7 Indians, 3 Sox

Erik's 1st start wasn't bad, but it was pretty evident that the Sox are easing him back into starting deep in games. Tito only allowed him to throw 70 pitched in his Red Sox debut and he went 5 innings, let up 7 hits, 3 ers and 5 Ks. Not bad, we will let him get his feet wet though.

After Franklin Morales pitched a good couple innings the other day, he let up 2 runs in a 1/3 of an innings and that's all that Justin Masterson needed.

The former Sox long reliever went 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 9 K and is 3-0 against his former club.

The Yanks also one, making us dead even going into another great rivalry series.

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

3 Sox, 2 Indians

Jacoby Ellsbury will be getting Carl Crawford money at the end of this year.

Last night he drove in our pinch runner and speed demon on the paths Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the final score 3-2.

Thank god for getting that hit and driving in that run because the Sox had a lot of opportunities last night to drive in runs but failed. Previous to that the Sox left 16 men on base.

Beckett had a good game, 6 innings, 2ers, 7 Ks,(85 pitches) even though he didn't factor into the decision. Franklin Morales came in and shut down the Indians for 2 innings.

I was thinking, our 1,2,3 hitters could all be MVPs.

Indians @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox lead over the Yankees is down to just 1 game. Last night, the game was tied in the 8th inning until Bard came in and blew it. He has been so good all season that I really don't read too much into it. Eventually everyone get it.

Tonight we will see David Huff vs. Josh Beckett. Huff lost two starts against Boston last year, but gave up just 3 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. Since being called back up from the minors Huff has been actually pitching pretty well going 1-1 with a 0.71 ERA over 12 2/3 innings with nine Ks. Still with Jiminez being aquired this is probably Huff's last night.

Beckett wasn't as sharp in his last outing giving up 4 runs in 7 innings to the Royals. It wasn't a bad start,he just had one bad inning. I think he will come out strong tonight, even though he has struggled against the Indians in his career (4-5 5.04 ERA). Other then that last start Beckett has been amazing at home with a 1.88 ERA. Look for Boston to win big tonight.

Red Sox win 7-2
Player of the Game: Pedroia/Beckett
Game starts at 7:10pm

9 Indians, 6 Sox

Even though Daniel Bard gave up the dagger runs, I'm still going to blame the loss on John Lackey. Through the 1st three innings he pitched real well. Lackey gave up a run in the 4th to make it 3-2, and was fine until the 6th. Lackey got hit for 3 more runs in the 6th, including back to back homers by Cabrera and Hafner. Lackey ended up with 6 2/3 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, and struck out 5.

Speaking of Asdrubal Cabrera, he absolutely killed the Sox and went 3-5 with 2 homeruns.

Crawford and Salty chipped in with solo shots each. And everyone except Ortiz had a hit. We tried, just bad luck yesterday.

Indians @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox and Indians both made trades to improve their rotation, but that isn't something we will see tonight. Tonight we get Lackey vs. Josh Tomlin... very thrilling.

Tomlin has been the surprise of the Indians season going 11-4 with a 4.01 ERA, and is 4-1 with a 3.81 ERA over his last eight starts. Tomlin isn't an overpowering pitcher, but I guess on some level you have to give him respect with how well he has pitched this year.

The Indians as a team though have been struggling. They are just 2-8 over their last 10 games and have fallen 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers for first place in the AL Central. Even with their trades you have to wonder if this overachieving team may have finally leveled out.

Red Sox lead the majors with 586 total runs and have scored 15 over their last two games. As DP and I have stated several times this is the best offense we have ever seen. It is really hard for me to pick again them on any night, even with they have that shit head Lackey on the hill.

Lackey won his last four starts with a 2.52 ERA, so hopefully he has turned the corner. I still think he is letting up way too many hits and eventually that will come back to haunt him once again. Still, think the Red Sox win tonight though...

Red Sox win 8-6
Player of the Game: Ellsbury
Game starts at 7:10pm

MLB Trades That Happened Over The Weekend

Texas Rangers add Mike Adams and Koji Uehara.
The Rangers have a lot of problems when it comes to their bullpen, so adding to of the best set up men certainly helps. Their combined stats are: 95 innings, 51 hits, 111 strikeouts, 17 walks. Also they control them for next year too.

Hunter Pence to Philadelphia Phillies
How do the Phllies constantly make awesome moves. They gave up some pretty good prospects but Pence fills a huge void in a what is a surprisingly bad Phillies line up. Pence will most likely take Raul Ibanez's spot out there, Ibanez is terrible in the field and is batting around .260. I like the deal.

Doug Fister and David Pauley to Detroit Tigers
Another move I'm in favor for, with Brad Penny being awful and the Tigers constantly having to call up some prospect to get rocked every 5th day, this should put a stop to the bleeding. Fister is 3-12, but remember he's on Seattle who is allergic to runs, he also has a 3.33 era and about 90 Ks. David Pauley should fit some of the bullpen void as well.

Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland Indians
I like this move for the Indians, a lot of people are saying that they gave up too much by involving top prospect Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, however, Ubaldo is 27, is coming off a 19 win season and flirts with 200 Ks a year. He could be an Ace for Cleveland who need a top of the line rotation guy. They have him for the next 3 years at a relatively cheap price. Like the aggressiveness by Cleveland.

Michael Bourn to Atlanta Braves
Good fit for the Braves who need an OF and need speed. They got both and didn't give up that much.

Indians Trade For Kosuke Fukudome

The Indians acquired right fielder Kosuke Fukudome and about $3.9MM from the Cubs today for minor leaguer outfielder Abner Abreu and reliever Carlton Smith. This is actually a really good fit for the Indians. They have been having to play without Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore since they are on the DL and Fukudome can slid in and pick up some of the slack.

Fukudome isn't anything special, but he is a patient hitter that can at least be a nice stopgap option for awhile. Plus the Cubs are picking up most of the tab on him, so I think it's worth the risk.

The two minors the Indians gave up are nothing that they'll miss. Abreu is only in Class A ball, and is ranked 23rd among Indians prospects. Smith is just a AAA middle reliever.

Grady Sizemore To The DL.... Again

The 1st place Indians lost who should be their best player for the 3rd time this year with a knee injury.

Sizemore has never been the same for the passed 3 years, and last year was out 10 months due to microfracture surgery. He wasn't having the best year this year hitting around .240 with 10 hrs and 30 rbis, but he's been injured a lot.

The Indians have been amazing this year figuring they have been able to still be in 1st place after 92 games with that slapstick line up and rotation.

Shin Soo Choo Has Had A Rough Year

Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo could miss up to 2½ months after having surgery on his broken left thumb. ESPN

1st the guy gets a DUI, then he forgets how to hit, then breaks his thumb and is now out a billion weeks.

The Indians have slowed down significantly from their ridiculously hot start and now with losing presumably their best players, this only spells more trouble for the Tribe. Choo is a big part of their offense and even though he wasn't hitting that great he was still very aggressive on the base paths. I don't expect the Indians to be in it once he comes back so this won't do much, but is definitely the nail in the coffin.

14 Red Sox, 2 Indians

Home run derby time as the Red Sox beat the shit out of the Indians started off with 7 quick runs and ended up winning 14-2. In the 14 runs the Red Sox had 4 homeruns, Pedroia hit a 2-run homer in the 1st, Crawford hit a solo shot in the 3rd, Ortiz had a solo homer in the 6th, then the next 2 batters reached after Papi, and Salty brought them in with a 3-run shot.

Everyone on the Sox got at least 2 hits except Jed Lowrie who went 0-5.

Jon Lester was great. Lester went 6 innings, gave up only 3 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and struck out 7. Lester has a major league best 7 wins.

We were up on the Yankees for an hour, but they ended up winning.... gay

Red Sox @ Indians Preview

The Sox finally beat the Indians, and with Lester on the hill one would think they should be able to win another one today. In a rare day game we get Lester vs. Mitch Talbot.

Mitch Talbot (1-0, 1.46), who has been on the disabled list since April 17 due to a strained throwing elbow get the start for the Indians. Personally, I think he sucks. I know every time I say that the player goes out and has a great game, but this guy throw garbage. Talbot's season debut came against the Red Sox, when he allowed 2 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks over 4 1/3 innings of Cleveland's 8-4 victory. You can tell that even though he only allowed 2 runs, he was far from strong in that game. I think today Boston capitalizes and blows this guy up.

Lester is 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA in 9 career starts versus the Indians. He is also an amazing 8-0 with a 3.16 ERA in 10 May starts over the past two seasons. Lester has won his last two start, but has been far from sharp. He has allowed a total of 14 runs over his last 3 games, including 12 hits against the Cubs last time out. The Red Sox really need him to step up, and be an ace (along with Beckett), which the starting rotation looking thin. I expect 7 innings from him every time out, something he hasn't done in each of the last 3 games. Lester is too good to struggle for long, so today would be a perfect day to go out and throw a gem.

Red Sox win 7-1
Players of the Game: Lester/Gonzalez
Game starts at 12:05pm


***LINEUP***

Kevin Youkilis has a sore left hand, the result of a fielding play last night, and is out of the lineup, but Pedroia is back. Here is the rest of the lineup...

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Crawford, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Cameron, RF
Sutton, 3B

4 Sox, 2 Indians

"Fuck this! Fuck This place!"

