5 Mariners, 3 Sox

Poor Tim Wakefield as 4th time isn't a charm for the knuckleballer to get his 200th win.



Wake went 8 innings, gave up 5 runs (4 earned)and struck out 4. At least the bullpen got rest.



Terry Francona gives him every opportunity he can, but Wake has had some bad fortune recently.



The Sox dropped their second straight game to the Mariners, losing the series. The pride of Maine Charlie Furbush pitched pretty good for a youngster, giving up a run while striking out six in seven innings pitched.



The good news is that Kevin Youkilis was back in the lineup and hit ahomer in the losing effort. Adrian Gonzalez was the only Sox player to have a multi hit game.

Red Sox 8, Twins 6

David Ortiz's 4 hits (including a homer and double) and 3 RBI propelled the Sox to victory last night. However, the game-winning run crossed the plate after Wakefield finished his outing, thwarting yet another bid for Wakefield's 200th career win.

Wake was, however, good enough to receive a 'W.' 7 innings, 3 earned runs, 5 runs total. He hasn't been great for the Sox this year, but his service has been invaluable, considering the alternative would be some AAA pitcher. Even though his ERA is 4.92, that's still pretty good for a 45 year old.

Another unsung hero of the season - Jarrod Saltalamacchia - had a good night. He hit a solo homerun (his 11th of the year), and an RBI double in the 9th. Guys such as him and Josh Reddick have kept the lineup solid from top to bottom. There are no easy innings for opposing pitchers.

Tonight, Bedard faces Francisco Liriano, who is 7-9 with a 5.03 ERA.

-The Commodore

Indians @ Red Sox Preview

The Wake turned 45 yesterday and will be going for his 200th win of his career. If he is able to pull it off he will be the oldest player to do so (passing Charlie Hough of the 1992 White Sox). Wake probably should've got it last time as he only let up 3 runs over 7 innings to the White Sox, but the Red Sox offense didn't show up for him.

Trying to stop Wake from reaching his milestone is youngster Carlos Carrasco. Overall he has had a very nice rookie campaign this year going 8-9 with a 4.67 ERA, but he takes the mound trying to avoid losing his 6th straight start (0-5 with a 9.13 ERA during that span). One has to wonder if he is starting to run out of gas.

The Red Sox have had a tough time with the Indians this year (3-5), but I think the Indians are falling apart and Wake will get his 200th win, which is pretty cool since they are playing at Fenway. Look for Adrian Gonzalez to have another big night as he is hitting .480 over the last 7 days, and seems to match up well against the struggling youngster.

Red Sox win 10-4
Player of the Game: Gonzalez
Game starts at 7:10pm

Red Sox vs Orioles Preview

Starting Pitchers

Boston: Wakefield (5-3, 4.74 ERA)

Baltimore: Bergesen (1-6, 5.65 ERA)

How I see it playing out:
Since the Sox are cruising and the Orioles blow donkey balls it's pretty clear that the Red Sox will win this one. I know we have the Tim Wakefield factor in this and he could give up some runs, however, we luck out as his counterpart Brad Bergesen sucks and may be the worst SP behind John Lackey.

The key to this game is to go far. The Bullpen was used a lot last night and we really need them to get a night off, so hopefully can pull one of his 8 IP, 7 hit, 2 er, 4 K games out of his ass.

Also, this is the first game that Carl Crawford is back. Many people are saying that he has been a failure so far, and although his early season struggles he was starting to put it together before the injury. I like Carl and think he has a monster 2nd half.

All of this is in wake of the beanball fest that took place a week and a half ago. Papi will be out the next 3 games for his suspension and that's a good thing. With Papi out there is no real reason for the Orioles to peg anyone, even though Youk could get hit as he always seems to get pegged.

Unlike BMack I refuse to be reasonable when it comes to picking the score and will never have the hometown team lose.

Winning pitcher: The Wake
Tommy Award: Carl Crawford
Score: 8- 2 Sox

Andrew Miller Joining Sox Rotation? (UPDATED)

I loved Andrew Miller when he played for Detroit and Florida, but he kind of fell of the face of the earth. Apparently the Red Sox are bringing him up to join the Sox rotation and Tim Wakefield will be bumped to the bullpen. I don't care how well Miller has been pitching in Pawtucket, I feel like we should ride Wake until he blows up. I want him to at least get every opportunity to get the Sox win record.

He has done a serviceable job so far, let him go Tito.

***UPDATE***

Miller has been brought up and will start Monday vs the Padres. For now it seems they will go with a 6 man rotation, but we will update if someone loses their job.

Red Sox 11, Yankees 6

The Red Sox beat the Yankees. Again. It's becoming a repetitive theme. And the reason for that is pitching. While Tim Wakefield was solid last night, AJ Burnett was his hapless self.

The Yankees have an offense similar to the Sox, but the Yankees' starting pitchers are a joke, apart from Sabathia. Even Colon, who's managed a solid record, struggles against the Sox. It's so sad that I'm actually starting to feel a little bad for the Yankees.

Starting to feel bad, not actually feeling bad.

Ortiz, Crawford, and Drew homered last night. Wakefield wasn't stunning, but he did better than Burnett. It should be a nice pitching duel tonight as Beckett goes against Sabathia.

-The Commodore

Ok Dice-K Is Gone, What Now?

As DP reported yesterday Rice-K is gone, so the question is what happens now. Well, the Sox are going to have to hope that Lackey can comeback and be solid. He doesn't have to be great, but solid (ERA under 5 and win 50%), because otherwise the Sox will be filling two spots instead of one.

As for taking Dice-K's spot, for now if will be Wake/Aceves. They can hold on to it for awhile, but I don't see either as a long term solutions for the rest of the season. The guy that is interesting is Felix Doubront. He is finally healthy again and he has a 1.59 ERA and .172 batting average against in five starts for the PawSox.

The only problem I see for Doubront is if Hill is out for the season and the Sox don't find a guy to get lefties out. Dourbount did that pretty well last year against lefties (.189 BA), so they might need him to fill that role. I would rather they find someone else, and see what this kid can do starting, but we will have to wait and see, because the other option other then the 3 I have mentioned it Milwood and none of us feel like dealing with his 82 MPH fastball.