Sox on mend, rebound after break

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

BOSTON – Well they're a bit bruised, a bit beat up, but they aint broken. The Sox made it to the All-Star break with 9 players on the disabled list and Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre nursing minor injuries but playing – a scary condition for a team to be in regardless of whether you're only a few games back of the Yankees in the pennant race or not.

David "Big Papi" Ortiz had a nice all-star break, running away with the home run derby title on his 3rd try -- again silencing the critics who said he was washed up at April's end.

But other than that the Sox got back to biz as usual after the break, banged up and battling. Things got a little worse before they could get better with a pair of tough series with the red-hot AL-West leading Rangers and the mildly streaky A's getting the best of the Sox, dropping them to as bad as 7.5 games back in the AL East headed into a 4-game set in Seattle kicking off Thursday night.

We saw the Sox really bare down and fight Thursday, after the M's tied the game with 2 homers in the 9th inning off Delcarmen and Papelbon, the bullpen had to string together a couple crucial innings for for a 13th inning 8-6 win. Okajima got the win for his 12th and 13th inning holds he put on the Mariners lineup.

Then Friday night everybody was tuning in to see how Josh Beckett perform in his first start since nearly 2 months of recovery. Beck really looked to be in top form, striking out 5 and walking 3 over 5-2/3 innings in a 2-1 victory. Pap got the save (22) to cap off a great night put together by the pen.

Josh threw 98 pitches, 62 for strikes -- and that's a sigh of relief to the Sox organization. Beck has something to prove now and some work to do with his 1-1 6.66 ERA in 2010, but as history has proven, this dude is clutch down the stretch and that's why he's their ace.

Even better the Sox got back Clay Bucholz this week as well. He had a rocky start in Oakland, but he's been carrying the team as of late and the hamstring injury shouldn't affect his game in the oh-so crucial months of July and August.

Other news on injuries is that Victor Martinez might be back in the lineup after recovering from his foot injury as soon as Monday and outfielder Jeremy Hermida will most likely see time with the Sox next week as well. There is still no timetable for Ellsbury's return to the bigs, still recovering from his mid-April collision with Beltre that brokes several ribs.

Pedroia is feeling antsy to come back and get in the action, but has only just begun walking through light drills without the boot so he will most likely be a mid-August return.

With the Sox needing a sweep in this Seattle series, 7 games back in the East, they put the prolific 11-4, 2.81 ERA Jon Lester on the mound against the Mariners' David Pauley.

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Sox take 2 from O’s, head to Tampa

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

BOSTON – After taking 2-of-3 from the Orioles at Fenway this weekend, the Sox head to Tampa Bay tonight with a ½ game lead over the Rays and 1-1/2 games back of the AL East-leading Yankees.

It may only be the midway point of the season but every game against the Rays counts big time and don’t think twice about the Sox wanting to glide into the All-Star break next weekend either in 1st or 2nd place in the East standings. By the same virtue, every game counts right now, even if it’s the Orioles. Matter of fact, especially if it’s the Orioles – they’re by far the worst team in baseball right now and there’s no excuse for the Sox’s 6-1 home loss on Independence Day.

On Saturday the Sox took care of business, Jon Lester (10-3, 2.76 ERA) continuing to post a perfect 12-0 record against the boys from Baltimore. The hot lefty – who just got his first All-Star team nod – threw a solid 7 innings and increased his flawless experience with the Orioles by improving his ERA to 2.00 over his 15 career starts against them.

The Sox jumped on Jeremy Guthrie early and often in the 9-3 victory, putting 4 runs up on the board in the 1st inning alone off of doubles from Youkilis, J.D. Drew and Daniel Nava. Ortiz also later doubled and Youk put 2 more on the board with a 2-run blast to left over the Green Monster.

Sunday’s game lacked all the energy and momentum the Sox seemed to be filled to the brim with the day before, as John Lackey again had one of those days where he runs into a middle inning breakdown, giving up 5 runs in the 4th inning. The Sox never could get the bats going against Baltimore’s Matusz who had a good day on the mound. Youkilis went deep for a solo that would be Boston’s only run of the night.

Tonight’s Matchup:
I hope my boys from Boston were just saving up their juice for Tampa, because this is a pivotal series coming up tonight. Some may say ‘Ty, but it’s only July, it’s the all-star break for crimeny’ – I say ‘nay!’ The shape in which a team goes into and comes out of the break is a factor (even more so in the AL East), and anyone who doesn’t think so is delusional.

Dice-K (5-3, 4.5 ERA) will be looking for a bit of redemption tonight against the Rays, facing off against their ace Matt Garza (9-5, 4.08 ERA).

The Sox also will have to go through the Rays series and their finale with the Jays before the break without Clay Bucholz (10-4, 2.45 ERA), who team officials are being cautious with his sore hamstring – doing all you can do for the injury…and that’s give it rest.

AL East
New York 50-31 --
Boston 49-33 1.5
Tampa Bay 48-33 2.0

Kevin Youkilis Shaves Off His Goatee

Nooooooooooo....just like you dont mess with Samson's hair in the Bible, in the same fashion you do NOT touch the viking lord's goatee!!!

I hope that was for charity Youk, cuz you just lost 1/2 your strength!

Check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEji3x_mjk8
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How can this guy not be an All-Star?

Kevin Youkilis the philosopher as guest on tv show "Narrow World of Sports"

Check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_xEjuLMAk
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Boston bruised up but fighting entering July

Sox backups picking up slack in big way

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

BOSTON -- Well the past week has been nothing short of hellacious for the Red Sox in the way of injuries. That said, the Sox are playing with mostly their B-squad and have pulled within a half-game of the Yankees for the AL East lead through Friday.

How is this possible? It appears that the boys from Boston are destined to face more than their fair share of adversity this season, but is there really a better team than the Red Sox who are more battle-tested and apt to overcome such hurdles? Me thinks not.

The Sox had seen their share of troubles with injuries this season with Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeremy Hermida and Mike Lowell paying extensive visits on the DL before the BoSox pulled into SanFran last Saturday afternoon. Then all hell broke lose.

A night after Dustin Pedroia – the team's unquestionable fire and leader these days – blasted 3 homers to best the Rockies in Denver, the power-hitting little man fouled a ball off himself in his first at-bat in San Francisco, fracturing his foot and placing him on the DL for up to 6 weeks.

The next night in SanFran young Sox ace Clay Bucholz got his first major league hit and of course went down on the base paths attempting to reach second base. First diagnosed as a hyper-extended knee, the injury was later called a pulled hamstring. Luckily it appears the hammy shouldn't keep Clay out too long.

Lightning evidently strikes not just twice, but 3 times when in SanFran, as the last game of the series Victor Martinez went down with, what else, but a fracture foot after a batter fouled a tipped pitch off his foot while behind the dish. Despite this, the Sox beat-up Timmy Lincecum that night and took their 2nd win of the 3 game series – banged up, but still winning.

Then the Sox headed back home for a 2-game set with their wild-card rival, those pesky Rays. The Boston Bombers split the series, with Big Papi and company rocking pitcher James Shields in the first outing. But the bad news didn't stay in the San Francisco bay, but followed them all the way back to the Boston harbor. On Thursday the Sox got news that Jason Varitek had also, indeed, broken his foot and would be placed on the DL long term.

Luckily former Boston back-up catcher Kevin Cash was not being utilized in the Astros system and available to be dealt to the Sox for next to nothing. This move made Thursday night was ever-so-key, as a veteran catcher behind the plate who knows the Sox pitching staff will increase Boston's rotations' chances of staying on track and continuing to propel the entire program towards the dominant breed of baseball they've been playing over the past 2 months.

In June, the Sox went 18-9 and hurled themselves right back into the race for first, something their critics had all but counted them out of after a horrific April. The way they've done it is perhaps the scariest, playing great defense with impressive top-shelf pitching and more hitting than they ever counted on – all this of course while the team has been missing pieces due to injuries from the get-go. If they ever get a healthy lineup together by October – that prospect is perhaps the scariest idea of all.

For the meantime though, the Sox are going to have to really hunker down and battle through July with several players missing a majority of, if not the entire, month. There are currently 9 players on the DL, 5 put their in the past week (3 of which were starters).

Here are some of the recently activated players that you may not have heard of that will have their names on the roster undoubtedly through much of July:
- Robert Manuel, 26, righty in pen to replace injured Manny Delcarmen
- Dustin Richardson, 26, lefty in pen taking Wake's spot as he's now a starter again
- Gustavo Molina, 28, Venezuelan backstop to back-up Kevin Cash
- Eric Patterson, 27, 2B/outfielder
- Niuman Romero, 25, Venezuelan 2B vying for Pedie's back-up job

Now players like Darnell McDonald, Bill Hall and Daniel Nava have been activated for some time now as back-ups who have seen plenty of playing time with the pre-existing injuries prior to last week's black plague. Their roles will be ever more important now.

The 30-year-old Hall is a true utility player having spent time in the infield and outfield at both Seattle and Milwaukie before landing in Boston this season. He has filled in nicely for Pedroia at second but now may be spending time in the outfield if Cameron also can't stay healthy (was scratched from lineup before Friday night's game with the same nagging abdominal strain that has bothered him all season).

Daniel Nava came up big Friday night against the O's, coming in to pinch-hit for Eric Patterson in the 8th inning in a 2-2 ballgame. The youngster drove in the winning run on a bloop single that brought in Scoots from 2nd – Nava's first ever major league pinch-hit at-bat…not bad, not bad.

Nava's game-winning clutch RBI helped the Sox get a necessary home win against the terrible Orioles to pull within a 1/2 –game of the Yankees, but it was only the winner because of J.D. Drew's 2 big solo homers hit in the 2nd and 5th innings.

Tim Wakefield got a much-needed 1st home win of the year Friday, moving to 3-6 with a 4.96 ERA. Wake threw for 7 hits and 2 runs over 8 innings, a solid outing from the aging knuckler.

J.D. has been a godsend to this lineup as of late. Commonly criticized for his paycheck in comparison to the portion of time he has spent on the DL almost every season – Drew has been consistently healthy in 2010. He has hit 3 homers in his last 4 starts, and is batting .353 with 5 dingers over the last 13 games.

