Matsuzaka Peaking at the Right Time

Dice-K looked completely ready for the post season last night. He pitched seven shutout innings to help the Red Sox clinch at least a tie for the Wild Card. There is but one team left to smite before their spot in the playoffs is secure. Yes, the Yankees are that very team. Unfortunately, the Red Sox don't play the Yankees until later this week, and by then, amazingly, those games will truly be meaningless.

The Yankees packed up their venerable old park last night after completing the final game ever to be played there. With two outs in the ninth inning, Derek Jeter was replaced by Wilson Betemit, presumably to allow Jeter one last moment in the spotlight to be cheered by his adoring fans. However, we all know the real reason is they were scared he'd make an embarrassing error on the final out of the game, right?

So, enough of the crying and tears over poor Yankee Stadium. If it was so sad, then why tear it down? If it means so much to everyone, what was neither George or Hank Steinbrenner at the glorious final game? If honoring the historic players and coaches was so important, why was neither Roger Clemens nor Joe Torre acknowledged during any of the ceremonies? And, if this was such an important event, why was the closing of Yankee Stadium held on a Sunday night, in a meaningless game against the Orioles? I'll tell you why. It was not supposed to be that way. The Yankees think they are automatically in the playoffs every year. The true hope and expectation was that they would indeed have a farewell game, but it would be in celebration of a World Championship. They were so confident they would at least be in the playoffs, that no thought was given to the event that the final game would be a regular season game against Baltimore. No wonder the vocal half of the Steinbrenners did not show. They were embarrassed.

Now, back to real baseball...

Brilliant game yesterday to defeat the Blue Jays 3-0. The pitching worked like last year's formula. Dice-K (the starter) went 7 innings, Hideki Okajima shut down the 8th, and Jonathan Papelbon mopped up the 9th. Nicely done! On offense, Jacoby Ellsbury led the charge going 3-4 with 2 doubles and a triple. That allowed him to save his 50th stolen base of the year to take place during the final 7 game home stand. Thank you Jacoby! Ellsbury's triple in the 1st inning was quickly followed up by a sacrifice fly by Dustin Pedroia to give the Sox the game winning run from the second batter of the game. Pretty cool. In the third inning, with Ellsbury on second base, David Ortiz crushed his 22nd home run of the season to give Dice-K a little cushion. Papi has been hitting with more power lately. Either his wrist is no longer an issue, or he's decided to ignore it until November.

Yes, Tampa Bay lost last night, and at first glance, it looks like an exciting race developing for the final week. Tampa holds a mere 1 1/2 game lead over the Sox, and there are still 7 games remaining for Boston, and 8 remaining for the Rays. But, before you get too excited, overtaking Tampa is still a long shot, although not mathematically impossible. There are two keys. First, the Sox do not play Tampa, so no chance at taking them down head to head. Second, Tampa Bay holds the tie breaker, and are 2 games ahead in the loss column.

So, if Tampa Bay goes 6-2 in their remaining games, that would eliminate Boston. If they go 5-3, Boston has to finish the season 7-0. All the Rays need to do is to go 4-4 to force the Sox to go 6-1. So, yes, the Sox are only 1 1/2 back, but it is a VERY long 1 1/2 games.

I will be going to the game tomorrow night (Tuesday). And, just like earlier this month when the Sox set the new consecutive sold out games record on Monday, and I went to the game on Tuesday, it looks like I may miss by one game again. A win by the Sox tonight, or a loss by the Yankees, and the Sox clinch the Wild Card. Oh well, as long as they clinch!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Sox Miss Chance at First Place

It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and all of us Red Sox fans in the audience were still rubbing our eyes and asking ourselves if what we saw really happened. Did Jonathan Papelbon really just give up a home run and back to back doubles to blow a 4-3 lead? We were all filled with joy a mere 1/2 inning before, when we watched Jason Bay crush a laser beam line drive that barely cleared the top of the Green Monster for a 2 run home run that did away with the Rays' 3-2 lead. The woman sitting behind me quietly said, to no one in particular, "Manny Who?", as Jason rounded the bases to the roar of the packed house.

But, we all know a one run lead in the ninth inning can be quickly erased, and we knew Big Papi would be batting this inning. Mark Kotsay lead off the inning against Troy Percival with a walk. We all thought, "okay, here we go". Then, Jason Varitek stepped up, and began to work on laying down a bunt to move Kotsay to second. Percival has been around a long time, and was not about to make it easy on 'Tek, and threw him terrible pitches - high and off the plate, to bunt at. While this futile battle was being waged, I turned to those around me and asked, "If Francona wants to get the runner in scoring position, why doesn't he send in Jacoby Ellsbury to pinch run? He can steal second, then we'd have the runner in scoring position with no outs. That would let Varitek be able to swing away, and with Ellsbury's speed, we increase the chances of safely scoring from second on a single." Everyone agreed, this made sense. But, we continued to watch as Varitek fouled off strike two, then froze as Percival snapped a curve ball across the strike zone for strike three.

Then, Big Papi stepped in and worked the count to 3-1, then put the bat on a fastball, only to fly out to right field. Now, with two outs, and the hot hitting Coco Crisp coming up, Terry Francona send in Jacoby Ellsbury to pinch run! We all looked at each other and said, what the heck has he been waiting for? Why wait until there are two outs to send in Ellsbury? So, Ellsbury takes off for second, is safe by a mile, and to top it off, the throw gets away from the second baseman, and Ellsbury wastes no time flying over to third base. Unfortunately, Coco popped out to second base to end the game.

Now, picture how differently this inning would have gone for Troy Percival had Ellsbury been sent in to pinch run immediately. No outs, and the league leading base stealer on first base while clinging to a one run league in Fenway Park with the division lead on the line. Percival would have spent half of his concentration on trying to keep Ellsbury close to first, and Varitek would have been swinging away, no trying to bunt. Had Ellsbury executed a similar steal, we could have had him on third with no outs. Big Papi's fly to right may have scored him to tie the game!

So, I am not trying to be revisionist here, and I am not at saying this is why they lost. They may have lost anyway. But, I still just don't get why they waited until there were two outs to send in Ellsbury! It just made no sense.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was okay. As usual, he had one clumsy inning, this time it was the third inning. He slipped and fell trying to field a bunt with no outs, then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Dice-K then threw a pitch more or less in the dirt, but it nicked the foot of Cliff Floyd, giving the Rays their first run. The good thing is that he stopped the bleeding pretty quickly. He retired the next 3 batters in a row, giving up only one more run on a sacrifice fly. Dice-K gave up one more run int he fourth, and left the game after 5 innings, already up to over 100 pitches, with the Rays leading 3-2. Not a great outing, but good enough to keep the Sox in the game. The bullpen, Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima, held the Rays silent until Papelbon imploded.

Papelbon, from where we sat, looked off right from the first pitch. I don't know why, he just was not on his game. Hopefully it is nothing but a bad night. The game tying solo home run was given up to Dan Johnson, who had just been called up from AAA Durham. It was Johnson's second at bat of the season. His first at bat came on April 2nd against Boston when he was with the A's. In that at bat, he grounded out harmlessly to Dustin Pedroia. So, it seemed like a match up in favor of the home town team. That is, until Papelbon left a fastball out over the plate, and Johnson planted it out in to the center field stands.

