Varitek says "marriage is for losers"

The Red Sox's final game ever at the Metrodome (barring a playoff meeting) had a little bit of everything in yesterday's afternoon matinee.

Boston (28-20) won 3-1 to earn a split in the four-game series with the Twins (24-25).

Jason Varitek led the Boston offense with two solo home runs before he was tossed in the bottom of the seventh inning. This led to Red Sox manager Terry Francona also being ejected. Oh and did I mention that Twins catcher Mike Redmond and manager Ron Gardenhire were also booted earlier in top of the seventh?

Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor, who was recently promoted from the minors, seemed to have a quick hook to say the least.

The Twins were upset after Jeff Bailey scored on a Dustin Pedroia sacrifice fly which gave Boston the 3-1 lead. Bailey's tag of home and Redmond's tag of him seemed to happen simultaneously.

In the bottom of the frame, Varitek got pissed because Tichenor appeared to squeeze Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (5-2) on a close pitch. Despite that bit of drama, Beckett pitched great going seven strong innings and only allowing a run on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.

Joe Crede gave Minnesota its lone run when he blasted a solo bomb to left.

Varitek's homers (both from the left side) were in the fifth and seventh.

Jonathan Papelbon earned his 13th save after a scoreless ninth.

From there, Boston traveled North of the border to face the suddenly stumbling Blue Jays. Toronto has lost nine games in a row and has fallen to third in the AL East.

The Toronto Blue Jays=Frauds

The Toronto Blue Jays came into Fenway on Tuesday with a 3.5 game lead in the AL East, the surprise team in the American League over the first quarter of the season.

After last night's 5-1 Red Sox win enabled Boston (25-16) to sweep Toronto (27-17), it's clear that the Blue Jays are frauds that beat up on the sisters of the poor: the AL Central and West.

Jon Lester is starting to look like himself again as he improved to 3-4 last night with 6.1 innings outing where he allowed only one run on eight hits. He wasn't dominant as he struck out four and walked two but he did enough to win.

Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first as David Ortiz scored Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI groundout. Ellsbury's (2 runs, stolen base) hitting streak was extended to 16 games as he doubled before Ortiz brought him home.

Jason Bay continued to live a charmed life as he hit a two-run homer off Toronto rookie starter Robert Ray. Right fielder Alex Rios got a bad jump on it and it hit the top of the bullpen wall before bouncing over for the home run.

Kevin Youkilis made it 3-0 with an RBI single scored Dustin Pedroia in the third.

Pedroia knocked in Ellsbury with an RBI single in the fifth to give Boston its fifth and final run.

Aaron Hill had the Blue Jays' lone run with an RBI single in the seventh.

Interleague play begins tonight at Fenway as the banged up Mets come to town. It'll be fun to see National League stars David Wright and Carlos Beltran while Johan Santana (the best pitcher in baseball) opposes Dice-K this evening.

Ortiz finally hits a home run and the peasants rejoice

Remember those halcyon days when David Ortiz was the most clutch player in major league baseball? When he was the most feared hitter? I'm afraid to say those days are long gone my friend.

It only took Big Papi 135 at-bats this season (and 149 dating back to last season) to finally hit a bomb. It came at a good time too as the Red Sox (24-16) hit four homers in the fifth inning off Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (2-1) on their way to a 8-3 pounding of Toronto (27-16) last night at Fenway.

After getting standing ovations on Tuesday night before every at-bat, Ortiz got a curtain call for his shot to deep center field. A little much? Yes but the unwashed masses of Red Sox fans are nothing if not loyal. Ortiz looks completely lost at the plate (off the juice?) but as long as he is stuck in the three spot in the lineup, he needs all the support he can get.

The subplot that probably nobody but Alyssa Milano (former cum dumpster) and Chuck Lidell (his karaoke partner) noticed was that Sox starter Brad Penny improved to 4-1.

In 6.2 innings, he gave up just two earned runs on nine hits, with a walk and two strikeouts.

Toronto still leads the AL East by 1.5 games but Boston has taken two straight in their first meeting of the season.

The Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when Jason Varitek hit a solo shot and Jacoby Ellsbury scored when Dustin Pedroia knocked into a double play.

In his first game back from the DL, Kevin Youkilis continued to rake, going 3-for-5 which put his average at .404.

Ortiz's home run seemed to set off a chain reaction as Jason Bay and Mike Lowell also hit bombs in that inning. Varitek had hit his second earlier in the frame.

Boston looks for the sweep tonight (on a beautiful summer-like night) as Jon Lester takes the mound.

So this is how it ends?

I guess we were all just lying to ourselves when we thought the Boston Celtics (minus KG and Leon Powe) could actually advance to the Eastern Conference finals, where LeBron and the Cavs surely would have wiped the floor with them.

Reality was a bitter pill to swallow last night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Garden as the Orlando Magic stomped the Celtics, 101-82.

The defending NBA champions are out and when you think about it, how did they even make it this far?

Playing an eight-man rotation, the C's outlasted Chicago in seven games then had a 3-2 series lead vs. Orlando before losing the last two.

It's a testament to Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Ray Allen, Glen Davis, Eddie House, Doc Rivers, etc. that Boston made that much noise.

Whether it was being a homer or just not believing in the Magic, I really thought the C's would win going into last night but they simply ran out of gas.

The Magic were also 13-of-21 on 3-pointers and Boston could not get enough stops on defense, coupled with hoops.

Hedo Turkoglu led Orlando with a game-high 25 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. Rashard Lewis added 19 points and Mickael Pietrus once again dominated off the bench with 17 points. Is he really that good? Boston made him look like an All-Star in the series.

Rafer Alston had 15 points and Dwight Howard notched 12 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.

After an awful series individually, Ray Allen was the only Celtic to show up last night offensively. Allen had a team-high 23 points. Pierce only managed 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Davis added 13 points, Rondo went for 10 points, 10 assists and six boards while Perk added eight points and 15 boards.

Orlando started off on a roll and led 27-17 after the first quarter. Boston cut it to 45-38 at the half.

The C's had one last gasp as they outscored the Magic 23-21 in the third but Orlando had a 13-1 run in the fourth that sent the Garden crowd to the exits.

Orlando meets the Cavs while the Lakers (who blew out the Rockets in a Game 7) host the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.

More than anything, the finality of last night is the most painful thing. Once we knew KG wasn't coming back this postseason, we were resigned to our fate of not winning another title this June. Still, with triple-headers (Celts, Bruins and Red Sox) filling our weeks for the past month, it's crazy that now we don't have anything except the Red Sox for the next few months until Pats training camp and preseason heats up.

Nobody will cry for Boston fans since we've been spoiled for the past decade but it is still a rough patch for what had been an awesome spring.

With the Big Three returning and healthy (fingers crossed), the C's have another great shot at a title next season. Rondo and Perk made so much progress in one season, it's almost hard to believe. The biggest offseason questions revolve around whether to resign Big Baby (YES!) and Powe (depends on how his knee looks). This team has another run in them, I think that was proven by their heart this postseason.

Demolition Man, tell your friends I'll demolish ya

Through the first month and a half of the season, the Boston Red Sox vaunted pitching rotation has been complete garbage, to the tune of the worst ERA in the American League.

Dice-K got hurt, Brad Penny has been up and down and most surprising of all, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have been equally terrible.

Last night was a step in the right direction as Beckett and the Sox (22-15) broke a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 win at Safeco Field in Seattle.

Beckett (4-2) was not great but he battled through seven innings, throwing a season-high 120 pitches. He gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Boston teed off on former Orioles' bum Garrett Olson, hitting three home runs and scoring five runs in his six innings of work.

Jason Bay started it off with a two-run bomb in the first, followed by Jason Varitek's two-run blast in the second.

Yuniesky Betancourt (who for some reason seems to kill the Sox) started the Seattle (17-20) comeback with a two-run shot of his own in the second.

Russell Branyan's RBI double in the fourth cut it to 4-3 Boston but Jeff Bailey responded with a solo shot in the fifth for the game's final run.

Miguel Batista pitched three scoreless innings for Seattle.