Saturday night Jon Lester (9-3) will be handed the ball, attempting to go 12-0 lifetime against the Orioles in a showdown with Jeremy Guthrie (3-9). If he accomplishes this feat, it will also make the Sox 12-4 over the past 16 games – a hot streak if I've ever heard of one.

AL Wild Card Race:
Yankees 48-31 -- Red Sox 48-32 ½
Rays 46-33 2

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Pedroia blasts 3 homers to outlast Rocks

Late game heroics made Rockies series a great one

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- This interleague series between the Sox and Rocks has been, without a doubt, the most heated, competitively fueled and October-esque series of the season to date.

In game 1 the Sox and Rocks found themselves in a pitchers' duel between Lester and Chacin in the first Denver meeting between the 2 clubs since Lester closed out the 2007 World Series sweep at Coors Field. Chacin prevailed in a 2-1 near perfect effort.

Game 2 was a different animal altogether. The Rockies took it 8-6, but it wasn't without a considerable fight.

The Red Sox took a 6-5 lead after pitcher John Lackey doubled in a run and was himslef driven in on a Scutaro bloop single. The Sox had to feel pretty good about putting 6 runs up on the red-hot Ubaldo Jimenez--boosting his 1.15 ERA to 1.6.

Daniel Bard came in for the 8th and shutdown the rallying Rockies with some 99 mph heat and a curve that was working like never before -- scary! But then Jon Papelbon took the mound in the bottom of the 9th and did something he rarely does -- badly blow a save.

Ian Stewart drilled a game-tying solo shot into the 1st deck with 1 out in the 9th.

Then ex-nemesis Jason Giambi stepped to the dish with 1 on and blasted a moon-shot off of the lights hanging above Coors Field's upper deck. The balled flew off into the mile-high night sky as the purpe faithful rejoiced and Papelbon's head hung low with doom overcasting the prolific Sox closer's face.

If the walk-off blown save homerun wasn't bad enough for Paps, it had to be a former Yankee besting him that got to the big guy the worst.

But, as they say, the show must go on. The series finale was a lot like game 2, except Dustin Pedroia refused to lose and give up the sweep.

Pedie had homered twice earlier in the 11-11 slugfest that was sent to extra inning after Papelbon again gave up a 2-run homerun to Todd Helton to tie it up. Pedie blasted his 3rd homer of the night (12th of year) off Huston Street for a 13-11 lead and the Rockies were denied their sweep.

The Sox are now 44-30 and tied with the Rays for 2nd in the AL East, 2 games back of the Yankees.

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Leave it to a former Yankee

Sox lose tight duel with Rocks

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- A pitchers duel has usually gone Boston's way this season when Lester's taken the mound, but the Sox ran into a force to be reckoned with on Tuesday as they met the Rockies for the first time in 2010 and quickly found this young team is stacked in the pitching category, falling 2-1 in Denver.

**SPOILER ALERT: In fact I would put a heavy wager on the Rocks beating the Phils in the playoffs to meet the chosen winner of the AL East in the World Series this year. Can anybody say rematch?**

Jhoulys Chacin was the man on the mound Tuesday for the Rocks, hurling 6-2/3 innings of shutout baseball. Things should be interesting Wednesday as the Sox's league-leading bats faceoff against the near perfect Ubaldo Jimenez with a 1.15 ERA.

The Sox had a couple of opportunities with the bases loaded, one with Ortiz and another with V-Mart, both leading to easy rally-killing ground-outs.

The aging all-star veteran Todd Helton had the crucial, go-ahead RBI single that made all the difference.

Wednesday's Matchup: John Lackey (8-3, 4.53 ERA) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (13-1, 1.15 ERA)

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Catchin' up with those red-hot Sox

-- Many apologies to the Nation, I've been slackin on my posts for nearly 2 weeks now due to the NBA Finals, my b-day happenings and a tornado that touched down near our part of town--still,no excuses...back to baseball.

Since I posted last, the Sox have gone on an extraordinary interleague tear and closed the gap in the AL East, now tied with the Rays in 2nd at 1.5 games back from the Yankees. Boston took 2 of 3 from the Phils for the 2nd time this season and followed that great effort up with 3-game sweeps of the the D-Backs & Dodgers (sorry Manny, that's what you get for leaving town the way you did, ya prick!)

In June Big Papi and Adrian Beltre have continued to swing the bat like their old selves, we saw heroics from Daniel Nava who was brought up from AAA and blasted a grand slam on his first pitch he saw in the majors, and a walk-off double from a resurgent Dustin Pedroia propeled the Sox to a Dodgers sweep and a game back in the division.

To say the least the Sox are red-hot as they pull into Colorado for the last week of the interleague season and it appears Boston is in the hunt for 1st as the season's midpoint approaches.

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Sox continue to slam Phils pitchers

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

After splitting a 4-game series with the lowly Indians, the Sox came out firing against the great Jamie Moyer and the Phillies in and overpowering 12-2 interleague win at Fenway on Friday night.

Moyer got rocked over 1+ inning as Boston put up 9 runs on the board on 9 hits. In the first 2 innings the Sox got doubles from Victor Martinez(2), David Ortiz(2), Adrian Beltre and Dustin Pedroia on top of a Scutaro single and a 2-run blast from Mike Lowell – who was giving Youk (back spasms) the night off at firstbase.

Basically this one was over before it started, with the Sox bats rockin' from the get-go and John Lackey turning in a clean performance for the easy win. Substitutes from both squads were reportedly called into the game as early as the 4th to give the starters a rest for today's day game.

However Lackey (7-3, 4.54 ERA) persevered through the 7th inning for 6 hits, 2 runs, 3 K's and no walks – the best performance he has had in his last 3 showings.

Red Sox Record: (36-27, 4 games back from 1st place Rays)
Saturday's Matchup: Dice-K vs. Joe Blanton

Yay's:
- Dustin Pedroia had an MRI on his knee on Thursday and checked out all the way around. Pedey said soreness in the knee had been hindering him on the base paths in May and the team took the right precautions to make sure their standout 2-bagger, team leader and mighty mouse slugger would not have to undergo the knife with a looming injury.

Pedey was given the full go ahead and actually placed back in the lineup Friday night.

- After coming off a rough road trip in Cleveland, Big Papi snapped out of a 1-for-27 slump and went 3-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs and 4 RBIs.

Nay's:
- It appears Jeremy Hermida is going to miss time also after last week's collision, having been placed on the 15-day DL to rest and take a closer look at some bruised ribs that he incurred in a collision with Beltre in early June. Sound familiar? Starting left-fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is still out with no return date set after colliding with Beltre on a sliding catch in April that created a hairline fracture across 4 of his ribs.

Pretty disconcerting stuff as Hermida had stepped up and helped the Sox with his bats in May with Ells and Mike Cameron missing time and the Boston outfielder options now dwindling. The positive side? Beltre is the hottest of the 3 players involved in these collisions and hasn't appeared to have any effects, slugging like a true all-star leading the Sox in hitting in 2010.

- Youkilis' back spasms that caused him to miss action Friday appear to minor in nature and he just needed a night off to recover, but with Ellsbury, Hermida, Cameron and Beckett out and V-Mart playing with a nagging toe injury – the last thing we need right now is for Kevin Youkilis to be on the DL.

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Lester a perfect 11-0 vs. O’s

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

BALTIMORE -- To say that Jon Lester has the Orioles’ number doesn’t quite do it justice, as the Boston lefty improved to 11-0 lifetime against Baltimore.

Over 6-1/3 innings Saturday, Lester gave up 4 hits and 3 walks for 2 runs with 4 K’s in an 8-2 Boston win. He couldn’t have done it alone though, with plenty of aid from the Sox bats, stellar defense in the field and a clutch pickup performance by setup man Daniel Bard.

Bard came in with an out in the 7th with bases loaded and got two flyball outs to get out of the jam. It should be noted that Bard is really in top form right now, coming into games hurling 99 mph heat with 91 mph changeups – that’s scorching and deadly stuff.

The real difference maker on the offensive end was Kevin Youkilis, who went 3-for-5 with a homer and 2 doubles. This on his first night of the year starting at third base – man this guy is adaptable to about any circumstances. Gotta loveYouk.

Red Sox Record: (33-24)
Sunday’s Matchup: John Lackey vs. David Hernandez

Yay’s:
- The team is saying that even though Beltre sat out Saturday’s game, it was just a day off for rest – not due to any injury incurred in his scary collision with Jeremy Hermida Friday night. Sounds like Hermida and Beltre are both cleared to remain playing with no significant injuries, just bruises.

Nay’s:
- (nothing to report today – it’s the Orioles though)

Different Sox in Baltimore this time around

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

Clay Bucholz threw a dazzling 5-hit, complete game for the second shutout of his career in a exclamatory 11-0 Sox win in Baltimore Friday night – where they got swept just weeks ago.

Bucholz was in top form, reminiscent of when we saw him throw a no-hitter in Baltimore in 2007. Over a complete game Bucholz didn’t streak out more than 2 batters but he only walked 1 and got a lot of other easy outs for his defense – including 8 first-pitch outs.

Not only was it one of those nights for the starter, but the whole team seemed to be all over the Orioles like white on rice, in a Dixie paper cup in the middle of a snow storm. Kevin Youkilis, Beltre and Marco Scutaro got Clay’s back, whipping out their bats for a trifecta of longballs.

Red Sox Record: (32-24)
Wildcard Watch: Sox now 4.5 games behind Rays and 2.5 back from Yanks
Saturday’s Matchup: Jon Lester (6-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (3-5, 3.79 ERA)

Yay’s:
- Bucholz is proving more than his worth as a standout 25-year-old pitcher, getting 8 wins already this season, winning the last 9 straight road starts – second in the Sox organization only to Roger Clemens who had 12 straight road wins in ’87-’88.

The young pitcher that was nearly dealt over the past 2 off-seasons is now making an excellent All-Star bid with an 8-3 record, 49 strikeouts and a 2.39 ERA over his first 11 starts.

Nay’s:
- TALK guys TALK! It’s a basic thing I learned in high school ball, if you’re going to give the guy with the best opportunity of making the play a chance you’ve gotta communicate on the field.

My point? Jeremy Hermida and Adrian Beltre almost had a season-ending catastrophe collision going out for a blooper down the left-field line. Beltre ended up only slightly clipping Hermida on his sliding grab, but it could’ve been much worse.