The rubber match takes place tonight. Josh Beckett against Andy Sonnanstine. The Sox don't "need" to win this game, they seem to be in pretty good control of the Wild Card spot. But, winning this game, and pulling back to within 1/2 game of the Rays would be a big boost. We'll take whatever playoff spot we can get, but the Division Champ gets home field advantage, and we'd love to see that.

Matsuzaka Owns Chicago

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched his best game of the season against the Chicago White Sox earlier this month on August 9th, in Chicago. In that game, Dice-K went 8 innings, allowed 4 hits, 3 walks and one earned run, while striking out 4 batters. Boston won that game 6-2. Yesterday, Dice-K topped that game with an even more impressive game against the White Sox, this time in Fenway Park.

Dice-K, again, went 8 full innings yesterday, this time allowing no runs while giving up only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. In 8 innings, the minimum number of batters a pitcher can face in 8 innings is 24. Thanks to a double play, the Dice-Man only faced 27 batters yesterday. Just a brilliant day for the Red Sox' leading Cy Young candidate for 2008.

While Dice-K was mowing them down, Dustin Pedroia was lighting it up. Yes, our own Mighty Mouse had a field day, going 4 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 stolen bases. When Pedroia got on base, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Jason Bay each took turns driving him in. Youk and Bay were the big run producers, driving in 3 runs a piece. Our newest acquisition, Mark Kotsay, has played in two games, and hit two doubles. He's on pace to hit 30 doubles in his short time with the Sox (don't you hate those silly "projected to..." things that writers come up with, as if today's pace will continue uninterrupted).

The Red Sox' win only allowed them to remain in a holding pattern, as the Rays, Twins, and Yankees all turned in wins as well. The Rational Sox Fan playoff calculation indicates that the Sox must go 16-12 to finish the season and guarantee a playoff berth. With 19 games remaining at home, that sounds very doable!

Quite a bit of roster juggling took place yesterday as well. The Sox recently acquired David Ross, a catcher with 8 years of big league experience, primarily as a backup catcher. In order for Ross to be available for the playoff, he needed to be added to the 40 man roster prior to August 31. So, yesterday, the Sox did just that. Sean Casey was moved to the 15 day DL, joining JD Drew and Josh Beckett. That, plus a move that send Julio Lugo from the 15 day DL to the 60 day DL, created room for Ross, and allowed the Sox to keep recently called up David Pauley in the bullpen, and open up an opportunity to call up Michael Bowden from Pawtucket.

Bowden will be making his major league debut tonight as the starting pitcher against Mark Buehrle. Bowden is a very promising young right handed pitcher, and with Beckett out, and Colon not yet ready, this gives the Sox a chance to give Bowden a taste of the big leagues, just like they did with Clay Buchholz last year. Buchholz made the best of his 2007 call-up, let's hope Bowden follows suit!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Win 6-5 Over Toronto in Extra Innings

Now, that was quite a game. As expected, Daisuke Matsuzaka and AJ Burnett went toe to toe and came away pretty even. Dice-K went 6 innings, allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 8 and walking only 1. AJ went 7 innings, allowed 7 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 7 and walking 3. Both pitchers gave up 2 home runs. So, that left the game in the hands of the bullpens.


The Red Sox bullpen has not been overly reliable lately, but yesterday they got the job done. Justin Masterson was sharp as he went 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Hideki Okajima nailed down the final two outs of the 8th inning before turning it over to Jonathan Papelbon, who got 6 straight outs to bring the game to the 11th inning. In the top of the 11th, Jed Lowrie drove a ball deep into center field for a home run to put the Sox up 6-5. With Papelbon already having gone 2 innings, Terry Francona sent Manny Delcarmen in to nail down the save. While Manny has been shaky at times, last night he got the job done.

The Sox survived a scare when Jacoby Ellsbury crashed into the chain link fence in center field while making a catch a step away from the wall. Ellsbury suffered cuts around his eye and was shaken up, but he knew the Sox' injury situation with JD Drew dealing with a herniated disc. So, even shaken up, Ellsbury stayed in the game.

The Red Sox injury situation is still a concern. They gained a game on the Rays, who lost last night, and stand 4 1/2 back in the division, and hold a 1 game lead in the Wild Card standings over the Twins, while the Yankees sit 5 games behind the Sox. That 5 game lead feels good, but the Red Sox and Yankees will square off for 3 games in Yankee Stadium starting tomorrow night. A sweep by the Yankees would throw them right back into the race. The Sox have pushed off Josh Beckett's next start, forcing him to miss this series, but Tim Wakefield has declared himself ready to return to the rotation, just in time to prevent the Sox from having to make a move. The only thing that worries me about that, is that Wakefield has not generally fared too well in his first game back.

So, what do the Sox need to do to make the playoffs? In my analysis, since the start of the Wild Card format in 1995, no AL team that has won at least 94 games has ever missed the playoffs. The Red Sox record is currently 75-55. They would need to win 19 out of their final 32 games to get to 94 wins. So, can the Sox go 19-13 to wrap up the season? I think that looks pretty doable.

They also have 6 games remaining against the Rays. That presents a nice opportunity to pull the Rays back a bit. So, they need to get it all started tomorrow night by jumping all over Mike Mussina and starting the series off with a win.

Tune in tomorrow when we'll take a look at how my analysis of the 2008 Yankees has turned out!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Dice-K Does It Again

With a reckless abandon in regards to pitch count or efficiency, Daisuke Matsuzaka went on the attack against the Baltimore Orioles last night. He threw brilliantly located pitches mixed in with wild, who knows where that one is going, pitches. In the end, batters were never sure what was coming at them, and the result was that Dice-K, again, kept his team in contention for a win.

The highlight of the evening for Dice-K was the 4th inning when he found himself in a tough situation with the bases loaded and only one out. The score was 3-2, and if the game was to be a success, these base runners needed to be left stranded. So, Dice-K went to work, striking out Melvin Mora for out number two, and getting the ever dangerous Aubrey Huff to harmlessly pop out to Kevin Youkilis at third base.

The downside of his evening was that, by the end of the 5th inning, Dice-K had thrown over 100 pitches, and the coaching staff, with a playoff run just around the corner, felt it was time to sit him down. That meant turning four innings over to Boston's less than predictable bullpen. Thankfully, the bullpen held up their end of the game last night. Javier Lopez mopped up the 6th inning, Justin Masterson performed as advertised, taking control of the 7th and 8th innings, getting the Sox into the 9th.

With the score a comfortable 7-2, Terry Francona saw this as a perfect opportunity to give Jonathan Papelbon a rest, and turned the game over to Manny Delcarmen. Again, Manny looked good, but not great. He got out of the inning, and ended the game without allowing a run to score, but did get himself into a little jam letting two base runners reach. Thankfully, no damage was done.

The Red Sox, yet again, only managed to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat the Angels again last night. The Rays are not letting down at all, and right now, you'd have to say the Rays and the Angels are emerging as the top two teams in the AL. That's not to say things can't change over the next month, but right now those two teams are all alone on top.

