The Red Sox promise to make this summer slightly more memorable

While it's not exactly time for a rolling rally and a ring ceremony quite yet, I will admit that the Boston Red Sox are starting to play some baseball.

After a pathetic April, they wrapped up an 18-11 May with an 8-1 win over the Royals yesterday afternoon at Fenway.

Jon Lester (6-2) won his sixth straight start and David Ortiz continued his torrid stretch with his 10th home run of the month. It added up to only a split with Kansas City (21-30) but after losing the first two games, what can you do?

It shows how good Lester has become when he goes seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts and right away people say, well he didn't have his best stuff. Is it too early to start the Cy Young campaign? Not only is Lester the best left-handed pitcher in MLB, he might be the AL's best (Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia being his biggest competition).

And just as we were too quick to bury the Sox (29-23), we also shouldn't have been dancing on Ortiz's grave so fast. Back in his old No. 3 spot, he is crushing the ball. He had a sacrifice fly in the third to tie it and then a two-run bomb to center to put Boston up 4-1.

Mike Cameron (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 3 runs) and Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 RBIs) tacked on an RBI double and RBI single respectively in the sixth before Jason Varitek (2 hits, 2 runs) hit his seventh homer, a solo shot, in the eighth.

With the calendar turning to June tomorrow, Boston's schedule takes an easy turn with the AL West leading A's coming to town, followed by trips to Baltimore and Cleveland.

Nobody except pink hats and old people are really following the Sox yet, since the Celtics are in the NBA Finals, but once they're done, we might actually have a baseball team to devote way too much time to this season.

The Sox kindly ask for some attention

Most had already written off the 2010 Boston Red Sox but take a look at who's the hottest team in baseball: that very same team that looked done in early May.

Boston (27-21) just finished what has to be one of the toughest 13 game stretches for any team this season with a 9-4 mark. Very impressive indeed and they capped it off with a 11-3 destruction of the Tampa Bay Rays (32-15) last night at Tropicana Field.

After the Rays-MLB's best team-had swept the Sox in April at Fenway, Boston repaid it with a sweep (albeit three games instead of four) of their own.

Outstanding starting pitching has been the crux of the upswing but last night, Adrian Beltre was the story with a career-high 6 RBI game. He had a solo homer (in the 2nd), a three-run bomb (off one knee, in the 3rd) and a two-run triple in the ninth.

John Lackey (5-3) outpitched Matt Garza (5-3) with 6.1 innings of work. He worked around eight hits and two earned runs with four walks and a strikeout. Garza, normally a Sox killer, wasn't his usual self as he gave up six earned runs on five hits with five walks and three strikeouts in five innings.

Outside of the team's recent great play, the other revelation has been David Ortiz. The guy that was written off by everyone in the world except Terry Francona has delivered, slugging nine homers in May. He was moved back to the number 3 spot last night (with Victor Martinez nursing a big toe injury) and he smacked a two-run homer in the fifth.

After finally getting back to third place in the AL East, Boston needs to continue to play well and for now, the schedule eases up significantly with home games against the Royals and A's followed by trips to Baltimore and Cleveland.

Oh my, not again

For a team up 3-1, with another chance to close out and get to the NBA Finals (for the second time in three years), it's hard to imagine a more batshit crazy game than last night's Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.

When the dust had settled on a wacky and shady contest, the Magic had won 113-92 at Amway Arena, sending the game back to Boston for basically a must-win Game 6 tomorrow night at the TD Garden.

Things are complicated by the fact that Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels both sustained concussions last night, Rasheed Wallace fouled out but then left the bench with back spasms and Kendrick Perkins was tossed for two technical fouls. Since Perk has seven, he could have been suspended for Game 6 but the NBA wisely rescinded one of the two pathetic calls.

Got all that?

The refs were a joke and did nothing to dissuade anyone from saying that the NBA is rigged. Still, Orlando dominated this game physically and found their game (going 13-for-25 on 3-pointers).