After all that is the exact play where Jacoby Ellsbury slid his ribcage into Beltre’s knee in April. Ells still isn’t back on the field, suffering from the nagging injury. All the Sox need right now is for Beltre or Hermida to go down and leaving a gaping hole in their red hot lineup.

Sooooo TALK! Please, I beg of you, talk!

Sox take 2 of 3 vs. A’s

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

The Sox bats were red-hot in a series highlighted by another quality bounce-back performance by Dice-K and Boston taking 2 out of 3 against the A’s to kick off the month of June.

On Tuesday, John Lackey didn’t have his hottest start – giving up 4 runs through 5 innings. The Sox did rebut though, with a 3-run Adrian Beltre homer in the bottom of 5. A fielder’s choice Pedroia RBI in the 6th evened the game up before Victor Martinez created a lead with a 2-out RBI-double later in the inning.

Bill Hall, V-Mart and J.D. Drew added RBIs to the scoreboard before the game was over for a 9-4 Sox win. It should be highly noted that V-Mart came through big Tuesday with a 5-hit game, 4 of which were doubles. He may not be the best catcher, but man this guy can hit when he’s hot.

Wednesday’s game was a little different, a bit more of a contest. Luckily Dice-K was up to the challenge, collecting his 4th win (4-2, 5.49 ERA) in a 6-4 Boston victory.

Dice struggle a bit early giving up an RBI-double to Ryan Sweeney and a 2-run homer to Kurt Suzuki in the 1st, but he put up zeros for 6 innings after that. The Sox struck back with a 2-RBI Youkilis single in the 1st followed by a 2-run bomb from David Ortiz (12) in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead.

Pedroia widened the gap with an RBI-double in the 7th and Scutaro topped it off at 6 with an RBI-single in the 8th. Jon Papelbon (3.13 ERA) did give up a solo blast to Kevin Kouzmanoff in top of 9, but ultimately held on to secure the win and his 13th save of the season.

Thursday’s home series finale was less of a pitcher’s battle and more of a slugfest, with 6 players going yard in the 9-8 Oakland win. The Sox got their longball boost all from unexpected places – Hermida, Hall, and Scutaro.

Tim Wakefield dropped to 1-4 with a 6.08 ERA on a tough start for the veteran knuckler. Wake had a rough stretch with 2 outs in the 4th, giving up a 2-run homer to Suzuki followed by a 2-run double to Mark Ellis. The Sox were at a deficit playing catch-up for most of the game, making a push in the 7th and 8th innings off of Hall and Scutaro’s homers. Beltre also had a good day at the plate, starting off the Sox’s day at the plate with a 2-run single up the middle. This guy is on a tear as of late.


Yay’s:
- Adrian Beltre has started June just as hot as he ended May, proving to be a defensive dynamo and an absolute RBI machine for the Red Sox.

Nay’s:
- The sox had 18 hits in their loss Thursday but had a key stat – 11 baserunners stranded. You can’t win when you don’t score your runners. Another disappointing fact was that 2 of those stranded runners were gunned out at the plate attempting to score. Both players

- Ortiz came up to the plate with 2 on and 2 out in the bottom of 8 and had a 2-2 fastball burned by him. Would’ve been a big hit spot for Papi to prove to his critics that he is officially back. I mean, I know he is, but still some haters out there need to see some undeniable evidence.

The grades are in: Sox get A- for May

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

W'sup teach?! The grades are in people, that's w'sup – and the Sox recouped after a lackluster D+ of an April to an impressive comeback A- for the month of May.

I'll get to individual and department grades later in my post, but for now here's some stats from the month that was May my argument to why you can never, ever count out the mighty Red Sox of Boston, Mass.

Sox completed May with an 18-11 record for the month and 29-23 overall – now 5-1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Rays. Yes, they're still in 4th in the division but the red-hot start of the Toronto Blue Jays is sure to cool off in June – as it always does.

Then it will be just the Rays, Yanks and Sox left to duke out the rest of the season for two postseason spots. Despite their recent slump to finish May, I still see the Rays taking the division this year – their youth and talent should ride on out well. If you think the Yankees will simply take the 2nd spot without a fight, you are sorely mislead.

Remember, the Sox were 9-0 against the Yankees to start the year in 2009 – then what happened? The Sox pitching rotation and lineup are just as talented as the Yankees championship team of last season, if not more, and when playing well

Adrian Beltre in May: A
- Beltre proved to be the Sox's most valuable off-season pickup in May, hitting 25 RBIs -- the 4th best in the majors for the month.

David Ortiz in May: B+
- David Ortiz had one of his best months in years in May, batting .363 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs.
- After hitting .143 with a homer in four RBIs in April
- 7 homers in last 15 games on an 8-game hitting streak
- Mike Cameron has been quoted saying "He looks dangerous" -- the threat Papi used to pose everytime he approached the plate.

J.D. Drew in May: B
- JD improved from a .181 average in April to an overall .270 after May
- He was also 8th in the majors in doubles for the month of May.

Bullpen in May: B-
- The Sox starters (other than Beckett) had a prolific month, but I can remember only one occasion where the pen blew a win for them -- and that was Papelbon's walk-off homerun to the Yankees' Marcus Thames in New York. Over all I say the pen looked strong and would give special nods to relievers Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Martinez, setup man Daniel Bard, and Paps (who has 12 saves through May).

Starting rotation: A-
- Clay Bucholz and Jon Lester looked ready to takeover the world in May. Lester is expected, but it appears Clay finally has the command to add to his filthy talent and that is a deadly combo. Then we had Dice-K throw a couple decent games -- 1 of which was a 1-hitter and a no-no through 8-2/3 innings.

Josh Beckett in May: F+
- Beck has been downright terrrrrible! He's been hit hard or shelled by the end of at least 80% of his starts. To add to his heaping pile that was the first 2 months of the season, he now is on the DL with no timetable set, experiencing lower back pains. Oh boy...sigh. Well let's hope he's well and ripping in August and there on because we'll need him.

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Armando Galarrage robbed of perfect game

Can you say robbed?!!! This is just ridiculous! The worst call I personally have ever seen in a MLB game! Wow! Feelin' for ya Galarraga, keep your head up bud cuz you just threw a perfect game!

Papi, Tek homer in Lester win

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

The Red Sox put a royal hurtin’ on Kansas City Sunday afternoon with an 8-1 win at the Fen to split the 4 game set with the Royals.

The Royals led briefly in the 2nd inning on a fielder’s choice RBI by Pena, but that didn’t last long. The Sox bats gave the dominant lefty Jon Lester more than enough buffer, rocking both starter Bruce Chen and reliever Brad Thompson to the tune of 8 runs. Ortiz blasted a 2-run home run with Jason Varitek going deep as well for 7th time in 2010. Mike Cameron had a big day at the plate, the best he’s had since his injury return, going 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs.

Lester ran his record to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.97, posting an impressive streak of only allowed 2earned runs or less for the 7th time in his past 8 attempts. This lefty is hot people, nobody better mess with Les. If ya plan to in June, might wanna bring your hard-hat because it’s surely gonna hurt.

Red Sox Record: (29-23)
Tuesday’s Matchup: John Lackey vs. Gio Gonzales

Bucholz wins duel vs. Greinke with shutout

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

A fiery Clay Bucholz had his hands full facing off with 2009 AL Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke on the mound in Fenway Saturday. But Clay brought the good stuff and was just ever so slightly better than All-Star hurler in a showdown of elite young arms.

Greinke was great, but Bucholz was greater…matching the American League ace at every opportunity until the Sox got one break and seized the chance. Mike Lowell drove in the Sox’s only run on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice grounder to take a 1-0 lead that would be the difference maker.

Clay gave up only 4 hits over 7 innings to cement himself as Boston's most consistent starter in 2010 -- standing at 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA. This has been a welcome refreshment to the Sox staff with Josh Beckett not only struggling on the mound early, but with injuries that could potentially keep him out until the midway point of the year or later.

Another key play in the game came when Dustin Pedroia snagged a ripped hit up the middle to his right off a high-hop and made a great throw to first to prevent the runner from getting on base. Even more crucial was this play as it came with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th and a runner attempting to score from third base to tie the game up. Pedroia said ‘nay-nay’ to that though.

Yet another great example of how defense sealed this one for Bucholz and the Sox was when V-Mart gunned down the Royals’ Scott Posednik attempting to steal second base after he led off the 6th inning with a single. Posednik takes that base and who knows? It’s a momentum thing, and Victor wasn’t letting anything like that fly on Saturday night.

Red Sox Record: (28-23)
Today’s Pitching Matchup: Jon Lester (5-2, 3.09 ERA) vs. Bruce Chen (1-0, 2.77 ERA)

Nay’s:
- After only throwing 25 pitches in a Friday workout it became apparent that Josh Beckett's strained lower back is not healing as fast as anticipated, not only will he not be activated this week but it appears that he may be facing a more extended time on the DL.

Yay’s:
- The Sox have found a way to win without Beckett and Ellsbury (and Cameron to boot for a good portion as well) – key members of past year’s successful teams. Players like Clay Bucholz, Jeremy Hermida, J.D. Drew, Darnell McDonald, and now resurgent David Ortiz have made this ship keep its sails up when it looked to be sinking.

- Papelbon got his 12th save on a smooth, ideal 1-2-3 9th inning. Good to see he’s on top of his game now, especially against the lineups (like the Royals) who should give him no trouble what so ever.
Daniel Bard also shined as Paps’ setup man, getting through a threatening 8th inning to leave nothing as else for Big John to do other than slam the door in the 9th.

The timeless knuckler get slammed

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

A majority of the time Tim Wakefield has taken the mound over his lengthy and proficient career, his trademark knuckleball has knuckled with wild wonder and bewildered batters around the league. At the very least the unpredictable nature of the pitch kept the damage to a minimum. Friday was not one of those days for Wake.

His knuckler wasn’t moving near enough and was the ideal kind of beefy meat that the Kansas City Royals batters didn’t hesitate to jump all over. Wake gave up 9 runs over 3-2/3 innings in the 12-5 loss at Fenway.

To accurately describe how bad it got and how fast, there is really only one stat: 7 runs in the first 2 outs of the 4th inning alone. This of course included a grand slam that took matters from bad to worse quite quickly.