And what of Josh Beckett? As I feared, his terrible outing on Sunday was related to a physical problem and was not just a bad day. Beckett has informed us that prior to the game, he was experiencing numbness in his pinkie and ring fingers of his pitching hand. That is certainly enough to throw off the precision needed by an elite major league pitcher. He felt the numbness must be related to sleeping awkwardly on his arm, or something like that. Unfortunately, 3 days later, the numbness has not yet gone away. Sounds to me like a pinched nerve somewhere.

So, Beckett will be skipping his next start to give him a couple of days to work through the issue. Let's hope it remains a minor issue, which is what it is being advertised right now. Tonight, we hand the car keys to Clay Buchholz to try for his first win since back in May. We are all behind you Clay. Let's see that form that earned you the amazing no hitter last year!

A final note. All our thoughts and prayers are with Red Sox legend, Carl Yastrzemski, as he recovers from successful triple bypass surgery performed just yesterday.

Red Sox Will Miss Texas

The Texas Rangers came in to town on a bit of a roll and looking like they could become a legitimate wild card contender. After 3 games in Fenway, they left town battered, bruised, and a little embarrassed (I imagine). After waging a fierce battle in game 1, only to lose 19-17, it seems they had very little left in the offensive tank. In game 2, they managed to put 4 runs on the board as part of a late inning comeback attempt, but succumbed 8-4.

Then, last night turned into more of the same. In the second inning, the Sox scored a whopping 9 runs, and the Rangers just did not have it in them to fight back this time. Even Texas manager Jimmy (JJ) Walker (or was that Ron Washington?) had no answer to get the Rangers back in this one.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched 7 scoreless innings. He was not perfect, but in his usual style, he allowed base runners, but refused to let that get in the way of trying to deny hits to batters. Thus, the 5 walks he allowed to go with 5 hits, but 2 double plays and 2 base runners caught stealing helped squash any attempts at getting any momentum going.

Big Papi seems to be feeling fine, apparently not hindered by the nagging wrist as he launched another 3 run home run as part of the second inning rally. Dustin Pedrioa, Kevin Youkilis, and Jed Lowrie continued feasting on Texas pitching. The only batter stymied by the Rangers has been JD Drew, going 0 for 9 in the last two games, but no one really noticed or cares right now.

Even the bullpen got a shot at redemption last night. In particular, Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin both got another shot at Texas. Manny was roughed up and charged with a blown save in the first game of the series, and Timlin gave up a 3 run home run in the second game. But last night they turned that around with Manny pitching a 1-2-3 8th inning, and Timlin pitching a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Unfortunately, Tampa Bay has been keeping pace with the Sox and refusing to let them creep forward. The Sox remain 3 games behind the mighty Rays, but gained a half game over the idle Yankees. Tonight, Sox fans get their first look at the newly acquired Paul Byrd as he tries to prove his value against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays, predicted by many in the off-season to be the team to beat, have been far from it. But, even though they appear out of playoff contention for this season, that doesn't mean they are incapable of doing a little bit of damage here and there.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Take Two From Seattle Behind Dice-K

So far, so good. The Red Sox, having lost three straight, could use three straight wins from Seattle to get back on track. With a win this afternoon, they could accomplish just that.

Last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka was brilliant. The key to that statement was the fact that he only walked three batters the whole game, and was more efficient with his pitch count. It has become unusual to see Dice-K standing on the mound in the 8th inning, but there he was, looking like he was heading for a complete game.

Unfortunately, his game began unraveling in the 8th inning. With JD Drew leading the way to a 4-0 lead, the Mariners were finally able to chip away as Dice-K began tiring. With one out, and a runner on base, Ichiro Suzuki laced a double to plate the first run, and Jose Lopez followed that with a single up the middle to score Ichiro. With the score now 2-0, Terry Francona felt it was time to give Dice-K some help and ensure he holds on to his 11th win of the season. So, Terry called for Hideki Okajima.

As we all know, Okajima has not fared well entering the game with runners on base, but in this case, at least the runner was at first base, and the left handed hitting Raul Ibanez was due up. Sox fans were thinking "ground ball, double play, inning over". Sox fans were also praying "please, not a home run". As it turns out, neither prayer was heard by the baseball gods, but Ibanez did hit a ground ball to first, and Kevin Youkilis managed to throw to second base to get the lead runner for the second out. Oki followed that up by getting Jose Vidro to line out to center to end the inning and complete the transition to Jonathan Papelbon.

The Mariners opted to not wait around for Papelbon to strike them out and came out with a strategy to swing early in the count. Good idea, but the result was the same, three straight outs, and Papelbon's 30th save of the. With the save, Papelbon becomes the first closer in Red Sox history to record 3 consecutive 30+ save seasons. Hopefully, that is only the start of more amazing years to come.

Meanwhile, this afternoon all focus will turn to Clay Buchholz. Will the young pitching phenom return to his former brilliance, or will he continue to labor through difficult innings, not fooling batters with an ineffective fastball? Another short and ineffective outing could result in another trip to Pawtucket. Bartolo Colon is nearing a return, but that may be weeks away. On the other hand, if Clay has a solid outing, we'll all breath a sigh of relief and welcome him back to Boston next week.

Last night's win, combined with Tampa Bay's loss, inches the Sox back to within 1/2 of a game of first place. Good timing too, as the Yankees, in their typical post-All Star surge, are starting to create pressure behind the Sox. The Yankees now have notched 5 wins in a row, and tonight will go for a sweep of the Twins before coming to town to face the Red Sox on Friday. That series will be huge. A sweep by the Yankees could vault then over the Sox into second place and return them to serious contention. A sweep by the Red Sox could stomp the Yankees back towards the basement where we'd rather see them. Stay tuned!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Dice-K Leads The Way

That's the type of game we like to see from Daisuke Matsuzaka. But, in the first inning, were you thinking what I was thinking? "Here we go again" were the only words that made sense. Dice-K retired the first two batters of the game on infield pop-ups, and then proceeded to make it exciting by loading the bases on two walks and an infield hit. He got out of the inning by getting Delmon Young to ground out to Kevin Youkilis, but thoughts of walks and high pitch counts were already dancing in my head.

I'm not sure what Dice-K did after the first inning to right the ship, but form there on he pitched very sharp, lasting into the 8th inning, and only giving up one more walk along the way. Perfect timing for a dominating outing, since the Twins' starter, Scott Baker, was also spinning a gem. Baker looked just as good as Matsuzaka, neither one of them allowing a single run to be scored against them.

Hideki Okajima came in to replace Dice-K in the 8th inning and did his job to raise tensions and keep fans interested. Dice-K was tiring. He got the first batter out thanks to a diving catch by Jacoby Ellsbury in left field, then gave up a bunt single, and a single to right field to put two batters on. He was done and Terry Francona needed to bring in a reliever. So, the game is knotted in a scoreless tie in the 8th inning with one out and two runners on base, and Justin Morneau coming to the plate, the Twins' outstanding cleanup hitter. Hmm, who can we bring in to relieve Dice-K who can really hold inherited runners on base? Oh, I know, Hideki Okajima! As my daughters are prone to say, "wait...what?". Okajima has been abysmal when brought into an inning with runners on base. It has been almost a sure thing that at least one of those runners would score, and yet that's who was coming in. Well, Morneau, and the on deck batter, Jason Kubel, are both left handed. At least we have that going for us.

