, plus a contributor to ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com.

You can't keep a good man down and while I fully recognize that Francona was a big part of the clubhouse issues at the end, the two-time World Series champion deserved a plumb gig like this. From all accounts, he's a decent guy and from the very small sample size during the ALCS on Fox (when Tim McCarver was getting a brain transplant or some shit), Francona was superb. Truly a breath of fresh air in a sport that really lacks new energy in its broadcasting.

That first Red Sox-Yankees game on Sunday Night Baseball will definitely be awkward, especially when Francona has to criticize Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Carl Crawford, etc. but he's a pro and a big boy, he can handle it.

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Don't Worry Red Sox Fans, Don Orsillo Is Here Through 2015

The Boston Red Sox don't have a manager, they lack a closer and they haven't even finalized the stupid compensation for Theo Epstein going to the Cubs after what seems like years.

Never fear though because I have good news: NESN's Don Orsillo will be back through 2015 as he just signed a contract extension to stay with the home of the Red Sox.

It's easy to make fun of this move since the team and front office is nothing short of a mess right now, coming off one of the biggest disasters in franchise history. Still, I'm totally in favor of this move to bring back Orsillo, the more than capable announcer.

It took the Rhode Island native and current resident some time to get his feet wet but by now, his chemistry with the sometimes insufferable (and miserable) Jerry Remy is outstanding. These two guys help to make the usually long and mostly boring games much more bearable with their affability, sense of humor and at least in Orsillo's case, he doesn't appear to take himself too seriously.

In other NESN rumors, there's been talk of "reporter" Heidi Watney taking her um talents elsewhere since her contract expires at the end of November but so far, no real news on that front. Let's hope that Heidi stays with NESN since she's easily one of the highlights of the broadcasts every night, no matter who the Red Sox are playing or in some cases, how they're doing.

In other Red Sox related news, it has been reported today by multiple outlets that Terry Francona won't manage in 2012. Instead, look for him to be an announcer or analyst on Fox, ESPN or MLB Network. Good for Tito, take a step back from the grind of being an MLB manager and this gives him time to catch his breath.

Update: I was wrong, Heidi is gone. She's going back to Cali (get it?) to be the Lakers sideline reporter in 2012-13. That's a worthy job and probably one of the few sideline gigs that's even more renown than the Red Sox. Bye Heidi, we'll miss you!

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Terry Francona Is Back To Making Money

I've said all along that Terry Francona would land on his feet after getting fired/leaving the Boston Red Sox last week.

Lo and behold, the most successful manager in Red Sox history already has his next (albeit brief) gig set up. He'll be doing color commentary for Fox during the ALCS pitting the Texas Rangers against the winner of tomorrow night's Game 5 between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers.

Tim McCarver-the worst announcer in sports-is sidelined with an undisclosed medical issue so he will miss the first two games meaning Tito will team up with Joe Buck, the world's most boring play-by-play man (not named Dale Arnold).

Good for Francona, just like Celtics head coach Doc Rivers (who worked for ABC as a commentator between his coaching stops in Orlando and Boston) before him, I'll bet that he does a nice job. He's always been very accommodating to the insufferable Boston media that covered him and no doubt, he'll bring some interesting perspectives having been in the game so recently and faced the teams that are still playing extensively.

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Big Mistake Making Terry Francona The Fall Guy For The 2011 Red Sox' Epic Failure

If the reports and rumors are true and Terry Francona has managed his last game for the Boston Red Sox, the front office (owners Tom Werner & John Henry along with president Larry Lucchino) and GM Theo Epstein are making a big mistake.

Perhaps, we'll never know the full story. Francona's health in his eight years in Boston has gotten progressively worse but I find it hard to believe he's in that bad shape since he's only 52 and most importantly, he's said to be headed to Chicago to manage the White Sox (who just traded Ozzie Guillen to the Florida Marlins).

Francona is the most successful manager in Red Sox history, capturing two World Series championships (2004, 2007) and making the playoffs in five of his eight seasons at the helm. The fact that the team missed the playoffs the last two seasons meant that someone had to be the fall guy and unfortunately you can't get rid of a bunch of loser players like John Lackey, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett that are under contract.

Tito had options for $4.25 million each in 2012 and 2013 but it looks like those will be lost in the shuffle. This year's disaster of a team was completely dysfunctional and even a player's manager like Francona couldn't get this bunch of ill-fitting pieces to come together or hold on to a nine-game lead in the AL Wild Card in September (the biggest September collapse in MLB history).

Sports are naturally a results based industry and none more so than the job of manager of the Boston Red Sox. It's one of the most scrutinized in sports and when things don't go well, ownership will normally panic and make a reactionary move (which in this case is the wrong one).

On Francona's watch (734-531, .580 winning percentage), the team won at least 86 games in every season including 95+ in five of the seasons. In the playoffs, Boston was 28-17 (.622 winning percentage) including the two titles and a run to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2008. Ironically, that's the last time the Red Sox won a playoff game (in 2008) since they were swept in 2009 by the Angels.

If this is really the end, we should all be thankful for everything that Francona has done for the Red Sox. He immediately changed the history for a team that was a complete joke nationally and worldwide. He likely took years off his life dealing with all the intense media coverage and day-to-day hysteria of the job and at the root of it all, he was a decent man.

Props to you Tito, good luck to the next guy they try to bring in here to change this mess in the dugout and in the clubhouse.

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Terry Francona Records His 1000th Win As The Seattle Mariners Continue To Lose Like It's Their Job

Two milestones occurred last night at Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in another hot game in Boston.

Red Sox (61-37) manager Terry Francona notched his 1000th career win (715 with Boston) while the Mariners (43-57) tied a franchise record with their 14th straight loss.

If you were lucky enough to be in Vegas or some underground gambling ring, having Josh Beckett (9-3) face MLB's worst lineup was one of the biggest layups of the season. The big Texan delivered of course, going seven innings and allowing one earned run on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to a sick 2.07.

Seattle rookie pitcher Blake Beaven gave his team a chance to win (6.2 innings, 3 earned runs, 9 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts) but what can you expect from a batting order that has Brendan Ryan hitting second and Adam Kennedy in the five spot?

It was scoreless until the seventh when Mariners left fielder Mike Carp hit a homer (this time a solo shot) for a 1-0 Seattle lead.

The Red Sox quickly responded in the home half of the frame as Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits) hit a two-run single and then later scored on a wild pitch by Aaron Laffey.

Daniel Bard loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth but then he remembered who he was facing and he wiggled out of it without allowing a run. It was his 24th hold of the season and extended his scoreless streak to two months (last time he gave up an earned run was May 23-the night Tim Thomas robbed Tampa Bay's Steve Downie with the paddle of his stick).

Jonathan Papelbon gave up a hit but also got a strikeout in the ninth for his 23rd save in 24 chances.

Tim Wakefield faces Mariners star rookie Michael Pineda this afternoon as Boston looks to keep the good times rolling (up 3 games now on the Yankees in the AL East) and also kick Seattle out of town with an unsightly 15-game losing streak.

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