Lester, Drew Power Sox Past O's 4-0

Jon Lester pitched 7 shutout innings in an overpowering performance. J.D. Drew went 3-5 in the leadoff spot, scoring 2 runs & driving in 2 with a home run. That was all the Sox would need.

Lester is pitching the 16-wins Lester of 2008 now, using all his pitches & both sides of the plate. Drew has an OBP of .385 & looks like a good fit in the leadoff spot. Pedroia benefits from the move as he slides back to his customary #2 spot.

With the Yankees & the Rays both playing well now the Sox need to keep their winning ways going into the All-Star break.

Sox Take 2 Out of 3 Again

Similar to the series in Washington, the Red Sox took the first 2 games against the Braves & dropped the last one today 2-1. As the old song from Meatloaf goes, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

The Sox are done with inter-league play for another year. They went 4-2 on this road trip to National League parks without the DH. That's a very acceptable record.

It's off to Baltimore for 3 games with the O's before a well deserved day off on Thursday. Lester, Smoltz & Beckett should give the Orioles all they can handle.

Wakefield Hot in Atlanta

Field temperature was close to 100 degrees. Like the summer swelter, Wake was hot in Atlanta throwing 6 shutout innings to beat the Braves 1-0.

Not much offense on the day. Just one key hit by Mark Kotsay to plate Youk. But that's all Wake & the bullpen would need. The Braves have scored just 1 run in the past 2 days off Red Sox pitching. Combination of good Red Sox pitching & poor hitting with RISP.

Tim Wakefield, at 42 years old, gathers his first 10 win season before July 1st. Also, another win on Saturday kept the Yankees & other AL East teams from gaining any ground on the 1st place Sox.

The Sox are winning series on the road now with regularity, something they were not doing in April & May. Let's ride the wave & go for a sweep behing Penny today.

Beckett, Papi Power Sox

Josh Beckett pitched another scoreless 7 innings to beat the Braves in Atlanta 4-1. His streak is now up to 16 scoreless innings in a row.

Big Papi hit another meaningful home run to give the Sox a 1-0 lead in the 5th. He has 7 homers in the month of June.

It's great to win on the road, especially on a night that the Yankees, Blue Jays & Rays all won. No one gains ground when you keep winning.

Beckett & Big Papi are 2 guys that the Red Sox need to keep the wins coming in the 2nd half.

Smoltz Starts Slow

John Smoltz gave up 4 first inning runs end route to a 9-3 loss to the Nationals last night. He settled down over the remaining 4 innings, retiring 8 in a row.

I think his stuff is good enough to be effective. His fastball is low 90's. His slider still has a big break across & down. And his splitter sinks away from left-handers.

Command was the issue last night. Every ball up in the zone was finding a hole. You might say that it was rust on Smoltz' part that his control was off. That is something that will improve each start.

Let's see what happens next time.

It's Smoltz' Turn

Finally, a year in the making, John Smoltz gets a chance to pitch in the Major Leagues again. This time it's for the Boston Red Sox.

The Sox beat the Nationals again last night with long balls from Big Papi & Jason Varitek. Having won the 3-game series already, Smoltz comes into a very relaxed situation against the Nationals tonight.

Smoltz himself has tampered down expectations about his first start. He just wants to compete once again & improve with each start so that he can win critical games for the Sox in September & October. Sounds good to me.

It was a great move by the Sox to take a chance on Smoltz. We'll see if it pays off now.

MLB Umpires

The Sox kept rolling last night with an 11-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Everyone played well. At least you can say the Nationals have a beautiful park to play in.

How about Tim Tshida behind home plate last night? That has to be as bad a balls/strikes called game as I've seen lately. Balls 2 to 3 inches off the plate called strikes. Josh Bard really got hosed on his first at bat. Strikes in the middle down called balls.

I'd like to know what oversight is done to these umpires who perform so poorly. The worst part is the inconsistency. Neither pitchers or batters know what to expect. Maybe MLB should get the AMICA pitch zone for each park & save on umpiring fees. At least it would be consistent.