But that’s the gamble you take with knuckleball pitchers, whether great or average, there are days they will get hit hard. It’s up to the coach to pull them before it gets to the point of no return and Francona left Wake in too long Friday night – probably out of respect for the 43-year-old veterans’ wishes…but who knows. Sometimes you think you can shake something and get yourself out of trouble and ya can’t. He’s done it a number of times, but that wasn’t going to fly that evening.

Yay’s:
- Victor Martinez, in only his second game back from a foot injury, homered and drove in 4 of the Sox’s 5 runs Friday night.

Nay’s:
- After playing just 3 games after returning from his severe rib injury in April, Ellsbury returned to the DL Friday after admitting to staff that he was not able to give it 100 percent in his current condition. The Sox organization did not immediately announce a timetable for his rehabilitation or return to the squad.

Sox Record: (27-23)
Today's Matchup: Clay Bucholz vs. Zack Greinke

Dice-K loses his command

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- Dice-K threw 9 pitches to his first batter on Thursday for a leadoff walk.

That's about how Matzusaka's night went, struggling to gain command of his pitches throughout. Frankly its mildly amazing that this only a 4-3 loss.

All-in-all Dice lasted only 4-2/3 innings givng up 3 runs on 2 hits and a lethal 8 walks (5 of which came in the Royals' 3-run 5th inning. Dice is now 3-2 with a 5.77 ERA even after throwing a stunning 1-hitter in his last start in Philadelphia.

The Sox bats didn't look to shabby but definitely weren't on fire, in that respect, either. Beltre and Varitek had RBI nights, Tek's coming off a double, and Bill Hall had a solo shot.

Sox record: (27-22)
Yay's:
- The bullpen stand of Joe Nelson, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez looked strong over 4-1/3 innings only giving up 2 hits and 1 run.

- One loss in a Kansas City 4-game set is nothing to signal the alarm about. If the Sox take the next 2 or 3 I think Sox fans have to remain happy about the way things are going for their team who are really on a tear here in May.

Nay's:
- Dice-K's lack of consistency is something I'm sure the Sox staff would like to see level out as the season progresses.

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Sox gettin' their sweep on

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- Just 5 weeks after falling victim to the Rays in an embarassing 4-game sweep at Fenway, the Sox have returned the favor.

Given it was only 3 games, but the BoSox did come into St. Petersburg on a roll and put it on the MLB-leading Rays harder, and harder each night.

The latest stomping was Wednesday when the Sox hitters jumped all over ace Matt Garza, who gave up 6 runs in the 11-3 Boston win. Five of those runs came on longballs, 2 of which came off Adrian Beltre's bat. A third was served up by none other than the red-hot, tongue-scorching panini that is David Ortiz on a 2-run shot.

Just one more thing on Beltre though, just to be clear, the man did have 2 homers, a triple and 6 RBIs Wednesday. That's just scary! Even better Beltre is leading the team in hitting with a .341 ERA -- impressive when he was brought in for his glove.

John Lackey also had a good day throwing for 8 hits and 4 walks but getting out of some big jams to end up only giving up 2 runs over 6-1/3. Lackey improved to 5-3 with a 4.84 ERA.

Red Sox record: (27-21)
Key stat: Sox now 5-1/2 games back of the AL East leading Rays

Yay's:
- Boston just finished a 13-game stretch against the Tigers, Yankees, Twins, Phillies and Rays -- five strong postseason contenders -- with a 9-4 mark...not bad. They also had a 1.33 ERA against the Rays this series.

- Big Papi is officially BACK! He hit his 10th homerun tonight hitting in his old spot, the 3-hole. Not only that, but Ortiz is looking like the fun-loving Papi of old who swings a big stick and carries a bigger smile with him on the field and off.

This guy is a Boston institution, so its good to see him back in the groove again.

Nay's:
- Nothing, I'm absolutely thrilled by the way my boys are playing these days! Go Sox!


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Lester rules Rays

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- Have I mentioned lately how the Boston Sox are playing some damn good baseball?

Jon Lester had something to say about that Tuesday night, improving his ERA to 3.15 and his record to 5-2 as he helped shutout the Rays 2-0. The southpaw hurler threw for 7 strikeouts, 5 walks and only a single hit.

The game was still truly won by great pitching and defense, but David Ortiz's 2-out, 2-run double in the 3rd inning made all the difference for Boston. Papi is really, really doing great things at the plate the past few weeks -- slump no more I say.

Then Jon Papelbon also came in and finished it off for his 11th save of the year.

Red Sox record: (26-21)
Wednesday's matchup: Lackey vs Garza

Yay's:
- Over the past four games, Boston's starting rotation is 4-0 with a 0.32 ERA. Oh yeah, and all the games were in either Philly or Tampa. That's downright amazing.

- Boston is now 6-1/2 games behind the Rays in the AL East and is going for a sweep of their division rivals Wednesday

- Manny Delcarmen, Daniel Bard and Paps all came in relief during an intense, close game and followed Lester's lead, kept things rolling and cemented the shutout win of the best offensive team in baseball.

- Jacoby Ellsbury will reportedly be taking his rightful place back at the helm in centerfield, named the team's regular at that spot with Mike Cameron coming off an injury plagued month and thus making an easier return transition into left field on Wednesday.

Nay's:
- The Sox will undobtedly have their hands full on Wednesday with Rays ace Matt Garza on the mound. Hopefully John Lackey can right his ship and bring his A-game to this potential pitcher's duel.

- Ellsbury is 1-for-14 since returning from his injury on Saturday. Sat out Tuesday with a sore hip. Eventually the Sox will need this guy to be the catalyst for runs on the base paths and that requires getting on base first.

I just hope his injuries aren't still more severe than the Sox organization has let on.
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Papi, Youk punish Rays

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

-- It's not an overstatement to say that the Sox are red hot right now!

David Ortiz trade? Thing of the past. Pitcher problems in a star-studded rotation? What pitching issues? The only baggage the Sox appear to be carrying these days are sacks full of beatdowns for their opponents.

Boston came off 2 wins in Philly into a predictably tough road series in St. Petersburg, but pulled off a concincing 6-1 win Monday night behind longball blasts by Kevin Youkilis and Big Papi.

More impressive was how Clay Bucholz went about collecting his 6th win of the year. The rising star for the Sox threw for 8 strikeouts, 6 hits and 1 run, in 6 innings. With a plethora of confidence and newfound maturity on the mound Clay is having an All-Star caliber year, now posting a stunning 3.07 ERA.

Bucholz has now also won eight straight starts on the road. Nuts, absolutely nuts I tell you.

Red Sox Record: (25-21)

Yay's:
- Any remnant of doubt with David Ortiz should now be gone. This guy is more than making up for a bad April and doesn't look to be cooling off again anytime soon. Viva la Papi!

Nay's:
- Victor Martinez drilled himself with a foul tip right on the big toe and suffered a deep bone bruise on the toe. The Sox have Tek, who has played great this year, so I'm not too worried if V-Mart has to take a week off.
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Sox rock the Halladay

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

The Red Sox jumped all over NL ace Roy Halladay in an 8-3 road clobbering of the Phillies.

The Sox took 2 of 3 from the Phillies in this Philadelphia series, proving that they do indeed still have the pitching and the bats to make some serious runs this season. Lookout Rays and Yanks – we’re gunnin’ for ya!

Halladay hit the showers early Sunday after only 5-2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. The Cy Young Award Winner and ace for the NL champion Phillies gave up 8 hits and 5 runs to the Sox in a very, very short time frame.

This is not uncommon for Roy when the Sox are in town, having a 14-15 record against Boston.

On the other side of the mound, 43-year-old Tim Wakefield threw 8 innings of shutout baseball, with a strikeout and only giving up 5 hits to improve to 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA. Wake also threw only 99 pitches, 62 for strikes – this is a knuckleball pitcher were talking about here remember. Amazing.

Red Sox Record: (24-21)

Tomorrow’s matchup: Clay Bucholz (5-3, 3.26 ERA) vs. Wade Davis (4-3, 3.35 ERA)
-Tuesday’s matchup: Jon Lester () vs. James Shields ()
-Wednesday’s matchup: John Lackey vs. Matt Garza ()

Yay’s:
- Kevin Youkilis is a true beast of Viking lore! A home run (9), triple, and a walk – the 2 hits being off of Halladay. I’d say Youk’s got his number alright. Good for my Sox and even better for my fantasy team. Gotta love this guy.

- A 4-run 6th inning for the Sox was what really broke the dam and opened the flood gates, knocking Roy out of the game and tacking on 2 runs thereafter.

- The Sox have now won 4 of their last 5 against some of the best teams in baseball.

Nay’s:
- Ramon Ramirez came in for Wake in the 9th and gave up 3 hits for 3 runs, including back-to-back doubles to Werth and Ibanez and a homer to Ross Gload. I say let Wake finish it off there Francona, he knows how to pace himself and the Sox need to not tap the bullpen unless it’s completely necessary these days.

- The Sox have played very well lately against the Yankees, Twins and Phillies – but the test isn’t over yet for this eventful road trip with the next stop in Tampa. The Rays are in my opinion the best team in the AL East and will win the pennant. However the Sox have to win games against the Rays and the Yankees respectively to make it to the postseason.

I feel it will ultimately come down to the Yankees and Red Sox for the wildcard this year, so every game between this 3-headed division rivalry will count big time. New York is the team to beat, but you want to bring you A-game if you’re playing the Rays these days and it’s going to take exactly what the Sox have dished out this week already, plus some, if they want to win this series.

Dice-K dominates!

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

My Red Sox ARE back baby! I’m tellin’ you haters out there, start payin’ attention and you might learn something. We don’t roll over, we don’t die and you can never, ever count out the Boston freakin’ Red Sox.

Dice-K Matsuzaka put on a masterpiece of a pitching stand last night, flirting with a no-hitter (just four outs short) into the 8th inning and collecting his third win of the year in a powerful 5-0 statement victory for the Sox in Philly. That’s right, Dice-K did that to the Philadelphia Phillies all-star batting lineup – undoubtedly the best NL team for the past two seasons. And Dice-K? Ripped through them. Destroyed their lineup time and time again, with ease.

