Grandpa Wakefield Finally Records Win No. 200, Now Get Off His Damn Lawn!

It only took Tim Wakefield nine tries to get win No. 200 but he finally accomplished the milestone tonight and it couldn't come at a better time for the Boston Red Sox.

The 45-year old knuckleballer, MLB's oldest player, went six innings as the Red Sox (86-61) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 18-6 blowout of the Toronto Blue Jays (74-74) at Fenway Park.

Coupled with Baltimore's gift of a win over Tampa Bay, Boston moved back to four games ahead of the Rays in the AL wild card race. The Yankees held serve in Seattle with another win, New York leads the AL East by four games.

Since his last win took place way back on July 24, it was an honest question to wonder if Wakefield (7-6) would ever get to 200. Everything seemed to conspire against him: bad outings, the bullpen blowing it, tough luck, etc. The fact that it happened to be one of the most vital wins of the season for a team desperately trying to cling to a playoff spot is a feather in the cap of Boston's most professional athlete.

Wakefield went six innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Staked to a 10-5 lead, Boston's bats continued to come out of their recent coma as they piled up a season-high run total.

Brandon Morrow (9-11) was his typical erratic, not very good self. In 5.1 innings, he allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Another great sign for the Red Sox is that Dustin Pedroia (5 RBIs, 4 runs, 4 hits) broke his cold streak with one of his best games of the season. Jacoby Ellsbury (4 runs, 4 hits, 3 RBIs), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (4 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 hits), Carl Crawford (3 runs, 2 hits), Marco Scutaro (2 runs, 2 hits) and Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) all had multiple hits which made you quickly forget that David Ortiz was a late scratch with back spasms.

Toronto was competitive in the early innings as J.P. Arencibia hit a three-run blast into the Monster in the second inning and Jose Bautista (his MLB-leading 42nd of the season) added a two-run homer off Fisk's pole in the third.

Ellsbury (27th of the season) and Pedroia (19th of the season) went back-to-back to give Boston the lead for good in the fourth at 6-5. Pedroia padded his stats with a three-run shot in the sixth.

Alfredo Aceves locked it up for Wake with a scoreless seventh and eighth.

The record figures to skip tomorrow afternoon as John Lackey ushers out the last summer like day at Fenway with what's sure to be another unforgettable start. The Jays counter with Ricky Romero, who was great last week against Boston but typically struggles for some reason against the Red Sox.

One more time, give it up for Wakefield!

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Brady, Patriots Offense Firing on All Cylinders

It may only be week 1 but Tom Brady and the Patriots offense looks like they are in midseason form, marching up and down the field en route to a 38-24 victory last night in Miami.

Brady was as close to perfect as you can get, completing 32 passes for 517 yards and four touchdowns. Brady set a franchise record for passing yardage in a single game, a Monday Night record for passing in a single game, tied the longest passing play in NFL history and oh yeah he also racked up his 3000th career completion.

After the game, Brady was quick to point out the help that he got from his receiving corps, who were wide open nearly every time he dropped back to pass. His 99-yard TD pass came on a 25-yard seam route by former Dolphin Wes Welker who shook off the only would be tackler and took it to the house, effectively ending the contest then and there.

Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were equally impressive, combining for 13 catches, 189 yards and two Touchdowns. The pair of sophomore studs presented matchup problems all over the field and look to continue that production all year long. Deion Branch was also solid as usual, amassing 93 yards on seven receptions.

Defensively, the Patriots are in need of some improvement, especially in the passing game, allowing Chad Henne to pass for 416 yards and two scores, although one was a garbage time TD pass to Reggie Bush. Henne started the game by marching the Dolphins all the way down the field and cementing the seven minute drive with a 9-yard TD run. Henne ran a QB draw out of a five receiver set that spread out the Patriots linebackers and defensive backs enough to create a huge gap in the middle of the field. That was probably the highlight of the game for Miami.

Brady and the Patriots marched down the field in a little over three minutes, capping their drive with a 4-yard TD run from BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Rob Gronkowski then scored on a 10-yard out route early in the second quarter after making several wide open catches. The Dolphins responded early in the third, as former Buckeye Brian Hartline hauled in a Chad Henne pass to tie the score at 14. That was as close as the Dolphins would get.

New England's next opponent is the San Diego Chargers at 4:15 on Sunday, the Patriots' home opener.

*Game Notes*

*The Dolphins trotted Fergie out to "sing" the national anthem. Apparently, she is part owner of the team or something? Like I said on Twitter last night, I would be embarrassed if that broad was involved in any way shape or form with any of my favorite teams. What a joke. Ditto for that mouse-faced clown Mark Anthony who was seen wooping it up in a luxury box with his bros Will Smith and Dwyane Wade.

