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.

Jon Lester Placed On DL

It was pretty obvious this was going to happen with the All Star Break coming up and everything, but I'm worried Jon Lester will be gone for a long time. Check out this sampling of pitchers with the same injury, the only difference a variation in degree (and the number of games they missed):

2011 -- Bruce Chen, Kansas City (44)
2010 -- Brad Penny, St. Louis (120)
2009 -- Brett Myers, Philadelphia (18; made just two cameo appearances in postseason)
2009 -- Chad Durbin, Philadelphia (17)
2007 -- Bartolo Colon, Los Angeles Angels (16)
2005 -- Ben Sheets, Milwaukee (32)
2003 -- Pedro Martinez, Boston (22)

I don't believe it will be 120, but there is still risk. Maybe I'm just being a little scared because he is the best Sox pitcher. But imagine if the Sox were to lose him for a significant amount of time. The Sox can't keep going through this rotation with duct tape and knuckleballs.

14 Red Sox, 1 Blue Jays

Fuck, the Red Sox are really good.

It going to be a bad day for any team when you have the Red Sox offense clicking and Jon Lester pitching well on the mound.

David Ortiz, Youk, Pedroia, and A Gon all homered in yet another route of the Blue Jays for their 9th straight win. Lester pitched masterfully, which we haven't seen in a little bit. He walked just one batter and struck out eight while earning his second win in three starts against the Blue Jays this season.

Life has been great, if the Bruins can just pull it out all we be well in Boston.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 5

It's May 16th. And even though the weather's a bit raw, the baseball season is well under way. Summer is approaching. And for the first time all year, the Red Sox are .500.

Remember a few weeks ago, when we were all talking about 100 regular season wins? And now we're skipping in the streets about having as many wins as losses.

It seems kind of silly. Then again, sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx in order to reach this plateau makes it extra special. And the Yankees are only 2 games above .500. As much as the Sox have struggled, they're only 3 games behind the Rays. With 122 games left to play.

Pitching has propelled the Sox to .500. But hitting provided the final ounce of propulsion. They've finally started to hit with runners in scoring position, kind of, and finally started hitting homeruns. Youkilis' 3 run homer in the 3rd was vital to the Sox' effort last night. Ortiz's and Salty's provided the necessary insurance to win.

To be blunt, the Yankees simply aren't that impressive. They've got plenty of names that were intimidating in the late 1990s, but now are just prima donna headcases that seem to distract more than contribute. And how much money is Jeter going to get to hit .260? It's not as if he was underpaid before this season, either. What an overrated, greedy bucket of garbage.

The Sox have finally cracked .500. They'll start a homestand that might be impeded by this unseasonable rain, though. Matsuzaka faces Chris Tillman of the O's tonight, weather permitting.

-The Commodore

Red Sox Own The Angels

The Red Sox own the Angels. The Sox are now 14-15 overall, and more than a third (5) of those wins have come against Anaheim. And I'll take that. Because wins are at a premium right now.

Another Quality Start from Lester, his 6th straight. He's just so solid that it's unreal. Pretty much every start, he'll give the a team a good chance to win.

Crawford is finally hitting. That average of his is up to .194, close to the Mendoza line, close to his weight (215). The Sox finally hit some homeruns. Gonzales got his long-awaited 2nd homer, and that's a big relief. Ortiz got his second in 2 days, and Scutaro hit his first of the season.

Unfortunately, the Sox only have 2 more games against Anaheim this season, both this week. And until they consistently win games against teams that aren't the Angels or Blue Jays, I'm not going to fully believe that they've turned any corners. They're 8-1 against the Angels and Jays. 6-14 against everyone else.

Beckett faces 1-3 Ervin Santana tonight.

-The Commodore

Red Sox 7, Angels 3

After watching that disaster of a Celtics game, at least there was some good news for Boston. The Red Sox once again beat the Angels as Lester outdueled Dan Haren. It looked like it was going to be another classic case of the Red Sox getting great starting pitching, but their bats not showing up, but when the bats finally did show up starting in the 6th inning they showed up in a big way.

Boston got back-to-back HRs from Papi and Gonzalez, which was great to see as it was only Gonzalez's 2nd HR of the year. Hopefully this will mean he will get more of his power stroke going. Scutaro also added a HR just a couple batters laster.

That's all the Sox would need as Lester with 7 strong innings striking out 11 batters while allowing only 1 earned run. Papelbon looked a little rough in the 9th, but it was a non save situation, he hadn't pitched in awhile, and the game was out of hand by then, so I'm not reading into it too much.

With the win the Red Sox are now in 3rd place in the AL East at 14-15 and 4 games behind the Yankees for 1st.

Sox Starting to Click

Winning becomes so easy when the starting pitcher does well. The pressure eases off the offense. The bullpen has less responsibility. All the hitters have to do is compile a few consecutive hits. It's really simple.

Josh Beckett looks pretty good. I'm still not sold on him yet, as he had brilliant starts in '09 and still finished with a decent but disappointing 3.86 ERA. So far, though, he's been excellent. His fastball is up to 95, and he's challenging hitters with it. The changeup is fooling batters, and the curveball is biting. He's getting strikeouts, and when hitters make contact, they get under or over the ball. That leads to pop ups and ground outs. It's once again fun to watch him pitch.

Lester had another Quality Start on Sunday. He was aided by some double plays, as he scattered 3 walks and 6 hits. He didn't give up the big hit though. It was his first win of the season, but his third straight Quality Start.

Buchholz has me worried. We all assumed that this 26 year old with 25 good starts under his belt was going to be a sure thing for 17-20 wins and an ERA under 3.00. We forgot who he was in '09 and '08. His confidence rises and falls with each start, and right now he's on a downswing.

The offense is still gradually getting better. I'm sick of seeing Crawford leading off games though. Lowrie is red hot and should be at leadoff until either he cools, or Crawford gets his average over .150.

It's funny/sad that taking 2 games from Toronto has become worthy of celebration.

Another tough lefty (how much do we miss Victor Martinez?) faces the Sox as Ricky Romero opposes Daisuke Matsuzaka at 11 AM today.

-The Commodore

Rays 3, Red Sox 2

This just gets worse and worse. You knew this would be a pitcher's duel, you knew it would be tight, but watching this offense still hurts. Crawford's struggles are beyond a slump. Same with Youkilis. It's psychological, or physical, or physiological. It's not a run of the mill, ordinary slump.

Lester was good, apart from the 5th inning. And even though he allowed 3 runs off 4 hits in that frame, the Rays were hardly knocking him around. It's Lester's second Quality Start in a row, and the second time the Sox have failed to win with such a start.

One of the few bright spots has been the performance of Jed Lowrie. He hit a pair of doubles and knocked in a run. He's now hitting .438. There's no reason he shouldn't be starting every day, at least until he's cooled off.

The Sox are now in danger of being swept for the 3rd time this season. John Lackey takes the mound to face James Shields. I'm rooting for the rain.

-The Commodore