Red Sox @ Rangers Preview

The Red Sox make their way back to Texas for the first time since April. They are hoping it goes a lot better this time. The Rangers outscored the Red Sox 26-11 and hit 11 homers during a three-game sweep in Arlington to open this season. Tonight we see if the Red Sox can have better luck with Bedard going against CJ Wilson.



It's really a terrible time for the Red Sox to have to go down to Texas. Youk, Ellsbury, and Ortiz all might not be playing and let's be honest the Sox need all the offense they can get. To make matters worse Wilson has dominated the Red Sox going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four career starts against Boston.



Bedard has been good for the Red Sox and is yet to give up more then 3 runs in any start. That could change tonight, as Bedard is winless in his last seven starts against Texas.



I don't like this matchup and I think it could be a long night for the Red Sox.



Texas wins 6-3

Player of the Game: Kinsler

Game starts at 8:05pm

Buchholz Injury Update

"Clay Buchholz told WEEI.com prior to the Red Sox' 6-1 win over the Royals Sunday that he may be on the verge of throwing for the first time since performing a July 25 bullpen session.



Buchholz explained that he is schedule to be re-evaluated when the Red Sox return home, Friday, and if everything goes as planned he will be cleared to do some light tossing."



Even when he is cleared it is said he will take a month to be ready to pitch in the majors. That would be right around playoff time. Francona has said before that the best case scenario is that he might be able to pitch out of the pen. I don't know if I would even want him doing that, so my expectations is that we have seen the last of Clay this year.

6 Sox, 1 Royals

Our line up may be in shambles however, when you have Jon Lester on the bump everything should be ok, and it was.



Lester, didn't have that impressive of a line (6innings, 1er, 4 walks, 3 ks) but he was able to get the job done. When Tito pulled Lester in the 7th, Bard came in with 2 runners on and was able to get out of it with a K, a pop up and a ground out. Bard came back in the 8th and Dan Wheeler finished it up in the 9th.



Darnell McDonald and Marco Scutaro rewarded Tito for giving them the nod. Darnell was lugged into the 2-hole and produced three hits, including a solo homer to get the Sox on the board in the 5th. Ahead of Darnell was Marco Scutaro, who collected a hit and a walk.



David Ortiz "might" come back today.

Red Sox @ Royals Preview

The Red Sox offense has struggled of late, and scoring runs becomes even more difficult with Kevin Youkilis joining David Ortiz on the DL. Yet, playing the last place Royals have a way of helping ease those pains. Still, last night's game was no picnic and I feel tonight's won't be either.



Two lefties faceoff as Andrew Miller goes against Jeff Francis. This is most likely Miller's last start of the season, so one hopes he can make the most of it. Overall on the season he is 4-1, but his 5.40 ERA is what cost him his spot in the rotation. Miller had a rough time of it against the Royals earlier this year giving seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings, although the Sox ended up winning that game.



Jeff Francis is 0-3 with a 4.80 ERA in his last five starts at home, and 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA over his last three starts overall. If there was a time for the Sox to break out of their offensive slump this would seem to be the guy to do it against.



On paper this should be a high scoring game, but with the Red Sox hurting, and the Royals being a terrible I think this will be another low scoring (kind of), hard fought, close game.



Red Sox win 5-4

Player of the Game: Pedroia

Game starts at 8:10pm

4 Sox, 3 Royals

Dustin Pedroia, Dustin Pedroia, Dustin Pedroia. The Muddy Chicken drove in 3 of the 4 runs last night in a semi exciting game. Dustin went 3-for-4, with a double and 2 singles. Pedey's 3 RBI night was huge especially with Ortiz and Youk out of lineup. Ryan Lavarnway went 0-for-4 in his debut, with a strikeout.



Josh Beckett didn't have his best game, but still got the win with pitching 7 innings, with 7 hits, 3 er and 4 ks for his 10th victory on the season.



Good win, we keep up with the Yankees by being .5 back

Breaking News: Youkilis Lands On DL

The Red Sox have placed Kevin Youkilis on the 15-day disabled list with a sore back and have called Ryan Lavarnway up from Triple-A Pawtucket. This is bad news for the Red Sox with Ortiz already out. The Red Sox have been hurting to score runs, and with Ortiz and Youk out that is not going to get any better. Boston really needs Gonzelaz to find his power stroke once again.