I have to say, Okajima waged a valiant battle against Justin Morneau, but in the end, Morneau was able to draw a walk to load the bases. Rather than send another lefty up to bat, the Twins sent in Craig Monroe to pinch hit. Okajima buckled down and got Monroe to pop out to Youk for the second out, and then got Delmon Young to harmlessly ground out. Can you believe it? That was the game right there. Right then, you knew this one was ours.

Sure enough, in the bottom of the inning, Dustin Pedroia hits a double, and with one out, Manny Ramirez (finally) gets a clutch hit single to right to score the game's only run. Jonathan Papelbon made short work of things in the ninth, and with Tampa Bay finally losing a game, the Sox managed to creep one step closer, now 4 games behind the Rays.

The Rays will now be facing off against the Yankees in New York. Can you bring yourself to cheer for the Yankees to win to help us get closer to the Rays? That's a tough one, isn't it?

An interesting move on the horizon, as the Sox are ready to bring Clay Buchholz back up from Pawtucket. To make room for Clay, Justin Masterson has been sent back to Pawtucket, however he will begin working on coming out of the bullpen rather than starting. The Sox do have extra starters, with Bartolo Colon still waiting to rejoin the team, Masterson might have a tough time getting back into the rotation this season. However, as a reliever, he can surely contribute. I like the idea.

Now get out there and cheer for those Yankees (boy it hurt to type that).

(photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Red Sox Bullpen Collapses - Hands the Broom to Tampa Bay

That was one of the worst, and most depressing games the Sox have played this season. Dice-K Matsuzaka started out shaky in the first inning, walking three batters, but was fortunate that it only cost the team one run. After that, he settled in nicely, holding the Rays scoreless through 5 innings. But, with the walks come a higher pitch count. After 5 innings, Dice-K had thrown 101 pitches. Normally, there is a good chance Terry Francona would have sent him back out for the 6th inning, but this was only his third game since coming off the DL for shoulder weakness. That being the case, Tito made the prudent move to be cautious and go to the bullpen holding on to a 4-1 lead, and the nightmare was looming ahead.

First out of the pen was Hideki Okajima who has been like a Forrest Gump box of chocolates this season (you never know what your gonna get). Yesterday was a good day, and Okajima pitched a scoreless 6th. Next up, Manny Delcarmen (cue the gloomy music). Manny had been very shaky early in the season, and then settled in to a very nice rhythm. But, that rhythm has been faltering lately. Manny faced three batters, resulting in a double, and two singles. With the score now 4-2, Tito made the right move and yanked Manny before the game could get out of hand.

So, Craig Hansen came in with runners on 1st and 3rd, no outs. So what does he do to help? Nothing! He walks the first two batters to score a run, then gives up a double to Evan Longoria, scoring two more runs. There goes Dice-K's opportunity for a win, the score now 5-4 in favor of the Rays, and still no outs. David Aardsma got one out on a ground out, and Javier Lopez got a second on a strikeout, but gave up a two run single before getting out of the inning.

The 6 run 7th inning was devastating. The Red Sox tried to claw back into it, but lost by 1 run, the final score 7-6. The Sox needed some hitting, and Dustin Pedroia decided he was the guy. Here's how Pedroia's at-bats went: Home run, triple, double, fly out, double. Just a single shy of hitting for the cycle! JD Drew also hit a triple and drove in a run. So, some of the Sox cylinders where hitting, but not all of them. Manny Ramirez went 0-5, but he did bring in a run from third on a ground out.

Jason Varitek is still in a funk at the plate, and the Rays took advantage, in embarrassing fashion. In both the 5th and the 7th innings, the Rays intentionally walked Kevin Youkilis with two outs to pitch to Varitek. Varitek did not make them pay, grounding out once, and striking out the other time. He'll snap out of it, but right now, Jason is a hole in the lineup, and the other teams see that. Let's hope he finds his stroke in NYC this weekend.

That's right, while the Rays proudly hold the best record in all of baseball, the Sox and the Yankees finally meet up again, but this time in a battle for second place. This is not time for the Sox to be on a losing streak. Red Sox fans have been proclaiming they are not afraid of the Yankees, and the Yankees do not have the pitching to compete this year. Well, let's find out! Today's game features a lefty-lefty match up with Jon Lester going up against Andy Pettitte. Sounds like a fair fight. So, let's hope the Sox find some fight in them and keep the Yankees from climbing back into the race.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Matsuzaka is Back!

Daisuke Matsuzaka had the worst start of his career in his last outing, which was his first start after coming off the 15 day DL. Fans were clearly worried after that outing, but Dice-K assuaged any concerns with a nifty 5 inning shutout of the Astros in Houston last night. Terry Francona pulled Dice-K after 5 innings, and only 87 pitches, most likely just to ease him back into things. But Dice-K looked good, striking out 4 and only allowing 2 hits. He did allow 3 walks, but that is what he does when he tries to force batters to swing. In the 4th inning, Dice-K almost provided some offense as well. On an 0-1 count, he squared around to bunt, then as the pitcher went into his motion, Dice-K pulled the back back and took a hack at the pitch launching deep down the left field line. For a minute it looked like the ball might carry for a home run, but it tailed foul, short of the fence. That would have been fun!

Terry Francona had given JD Drew a day off on Wednesday, knowing that Thursday's day off would give him two days of rest. I had thought the idea was great and could give JD a lift and keep him hot. Well, you have to tip your cap to Francona for that one, as JD clobbered a 3 run home run in the 3rd inning to give the Sox all the runs they would need to win yesterday. Dustin Pedroia drove in a run in the 7th, and Mike Lowell singled in the 9th with the bases loaded to drive in the final two giving the Sox a 6-1 victory. Houston's only run was a solo homer off of Hideki Okajima in the 8th inning with two outs. Oki followed the homer by allowing a single to Miguel Tejada, and Francona got nervous. Okajima has had a tendency to collapse quickly at times this season, and before that could happen, Terry sent Jonathan Papelbon in to get the final four outs.

Coco Crisp had his suspension reduced from 7 to 5 days after his appeal was heard. That is good news, and he will be serving his suspension when the Sox visit Tampa Bay this week. So, that may calm things down between the two teams, but I'm sure there will still be tension between them, especially if anyone is plunked accidentally. With Coco out, that will leave the Sox one player short in the outfield, which will be fine if Manny's hamstring is well mended, which it may not be. The Sox are not allowed to call up a player to replace Coco while he's on suspension, so think good thoughts for that hammy. You've got to wonder if something is wrong with Manny Ramirez though as he has turned as cold as JD Drew has been hot. For the second game in a row, he has gone 0-4 and is only 6-34 since June 13th. Let's hope he snaps out if it soon.

Tonight, stay tuned as Jon Lester continues his emergence as one of the AL's finest young pitchers with a commanding performance slicing through the Astros lineup like melted butter.