That's what Josh Beckett was screaming after he was relieved by Rich Hill in the 7th after walking a batter. Rich Hill promptly struck out Jack Hannahan causing Josh Beckett to expressing his true feelings towards Cleveland and earning his first win at the Jake. Hill worked the 8th only allowing a walk. Papelbon worked the ninth and despite giving up his first home run of the year to Travis Buck, gets his ninth save of the year.

Beckett was really good tonight, 6 2/3 innings, five hits, and allowing one run in the second. Beckett's ERA this year is now a ridiculous 1.69 on the season.

Adrian Gonzalez and Jed Lowrie both drove runs in and David Ortiz is the only member of the Sox who had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.

Sox are a half game back in the AL East.

Box Score

Red Sox @ Indians Preview

The Sox have battled out of one of their worst starts to a season they have ever had, but they still (like much of the league) haven't figured out the Indians. Tonight they will get another shot with Beckett going against Carmona.

Beckett has been awesome this year (3-1 1.73 ERA), but had to leave last game with a stiff neck. Hopefully that is gone tonight, and he can get back to dominating, because the Sox can't afford to lose another starting pitcher. Beckett has not been very good against the Indians going 0-3 with a 6.48 ERA in 3 starts.

Meanwhile, Carmona has been pretty damn good against the Sox with a 1.69 ERA his last 4 starts against Boston. Carmona is a guy who lives for ground balls, so the Sox are going to need to find a way to elevate the ball. They also need to be patient, as Carmona has had a tendency to walk a lot of guys (though not this year 19 in 64 1/3 innings).

The Red Sox haven't dropped seven in a row in Cleveland since a 12-game skid Aug. 23, 1931-Sept. 15, 1932. The streak has to stop somewhere, so I say it stops tonight.

Red Sox win 6-3
Player of the Game: Ortiz
Game starts 7:05pm

3 Indians, 2 Red Sox

Daniel Bard sucks... He's on my shit list for a while.

Daniel Bard came in with 1 out and 1 on in the 8th and couldn't get the job done as the Indians scored twice and took the first game 3-2.

Clay Buchholz had another good start as he went 7.1 innning, struck out 4 and let up 2 er.

Dustin Pedroia left the game with an unknown leg injury that was sustained when he rounded second and seemed to get his feet caught up. No word on what the injury may be.

Carl Crawford hit his second homer of the season, a solo shot in the 5th, that gave the Red Sox the 2-1 lead. But Clutch wasn't so clutch last night as he hit into a double play with a man on 1st and 3rd.

Box Score

Red Sox @ Indians Preview

The Indians went from being the laughing stock of the MLB last year to so far posting one of the best record in baseball (29-15). One top of that they have swept all three games they played the Sox this year, but the Sox are a much different team now.

The Sox have gone a major league-best 23-11 since April 16. Adrian Gonzalez looks like an MVP, Ellsbury looks like a leadoff hitter, and Ortiz is swinging like it's 2007. Still, there are some problems with this team. Dice-K/Lackey are both on the DL, and the bullpen hasn't been all that stable. That shouldn't hurt them too much tonight though with Buchholz on the hill.

Buchholz is 4-3 with a 3.42 ERA, which is decent, but is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in his four starts, so he is really starting to look more like the guy we saw last year. Going against him is our old friend Masterson, who has been stellar (5-2 2.52 ERA). On top of that Masterson is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA against the Sox in his career. He is going to be tough against a lineup that can have trouble against lefties.

I am putting my trust in Buchholz tonight, and Gonzalez is so hot right now I think they squeak by in this game.

Shin Soo Choo Busted For DUI

"Shin-Soo Choo spent Tuesday afternoon talking to each of his teammates, one by one, to express how sorry he is for his off-field arrest on suspicion of drunken driving and the embarrassment it caused. The Indians outfielder was arrested Monday after a breathalyzer test showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .201 -- more than double Ohio's legal limit of .08.

According to police, a patrolman first spoke to Choo at 2:25 a.m. He told the officer he was lost and needed directions to Avon Lake. Choo was allowed to continue driving, but was later pulled over when he twice crossed the double-yellow lines and drifted into a bike path. He told the officer his GPS had broken and he was unable to get directions home. Choo's eyes were bloodshot and he smelled of "an alcoholic beverage," police said, and he was ordered out of the SUV.

Choo was unable to complete a heel-to-toe walking test, losing his balance and he failed two other sobriety tests, the report said. He was taken to the police station and was given the breathalyzer test. Choo was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, having an excessive blood-alcohol level and a traffic violation (ESPN)."

Doesn't sound like it's going to be a big deal, as the MLB doesn't suspended players for DUIs, but this is starting to get out of control. It is only the beginning of May and already 6 MLB players have been arrested for DUIs. I don't know what the deal is, but these dudes really need to start hiring drivers or something.

Choo seemed really sorry about the whole thing, and I doubt this will be an on going problem.

What's the odds it happened after leaving a karaoke bar?