Juan Castro was the only Phillies hitter to get a hit off of Dice-K, and by about 2 inches. He got a bloop single into shallow left field that nearly grazed off of a diving Marco Scutaro’s glove. Close, so close.

But in the end the Sox hit well off of Kyle Kendrick and Matzusaka still collected a quality shutout of the toughest hitting team in the National League. Dice-K just gave up the 1 hit, 4 walks and threw 5 K’s in his 112 pitches.

Not a bad way to start interleague play for the Sox if I do say so myself.

Yay’s:
- Dice-K was the highlight for sure, but let’s not forget that the Sox gave him some run production tonight as well. David Ortiz showed some serious hustle for the first run of the game, busting his ass to home plate on a close RBI sac-fly from Jeremy Hermida. Then a string of hits – including an RBI single from J.D., an RBI double from Big Papi and a 2-RBI double from Beltre – gave the Sox the 5-run buffer for insurance.

An all-around big win, nobody how you slice it.

- But let me make something clear, Dic-K pitched great, but you do NOT throw a no-no or flirt with a no-no by yourself. The Sox’s defense made a number of great plays on ripped line-drives and shots that could’ve easily been a base-hit if not for clutch, timely consistent glove work.

Nay’s:
- This is the most ludicrous decision I have seen Manager Terry Francona make, and he doesn’t make many. When Varitek is behind the plate with Dice-K, the Japanese ace has thrown for 2 wins with a .60 ERA. The other three starts in 2010 where V-Mart is behind the dish Matzusaka has posted a redonkulously scary 11.05 ERA.

Yet Coach Tito is NOT ready to make Tek, the team’s captain, both Beckett and Dic-K’s designated exclusive catcher. Francona stated the V-Mart is the Red Sox’s catcher and the team’s #3 hitter, and if he’s not in the lineup everyday that’s a problem for the offense.

- Yes, this is a great show of confidence for Dice-K bouncing back now and hopefully a momentum changer…but there is no guarantee and let’s face it, the guy has been inconsistent, if anything, for the past 2.5 years.

Lackey loses grip in Philly

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

After starting the season with a few great starts John Lackey has begun to waiver through late April and May and continued in that vein Friday night in the Sox’s 5-1 loss to the Phillies, dropping Big John to 4-3 with a 5.06 ERA.

I mean certainly this is no Josh Beckett kind of crisis situation, but with Beck really struggling it would be nice to have the Sox’s biggest off-season import on top of his game right now. Regardless, it’s tough to snap out of a slump when you’re facing the 2-time NL-champ Phillies at home. Good luck.

Over the last three starts Lackey has given up 17 hits, 15 runs and 12 walks over 18 innings showing obvious issues with command of his pitches. Friday John gave up 6 hits for 4 runs.

The blame must go around accordingly though, as the Sox’s bats had nothing in reply to a more than decent outing from Cole Hamels – only giving up Victor Martinez’s solo-shot home run in the top of the 1st. The BoSox did however mount a considerable comeback effort in the 9th against former Sox reliever J.C. Romero. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Big Papi drove a deep fly to the warning track in the farthest depths of center field only to be robbed by Shane Victorino of a potential game-tying grand slam.

Close but no cigar is all you can say in that situation.

Red Sox Record: (22-21)
Today’s Matchup: Dice-K (2-1, 7.89 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (2-1, 5.24 ERA)

Yay’s:
- Coach Tito did entrust a great deal in David Ortiz Friday night, having him pinch-hit for Bill Hall with the bases loaded in the 9th – and it was crazy enough of a move that it almoooooost worked. Damn! Still, I was happy to see Big Papi at the plate in that kind of situation and it’s a for sure vote of confidence.

- J.D. Drew showed some flash of glove Friday night, making a great grab at the wall to prevent a sure double or triple off the bat of Victorino.

- Reliever Joe Nelson was brought up from Pawtucket AAA for the trip and made his first 2-inning appearance of the season, doing a decent job of cleaning up after a poor inning from Big John.

- Jacoby Ellsbury looks to be inserted back into the lineup Saturday night and that does a number of things whenever this young star is in the lineup. 1.) He has an outstanding career on-base percentage 2.) He is always a threat and potential game changer on the base paths – crucial for a team that has stranded a lot of runners this year 3.) He can be a bit reckless with his body but is tough to beat defensively in the outfield

Nay’s:
- Lackey did not look good and hasn’t looked good recently. That combined with Dice-K and Beck’s struggles does not bode well for the Sox even amongst the resurgence of their offense and play in the field. Youngsters Lester and Bucholz are carrying this stacked rotation and shouldn’t have to be with all its star-studded veteran leadership.

- Now that Ells is back in the lineup apparently, Darrell McDonald’s playing time is ultimately threatened. This guy has been a god send for the Sox as of late and needs to be kept up in the majors at least until Mike Cameron has returned and is 100% clear of his injury troubles.

Pitching, Papi in good form vs. Twinkies

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

So other than David Ortiz’s continued improvement, hitting a crucial homer Wednesday night for the go ahead run, and both Bucholz and Lester having fantastic back-to-back starts what else does America need to stop doggin’ on the Sox?

How about two big wins against the AL Central dandies, the Minnesota Twins? Maybe. What do ya say to a legitimate 3-game interleague set with none other than the Phillies? Now that’s more like it.

As has been my mantra for the past month: I’ve kept repeating over and over that it was still I indeed “very early.” But no, none of you had any faith. Everybody bailed on the Sox, Big Papi, Jon Papelbon, Tito, Theo and all those involved when the season was still under a quarter of the way complete.

Well, well, well…is that Mr. Ortiz I see coming up around the bend hitting .405 with 5 home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 11 games and .358 for the month of May? Improving his batting average a mere 99 points? Is that the youth of the program in Lester and Bucholz going the distance throwing for 8 or 9 innings and both posting overall ERAs of between 3.2 and 3.5 to this point? Are Youkilis and Pedroia not both having solid all-star/MVP-potential year?

All true, very true. Yes they may be a less than impressive 22-20 on May 21 heading into a weekend in Philly, but I say if the Sox can stand up to a team that is clearly the NL’s best and when a game or two – anything is possible for this club in 2010. This is most certainly a statement series for a hot Red Sox team if there ever was such a thing.

Those of you who are counting my BoSox out in May…think again who you’re talking about. This is the comeback king, down 3-0 to the Yankees, resilient, brut-tough, never quit, never die Boston freakin’ Red Sox (“everybody in the congregation say A’men!”).

Anyways, my sermon will cease for now. Back to some stats.

After not getting back into Boston from New York until Wednesday morning at 4 a.m., Clay Bucholz put on an astonishing 8-inning, 2-run display to hold the Twins at bay, lower his ERA to 3.26 and collect a club-leading 5th win of the year. Daniel Bard came in and slammed the door in the 9th for the save as Paps was unavailable after a couple strenuous outings in the Big Apple.

The following night Jon Lester squared off in a duel of the lefties with Franciso Liriano, getting the upper hand and the win. Not only that, but JL went the full distance and Liriano was pulled in the beginning of the 5th. Lester gave up 6 hits, 1 run and absolutely looked dominant with 9 Ks. Terry Francona (aka “Tito” – I guess they call the man Tito in Boston…found that out this week) said John’s frontside cutter was moving very well Thursday.

Aside from great pitching against the Twins, the Sox also have had great defense with several double plays from the 1-2-punch of Scutaro-Pedroia and a bounty of long balls from Ortiz, Beltre and Youkilis.

Sox record: (22-20)
On the mound tonight: John Lackey (4-2, 4.86 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (4-2, 4.29 ERA)

Yay’s:
- The Sox are about as in-stride as they could be heading into this week with the Yankees, Twins and Phillies and are playing well.

- Plus Jacoby Ellsbury will reportedly be available to play for the BoSox come Saturday night’s game, adding another interesting element to this puzzle – do you throw him back in right away and if so what do you do with Darrel MacDonald? Too many options is never a negative, but I say if anybody has to go back down to Pawtucket make it Van Every or Bill Hall and keep D-Mac swingin’ with the big boys – he’s earned that much.

Nay’s:
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein skipped the trip to New York this week and stayed at home in Boston. Why? He had backstage passes to meet Pearl Jam at a Boston show. Don’t get me wrong, I looooove me some Pearl Jam (I aint hatin’ on ya EdVed), but when your teams flirting with .500 and playing the Yankees and you’re the head honcho…you show up to the game.

Now if the Royals, A’s, Indians, O’s or Jays are in town – yeah, skip it, give Mike McCreedy a high-five for me. But the Yankees? C’mon man, I know you’re like this Wunderkind 35-year-old but ya gotta make that one, no excuses bud…even if it’s Pearl Jam.

Playing under protest: Why the Yankees are a bunch of elitist cry-babies

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

You may not have caught this last night amongst the epic 9th inning comeback victory from the Boston Red Sox, but the Yankees were playing that game under PROTEST.

Why you ask? When Josh Beckett almost bit the dust at the 5-1/3 inning mark, coming up wincing in pain from a re-aggravated lower back strain, Yankees Joe Girardi came out to home plate and argued with the ump stating his team’s protest with the Sox starter being relieved for the injury.

Girardi implied that when Manny Delcarmen was given near two minutes to warm-up and get in the game to replace the injured Beckett, the Sox pitching staff had collaborated on a scheme with the ailing starter “pretending to get hurt” so that a reliever would be given more time to get in the game. The Yankees manager protested that the injury replacement was not gone about in the correct manner and gave the Sox an advantage at that point in the game.

Mind you this is when the Yankees were up 5-1. Thus the New York home team played the game in official protest. However, it looks like they won’t be taking up the matter with the league as of Wednesday.

If anyone has been following Beckett’s well-documented woes, they would already know that he has been struggling with a lower back strain and was pulled from last Thursday’s start for just that. Now today Beckett was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

So, yes Yankees fans, I’m sure our ace pitcher put on one hell of a show to get pulled from the game just as he is now faking he’s hurt to sit on the DL. Pleeeeease people, get in the real world. Josh may be struggling, but he if he is nothing else to you Yanks, you must acknowledge Beckett as a competitor.

So stop your crying Yankees. After all, you did have a 4-run lead through the 8th until you blew it in the 9th on your fancy new home field. Sacrilege, absolute sacrilege. Stop whining, and keep in mind we’re only 5.5 games back and intend on improving that number with Cameron and Ellsbury returning to the lineup in early June.