Cardinals Looking for Payback Sweep from Red Sox

With yesterday's 9-3 victory over Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Cardinals have a chance to sweep the Red Sox today and earn a little payback for the sweep the Red Sox put on them in the 2004 World Series. Yes, the victory was over Dice-K. Take the Dice-man out of the equation, and the Sox may have won that game. It was Matsuzaka's first outing coming back from the disabled list, and he simply had nothing to offer. How's this for a first inning? A walk, 3 singles, a double, and a home run resulting in a 4-0 lead for St. Louis right off the bat. In the inning, all nine Cardinals batter got to bat.

Not wanting to dip into the bullpen too early, Terry Francona sent Dice-K back out for the second inning, hoping he might settle down and keep them in the game. The first inning started with a walk to lead-off batter, Skip Schumaker, and the second started identically with another walk to Schumaker, followed by a single and another walk to load the bases with no out. Well, Francona finally threw in the towel, realizing that his starter had nothing to offer.

Earlier in the season the Red Sox had two pitchers in the bullpen who could handle long relief situations, Kyle Snyder and Julian Tavares, but both of them were cut loose. So, yesterday, Francona gave a rookie, Chris Smith, a chance to throw his very first pitch in the major leagues. Chris had been brought up from Pawtucket to add some depth to the bullpen when Dice-K was on the DL, and was allowed to stay after Dice-K's return by sending Mike Timlin to the DL with "knee tendinitis". For you non-medical professionals, I think you can translate "knee tendinitis" to mean "has been pitching like crap lately and we need an excuse to get him out of the bullpen".

So, Chris Smith has a chat with Jason Varitek on the mound, takes a deep breath, and gets ready to throw the most memorable pitch of his life to this point. That pitch was beautiful, an excellent slider that Rick Ankiel swung at and missed. It worked so well, that Varitek said, "throw another one just like that". Smith did just that, hitting nearly the exact same spot with the exact same result. Well, if it is working, it is working. Third pitch, another slider, exact same location, Ankiel swung and missed, and Chris Smith's career is forever in the books as starting off with a three pitch strikeout.

Varitek must have thought to himself, "the kid has a nice slider, let's see what else he has". So, bases still loaded with one out, Varitek called for a fastball. Way outside to the dangerous Troy Glaus. Okay, that did not work. How about a curve ball? Chris Smith threw the curve, it hung there like a pinata at a birthday party, and Troy Glaus clobbered it into the Green Monster seats for a grand slam. Welcome to the big leagues, Chris. Smith went on to turn in a very nice outing after that. Unlike Dice-K, he did settle down and showed us why he deserved a chance to pitch in Fenway Park as he retired the next nine batters in a row. He lasted 4 innings, which is incredible for a debut appearance by a rookie reliever, keeping St. Louis from scoring again off of him.

The Sox had one inning where they rallied for 2 runs, and even JD Drew, who smashed yet another home run, a solo shot in the 6th inning, could not help catch up to the enormous lead Dice-K had given the Cardinals.

The loss is the second in a row to the Cardinals in this series. This afternoon, the Cardinals have a chance to sweep the Red Sox and exact a little revenge for the 2004 World Series sweep the Red Sox handed them. However, to do so they'll have to get past Jon Lester. Lester has been pitching better and better this season, having won his last three starts, and you'll see the determination in his eyes as he bears down on the Cardinals lineup as he tries to make it four in a row. The win would give Lester a 7-3 record, tying him with Josh Beckett for the second most wins on the team, one shy of Dice-K's 8.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Colon Strong as Red Sox Beat Orioles 6-3

Bartolo Colon bounced back from a mediocre outing in his last start with a very nice outing last night. He needed 93 pitches to get through 6 innings, allowing only one run on a solo home run to Luke Scott to lead off the 5th inning. Otherwise, he held the Orioles in check all night, striking out 7 batters while only giving up 5 hits and 1 walk. Colon is now 4-1 for the Red Sox and it is becoming more and more apparent that Theo Epstein scored the steal of the off-season by having confidence that Colon would be able to bounce back from prior injuries and regain his Cy Young Award form. When we look back on the 2008 season, this may very well stand out as a key strategic move that put the Sox over the top.

The Orioles had Garrett Olsen pitching last night, and Garrett is a tough starter. The Sox were fortunate that Olsen seemed to need an inning to get settled in. They took advantage of that, and quickly jumped on Olson, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the first inning, before Olson settled down and held serve the rest of the way. In the 1st, Jacoby Ellsbury singled, stole second, and advanced to third on an errant throw. The red hot JD Drew wasted no time, and drilled a double to bring in Ellsbury. Manny Ramirez grounded out, moving Drew up to third base. Drew would score on a wild pitch for the second run of the inning. Olsen remained shaky, walking both Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis to set the stage for Jason Varitek, who hit a monster shot high over the Green Monster, giving the Sox an early 5-0 lead. Mike Lowell contributed the 6th run from a solo homer of his own in the 6th inning.

The win last night was well timed, as every other team in the AL East lost last night. So, when the leader told all the teams to take one step forward, only the Red Sox remembered to say, "Mother, may I?", and now hold a 2 game lead over the Tampa Bay Dirty Rays, and a 7 game lead over the rest of the division. Tonight, the Sox and Orioles wrap up their three game series with Jon Lester shooting for his 5th win of the season. I'll tell you right now, put this one in the win column.

Then, get ready for the National League. Tomorrow the Sox hit the road for 3 games in Cincinnati, where recent 500 home run hitter, Manny Ramirez, can mingle with recent 600 home run hitter, Ken Griffey, Jr. Then the Sox head to Philadelphia for 3 games. The timing of these NL road games is pretty good for the Sox. Interleague rules dictate that the rules of the home team are used. Therefore, there will be no designated hitter for the next 6 games. Well, wouldn't you know, our designated hitter is currently on the disabled list? So, we don't have to stress about whether to bench David Ortiz for a few games, or play him at first base. The only hope is that Manny Ramirez resolves his hamstring issues by then so that he can head back out to left field.

Meanwhile, Daisuke Matsuzaka is making good headway in his recovery from a shoulder strain. He's throwing aggressive side sessions, and the Sox will decide tomorrow on his next step, which could be a start in Pawtucket, or they could have him jump right back into the rotation, which I'd prefer them to do. He hasn't been out very long, and can probably contribute right away, providing the shoulder feels good. In this case, it might be prudent not to waste good innings in Pawtucket.

One final note. Please congratulate David Ortiz, who took the oath to become an American citizen yesterday at the JFK Library along with 226 other immigrants. Welcome to America Papi! Now, Papi has a few additional things to worry about, like who to vote for in November!

(Big Papi photo Courtesy of Boston.Com)
(Game Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Road Woes Continue

Yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners was somewhat inevitable. If you follow baseball long enough, you come to understand that everything likes to settle into its place over time. Streaks do not last, neither the positive ones nor the negative ones, and patterns will develop over time. That is why so many people get obsessed with baseball statistics and numbers, because they do ultimately have a story to tell. Last night was no exception.

