Red Sox Beat Orioles 3-2 on Walk-off Bloop Hit by Xander Bogaerts

Built like a Beer League softball team with a powerful lineup and nothing close to a No. 1 or No. 2 starting pitcher, Boston's flaws are painfully obvious but few would complain about the results from the first 10 games of the 2015 season.

The Red Sox (7-3 overall, 3-1 home) beat the Orioles (5-5 overall, 2-2 away) 3-2 tonight at Fenway Park in the 1st of 19 meetings this season. Xander Bogaerts' bloop single scored Mike Napoli for the walk-off win. The hit itself was nothing to write home about but Napoli's baserunning was impressive as he broke for the plate from second right away.

It was a strange game since Ubaldo Jimenez (3.2 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks) was ejected in the fourth inning after he drilled Pablo Sandoval in the back with a fastball. This was retaliation for Sandoval's hard slide on Baltimore second baseman Jonathan Schoop earlier in the contest. Since Sandoval was in the baseline, I didn't see the problem with it. Jimenez's mistake was hitting him so high (near his head), if it had been on his side or ample backside, nobody would have cared. Oh baseball.

Joe Kelly had a decent start for the Red Sox (5.2 innings, 2 earned runs, 4 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks) but he was done too early with a crazy pitch count (118) that was shades of Dice-K in his painfully mediocre prime. The teams combined for eight pitchers (four apiece) which was nearly as many hits as they produced (9), that's why the game took so long (3:13) without much action.

Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when a run scored despite the fact that Chris Davis grounded into a double play. The Orioles made it 2-0 the following inning when catcher Caleb Joseph homered to right (barely out of the reach of Shane Victorino). His first homer of the season was trumped by Ryan Hanigan's two-run blast over the Monster in the home half of the frame. It was the Andover, MA native's first bomb as a Red Sox which had to be a special feeling.

Edward Mujica was first out of Boston's bullpen and he got four outs. Junichi Tazawa pitched a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts and Koji Uehara (1-0) was credited with the win after striking out two batters of his own in a 1-2-3 ninth (10 pitches!).

Literally anything could happen tomorrow afternoon (4:05, NESN) as Clay Buchholz (1-1) faces Chris Tillman (1-1) in a battle of "aces" who are nothing of the sort.

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Red Sox Pick Up Their 1st Win of 2014, 6-2 Over Orioles

After a day of fun at the White House, the Red Sox came back relaxed as they beat the Orioles 6-2 tonight at Camden Yards. Boston (1-1) received a strong outing from John Lackey (6 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk) and three scoreless innings from its bullpen to even the series at one game apiece. Baltimore (1-1) was limited to six hits, the only one for extra bases was a two-run homer by Nelson Cruz (his second homer in as many games).

Ubaldo Jimenez (0-1) once again couldn't find a way to quiet Boston's bats. In six innings, he allowed four earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks. The Red Sox had 10 hits as a team including four singles (and two runs) by Dustin Pedroia. David Ortiz got Boston on the board with a two-run homer to right in the third inning for a 2-0 lead.

Cruz answered with his two-run homer to right in the fourth but Mike Napoli responded with a two-run bomb to center in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the seventh for a pair of insurance runs. Edward Mujica pitched a scoreless seventh in his Red Sox debut. He handed the ball over to the lockdown pair from last season: Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara. Tazawa had to throw 15 pitches and Uehara used 18 pitches but they both got the job done with limited drama in their respective innings of work.

The series finale is tomorrow night (7:05, NESN) with the gross pitching matchup of Felix Doubront vs. Wei-Yin Chen.

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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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Ubaldo Jimenez Goes Back To Being An Ace, For 1 Night Only-Against The Red Sox Of Course

Good or bad, the Red Sox will find a way to lose to virtually any kind of team in 2012. Their season to nowhere-copyright me-journeyed to Cleveland tonight with the Indians (52-60, 29-27 home) taking a 5-3 decision in the series opener at Progressive Field.

Boston (55-58, 26-24 away) repeatedly shot themselves in the foot by going 1-for-13 (I didn't think that was possible before I watched this team) with runners in scoring position and leaving seven men on base. It's the first time the Red Sox have fallen three games under .500 since June 11. Expect that loss column to keep going up like the price of gas around the U.S.

Ubaldo Jimenez's (9-11) ERA is 5.25 but that didn't stop him from striking out 10 batters this evening. The former Rockies ace who has dropped off a cliff since being traded to Cleveland, held Boston to three earned runs over six innings with one walk and one home run allowed.

That sound you heard a few weeks ago was Felix Doubront (10-6) hitting the wall since he's pitching way more innings than he ever has in one MLB season. In a measly 4.1 innings, he allowed four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts, two walks and one home run allowed.

Fresh up from the minors, Jason Donald (2 runs, walk, stolen base) led off the bottom of the first with his inaugural homer of 2012. Adrian Gonzalez (12th of the season) grabbed the lead for Boston with a two-run bomb in the fourth and Dustin Pedroia-a DH for the first time in his career-added an RBI single in the fifth for the Red Sox. Of course, that would be their final run and Gonzalez left in the eighth after getting hit in the thigh.