Lavarnway is hitting .307 with a .390 OBP along with 15 homers since his June promotion to the PawSox. Between Double-A and Triple-A this year, he has already hit 29 homers this year. Although he is riding a slump at the moment 4-for-37 (.108) with 11 strikeouts in August.

Red Sox @ Royals Preview

The Red Sox have been slipping lately, and it has cost them their AL East division lead. They hope they can get it back while facing the lowly Royals. Tonight we see Beckett vs. Luke Hochevar.



Beckett is looking to bounce back from a tough outing against the Mariners. It wasn't really that bad of a start just a bad first inning. He allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings of work in the 5-4 loss, but all 5 runs were scored in the first inning. Shit happens, and I except him to bounce back in a big way tonight, as he has dominated the Royals in his career going 6-1 with a 2.44 ERA.



Luke Hochevar outpitched Beckett last month, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings of work. However, he has yielded 11 runs, 15 hits and 6 walks over 10 2/3 innings while going 0-2 vs Boston at home. Hochevar overall has been pitching well of late going at least 6 inning in each of his last 4 starts and only allowing more then 2 runs once during that span. With the Red Sox offense that has not been producing that could be trouble.



Part of me thinks the Red Sox are due, and that they could come out and crush the Royals tonight, but with Big Papi still out the Red Sox could continue their piss poor hitting ways. It seems like when the Sox are missing any of their top 5 hitters (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzlez, Youk, Ortiz) they have a hard time scoring runs. Looking through the bottom of the lineup it is it easy to see why. I say the Sox win tonight, but it will be another tough game.



Red Sox win 4-2

Player of the Game: Beckett

Game starts at 8:10pm

4 Rays, 0 Sox

Not a hell of a lot you can do or analyze about this one. The Rays had David Price, the Sox did not. Price totally shut down the Sox offense going 8 innings and letting up 3 hits. Kyle Farnsworth had a perfect 9th and that's all she wrote.



The 3 hits by the Red Sox offense were, an Ellsbury triple, and a 2 singles from Pedroia and Youkilis. We may have been able to get a run if Ellsbury didn't try to score on a A Gon swinging bunt, but in the long run, it didn't matter much.



John Lackey was handed his first loss in seven starts as he gave up 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, and struck out 7, over 6 2/3.



At least the Royals are up next.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox are looking to avoid losing their 4 time in 5 games. Boston leads the majors with 649 runs, but has scored only 12 in its last four games. The good news is Lackey is on the mound, and when Lackey is on the mound the Red Sox score runs (average of 9.97 runs in his last 7 starts).



Going against Lackey is David Price. Price is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts versus the Red Sox this season, and is coming off a strong start in which he let up 1 run in 8 innings against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.



Lackey has also been pitching well going 6-0 with a 3.92 ERA in his last seven starts, but opponents are still hitting .325 off him since the All-Star break. I wish I could say I am a Lackey believer, but I am still not.



I think the Red Sox lose today. Lackey blows, and it's just a matter of time before he gets lit up. Plus the Sox are going to be playing without Ortiz who is out indefinitely because of bursitis in his right heel.



Rays win 8-4

Player of the Game: Longoria

Game starts at 1:35pm

3 Sox, 1 Rays (game 1), 6 Rays, 2 Sox

During the day game Jon Lester finally pitched like the player he can be. He went 7 innings, let up 1 run on 3 hits and struck out 8. Lester ran into some trouble early when a leadoff double to Desmond Jennings, who then stole third and scored on a groundout by Evan Longoria. Ben Zobrist followed that up with a double. However, Lester was untouchable after that when he retired 12 in a row.



The only offense for the Sox came in the 3rd when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a 3 run jack. Right now he has 21 (22 by the end of the night) home runs and 78 RBIs, pretty damn good if you ask me.



After that James Shields shut down the Sox offense, he only let up those hits in the 3rd and then nothing after that. Luckily the Sox only needed those 3 runs.