The Seattle Mariners were on a 7 game losing streak, holders of the worst record in baseball, and facing the World Champion Red Sox. What happens? They win, and break the losing streak. The Red Sox had Daisuke Matsuzaka starting the game. Dice-K was undefeated at 8-0 in 10 starts prior to the game. Pattern? No decision - 4 straight wins - no decision - 4 straight wins. So what happens? No decision. Manny Ramirez had been on a streak of 45 at-bats without a home run, and broke the streak with a 3 run bomb to tie the game in the 6th inning. Manny's home run was the 499th of his career. He hit home run #400 in May of 2005 at Safeco Field, and has a chance to hit #500 there tonight. Stats all settling in to their resting places.

But, not all streaks were due to expire last night. Mike Timlin entered the game with a record of 0-5 at Safeco Field, and left the game with a record of 0-6. The Sox and Mariners battled to a stalemate 3-3 tie until the bottom of the ninth inning. Timlin did not really pitch too badly, but the Mariners clawed their way to a run anyway. Wladimir Balentien started the inning with a ground ball that Alex Cora, at shortstop, was able to stop but had no play on. Miguel Cairo bunted him to second for the first out, and Jeremy Reed grounded to Dustin Pedroia for the second out, which moved Balentien to third base. With two outs, Ichiro Suzuki stepped up to the plate. Ichiro was already 2-4 on the night, and has been giving the Red Sox fits so far in this series. The Red Sox wisely opted to intentionally walk Ichiro, only needing one out to send the game into extra innings. But, Jose Lopez was not willing to cooperate. Timlin left a fastball a little too high on the inside part of the plate, and Lopez ripped it down the third base line for the game winning hit.

Other than Manny's home run, the Red Sox offense was silent. Seattle starter, Miguel Batista (who eerily resembles Bernie Williams), was expected to be clobbered by the relentless Red Sox lineup. But, Batista pitched his best game of the season lasting 7 full innings surrendering only 5 hits, the only runs coming on Manny's home run. Sean Casey, filling in for the injured Kevin Youkilis, was the exception as he went 3-4 last night. But, while Casey did his best to get on base, he had absolutely no help from his pals. There was no one for Casey to drive in, as the three batters before him went a combined 0-12, and there was no one to drive him in as the two batters behind him went 0-8.

The concern last night is for Matsuzaka's shoulder. Dice-K reported that he felt "wrong" all night, even prior to the game. Terry Francona removed him after 4 innings, and it is being reported that he has a "tired shoulder". Well, with all the walks he's given up, of course he has a tired shoulder! There is no word yet on what this will mean. Dice-K is to be examined today and determine a course of action. As we've spoken about here, it is a good thing to have extra pitching. If Dice-K needs time off, you can expect Clay Buchholz will be called back up to take his next start. That is a good situation for the Red Sox. One starter goes down, another quality starter can step up.

Speaking of starters, tonight Tim Wakefield will try to turn his own fortunes around. Wake has been shaky in two of his last three starts. Wonder about stats and streaks? Wakefield has never won a game at Safeco Field, going 0-2 in 6 outings there. A streak is like fruit. When it is ripe, it will fall. Is Wakefield's winless streak at Safeco ripe yet? Let's hope so!

Predictions for tonight - all on gut feel...

Wakefield goes 6 2/3 innings, gives up 3 runs, gets the win.
Manny hits HR #500 prior to Wakefield's departure - ensuring him the victory.
Jacoby Ellsbury starts the game - goes head to head with Ichiro to see who can steal the most bases.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Slam Blam Thank You Maam!

The Red Sox rode the good fortunes of not one, but two grand slams en route to a, not as close as it sounds, 11-8 victory to complete a four game sweep of the Kansas City Royals. The sweep of Kansas City comes on the heels of a three game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, leaving the Sox perfect on their latest home stand as they take off for the west coast to meet the Oakland A's.

Red Sox starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, earned the win to improve his already impressive record to 8-0 on the season. Dice-K had a good game, but not a great game. He, once again, tried dancing around the strike zone with mixed success. While refusing to give in to batters, he also ran his pitch count up to 118 pitches, throwing 67 for strikes. He struck out 7, but walked 6. He gave up 6 hits, but held the Royals to only 3 runs, going 5 2/3 innings before handing the ball over to Javier Lopez, holding on to a 5-3 lead. Lopez did his job, striking out the only batter he would face to end the 6th inning.

The big story of the day was the offense, specifically from JD Drew and Mike Lowell, both the authors of devastating grand slams. JD Drew's was an opposite field shot into the Green Monster seats that gave the Sox a 4-1 lead in the 2nd inning. Mike Lowell's came in the 6th inning after the Sox had already plated two runs and lifted the lead to an insurmountable 11-3 advantage for the home team.

The Red Sox bullpen, however, decided that a blowout was not exciting enough for the fans at Fenway Park. Fearful that fans would start streaming out of Fenway too soon, Terry Francona sent Craig Hansen in to level things out in the 7th inning. Hansen got to work early allowing a lead off home run to stop any early exiters in their tracks. That seemed to slow some fans from leaving, but many fans were still feeling a bit too confident. So, a walk and a double later put another run on the board narrowing the score to 11-5. Hansen finished up the inning without further damage, but fans returned to their seats, afraid that Hansen might come back out for the 8th inning. When Francona opted to send in David Aardsma, fans breathed a sigh of relief and began packing again. Well, Aardsma did what he could to hold the audience, so with two on and two outs, wisely surrendered a powerful three run home run to narrow the score to 11-8.

At this point the bullpen had done their job. They had returned excitement to the game and left the outcome in doubt. Fans would be foolish to leave now. Holding on to a three run lead, the Red Sox now had a save situation, and we all know what that means - this is a job for ... Jonathan Papelbon! Papelbon started the 9th inning off with two quick ground outs, but when he noticed a few people starting for the exits, he quickly allowed back to back singles to draw them back in. Not that all eyes were riveted, and the stage was set, Papelbon wrapped it up with a fly out to Jacoby Ellsbury to seal the win.

So, has Manny Ramirez been saving his 499th and 500th home runs for the west coast fans? If so, today might be the day! Manny is 3 for 8 in his career against today's starter, Rich Harden. Those three hits? All home runs!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Sox Take Two from Brewers

In a day that featured plenty of sloppy play, patches of brilliant pitching, and a few timely home runs, the Red Sox managed to sneak away with two wins over the Milwaukee Brewers, moving them into a tie for first place in the AL East. It was also a day for the fans to show their heartfelt appreciation for the visiting Gabe Kapler as he was treated to a rousing standing ovation. Boston fans honor and respect loyalty with a passion. Gabe Kapler, like Trot Nixon before him, are fine examples of that. Not all ex-Red Sox players demonstrate such loyalty, and are not greeted as warmly (are you listening Johnny Damon?).

Daisuke Matsuzaka was the star of the first game going 6 2/3 innings and improving his record to 7-0 on the season. He also lowered his ERA to 2.15, third best in the American League. Dice-K held the Brewers scoreless through 6 innings, and then allowed 2 runs in the 7th inning, both of them unearned thanks to a fielding error by Kevin Youkilis with 2 outs. The error ended Youk's streak of errorless baseball, and kept the inning alive for Mike Cameron, who took advantage by hitting the first pitch he saw from Dice-K for a 2 run home run. Dice-K was effective all day mixing in all his pitches, only walking 2 batters, and fighting his way out of a couple of jams. The Red Sox also got some effective pitching out of Manny Delcarmen, who got the last out of the 7th inning and pitched a scoreless 8th, only allowing one hit, and preserving the lead for Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th. Papelbon got the save, but took one bruise in the process as he gave up a solo home run to Ryan Braun with two outs.