Asdrubal Cabera's (run, walk) RBI double and Carlos Santana's (2 hits, walk) RBI single in the fifth tied it at three. Michael Brantley's sacrifice fly later in the inning put the Tribe up for good and Donald's ground out in the eighth was an insurance run.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a single, run, walk and stole three bases (they remembered he's fast!) and Pedro Ciriaco was 2-for-4 with a double in the loss.

The Indians bullpen had things locked down on the Red Sox with Tony Sipp pitching a clean seventh, Vinnie Pestano with a scoreless eighth (his MLB-leading 31st hold) and Chris Perez had a 1-2-3 ninth (on 13 pitches) for his 30th save of the season.

Clay Buchholz (9-3) faces Chris Seddon (0-0) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN). Buchholz is Boston's only reliable starter at this point and Seddon is making only his second start of the season, so if the Red Sox are going to win a game this weekend-I would put my money on that one.

In other Red Sox news, the team re-signed outfielder Scott Podsednik, who was traded to Arizona with Matt Albers but never reported. Ryan Kalish was sent down to Pawtucket to make room for him on the roster.

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Red Sox Break 5-Game Losing Streak At Fenway Park With 7-5 Win Vs. Indians

It wasn't pretty but Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox (13-19, 5-11 home) bounced back tonight from the disaster that was Josh Beckett on Thursday night as they beat the Indians 7-5 in a long (3:57), ugly game at Fenway Park.

Boston jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning but they had to sweat it out a bit as Cleveland scored three runs in the seventh and one in the ninth before finally being subdued for good.

Buchholz (4-1) continued to benefit from stellar run support from his teammates. He actually pitched well except for the fact that he departed in the sixth with one out and the bases loaded. Cleveland (18-14, 10-4 away) was able to plate all three of those runs against Rich Hill and Andrew Miller but it could have been worse. Buchholz went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with no strikeouts and three walks. Bobby V left him in too long (as he's prone to do) but you can't fault him that much since the bullpen has been fried the last few weeks. Buchholz was lucky he didn't get hit harder since in 111 pitches, he only got three swings and misses.

The shell of the pitcher they call Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3) continued to suck for the Indians. He only lasted 4.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and five walks.

Dustin Pedroia (3 for 4, 3 RBIs, run) led Boston's offense while Ryan Sweeney (2 hits, run, RBI) and Adrian Gonzalez (2 doubles) also had multiple hits. Nick Punto got a rare start at shortstop and he scored two runs.

Michael Brantley (2 hits, 2 RBIs) led four Indians with multiple hits: Jason Kipnis (2 hits, run), Travis Hafner (2 hits, RBI) and Jack Hannahan (2 hits) all had good evenings at the plate.

Santana gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single but Will Middlebrooks answered with a two-run double in the home half of the first. Pedroia added a two-run double in the second then Boston scored three times in the fifth on Cody Ross's RBI double, Sweeney's RBI single and Pedroia's sacrifice fly.

Hill walked Hafner with the bases loaded in the seventh and Kipnis scored on Middlebrooks's error. Brantley had RBI singles in the seventh and ninth.

Alfredo Aceves got his first save attempt in nearly two weeks so it was no surprise that it was rocky. He had runners on first and third with one out but struck out Hannahan and retired Johnny Damon on a lazy fly ball to center for his sixth save of the season.

Felix Doubront (2-1) faces Josh Tomlin (1-2) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as the Red Sox try to win their second straight game for the first time in two weeks (they haven't done it yet in May).

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Jimenez has worst start of season but Rockies win on Giambi's walkoff HR

After losing 2-1 to the Rockies in the series opener on Tuesday night (the first meeting since the 2007 World Series), the Sox (43-30) looked poised to pick up a big win last night at Coors Field as they knocked around ace Ubaldo Jimenez for a season-high six earned runs.

A 6-5 lead in the ninth inning wasn't enough as closer Jonathan Papelbon (2-4) gave up a solo home run to tie it then a two-run walkoff homer by Jason Giambi aka the Giambino.

The Rockies (38-33) are a decent team but this was a bitter loss given the lack of his A stuff from Jimenez. He gave up six earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Once again, John Lackey was not good but he hung around. In 6.2 innings, he allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Colorado led 4-0 after three on Miguel Olivo's two-run homer in the second, Brad Hawpe's groundout in the third and Seth Smith's sacrifice fly.

Rookie sensation Daniel Nava cut that lead in half for the Sox with a two-run double in the fourth.

Jimenez helped his own cause with an RBI single in the fourth (Lackey also had two hits off Jimenez after being 1 for 31 in his career) to make it 5-2.

The Sox went ahead with four runs in the sixth inning on Nava's RBI double, Darnell McDonald's two-run homer and Scutaro's RBI single.

Victor Martinez had three hits in the loss and survived a scary collision at the plate where his arm got bent back at tried to prevent a run.

Dice-K opposes Jason Hammel tonight as Boston looks to avoid the sweep before taking off for San Francisco.