I'm doing my best not to make a Bruins reference but the similarities are eerie. The team down 3-0 wins Game 4 in OT then in a Game 5 blowout. Yikes. And for a playoff schedule that is ridiculously long, it figures that the Celts have no time to rest as their bodies pile up on the sidelines.

For the second game in a row, Jameer Nelson (24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Dwight Howard (21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks) were the two best players on the floor. Rashard Lewis even found a way to brave his stomach virus and was effective with 14 points and seven assists. J.J. Redick continued to outplay Vince Carter, adding 14 points.

Sheed actually led Boston with 21 points in just 18 minutes. Rajon Rondo (19 points, 6 assists) and Paul Pierce (18 points) but they shot a combined 12-for-29 from the field. Kevin Garnett (10 points) and Ray Allen (9 points) were non-factors.

This was a game that the Magic owned from start to finish; they led 31-27 after one quarter and 57-49 at the half. The C's were able to cut it to six a couple times in the second half but with their lack of healthy, in rhythm players, they were cooked.

Orlando owned all the numbers: shooting 52.2% to Boston's 43.1%. The Magic made six more threes and five more free throws with 17 more rebounds.

The fact that Shelden Williams and Brian Scalabrine could see minutes in the most important game of the season is horrifying but here we are. Big Baby said after the game that he'll play but after losing a tooth and stumbling around the court last night after being elbowed by Howard, he clearly was messed up.

Care to change your NBA finals pick?

The Celtics pulled off a first in franchise history (which is really saying something) as they won the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals on the road.

Last night's 95-92 Game 2 win at Amway Arena in Orlando was further validation that the Celtics are back while conversely the Magic are frauds (just like LeBron and the Cavs).

Paul Pierce scored 28 points with five rebounds and five assists while Rajon Rondo notched 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Kevin Garnett had 10 points and nine rebounds while Kendrick Perkins scored 10 points in limited time before fouling out. Glen Davis added eight points and six rebounds off the bench and Rasheed Wallace hit two important 3-pointers.

Dwight Howard had a breakout game (30 points, 8 rebounds) but his teammates didn't offer much help aside from Vince Carter (16 points) and J.J. Redick (16 points).

Boston led this one for over 45 minutes and it was Orlando that made the key mistakes down the stretch (Carter bricking two free throws, Redick hesitating to take a timeout and Jameer Nelson taking a stupid pull up three on a fastbreak that he missed).

Orlando led 28-27 after the first quarter but Boston was up 53-51 at the half. The Celts came out stronger in the third quarter (25-19) and for the second straight game, were able to withstand a desperate push by the Magic in the fourth (22-17).

Boston outshot Orlando 45.9% to 39.4%, which let them survive seven more made free throws by the Magic (29-22).

Game 3 is on Saturday night at the TD Garden and since I'll be in Las Vegas for a bachelor party, it'll be tough to avoid putting all the money I have on the C's to win the NBA title.

I thought last night was a must-win for Orlando so needless to say if they lose on Saturday, they'll probably get swept.

Red Sox salvage split in the Bronx

Baseball is the only sport that allows you to play the next day, giving you the quickest time to recover from epic defeats the previous day or night.

The symmetry of last night's Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium was unmistakable since Boston (20-20) once again recovered from a 5-0 deficit but looked poised to blow it in the ninth with closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound.

Somehow though, he got out of a jam (1st and 3rd with 1 out) as the Sox held on 7-6 over the Yankees (25-16).

The game couldn't have started off worse since a nearly 1-hour rain delay and Josh Beckett's early ineffectiveness and supposed back injury put New York up 5-0 in the fifth.

Jose Miranda (RBI single) and Randy Winn (groundout) drove in runs in the second inning, Miranda hit a solo homer in the fourth and Robinson Cano's two-run double in the fifth spelled the end for Beckett, possibly for a long time.