*Gotta love how the Pats' were using their tight ends. On the first drive, four out of the seven plays featured three Tight End sets. Hernandez was split out at times and they even used Gronkowski off of the line once in a while. Both TE's were wide open all game and will continue to be matchup problems for whomever they face.

*One of the bigger storylines going into last night's game was the new look offensive line. More specifically, fans were wondering whether or not Nate Solder could handle Cameron Wake, given that it was his first NFL game. Oh yeah, he was also playing on the right side. Solder answered critics by dominating Wake throughout the game. Using his reach, he was able to steer Wake away from Brady time and again, even laying down on top of him at one point. Wake did eventually get pressure on Brady here and there but the Patriots' coaching staff has to be pleased with what they saw.

*It didn't look like they were pleased with Chad Ochocinco however, as he was flagged for illegal formation on his first snap as a Patriot. As Jaws pointed out, that is simply inexcusable for a veteran. Ocho caught one pass for 14 yards, but otherwise wasn't targeted much. It's only one game but he has to contribute in some way and soon. I mean someone explain how Brady had a career day and didn't even use his most accomplished wideout. Granted, Ochocinco appeared to get interfered with on one play when the referees swallowed their whistles.

*Gruden was typically entertaining last night, fawning over Brady as he always does, but it was his neverending praise of Reggie Bush that took the cake. While Bush looked like he is ready to step in to the Dolphins' every down back role, he hardly impressed me on the whole. Maybe it's because I'm not used to seeing him run between the tackles but Gruden was acting like he turned a corner as a player. Why then, did Miami not use Bush at all on their two goalline possessions in the third quarter?

*Speaking of those two possessions, they are probably what cost the Dolphins the game. Chad Henne tried forcing the ball to Brandon Marshall on the first one, nearly getting picked by Devin McCourty in the process. The second possession wasn't any better as Henne overthrew Hartline and the Dolphins were stopped on fourth down. The next play was the 99-yard pass to Welker.

*The only blemish on Brady's performance was his interception to Odrick. The interception was Brady's first in 358 pass attempts (in the regular season), an NFL record.

*Oh yeah, for the love of God, no more throwing TD passes to linebackers! That's exclusively Mike Vrabel's thing! I know Dane Fletcher and he's no Vrabel.

*I normally complain about the insane amount of commercials during an NFL game but the NFL is finally doing the right thing when it comes to instant replay. In years past, there would be a continuous shot of the referee watching the replay over and over. Now they go to commercial during the review. Rather than the boring "tv timeouts" the NFL can still get their advertising dollars while delivering a better product on television, which should be the point.

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Another Season, Another Bunch Of New Records Already For The Patriots

There are very few things you can count on in life like the greatness of Tom Brady.

Sure it makes you sound like a Patriots honk but sometimes you just have to sit back and say "wow, I'm damn lucky to have seen this guy play in his prime."

The 2011 season started for Brady and the New England Patriots tonight at Sun Life Stadium against the Miami Dolphins and it was a memorable one. Brady set a Monday Night Football and franchise record with 517 yards passing (32 for 48, 4 TDs, 1 INT) as the Pats pulled away in the second half for a 38-24 win.

Miami (0-1) hung around for a while as quarterback Chad Henne (30 for 49, 416 yards passing, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 59 yards rushing) had the best game of his career. Typical to being Chad Henne, it still wasn't good enough although to be fair, it was mostly his defense's fault.

In a lot of ways, this was the perfect opener for Bill Belichick. The Patriots (1-0) went on the road and picked up a divisional win against a team that usually gives them problems at home. New England's offense was almost flawless but on the other side of the ball, their defense was way too vulnerable to a pretty average Dolphins offense.

No surprise, with the fifth-most passing yards in NFL history, a bunch of Patriots receivers had monster games. Wes Welker led the way with eight catches for 160 yards, Aaron Hernandez had seven catches for 103 yards, Deion Branch had seven catches for 93 yards and Rob Gronkowski had seven catches for 86 yards. Things were so silly that Matthew Slater made his first NFL catch and it was for 46 yards!

It was interesting to note that Branch still appears to be Brady's most reliable guy not named Welker in the receiving corps. Chad Ochocinco had a very quiet Patriots debut, he only had one catch for 14 yards. He needs to pick it up as the season progresses.

Brandon Marshall led the Dolphins with seven catches for 139 yards. Davone Bess had five catches for 92 yards and Anthony Fasano added five catches for 82 yards.