The comeback kings take care of biz in NY

Ty Hampton
Sox Swaggerista

Hallelujah, it looks like the old Boston Red Sox are BACK! At least they’re never going down without a fight this season.

Last night’s down 5-0 comeback stand against the Yankees, the second in their two nights in the Big Apple, could not be interpreted as anything other than a team that is not rolling over and will not be dominated by their bitter rivals no matter what kind of adversity they’ve faced in early 2010.

Monday night’s comeback to fall short on a blown save in the bottom of the 9th was gut wrenching and depressing for Sox fans everywhere -- but Tuesday’s glorious come from behind victory was a welcome feeling of redemption no doubt.

CC Sabathia looked dominant early, throwing some serious smoke and building a 5-0 lead that was still a 5-1 buffer when he left the game after 8 innings. Then Jaba Chamberlain took the mound in the top of 9 and let’s just say things didn’t work too well for him.

The comeback surge began with a 1-out single by the ever-so-clutch Darnell MacDonald. But the key turning point was when NY right-fielder Marcus Thames, the hero from Monday night, lost a routine fly ball by Marco Scutaro the next at bat. Then Dustin Pedroia got on base, followed by a clutch RBI-single from JD Drew and a 2-RBI bloop hit by Youkilis.

The second out of the top of the 9th came only when Big Papi drove a deep fly ball to center for a sac-fly. Then Jeremy Hermida came up big with his league-leading 16th and 17th RBIs in a 2-out situation for the Sox to take a 7-5 lead.

Jon Papelbon then came in looking still a bit shaky, but slammed the door after giving up one run -- ending the game with a powerful 94-mph slider for the game-sealing strikeout.

The Sox are still 5-½ games behind the second place Yanks (8-½ behind the Rays), but these head-to-head matchups are important not only for momentum’s sake, but when it comes down to the AL wildcard race--which appears to be a huge factor for the top 3 teams in the AL East these days.

Tonight Clay Bucholz takes the mound in Fenway versus the Twins’ Scott Baker. The Sox need to play stronger against the Twins after getting shellacked their first series in Minneapolis.

Red Sox Record: (20-20)

Pap rocked in 9th for loss to Yanks

Ty Hampton
Swaggerista

Just as the Sox looked to have pulled off an epic comeback and statement game against their bitter rivals, the Yankees took Papelbon deep twice in the 9th inning to tack on 4 runs in a 11-9 loss in the Bronx.

Dice-K fell behind 5-0 in the second inning as the Yanks strung together a series of singles, walks, and one big double to take a commanding lead. But the thing I like most about the Sox is that they never, ever panic – that’s what makes them the comeback kings after all.

Boston kept up, adding a run here or there to keep themselves in the game: A towering solo shot by Papi in the 4th, a leadoff double by Pedie in the 5th followed by a JD Drew 3-run homer, then followed by back-to-back home runs by Youk and V-Mart in the 8th to take a 9-7 Sox lead.

All in all the Sox had 5 homers of their own in Monday’s contest, but the only 2 longballs in the game that mattered when it was all said and done were those launched by A-Rod and Marcus Thames in the bottom of 9. Papelbon has blown a few games before, but I don’t know if any of those blown saves hurt as much as this one.

After winning 2 out of 3 with the Jays and having a disappointing 1-2 series with the Tigers, the Sox needed to take advantage of their high-profile rivalry to make a statement that they are still on the up-and-up. Instead, they fell a game under .500, dropping to 19-20 as the Yankees continued to live the dream at 25-13.

The Beantown Bombers will get another chance to redeem themselves tonight with a rematch of the season opener – Beckett vs. Sabathia. Beck has had a little more rest than he’s accustomed to lately with back scares encouraging Francona to take him out of the rotation last week to insert Tim Wakefield for an evening.
Beckett is 1-1 with a 7.46 ERA while Sabathia is cruising at 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA. But if the Sox bats give CC the same treatment they showed Yankee young-gun Phil Hughes last night, things could get interesting as long as Beckett keeps things close.

One thing is for sure, now is the time to get on the horse and start winning because the Sox have 2 more games in this series with New York before heading to Minnesota and the Phillies next. So nothing is going to get easier or be handed to them from here on out. It's time to get 'er done.

To HELL with those damn Yanks! Let's GO RED SOX! Let's GO RED SOX! Let's GO RED SOX!

Will Ferrell Express

Somebody please get Theo on the phone pronto! We got a fiery young arm to pick up in Texas by the name of Randy Ray "Rojo" Johnson! Beef up the pen a bit! Make it hap'n cap'n!

Pen bails out Lackey for close win

Ty Hampton
-Swaggerista

A combination of the bats, the bullpen and some good old-fashioned luck bailed out John Lackey (4-1) as he collected his 4th win of the year in a close-fought 7-6 Red Sox victory Monday.

Lackey came out and gave up 4 runs in the first 2 innings, luckily the Sox countered with 3 of their own to stay in the game early. While the Sox didn’t go deep, David Ortiz had a clutch 2-out, RBI-single in the middle innings and Pedie and V-Mart added 2 RBIs and 3 RBIs at the plate respectively in the effort.

Over 6 innings pitched, Lackey gave up 8 hits, including a homerun, for 6 earned runs with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. The bullpen however was about as efficient as we’ve seen them all year. Okajima, Bard, and Papelbon came in and did their duty for an inning each to close this thing out without as much as a hit – only giving up a walk between the three of them.

The luck came into play when the Sox again picked up a walk-in run with Pedroia at the plate in a crucial spot in the game. That run ended up making all the difference, and Boston’s continued patience at the plate could never seem more appropriate.

Red Sox record: (17-16)

Yay’s:
- The pen finally looked spectacular – something that is going to be crucial with Josh Beckett having a rough start and on nights where Lester, Lackey, Dice-K or Bucholz aren’t up to snuff.

- The Sox just finally eeked back over .500 with this win for the first time in nearly a month, pulling within 5.5 games from the AL East leading Rays. See people, adjustments need to be made but those of you who are counting the Sox out already this year just need to chillax my man.

Nay’s:
- JD Drew missed action Monday undergoing bouts of vertigo. This guy sure has some luck. If it’s not a nagging shoulder, he comes down with a debilitating case of the dizzies. Holy schnikes man!

- The worst news from Monday however was that Josh Beckett aggravated his back worse in throwing practice. Luckily, you’ve got a guy like Wake just sittin’ around in the pen thirsty for some more starting opportunities.

Sox avoid Yanks sweep with 9-3 victory

-- Just when the Sox looked like they would roll over for the Yankees this 3-game set, they went and completely redeemed themselves with a 9-3 win at Fenway Park Sunday night.

Jon Lester is beginning to look like more of an ace than Josh Beckett these days after collecting his third win of the season with a 7 strikeout, 4 hit performance over 7 innings.

The Sox supported Lester with their best bats of the season, including RBI doubles from Youkilis, Beltre and Ortiz as well as a long-ball compliments of Hermida. Keep in mind this was primarily off of AJ Burnett, whose been one of the hottest starters in the majors this season.

Lester improved to 3-2 with Burnett getting his first loss of the year at 4-1. The Sox host Toronto Monday night with John Lackey taking the mound and hope to dip over .500 for the first time in May.

Sox record: (16-16)

Sox pitching slammed by Yanks

-- Just as Boston was building confidence with an 11-6 Thursday thrashing of the Angels to complete a 4-game sweep, the Sox are now trying to avoid a devastating home sweep at the hands of those damn Yankees with Sundays showdown.

If it wasn't bad enough watching an improving Josh Beckett fully collapse to give up 9 earned runs in 5-1/3 innings for a 10-3 Friday night loss, the Sox pitching found a way to unravel completely on Saturday.

The Sox managed to put up 3 runs in 3 innings as Victor & D-Mac both went deep. The Yanks had a 6-3 lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th when the rain poured down on CC Sabathia, causing a full-tarp rain delay that lasted a good hour.

Still, at this point there was hope. Then the Yankees went on to blow out Boston 14-3 with 3 homeruns from Mark Texeira alone.

Red Sox Record: (15-16)

Yay's:
- Ya know, a win's a win's a win--but it's just a win in the singular fashion no matter how many runs are tacked on. I have confidence the Sox are gonna be in this thing Sunday, with a heating up Jon Lester on the mound. Expect it to be low scoring though because unfortunately AJ Burnett is pretty hot right now as well.

- And ya know what? The Yankees didn't start out the 2009 season overall as bad as the Sox have this year, but I do believe the Sox-Yanks matchup started 9-0 in favor of Boston. And who went on to win the World Series? My point: it's a long season. It doesn't look great right now, but don't ever, ever count out ballclubs with as much stockpiled ammunition and talent as the Sox or the Yankees.

- Friday night Beckett started with dialed-in control, striking out 6 of the first 9 batters. Its taking another approach to maintain that control over 6, 7 or 8 innings that Beck must find now.

Nay's:
- When Beckett's meltdown began in the 6th inning Friday night he not only gave up 3 walks, with 2 batters beaned, but 2 runs walked in. Then there was a 2-run single, followed by a homerun. It was about the ugliest 1/3 of an inning I've ever seen.

- Obviously Beckett and Bucholz's performances were less than great, but other than a couple outbursts of power, the Sox havn't been able to string the bats together against the Yankees the way they did with the Angels last week.
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Boston pulls to .500 with Lackey win over former club

-- John Lackey didn’t show any mercy on his former team of the 8 seasons last night as he threw a 2 hit, 1-run game against the Halos for a 3-1 Boston win.

The Sox have now won all three of the games in the Angels series (heading into another tough game tonight) due to clutch pitching, tight defense on the diamond and timely bats in the latter innings.

Lackey stole the show in his third win of the season (3-1) though with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks over 7 innings of play. Lackey also worked efficiently, only throwing 103 pitches in the outing.

To make things better for Boston, setup man Daniel Bard came in firing his best triple-digit heat to blow through the 8th and Papelbon collected the save without any trouble in the 9th – basically the Sox are finally winning games ideally the way they draw them up.

Adrian Beltre was huge for the Sox Wednesday, going 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs. To top it off David Ortiz hit his 4th home run of the year, continually instilling more and more hope in the fans and organization one series at a time.