Bard and Pap took care of the 8 and 9, end of game.



GAME TWO

6 Rays, 2 Sox



No matter where Erik Bedard goes, the team fails to produce runs. Bedard gave up 1 earned run (3 total runs), in 6 innings and also struck out 6. I'll take that from my 3rd starter any day.



Jeff Neimann had the Sox number last night as he went the distance, giving up three hits and striking out ten. The only 2 runs were solo shots from Jason Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury to keep the Sox around.



Matt Albers came in and quickly ruined any chance to come back as he was tagged for 3 earned runs.



Oh well, can't win them all.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 2)

In the 2nd game today the Red Sox have Bedard going against Jeff Niemann. Niemann has been red hot of late going 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his last nine outings. Not a lot of people talk about Niemann, but he is turning into a damn good pitcher, maybe the most underrated in the AL East.



Bedard has had a great career against the Rays going 11-4 with a 3.41 ERA, but is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA against them this year. Bedard has been solid since joining the Sox, but we have yet to see him go more then 5 innings. It would be very helpful to the Red Sox overworked bullpen if he could do so.



Although Niemann has been very good lately I feel the Red Sox offense is just too much better then the Rays for me to pick against the Red Sox. On the season the Rays are only hitting .244 as a team while the Red Sox are hitting .281. It will be close, but I see the Red Sox winning game 2.



Red Sox win 5-4

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 7:10pm

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 1)

The Red Sox have a doubleheader today. The first game has Jon Lester going against James Shields. Shields has had a hell of a year (11-9 2.80 ERA), but has struggled throughout his career at Fenway (1-7 with a 7.71 ERA in eight starts).



Lester is having a good year, but not a great year. One thing he has done is pitch well during the day going 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in six day starts. Lester has lost his last two starts, and the Rays have been hot of late winning 7 of their last 10 games.



One thing all Boston fans would like to see is Adrian Gonzalez get his power swing back. He has still been hitting for average, but hasn't had the power stroke (no HRs in August).



Red Sox win 5-3

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 1:05pm

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 @ Mariners Preview

Lackey is looking for 6th win in row. Yea, I know I am shocked too. He actually overall has been pitching really well. His ERA during this current streak is around 3.50 and he has taken down some good teams (Yankees, ect). One would think tonight he should have a real strong game, as he is usually very good against the AL West, and Seattle is not a very good hitting team anyways (5-0 with a 1.45 ERA during his last six visits to Seattle).



Going against him is Blake Beavan. He akes the mound looking to win a third straight start, but I don't he is anything special. He only K's 3.7 guys per 9 innings, and it's just a matter of time before he gets lit up. Beavan will try to slow down David Ortiz, who's gone 10 for 23 (.435) with 3 homers and 6 RBIs over his last 6 games. He is also batting .310 with two long balls over a seven-game hitting streak at Seattle.



Red Sox win 6-4

Player of the Game: Ortiz

Game starts at 10:10pm

5 Twins, 2 Sox

Ya know we can't come back from every game.



The Sox failed to win their 6th straight and sweep the Minnesota Twins. Jon Lester had a pretty bad game for him going 7.1 innings, giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, walking 5 and striking out 4.



I thought there was a chance for a comeback in the 7th when Scutaro drove in Aviles to bring the Sox within one. David Ortiz came through again, with a solo-homer in the 8th to bring the game to 2-2. However, Lester couldn't hold the lead and let up a run, and left a man on 2nd when Aceves came in. Aceves then let in 2 runs having the score get to 5-2 and that's where it ended.



Ortiz had himself a series and had .636 average (7-for-11) with 2 home runs.



The Yanks won, bringing them to a game and a half behind the Sox.

Red Sox @ Twins Preview

Red Sox are looking for their 5th win in a row, and on paper there looks like there is little chance they aren't going to get it. Nick Blackburn takes on Lester, and that could be bad news for the Twins.



Blackburn (7-9, 4.58 ERA) has posted an 11.68 ERA while losing his last three starts. His command has been way off in his last two, as he has 11 walks over 9 2/3 innings. That's bad news when you are going against a team like the Red Sox, who love to walk.