What will probably go down as the highlight of Miami's season was their very first drive of 2011. They held the ball for over seven minutes and Henne scored on a 9-yard quarterback draw (has to be the first of his life). Typical of the Dolphins after a big celebration, it was all downhill from there.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis and New England answered on their first drive as they went right down the field and the Law Firm punched it in with a 4-yard run.

It was tied at 7 after the first quarter and the Patriots went ahead 14-7 with the only touchdown of the second quarter: a 10-yard pass from Brady to Gronk.

On the first drive of the second half, Dolphins defensive end Jared Odrick intercepted a deflected pass by Brady (intended for Julian Edelman on a bubble screen) and returned it 39 yards into the red zone. To Miami's credit, they tied it up at 14 as Brian Hartline hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Henne. That's when New England seemed to pick up the intensity a notch. Welker scored his first touchdown of the game (a 2-yard grab) to give them a 21-14 lead.

For once, the Pats' defense stepped up and held the Dolphins to a 20-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter (cutting it to 21-17) in a subsequent red zone chance.

By that time, Brady's no-huddle attack had the Dolphins completely warn out. They couldn't catch their breath and as a result, they couldn't stop anything that Brady and Co. did. After getting stopped at the 1-yard line following a 30-yard catch and run, Hernandez got another crack at it as Brady went right back to him on the next play for a 1-yard touchdown pass. New England led 28-17 after three quarters.

Stephen Gostkowski missed a 48-yard kick (his first attempt of the season) at the end of the first half but he atoned for it with a 20-yard kick early in the fourth quarter. The highlight of the contest by far was New England's last score: a 99-yard bomb from Brady to Welker. Brady was in the shotgun (in the end zone) when he took the snap and Welker had one-on-one coverage. After throwing it, Miami's safety on that side took a bad angle and whiffed (hi Big Bang Clock), that allowed Welker to catch it and all he needed was one minor stiff arm to create separation.

For fantasy football fans, Reggie Bush (56 yards receiving, 38 yards rushing) made sure his night wasn't completely forgettable as he tacked on a 2-yard touchdown catch in garbage time. Danny Woodhead led the Pats with 14 carries for 69 yards.

Kyle Arrington picked off Henne on the last play of the game, a fitting reminder that this was still Henne. Devin McCourty (11 tackles, 10 solo, 1 tackle for loss, 2 passes deflected) had a busy night since he was matched up with Marshall. Patrick Chung (9 tackles), Mark Anderson and Andre Carter all recorded sacks while Myron Pryor and Vince Wilfork shared one. New England will need to get much more pressure when the games are still close.

The one major injury (that we know of so far) for New England is center Dan Koppen went down with an ankle injury in the first half. He was on crutches on the sidelines and based on the look of the play, I'm saying he has a broken ankle. Dan Connolly played center with Koppen out; he did a fine job but that's something to worry about moving forward since Koppen is one of the NFL's best.

The Patriots come home to face the San Diego Chargers (1-0) on Sunday (4:15 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium. My best guess is that it will be a shootout since Philip Rivers and the Chargers can put up points with the best of them. Let's see what changes Belichick and his assistant coaches can implement to this leaky defense; the offense already appears to be in midseason form.

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Where's Bob Lobel When You Need Him?

Former Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel used to talk about the Red Sox and the panic button whenever the home team lost like two games in a row in September. God only knows where he is right now, probably at the bottom of a bottle and/or in the gutter, but no doubt Lobel is pushing his panic button non-stop.

The Red Sox (85-61) completed a nightmare of a road trip 1-6 with a 9-1 loss this afternoon at Tropicana Field to the Tampa Bay Rays (81-64). By sweeping the three-game set, the Rays climbed to within 3.5 games of the AL wild card behind the Red Sox. Oh and did I mention that they come to Fenway Park next week for four games? Yep.

Jon Lester (15-7) took the hill today and as Boston's ace you would have to think he'd give them a good chance to win. Thanks to their inept offense, he basically had to throw either a no-hitter or shutout to do it and thankfully that was out the window in the first inning.

Tampa Bay scored three runs in their first time up and later added a grand slam by B.J. Upton (4 hits, 3 runs) in the fifth to take it.

Rays starter James Shields (15-10) came up two outs short of his 12th complete game of the season (absurd) but that's about the only way he failed. He went 8.1 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

I'm not enough of a contrarian to say he deserves the AL Cy Young (he doesn't) but he should get a decent amount of votes since he's been awesome (2.70 ERA) all season-long.

Marco Scutaro (2 hits) provided the only Red Sox run with a solo homer (his 6th of hte season) in the third. Mike Aviles (2 hits) was his only teammate with multiple hits since Boston managed seven in the latest depressing loss.