The Red Sox got one run in the first inning when JD Drew walked with the bases loaded, but the big runs came from the Big Papi in the second inning. With two outs and two men on base, Big Papi launched his 8th home of the season into the Green Monster seats giving the Sox a 4-0 lead. Manny Ramirez, only 2 home runs away from 500, did not go deep yesterday keeping us all in suspense for this afternoon's game.

In game one, both the Sox and Brewers had an error each. As the day wore on, the players got more tired, and the errors mounted. In game two the fans were treated to a total of 13 runs, but only 7 of them were earned as the Red Sox committed 3 errors and the Brewers committed 4! The Red Sox and Tim Wakefield were cruising into the 6th inning holding a 5-0 lead, but the Brewers fought back scoring 3 in the inning. Terry Francona went to Craig Hansen in the 7th. Hansen looked like he was going to fare well. He gave up a leadoff single to Prince Fielder (who really looks like more like a softball player), struck out Corey Hart, and then induced the next two batters to hit ground ball to the infield. Unfortunately, the first ground ball put another runner on when Mike Lowell's throw to first went for an error, and the second ground ball loaded the bases when Alex Cora bobbled the ball for another error. Rather than being out of the inning, Hansen now had his job cut out for him. A ground out plated one run, and before Hanson could end it, Craig Counsell got a hold of a slider for a double, plating two more runs and giving the Brewers their first lead of the day.

The lead would not last as a pair of errors by the Brewers in the bottom of the inning allowed the Sox two squeeze two more runs in for a 7-6 lead that they would manage to hold. Mike Timlin would make sure of that as he earned his first save of the season with a nifty 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Interesting moves by Francona in the first game. To open the ninth inning, Francona not only sent in Papelbon to close the game, he also made a couple of defensive moves. He moved Youkilis to first replacing Sean Casey, and sent in Mike Lowell to third. Was it to shore up defense at third, which Youk having made one error there, or to shore up defense at first base, where Youlikis still has an errorless streak going? He also made a move pulling Julio Lugo and sending in Alex Cora to play short stop. Now, I can't imagine he'd pull his starting shortstop for defensive reasons (although many fans would make the move for that very reason). My guess is that Lugo may still be feeling some side effects from the mild concussion he had.

Today, Josh Beckett will try to complete the three game sweep. Josh was not happy after his last performance. If he is feeling healthy and strong, he will come out firing and the Brewers will take the brunt of his frustrations. Perhaps Manny Ramirez will take it out on them too and treat us to another step towards baseball's history books.

Lastly, MLB has tentatively listed Bartolo Colon as Tuesday's starter for the Red Sox. They admit that no such announcement has been made by the Red Sox, but the mystery continues!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Red Sox - Brewers Double Header Today

The Red Sox will try to get back to their old winning ways today and break their current four game losing streak. Last night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers was rained out, forcing the teams to agree to a double header today. It will be a separate admission double header, so if you are going to either game tonight, be prepared for some traffic and parking mayhem as the first crowd tries to vacate the Fens and the second crowd swarms in.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gets the start in the opener against our old friend Jeff Suppan. If you recall, Suppan started his career in 1995 as a twenty year old hot prospect rising rapidly through the Red Sox farm system. The expectations were very high for Jeff, and the hope was that he would follow in Roger Clemens' footsteps and become the next Red Sox ace. Suppan pitched in the rotation with Clemens for two years until Clemens' infamous departure to Toronto. But, Suppan never quite lived up to expectations. He has had a long and successful career, but mostly as a middle of the rotation type of guy. His best years, statistically, were in 2004 and 2005 with the St. Louis Cardinals when he won 16 games in both of those years. Plus, I think we all remember the Red Sox steamrolling Suppan on their way to winning the 2004 World Series, and his base running gaff that took the Cardinals out of a critical offensive rally. So, as we watch our current batch of new pitchers, we should remember, you never really know which ones will be truly successful and which ones will never quite make it.

Dice-K has been on a roll, boasting a 6-0 record and a 2.45 ERA heading in to this afternoon's game. He has an advantage today facing a team that has yet to see him, so if his variety of pitches are all sharp, he and Jason Varitek should be able to keep hitters off balance today. The one thing he needs to work on is keeping the ball near the strike zone so he does not let batters get too patient, driving his pitch count up, and getting too many walks.

JD Drew and Julio Lugo will be available today and for first the first time in weeks, the Sox will have a full and healthy bench - presuming Coco Crisp's stomach ailments have passed.

Perfect timing in the pitching rotation for a double header. In the night game the Red Sox are starting Tim Wakefield, so Varitek will get a rest as Kevin Cash gets another opportunity to chase the dancing knuckle ball around. Wakefield had his worst outing of the season in his last start, but I don't think that is any indication of what we'll see today. The knuckle ball is very much a "feel" pitch. The feel can be perfect one day and nit quite right the next. But, with the heavy humid air today, Tim should have good conditions to work with.

Neither of the Brewers' pitchers for today are overly worrisome for the Red Sox. There are 8 Red Sox players who have faced Jeff Suppan in the past. Those 8 batters have a combined .344 batting average against him. The only player out of those 8 with a batting average less than .333 against Suppan is Mike Lowell, who is oddly 0-11 against him. In the second game, the Brewers will send Dave Bush to the mound. In seven starts this season, Bush has only won one game, and carries a hefty 6.06 ERA with him to the mound tonight. If you are following Manny Ramirez' quest for 500 career home runs, you may be in for a treat. Bush has allowed an average of one home run per game this season. Could be a good night for Manny. No high fives for Manny from the fans tonight though - the Green Monster won't allow it!

So, the outcome of any game is always a surprise, but the signs look good for the Red Sox to get back on track with 2 or 3 wins from Milwaukee. There's no place like home - just ask the Boston Celtics!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN.com)

Twins Knee to the Head Leads to Red Sox Win

After a disappointing loss the day before to the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox were able to bounce back yesterday with a 5-2 victory behind the solid pitching of Daisuke Matsuzaka, who improved his record on the season to 6-0. In Dice-K's last outing, he defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-3, but had to survive an amazing 8 walks in the process. Last night started out eerily familiar. Dice-K walked one batter in the first inning, and in the second inning he walked the lead off batter, and later with the bases loaded, he walked in the Twins' first run of the night. Three walks in two innings was sounding ominous. But, Dice-K was able to straighten things out and complete 7 innings without walking a single other batter. He countered those 3 walks with 7 strikeouts, while limiting the Twins to only 2 runs on 6 hits.

Good thing too, since the Twins' starter, Glen Perkins, was also having a great night and found himself clinging to a 2-1 lead heading into the 7th inning. Last night was Perkins' first appearance in the majors this season, and his first start ever for the Twins. In a situation like that, you are typically hoping to get 5 innings, maybe 6 from your young starter. Last night the Twins liked what they saw and thought they could stretch their good fortune to 7 innings. They were wrong.