After pulling to .500 on the season at 14-14 with last night's win, the Sox are now going for a Boston sweep of the Angels -- the team that knocked them out of the playoffs in the ALDS last fall. The final game of the series is tonight with Dice-K taking the mound for his second start of the year.

Clutch 8th leads to Sox win

-- Tuesday's game could not have been any more opposite than the prior night's double-digit Fenway slugfest, quickly turning into a pitching duel between Jon Lester and Angel hurler Ervin Santana. That is until the flood gates opened up in the 8th inning to propel Boston towards a clutch 5-1 victory.

Lester looked great, going 8 innings only giving up 1 run on 5 hits, two walks and collecting 5 strikeouts. But the wall the Sox have been facing all of April has been making that extra push to get the victory in tight games.

Thanks to a 2-out, base-clearing 3-run double by Jeremy Hermida the Sox jumped ahead with plenty of breathing room in the bottom of the 8th. Before the Halos got out of the inning, Hermida was also brought in to score and make it 5-1 on a J.D. Drew RBI-single.

Other than Lester's greatness on the mound, defense was a consistent theme throughout the game. Perhaps the biggest play may not have even been Hermida's double in the gap but a huge double-play by Pedroia to escape an Angels assault in the top of the 8th.

The bases were loaded with 1 out. With Eric Aybar on first Bobby Abreu hit a rip of a grounder towards right field, but it wouldn't get there as Pedie swooped in snagged it off an extremely short hop and still had the knowledge to tag the passing Aybar before shovel passing it to Youk for the unconventional double-play to get out of the inning and sustain the 1-1 tie game at that point.

It seems that no matter how much we see of Dustin Pedroia, his skill and impact with both the bat and the glove is still underrated and underappreciated in the game of baseball. Plus he's proven time and time again to be clutch in just about any situation the Sox need him. Props Pedie, much props buddy!

Yay's:
- Tuesday's victory was at last the masterpiece breed of victory the Sox have been struggling to get. A close-fought victory against a serious contender where the Sox's pitching clicked, defense made game-saving plays, and the bats were alive enough to get it done in the clutch.

- A lot of people missed two other HUGE defensive plays that saved the day for the Sox other than Pedie's clutch double-play in the 8th. With a runner in scoring position Marco Scutaro made a running, one-hop, fading the other direction throw from the outfield grass to hose the runner at first and steal a hit from the Angels.

Then with a runner on second and third with 2 outs in the 7th Victor Martinez attempted a pickoff play at third. The thing is his throw was short by about 5 feet and inside the baseline, and if it were not for a full-body layout dive from Adrian Beltre to snag the errant throw, that runner and maybe the runner at second could've scored on the sure error.

- Papelbon looks to be in stride as well now as he come in and slammed the door without any trouble on the last three games he's appeared in.

Nay's:
- Ortiz was given yet another shot at redemption Tuesday with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 8th. However, he grounded out into a home-to-first double play to complete his 0-4 performance for the day. Could've used ya there Papi. I feel for the guy though because he knows that more than anyone. You can bet if this trend continues we're going to keep seeing Ortiz pulled off the on-deck circle for a Mike Lowell pinch-hit in crucial game situations, which is sad, but necessary at this point.
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Beautiful words for a beautiful game

-- Longtime news reporter, sportsman, and play-by-play announcer Ernie Harwell passed away at his home in Michigan today at the age of 92. Harwell was best known for being inducted in the baseball hall of fame for calling over 8,500 major league games over 55 years of service to the sport -- primarily with the Detroit Tigers.

Ernie gave the following speech at his induction ceremony to the Cooperstown, NY, Baseball Hall of Fame in August of 1981. It was Ernie's own definition of baseball and perhaps some of the most beautiful words ever written about the game or any sport or that matter.

In remembrance of a great baseball man, here are his own iconic words to remember him by today and forever:

...Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his (Babe Ruth's) 714 home runs.

There's a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That's baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another.

Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It's a veteran too, a tired old man of thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an over aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville.

Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World's Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That's baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying., "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, "Down in Front", Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and the Star Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!

May-hem! Sox open month with 17-8 slaughtering

-- "Boo" and "ya" were the only two words to describe the Sox's 17-8 win over the Angels Monday night at the Fen.

Boston hit 4 homers on 20 hits Monday to bring down a mighty reckoning of vengeance on their west-coast rivals who knocked them out of the ALDS last October. Defense, again, was not a premium in this one – but Clay Bucholz's start was variably better than any of the Angels pitchers could manage last night. Clay got the win, but gave up 8 hits and 4 runs over 5-2/3 innings.

Bill Hall and Adrian Beltre hit their first home runs as members of the Red Sox and Pedroia and Youkilis contributed dingers to the pummeling as well. It seemed no matter who was up to the plate, the Angels starter Saunders and multiple bullpen members could just not avoid giving up a hit and couldn't buy an out to get out of troublesome innings.

Sox record: (12-14)

Yay's:
- After missing action and being scratched from the lineup Sunday with a sore groin, Youkilis stepped back into action and slammed a pitch over the monster in his first at-bat to ignite the Sox's offensive onslaught for the evening.

- J.D. Drew was about the only guy who had a good series in Baltimore last weekend, hitting 2 homeruns in 3 games. His quality at-bats continued Monday going 2-3 with a walk. Call me crazy, but I've noticed that the Sox have traditionally gotten a couple hot months per season out of Drew and when he's on, the whole team gets a boost. I'm not saying Drew is the X-factor in the lineup that decides Boston's fate, but he certainly has a big impact at times.

- Mike Lowell was inserted in the DH spot for Ortiz in the series opener, a great move by Terry Francona for the outing as the clutch veteran matched up with Saunders better than Papi and went 4-4 with 4 RBIs. Even though the Sox organization has officially resisted to call the Papi-Lowell mix a "platoon", it appears to be nothing else than that. Which in my mind, works perfectly. It gives you options for matchups and if one guy gets hot, hey great leave him in. If not? Well then you've still got options and with Papi getting better at-bats as of late and Lowell continuedly proving his value – that's the best solution for the Sox.

- Being swept by the Orioles in Baltimore over the weekend noticeably didn't sit well with the Red Sox players and staff. They made no excuses, stayed focused, used it as fuel and clearly made a statement in their powerful win over the Halos.

Nay's:
- I believe the Sox's whole emphasis this offseason was defense. They still appear to have too much offense and not enough of the big D. Even in overpowering wins like 17-8, that is still not the kind of baseball the Sox want to playing. Baseball's an endurance sport, and it's a 3-game set with the Angels here even in the short term. Scoring 17 runs one night and not having enough in the tank for the next 2 nights is not the goal.
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Sox swept by O's in Baltimore

-- After a road sweep of the Blue Jays earlier last week the Sox fell victim to a flipped sweep of themselves while in Baltimore Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

April ended about as badly as the month felt for the Sox, who have high expectations for this season to yet again be in the run for the pennant and the World Series.

The 3-game road set with the Orioles began Friday with a disappointing, close 5-4 loss in 10 innings. The Sox had just taken a 4-3 lead in the 8th with J.D. Drew's second solo-homer of the night, when slugger Migel Tejada blasted a solo-shot off of Red Sox setup man Daniel Bard to tie the game up and send it to extras. Lackey would've collected the win, but the O's got to the Sox bullpen in the late innings to stretch out a victory.

In Game 2 Dice-K started out strong but cracked up in the fifth inning giving up four runs, followed by another 4-run inning in the sixth with Wakefield making his first bullpen appearance. So things got worse on the mound for the Sox, real fast! Ultimately the O's bats prevailed 12-9.

The Sox continued to just miss the mark amongst decent play Sunday in a 3-2 loss. Josh Beckett struck out 6, gave up 6 hits and 2 runs, but no walks in a 7-inning effort. Boston had a chance with runners on in the top of the 10th but yet again squandered the opportunity.

Then in the bottom of the 10th a Jon Papelbon walk led into an by the closer attempting a pickoff move at first base. Mike Lowell was filling in for Youkilis at first Sunday, so that may have been part of the error – but regardless the throw was way off. This terrible timing moved the runner to second for the eventual walk-off scoring run when Ty Wiggington knocked an RBI-double into deep center off of Paps.

Yay's:
- The Sox drew 10 walks in the game Friday, and that kind of patience at the plate will eventually payoff. However that game the Sox stranded a ton of base-runners as 3 of their 4 runs came off of solo home runs (Pedie hit the other).

- In game 2 David Ortiz blasted 2 homers off of Kevin Millwood to keep the Sox in the slugfest that turned into a 12-9 loss. Positive signs of life from Papi that may signal his snapping out of a truly epic slump.

- In game 3 Beckett had a quality start for a no decision, that could've easily been a win if the ball had rolled the other way.

- The Sox have played all three of theses games in the sweep tight. However frustrating that is, a team their amount of talent will eventually click and find a way to finish

Nay's:
- The Sox are currently in fourth place in the AL East with an 11-14 record. To say the least the Sox may not be able to have another off month like April if they expect to even grab the wildcard spot

- Errors at crucial points in the game have been a key reason why these close games have not gone in favor or the Sox last month. This does not exactly go well with the team's aim of improving defensively over the off season, but it's still early and all the pieces are there to have a fine defensive lineup

- The Red Sox were just SWEPT by the Baltimore Orioles. Whether it was on the road or at home does not matter as the O's currently have the worst record in the majors at 7-18. Another nice fun fact is that this was the first time the Sox have been swept in Baltimore since September of 1974. Ouch!

- The Sox are now 1-5 in extra-inning games for the 2010 season. Not a good stat from a team that spent a lot of the last few years mastering the almighty comeback – which does require pulling out a lot of close games.
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A few highlight flix from April

-- So the month of April may have seemed like a bit of a down month and a slow start for the Sox, but there were some memorable moments without question.

The four videos below are just a minor sampling of some of 2010's early magic within Red Sox Nation. Enjoy!

Ty Hampton
- Sox Swagger

Breakin' out the lumber!

Welcome to Boston D-Mac!

The Diamond rocks the Fen

Pedro returns to Fenway

Bucholz, Lester impressive in sweep of Jays

-- As April comes to a close the Sox starting pitching rotation appears to be just getting fired up.