The Red Sox trio of Hideki Okajima (2 outs), Ramon Ramirez (1 out) and Jonathan Papelbon (10th save) teamed up for two shutout innings.

Boston looks to end the West Coast trip on a high note by winning this series this afternoon.

Scott Walker banged your mom

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. I could cry about how the Bruins could have won the Stanley Cup this season but then again, did anyone think they'd make it this far? Nope.

Still, to comeback from down 3-1 in the series and have Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at home, last night's 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes will hurt for awhile. Oh and the fellow who scored it should have been suspended before the last game, but that's neither here nor there.

The Bruins have only themselves to blame as they disappeared in Games 2-4. Carolina is a veteran, experienced team with an All-World goalie and the better team over seven games advanced as they usually do.

Things looked good early as rookie Byron Bitz (the pride of Cornell) gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first after assists from David Krejci and Michael Ryder.

It was no surprise that Rod Brind'Amour answered 6:17 later as he deflected Dennis Seidenberg's blast from the point, past B's goalie Tim Thomas (34 saves). Joni Pitkanen also had an assist.

Sergei Samsonov once again scored a clutch goal against his former team, as he gave Carolina a 2-1 lead in the second. Pitkanen gave him a sweet pass that he just had to redirect past Thomas. Frantisek Kaberle started the rush up ice and had the other assist.

6:19 into the third, Milan Lucic tied it at two after some fine work from Marc Savard and Phil Kessel.

Both teams had some great chances in the overtime and it looked like it might be headed to an even more intense second OT.

That's when Scott Walker batted a rebound out of the air, into the net. Ray Whitney had flipped it on goal and Thomas should have caught it cleanly. You could also say that his defensemen should have done a better job clearing Walker out, but shit happens, right? Seidenberg had the other assist on the goal that ended the Bruins' season.

In the off-season, I'd love to see the Bruins pick up a few more, younger defensemen and another veteran forward or two (in the Mark Recchi mold). This team is very, very close to a Cup winner and I think when you put Tukka Rask (the Providence Bruins star goalie) in Manny Fernandez's place, you have a solid team from top to bottom.

The question next season for Boston will be was this season a fluke or the start of something special?

Why even bother having Game 6's?

What made you think this series would be any different? For the fourth straight time (in the first two rounds), the Boston Celtics will go to a winner-take-all Game 7, this time against the Orlando Magic.

The Celts did their best impression of the Magic last night at Amway Arena in Game 6 as they choked away a 10-point lead in the second half and let Orlando live to play another game.

Dwight Howard put up 23 points, 22 rebounds and three blocks in a dominant performance after calling out his coach Stan Van Gundy after Game 5.

Rashard Lewis added 20 points and six rebounds, Rafer Alston notched 11 points (including a 3-pointer that gave Orlando a lead in the fourth that it was its first of the game) and Mickael Pietrus continued to play well off the bench, with 11 points. Why doesn't he start?

Boston wasted Rajon Rondo's best game in a few weeks. Rondo had a team-high 19 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Paul Pierce had 17 points, nine boards and five assists while Kendrick Perkins posted 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Ray Allen continued to do his best "Night of the Living Dead" impression as he submitted five points (2-of-11 shooting) and seven rebounds. I fully expect him to drop 30+ points in Game 7.

This was not a beautiful game as Boston shot 41.6% and Orlando was 36.6%. The Celts were 3-of-18 on threes and the Magic were 6-of-26. Yuck.

Boston was only 8-for-13 from the free throw line and Orlando shot a pathetic 17-for-31. The C's had six more rebounds (48-42) and five more assists (18-13). Boston lost because it had 10 more turnovers (19-9).

The C's led 25-22 after one quarter and 46-45 at the half. Both teams scored 16 in the third quarter and Orlando outscored Boston 22-13 in the fourth.

So what to expect in Game 7? The Celts will make just enough plays and stops to win it while the Magic unravel amidst too many 3-pointers and missed free throws. Then the Celtics lose to the Cavs in four or five games.

All I want is the C's to make the next round even though their fate seems already sealed either way.