Meanwhile, Lester is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in three starts since coming off the DL. He is also 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last six starts on the road.



Look for the Red Sox to finish off the series in a big way. Lester will cruise most likely pitching 7 or 8 innings, and the Red Sox to score at least 7 runs.



Red Sox win 8-2

Player of the Game: Lester

Game starts at 8:10pm

Best Team In Baseball?

The Red Sox are tearing it up, and basically have been all season other then their awful start. Yet, can we say they are the best team in baseball? Well, they are the best team in the AL, I don't see any question in that, but I don't think they are the best team in the MLB.



Trying to put our homerish ways to the side for a minute lets be honest with ourselves the Phillies are the better team. I mean just compare the rotations. I know the 4th/5th pitcher don't matter much come playoff time, but even then we are talking about Lester, Beckett, and one of the other three vs. Halladay, Lee, Hamels.



What really scares me as a Sox fan is that I think out big advantage is our hitting, but because the Phillies have home field advantage the Sox are going to be missing Ortiz for 4 out of the 7 games.



I know it's a long time away, and there are no guarantees these will be the two teams in the World Series, but I will tell you now if it works out that way it is going to be a very tough series for the Red Sox to come out on top.

Red Sox 4 Twins 3

The Sox keep rolling and fans have to be happy with what they saw from Erik Bedard last night. Sure his stat line won't knock you off your seat, but if you watched the game you know he deserved better. Bedard gave up two runs on three hits with six strikeouts in five innings in his second start since coming to Boston in a trade with Seattle. Yet, if he wasn't squeezed so bad in the first inning I think we may have been watching something pretty special. Maybe, I am just a homer, but that's the way I saw it.



Anyways, Boston was down 2-0 till the 5th when McDonald hit a 2 run HR to left off Liriano. By the way I still stand by my statement that Liriano sucks. Seriously, fuck that guy.



Tek gave the Sox the lead in the 6th with an RBI single, but that was quickly erased when Nishioka doubled to deep right, which was inches from being a HR. Ortiz put the Red Sox up for good in the 7th reaching on an infield single, in which he joked he was "light stepping", so that the Twins "didn't know I was coming". Papelbon locked it down in the 9th with his 26th save of the season.



With the win the Red Sox are now 2 1/2 games up the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East.

Red Sox @ Twins Preview

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz have crushed the Twins during their careers. Ortiz is hitting .327 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in 42 games against his former team. Pedroia seems to love to play in Minnesota, where he has a .439 average with seven RBIs in 14 visits.



The same cn't be said for Liriano going against the Red Sox. He is a dreadful 1-3 with a 7.78 ERA, and to make matters worse is coming off one of his worst outings of the season going 5 innings allowing seven runs and a season-high 10 hits against the Angels. Liriano just isn't what he once was, and the Red Sox will take full advantage (especially Pedroia who is 6 for 10 against him).



Meanwhile the Sox will once again turn to Erik Bedard, who had a solid first outing for the Red Sox allowing three runs and seven hits with five strikeouts in five innings against the Indians. Bedard has won his last two starts against the Twins, allowing two runs in 11 innings.



The Twins are having a terrible season and are currently riding a 5 game losing steak, which will be 6 after tonight.



Red Sox win 11-4

Player of the Game: Dustin Pedroia

Game starts at 8:10pm

Oh, So That's Where Bobby Jenks Has Been

Terry Francona told the media on Monday that Bobby Jenks was hospitalized over the weekend with intestinal turmoil and will undergo a colonoscopy Monday.



Just to start I have heard the term "intestinal turmoil" way too much this year, and it really grosses me out. I basically think he is shitting himself every couple of minutes, which in the case of Jenks is probably spot on.



Jenks has been a complete bust. He has a 2-2 record with a 6.32 ERA in 19 appearances this season, and all he has has done is make me think Ozzie Guillen was right about him when he said "First of all, I can't make any comments about last year because he was never in the clubhouse. He spent more time in his house than he was in the clubhouse".



Hopefully he will stop shitting himself by next season and can get back on track, but I doubt it.