Coco Crisp, leading off the 7th, got a hold of a Perkins fastball that came in too high, and sent it deep into the left field stands for his first home run of the year. With the game tied, the ninth batter for the Sox came to the plate. No, not Julio Lugo. Were you wondering about the title to today's post? The night before, Julio Lugo took a knee to the head on a close play at second base. After the game he was feeling "woozy" and was given the night off as a precaution. Jed Lowrie was given the start at second base, and again, showed Boston fans why he should be considered the shortstop of the future (possibly the near-future?). Lowrie followed Crisp with a home run of his own - his first one in the Major Leagues to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. All told, Lowrie went 3-4 last night, scored two runs, and completed a nifty double play to end the 5th inning. A big knock on Lugo has been his errors. Lowrie did go error-less last night, but he only had the one opportunity on the double play. Funny story about the home run. The Red Sox managed to retrieve the home run ball for Lowrie, but had to do a little negotiating to get it. They managed to swing a trade for an autographed Josh Beckett baseball in return for the home run ball. Lowrie commented with a smile, "Apparently, [Beckett's] signed ball is worth more than my first home run."

In the 8th inning, Mike Lowell hit a solo home run to add to the Sox total. For the second time in the past 3 games, both Lowell and Kevin Youkilis hit home runs on the same night. Youk continued his hot hitting with a solo shot of his own in the 2nd inning. The four solo home runs last night were the most by the Sox this season, and had there been a few more base runners, the game surely would have been a blowout.

Hideki Okajima confidently nailed down the 8th inning, as we are so used to seeing him do. He really does seem to perform much better when he is brought in to start off an inning, rather than get sent in with runners already on base. And finally, the ninth inning was wrapped up by Jonathan Papelbon, who showed no ill effects coming off of two straight blown saves. He was sharp, and even mixed his pitches up more than usual, but with solid results. Consider this, with two outs in the ninth, Papelbon welcomed pinch hitter Craig Munroe with two straight curveballs! I am not sure he has done that in his entire Red Sox career (I've got my stats people researching that one). Papelbon's line shows he gave up one hit, but the hit was actually a high pop up that hit a cable near the ceiling of the Metrodome and deflected away from the awaiting Jason Varitek. Also a positive sign that Papelbon has bounced back quickly, of his 20 pitches last night, seven of them went for strikes untouched - either called strikes or swinging strikes. Those numbers are more in line with his usual performance, unlike last night when only one pitch went for a strike untouched.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz will try to take turns with the new home run combo of Lowell and Youkilis. Last night Ramirez and Ortiz went a combined 0-9 and served only as casual observers to the victory. Perhaps tonight will be their turn to provide the power.

Keep an eye open today for player moves. Both Alex Cora and Sean Casey have completed their rehab assignments and are due to be added to the roster today. You can count on a pitcher being moved, as the Sox are currently carrying 13 pitchers. The easy move would be to simply send Craig Hansen back to Pawtucket, but if the Sox want to keep him and continue his progress, there will have to be a bigger, more permanent move of a player like Mike Timlin or Julian Tavares. We'll have to see how confident the Sox are in Hansen at this point in the season.

Unfortunately, the other move would have to be last night's hero Jed Lowrie. Lowrie should not be wasting too much time sitting on the bench as a backup. Smarter move would be to get him playing every day in Pawtucket. Only chance to keep Lowrie for a few more days would be to move Lugo to the DL, but I would not hold my breath for that. If Lugo needs one more night off, I expect we'd see Alex Cora start at short tonight. Terry Francona likes to get people involved right away.

Tim Wakefield faces off against Nick Blackburn tonight. Wakefield is coming off his best outing of the year. No reason to think he'll have anything other than a solid night, as his knuckleball generally enjoys the indoor environment.

Walk in the Park as Red Sox Beat Tigers 6-3

Walk in the park indeed, but it was the Tigers who did the walking as Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up 8 free passes in just 5 innings and still managed to exit with a 4-1 lead. The Tigers just couldn't convert those free base runners into runs. It is very unusual for a pitcher to survive that many walks, but that shows you that Dice-K battled hard and never gave in. In fact, he seemed to be following a trend he started last year. Dice-K is stubborn and does not like to give up hits to batters. In counts where a fastball over the plate is warranted, Dice-K would rather keep the ball away from the batter and risk the walk, and last night he gave up a dangerous number of them. But, when he wasn't walking batters, he was getting them out, as the Tigers only managed two hits against him, as he improved his record to a perfect 5-0 on the year.

Following Dice-K to the mound was Craig Hansen, fresh up from Pawtucket. The Red Sox are looking for someone to step up into a dependable middle relief role, and Hansen is loaded with talent that the Red Sox hope is finally ripe for the picking. Hansen did not disappoint as he make quick work of the Tigers with a 1-2-3 6th inning. The 7th inning, however, was not as clean. With runners on first and second and no outs, Hansen induced the dangerous Magglio Ordonez to hit into a double play, leaving one runner on third. But, rather than a quick out to escape any damage, Hansen tore a page from Dice-K's play book and walked the next two batters to load the bases. Terry Francona had seen enough, and with the left handed Matthew Joyce coming up, he brought in Hideki Okajima to create a favorable lefty-lefty match up.

But Tigers' manager, Jim Leyland, has been around far too long to fall for that old trick. Jimmy said, "I'll see your lefty and raise you a righty", as he sent Marcus Thames to pinch hit. Sure enough, Marcus drove the first pitch he saw into center field, driving in two runs. Okajima immediately settled down and retired the next four batters he faced before turning the game over to Jonathan Papelbon to close shop in the ninth for his tenth save of the year. It has become clear that Okajima does not do so well with inherited runners. He is much better coming in at the top of an inning (note to Francona).

The Sox got some nice hitting from Mike Lowell as he went 3 for 5 with a 2 run home run, a double and a single. Believe it or not, the home run gave Lowell his first RBI of the 2008 season, thanks to his time on the DL. Kevin Youkilis also contributed with a 2 run home run of his own, while Big Papi collected the final 2 RBI with a single that drove in Pedroia from second in the 7th, and a solo home run to right in the 9th. Great to see Papi driving the ball again as the home run tied him with Manny Ramirez for the team lead with 6. Manny had himself a well hit double (that would have been an easy triple for Ellsbury, who unfortunately went 0-5), but Manny remained homerless, unable to close in on magic number 500.

So, the Sox extend their winning streak to four games, while the Tigers match with a losing streak of four games. Tonight, Tim Wakefield squares off against Nate Robertson, who has struggled this year starting off with a 1-3 record, but may be coming around as his win came in his last outing against the Yankees. The Red Sox should pounce on the Tigers while the Tigers are cold - they have too much talent to want to face on a winning streak. Let's get our wins and get out of town.

On the injury front, Curt Schilling will throw this afternoon for the first time in his rehab program. He'll be throwing from 60 feet just to feel things out and take it slow. One step at a time, but keep your fingers crossed. We all know how valuable Curt can be come October! Bartolo Colon, meanwhile, pitched two scoreless innings in an extended spring training game against the Orioles. He experienced no pain in his injured oblique, and topped out at 93 MPH. Good news - you can never have too much pitching!