The Red Sox seemed poised to break out of their recent slump as they loaded the bases with one out in the third but Shields buckled down to get David Ortiz to fly out to left and Josh Reddick fouled out to end their last real threat.

Unlike Boston who has now lost five in a row, the Yankees snapped their four-game losing streak today in Anaheim. They're up 3.5 games in the AL East and for all intents and purposes, Boston can kiss the division goodbye. Now it's all about survival mode.

After a much-needed off-day tomorrow, Toronto comes to Boston for two games, Tampa Bay is here for four games and then Baltimore shows up for three games. It's one of the longest homestands of the season and it couldn't come at a more opportune time.

Tim Wakefield pitches on Tuesday night (only the eighth time he's gone for win No. 200) as the Red Sox try to get this whole mess turned around.

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This Shit Is Starting To Get Real

If you're a Red Sox fan, you're more than used to August swoons and September slides, but all of that past history can't prepare you for what's going down now: another possibly monumental collapse.

Boston (85-60) lost its fourth straight, 6-5 to Tampa Bay (80-64) in 11 innings tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays have climbed within 4.5 games of the wild card lead (5 head-to-head matchups left).

About the only glass half full thing I can muster is that the Yankees are in a similar downward spiral, losing four straight as well and dealing with countless injuries of their own. The bad part is that New York is ahead of Boston by 2.5 games.

After Jonathan Papelbon was excellent, throwing the very rare two innings of relief (no hits, 14 of 16 pitches were strikes), Daniel Bard (2-7) came on and had his second straight meltdown. He gave a lead-off triple to Desmond Jennings (2 hits, 2 runs), got B.J. Upton to ground out but then Evan Longoria (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 walks) hit a walk-off single.

In a market filled with so many clown Red Sox writers, it's hard to tell sometimes when to panic since some are known to constantly fan the flames (cough, Shaughnessy) but this has gotten serious my friends. Boston's starting rotation is a shell of itself, meaning the bullpen is taxed and the lineup isn't what it used to be with Youk out and Pedroia not himself.

The Sox actually rallied in the ninth from down 5-3 as Jarrod Saltalamacchia (16th of the season) and Jacoby Ellsbury (26th of the season) hit back-to-back homers off Rays closer (and former Yankees scrub) Kyle Farnsworth; the eighth time the team has done that this season.

It didn't look good early for Boston as rookie Kyle Weiland (making his third MLB start) loaded the bases with no outs in the first. He somehow escaped and just allowed one run in that frame on a ground out. He lasted four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.

His short outing meant that Alfredo Aceves had to come in earlier than usual. He wasn't as good as he usually is but you can't complain about four innings, two earned runs, three hits, one walk and three strikeouts. With those type of numbers, he could be the number two starter at the moment. Sadly, that is kind of true.

Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson bolstered his case for AL Rookie of the Year with a quality start: six innings, three earned runs, five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

Boston tied it in the second on Jed Lowrie's ground out but Tampa Bay added a run in the second (on Jennings' ground out) and in the third on Casey Kotchman's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) sacrifice fly.

Adrian Gonzalez tied it at three with his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot. Ellsbury's single earlier in the inning increased his latest hit streak to 15 games.

Kotchman took Aceves deep in the fifth and Longoria had a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 5-3 in favor of Tampa Bay.

An interesting side note to the game is that the winning reliever for the Rays was none other than Brandon Gomes (2-1) who is a Fall River, Mass native and Tulane graduate. He got the last four outs for what I'm going to assume was his most memorable MLB win.

Jon Lester vs. James Shields is the juicy pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Unfortunately, the ratings should be terrible since tomorrow is the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL regular season. I'll be checking my phone, Twitter and the gamecast while also peeking at the game between commercials or when I need a break from the Red Zone.

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Yo John Lackey, You Mad Bro?

If you stopped paying attention to the Red Sox weeks ago, who could blame you? A playoff spot seemed like a sure fire bet and all you had to worry about was if they'd play the Tigers or the Rangers in the ALDS.

Well after dropping eight of their last 11 games, Boston (85-59) is suddenly fighting for their postseason lives as they stave off an epidemic of injuries. This is the first time they've lost three in a row since June 21-25.

Tampa Bay (79-64) won the series opener tonight at Tropicana Field 7-2 to pull within 5.5 games of the Red Sox for the AL wild card. The Yankees lost their third game in a row tonight so they remained only 2.5 games up on Boston, not that the AL East looks attainable at all.