J.D. Drew spurred the comeback with a solo shot in the sixth off C.C. Sabathia (7 innings, 1 earned run, 4 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts) and then the Sox tied it with four in the eighth off bobo Joba Chamberlain. Drew had an RBI double, Youk drove in two with a single and David Ortiz (who's been hot for the last week) nearly missed a home run but settled for a tying single.

Jeremy Hermida, Mr. Clutch this season for Boston, came through once again with two outs against some guy named Mariano Rivera (0-1). He drove in Darnell McDonald and Marco Scutaro with a double to left field over Randy Winn's head in left field. Marcus Thames-the hero the night before-dropped an easy popup from Scutaro when he tried to make a basket catch.

Papelbon allowed an RBI double to Cano but he was able to escape New York with his tenth save of the season. Josh Bard (1-1) got the win after facing just one hitter.

The Sox come back to Fenway for two games against the Minnesota Twins beginning tonight (weather permitting) with Clay Buchholz facing Scott Baker.

Yanks win on walk-off bomb in epic fashion

After being down 5-0 in the first inning last night at Yankee Stadium, the Sox were poised to pull off their best win of the season.

Boston (19-20) led 9-7 going into the ninth but one-trick pony closer Jonathan Papelbon couldn't end it as he gave up the tying two-run bomb to A-Rod and a walk-off two-run homer to Marcus Thames.

The swing of emotions was dramatic as the best win turned into the worst loss , something that the Sox might not recover from this season that always looks fated.

In true Dice-K fashion, he gave up one run in the second but settled down enough to get into the fifth inning.

David Ortiz's solo homer cut it to 6-2 in the fifth and J.D. Drew made it 6-5 New York (25-13) with a three-run homer off Phil Hughes.

Marcus Thames showed Dice-K the door in the fifth with an RBI double, giving the Bombers a 7-5 lead. Matsuzaka gave up seven earned runs in 4.2 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

Hughes wasn't good either: five earned runs on six hits in five innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

The long ball was Boston's friend as Victor Martinez hit a solo shot in the sixth (7-6 NY) while Youkilis (two-run) and V-Mart went back to back in the eighth to give the Sox a 9-7 lead.

It was Papelbon's first blown save of the season but he fell to 1-3. He gave up four earned runs on three hits and threw 19 pitches so who knows if he's available tonight.

I'm not feeling good about Josh Beckett's chances tonight when he faces C.C. Sabathia. Beckett has been nothing short of pathetic this season and this does not look like the night to get untracked.

Magic lose for the first time since April 2

Remember when nobody gave the Celtics a chance heading into the 2010 playoffs? It seems like a long time ago since they knocked out the Cavs and yesterday beat Orlando 92-88 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Amway Arena.

Boston played great for the first three quarters, leading by as much as 20 and although the Magic cut it to two points with eight seconds left, the Celts hit their free throws to ice it.

It was shockingly easy against a team that had won all eight of its playoff games and 14 overall. They hadn't lost since April 2 and it's clear that they didn't know how to react to getting their ass kicked.

Ray Allen led the Celts with 25 points and seven rebounds while Paul Pierce notched 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Rasheed Wallace scored 13 off the bench, Kevin Garnett had eight points and 11 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added eight points and eight assists while Tony Allen and Glen Davis had six points off the bench.

Vince Carter (23 points) and Jameer Nelson (20 points, 9 rebounds) were the only Magic players to show up. Dwight Howard (13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks) still looks like a guy that can't solve the defense of Perk, Sheed and Big Baby.

Boston led 22-14 after the first quarter and 41-32 at the end of the ugly first half. The Celts were able to take the third quarter (33-26) which let them hang on in the fourth (30-18 for Orlando).

Orlando is the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA but they looked nothing like that team yesterday, shooting 5-for-22. They had seven more rebounds (45-38) but the C's did a much better job spreading it around (21-10 assists).

Is it too early to call Game 2 a must-win for the Magic? I don't think so; no doubt they'll play ten times better than yesterday but if the Celtics can pull out another road win, this series could be over quickly.