Clay Bucholz (2-2) pitched an impressive 1-run, 8-inning outing Tuesday, throwing 80 strikes out of a career-high 117 pitches in the 2-1 win over Toronto. The youngster's accurate and masterful performance was exactly what the doc ordered considering the Sox pen was worked heavily the night before.

Reliever Ramon Ramirez then stepped up big for a 1-2-3 9th inning when he was tapped to come in for a rare save situation.

The Sox took another game-winning lead change off a walked-in run Tuesday (the second in a week's time) as Mike Lowell pinch-hit with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 8th, collecting a crucial walk in that at-bat for a 2-1 lead.

Then Wednesday Jon Lester had a much needed jolt of adrenaline to his season with a rock-solid 11 strikeout performance over 7 innings of 1-hit, shutout baseball. His effort led the Sox to a 2-0 win and a completed sweep of the Blue Jays.

The lefty was dominant for the first time in 2010, as his first 4 starts were nearly embarassing.

Darnell McDonald has continued to play amazingly huge for Boston, as he was responsible, in-part, for both Sox runs Wednesday. D-Mac fired up the 6th with an RBI-double and then advanced to 3rd base before scoring on a Pedroia sac fly.

As expected, the Sox have begun their ascent back to form and being the contenders everyone knows they can and will be. With the Jays sweep the Sox are now back to .500 at 11-11.

Boston heads to Baltmore for a series with the O's starting Friday, looking for another potential road sweep to put them right back in the thick of things with division rivals the Yankees and Rays up 2.5 and 5.5 games on the Sox respectively.
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Dice-K to take mound Saturday in Baltimore

-- The Red Sox announced Monday that right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will make his first start of the season in Baltimore this Saturday against the Orioles.

After a simulated game last week Manager Terry Francona told reporters that Dice-K threw 69 pitches with some degree of power to his cutter and good spin on his breaking ball. Pitching Coach John Farrell also noted the cutter looked strong, adding that his slider was tight which indicates an increase in arm strength.

Dice-K's return is a welcome one, as all Sox starters, other than newcomer John Lackey, have gotten off to a slow start to the season. If Matsuzaka can come in and shake things up, it could have an infectious effect on the team.

Matsuzaka was kept to only 12 starts in 2009, spending a great deal of time on the DL with a shoulder strain. Dice-K however finished strong in his final 4 starts with a 2.22 ERA.

As Dice-K moves into the rotation, Tim Wakefield has been shifted to the bullpen for the time as Clay Buchholz has been given more time to prove himself worthy of the five-spot amongst Sox starters.
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Sox win slug-off with Jays

-- Pitching was not a factor in Monday's matchup with the Blue Jays, as the game was an absolute, old-fashioned slugfest.

Thankfully the Sox hitters ended up on the worthier side of that shootout, prevailing 13-12 on the road in Toronto. Jason Varitek had a big day at the plate, collecting 4 RBIs on 3 of the Sox's 18 hits. Former Blue Jay Marco Scutaro also was a big contributor with 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 4 scored runs against his prior team.

Josh Beckett, however, did not have a great day on the mound – not even lasting 4 innings. Beck allowed 9 hits, including a 3-run homer, and 8 runs in 3 and 1/3 innings.


Yay's:
- I'm telling you, Jason Varitek is clutch. When his back is up against the wall, and the bat is in his hands or there's a play at the plate – he make the play every time. This is a guy who was the team captain for years, and was as good as benched to begin the season. As evidence of some miscommunication between Beckett and Victor Martinez arose, it became obvious that Tek was still needed in a certain role. However in that limited role he has bloomed and slugged an amazing percentage.

Each game he plays I more and more would like Francona to entertain the idea of Tek behind the dish and Martinez as a DH.

- The bullpen stepped up this game with Delcarmen and Bard combining for 3 innings, no hits, and only 1 run. Okajima gave up three hits and a run before he had to be rescued by Bard in the 7th. Papelbon then finished it off again, to collect his 6th save of the year


Nay's:
- Beckett did mostly just have an off night where hitters just tore the seams of the ball, but he also gave up a lot of walks which turned into runs – a bad pattern to see when your are 1-0 in five starts with a 7.22 ERA so far

- Of all the Sox marathon games this season, this one was the longest at just over 4.5 hours in length
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Sox blow sweep of O’s in 10th

-- The three-game set against the Orioles to end Boston's homestand appeared to be all but a sweep by the Sox, that is until Wakefield was pulled in the 7th with the 4-1 lead Sunday.

From there the bullpen found a way to blow a great final start for Wakefield, who has been moved to the pen with the impending return of Dice-K to the starting rotation. After falling behind 3 runs post Wake's exiting the game, the Sox climbed back within 1 run sitting at 7-6 with 2 on, 2 out in the bottom of the 10th.

Scutaro stepped to the plate and ripped one to the wall in left, but unfortunately the Orioles' outfielder was right there to make the game-ending grab – thus ending the Sox's pursuit of a third walk-off hit in Boston this week.

The Sox were lifted to a 4-3 victory on Friday night by a solo homer by Big Papi (his first of the season) and a gut-wrenching, "walk-off walk" by Adrian Beltre.

Boston's bats kicked it up a notch Saturday night, led by 3-run homers from Youkilis and Scutaro to seal the deal. Papelbon came in and struggled at first, but eventually made good on the outing and slammed the door for the save.

Yay's:
- Ortiz going deep for the first time of the season was a relief for everybody in Boston. Whether Papi is the everyday DH or shares time with Lowell, the fact that his production is improving ever so slightly the last six games is a welcome sign

- The Sox are showing extremely tuned-in patience at the plate which has led, hopefully will lead, to a healthy wealth at the plate. Beltre does not collect a ton of walks, but to hold back on a 3-2 count, 2 outs, bases loaded in the 10th inning and get a crucial walk-off walk – that show's discipline. The Sox may be emphasizing defense this season, but by the looks of things they're gonna need all the offense they can get to remain competitive in that tough AL East division

Nay's:
- The Sox went 4-6 on a 10-day homestand at Fenway Park, not exactly the kind of performance the home crowd would like to see out of their Beantown Bombers who are now 8-11 overall in 2010

- The bullpen still doesn't appear to have a system or a go-to guy other than Papelbon. Ramon Ramirez has been horrendous. Delcarmen is good for a couple outs then chokes in a situation with any degree of pressure. Okajima and Bard have looked stable, yet given up some big runs, and Atchison and Schoenweis are still getting their feet wet. The good part about this is it presents a crucial role for Wakefield to fill as he moves to the pen
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Ells diagnosed with hairline fracture on ribs

-- After his April 11 collision with teammate Adrian Beltre's knee, a CT scan taken Thursday revealed that outfielder and leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury has a hairline fracture in four of his left ribs.

Ells is eligible to come off the disabled list mext Tuesday in Toronto, but team authorities say that timetable was more hopeful before the fracture diagnosis was revealed.
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Dice-K to return, Sox drop 1 but take Rangers series

-- The Sox may have lost the battle Thursday but they won the war, defeating the Rangers by a game count of 2-1 in the Fen.

Bucholz took a great shutout performance through six and dragged a bit through the mud in the 7th inning of game 3, giving up the 3 runs that would make the difference as the final score was 3-0 Rangers.

Part of that responsibility has got to fall on the coaching staff's judement as to how long to let the young pitcher go in a game, but some run support would've been nice.

The best news of Thursday however was that Dice-K would rejoin the Sox this week and be fit into the number 4 spot in the starting rotation with Wake moving to the bullpen, a potentially genius idea as Atchison and Schoenweis have not yet proven themselves effective.

I'm not gonna Yay or Nay Thursday's game, because Clay had a decent showing with 1 bad inning and the Sox never could get the bats going. Overall though I do feel like the Sox have started to leap "some" of the early season hurdles they were so concerned with after the Rays series (who are playing the best baseball in the majors right now).
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2 nights, 2 walk-off hits

-- For the second consecutive evening, the Red Sox blasted a shot off Fenway's oufield wall to drive in the winning run in true walk-off fashion.

Youkilis was the hero Wednesday night as he crushed a 2-out, 2-on rocket to clammer off the wall in right-center and bring in Scutaro from second to win 8-7 in the bottom of the 12th.

However Youkilis would not have been in the winning-role if it were not for a crucial tag-up and take of second base that saw Scutaro safe by a nanosecond -- dude has speed. Then thanks to Pedie's relentless bat so far this season, the Rangers' closer didn't give him anything to hit and walked Pedroia to bring up the Youkmeister.

Other highlights in the game were when Mike Lowell homered in Papi's DH spot early on, followed by Boston's newest hero Darnell McDonald going deep in the 7th for his second time in 2 days (2HR, 2BB, 2 singles, 2 games).

Last but not least JD Drew snapped out of his slump in a big way, striking a base-clearing Grand Salami into the right field bleachers to put Boston ahead 5-4 in the 4th.

Yay's:
- Another big play, that was missed by most, went back to the 5th when a Ranger baserunner was gunned down at homeplate by D-Mac on a near sac fly by Josh Hamilton. Darnell's throw was there but just a hair late, the real hero was Tek.

As Varitek is now Beckett's designated catcher, he had a chance to come through big, saving a crucial run by blocking the plate with his legs, corraling the catch and tagging out the runner before he could scramble around to the otherside of the plate. Even though he went 0-4 with a walk, it's that kind of defensive play that puts Tek above Martinez at the C spot.

-The Sox had a lot of guys step up to get this one done. Production from Drew, McDonald, and Lowell were welcome signs of relief to a team that's been gasping for air in April. Then solid appearances from Daniel Bard, Papelbon, and Okajima really pulled this thing together from the bullpen for a tough win.

- The Sox finally put together a solid, error-less defensive front behind their ace Wednesday, not digging their own grave too early in the game with unearned runs.

- Dice-K completed his final rehab start in AAA Pawtuckett this week and plans should roll-out as to when he will be brought up to the Majors again soon. I say bring him up ASAP and we can put Bucholz in the bullpen.

Nay's:
- Well if you take away Josh Beckett's 7th inning, he had a pretty decent night, but that game-tying 3-run blast from Hamilton really hurt.

- No timeline for the return of Ells and Cam to the outfield, but the way Hermida, Drew and D-Mac are playing we can probably afford to prolong that decision and see them back sometime in May.
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