With Kevin Youkilis back in Boston with a sports hernia, Dustin Pedroia ice cold, not to mention Josh Beckett and Erik Bedard pushed back with injuries, it fell on John Lackey to give the Red Sox something positive.

What do you know, he fell flat on his face as always. Lackey's (12-12) latest shit sandwich was one of his most gruesome since he left after only three innings after taking a liner off his calf. He still managed to give up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. I'm done making fun of Lackey, it's too easy and it's all been said before at this point.

On the other side, Wade Davis (10-8) pitched a complete game. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Even more unlikely than Davis' gem was the offensive performance from John Jaso, a backup catcher who will never be confused with Mike Piazza or Johnny Bench. Jaso's three-run homer in the second off Lackey got Tampa Bay off to a great start; he later added a double and scored his second run.

The Rays added a pair of runs in the third on Johnny Damon's infield single and Matt Joyce's single.

Boston showed some signs of life with two runs in the sixth on Jacoby Ellsbury's infield single and a sacrifice fly by Marco Reddick (who has been red hot on this awful 1-4 trip).

Luckily, Tampa Bay took any intrigue out of this one in their next at bats as Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria (2 hits) both had RBI doubles.

Josh Reddick had two hits and scored a run. He has one of the few good things lately for the Red Sox. His batting average has creeped back up to .299.

The man saddled with the pressure to break this tailspin by the Red Sox is rookie Kyle Weiland, who makes his third career start tomorrow night against fellow rookie Jeremy Hellickson (12-11, 2.90 ERA).

The odds are still overwhelmingly in Boston's favor, they are going to make the playoffs (right?) but for the love of god, they need a win sooner rather than later. Do I have to mention that including tomorrow they play the Rays six more times? That means if Tampa Bay could run the table or go 5-1, they could very likely leap over the Red Sox for the wild card.

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Patriots Add Another Gronk & Linebacker Plus Cut Butler & Warren

The 2011 NFL regular season officially kicks off tomorrow night as the New Orleans Saints visit the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, a truly delicious opener.

There's a full slate of games on Sunday and our own New England Patriots travel to Miami on Monday night in the first part of a Monday Night Football doubleheader (Broncos-Raiders in the dog's breakfast second game).

With that in mind, the clock is running out for the Pats to make roster moves before Monday but they're still putting in full days and nights at Gillette Stadium in anticipation of what should be a great season.

Yesterday, New England released cornerback Darius Butler and signed linebacker A.J. Edds, who was waived by the Dolphins in the preseason.

Today, the Pats released defensive lineman Gerard Warren and made official something that everybody knew this weekend thanks to Twitter and the Gronkowski brothers' love of the social media tool: tight end Dan Gronkowski joins brother Rob as New England signed the former Bronco.

Seeing Butler leave was not a surprise at all and Ryan will have more thoughts on that in a subsequent post. Like Brandon Meriweather before him, his time with Bill Belichick had run out. Drafted only two years ago out of UConn, Butler has plenty of physical talent (who doesn't in the NFL?) but he regressed last season when the team needed him to step up.

This season with Devin McCourty, Leigh Bodden, Kyle Arrington ahead of him, not to mention Antwaun Molden and rookie Ras-I Dowling waiting in the wings, Butler would have never seen the field. The Carolina Panthers picked him up and he could flourish there for a team that has nowhere to go but up.

Bringing in Dan Gronkowski, drafted by the Lions and traded to Denver last September, fills a glaring hole for the Patriots who were only carrying two tight ends (Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez). Dan, who went to the University of Maryland, is known more as a blocking tight end so basically he'll be a younger, cheaper, white Alge Crumpler (without the resume). Plus, the comic possibilities with him and his brotastic brother will be endless. The clubs and bars in New England have been put on notice.

Seeing Warren leave doesn't come as a shock either since the defensive line is one of New England's deepest positions. He is one of Belichick's favorites though so he could be a guy that comes back during the season when somebody gets hurt. You can never have enough big fatsos that know the playbook and can come in with little to no adjustment period.

Finally, Edds is an unknown commodity. He was drafted in the fourth-round in 2010 out of Iowa (teammates with Patriots rookie linebacker Jeff Tarpinian) by Miami but missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in training camp.

For what it's worth, he led the Dolphins with 18 tackles and a sack this preseason. He gives New England more linebacker depth (one of their shakiest positions) and who knows, since Belichick's boy Kirk Ferentz coaches Iowa, maybe he gave him a hot tip on his former player. Edds can play outside and inside linebacker while also being a long snapper. I can guarantee that he'll be all over special teams on Monday (if he suits up) so you can impress your friends by reading this post and dropping a little knowledge about New England's newest anonymous player.

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