Dice-K on the DL

No surprise. The Dice man rolled onto the DL yesterday as expected. He has been ineffective the entire first half of the season & will now start over.

I blame the WBC. Dice-K never got a solid Spring Training & was throwing 98 pitches at full speed in March. His first stint on the DL was unable to correct his lack of velocity & lack of command.

Bud Selig needs to re-think the whole WBC thing. Other than ego stroking & more money for the MLB, every team who sends players to participate in the WBC suffers with injuries during the year. How about catering to your fans for once?

Lucky for the Dice man that we have Smoltz & Buchholz ready & able to step in. He may re-figure into the Sox rotation for the stretch drive. A rested & capable Dice-K in August or September can only help.

Green's Walk-Off Beats Braves

It's long overdue. It's time to recognize Nick Green for all he has accomplished this year. He has turned into last year's Jed Lowrie. Big hits, big RBI, steady in the field. His walk-off homer today gave the Sox a 6-5 victory over the Braves.

Green is a guy who labored in triple-A with the Yankees all of last year. He went to Spring Training with the Sox just try to make the team as their utility infielder. Look at where he is now.

In my latest podcast I said that it will be difficult for Lowrie to get his job back from Green. Green's play on offense & defense has made Julio Lugo a distant afterthought of breaking back into the starting lineup. Green has also allowed the Sox the luxury of not being rushed to make a move at the shortstop position until Lowrie is fully rehabed. Lowrie & Green may be just the right combination for the 2nd half of this season.

It's nice to see Nick Green making the most of his opportunity.

Beckett Bests Lowe

Josh Beckett pitched his first career complete game shutout for the Red Sox, beating the Florida Marlins 3-0. His ex-team could muster only 1 runner to second base. It was a dominating performance by Beckett who appears to be in mid-season form now.

One of the side stories to this game included the return of Derek Lowe to Fenway Park. Lowe, a moody guy when he left the Sox for LA in 2004, pitched well enough to win. He received ovations from the crowd on his way in from the bullpen & again when he was taken out in the 7th. Classy move Red Sox fans.

Lost in the shuffle of the Beckett complete game win was the prouction at the bottom of the order by Jason Varitek & Nick Green. Both had 2 hits & accounted for 2 of the 3 Red Sox runs. It's a beautiful thing when the 8 & 9 batters contribute to the offense.

Struggles Continue for Dice-K

An important outing for Dice-K played out badly last night. The Red Sox lose to the Braves 9-2 with Dice-K unable to pitch effectively, giving up 6 runs in 4 + innings.

For the first time Dice-K acknowledged that he needs help. That help could come in the form of a DL stint or an assignment to Pawtucket to figure things out. The 18-game winner from 2008 has just one win this year.

The Red Sox have John Smoltz scheduled to join the rotation next week. If the Sox decide to go with the 6 man rotation, Clay Buchholz could join the big club as well. Nice to have a multitude of arms & options.

Like Big Papi, Dice-K is a guy that the Sox need to get back into form to go deep into the post-season. The Sox are lucky to have the personnel to allow Dice the time to get things right. Nice job, Theo & Co.

Olympia Sports Ad

The Red Sox lost in 5 innings 2-1 last night to the Marlins. Like most Red Sox fans, a loss does not put you in a good mood today. I figure this is a good day to complain about a pet peeve of mine.

Olympia Sports has an ad that runs on NESN at least once or twice every game. It states that they want to be your store for "official Red Sox gear." One of the products rolling by during the ad is a Red Sox BBQ cover which I have & would recommend.

As products keep scrolling, however, low & behold they show a pair of flip-flops with a Yankees symbol on them. How can Olympia Sports show Yankees gear during a Red Sox telecast? It's just not right. It bothers me that they pander to Yankees fans during a Red Sox game.

Let's start a write-in campaign to have them change the ad or boycott their stores. OK, I feel better now.

Big Papi Needs to Run

OK, it's the 6th inning & we are in a rain delay with the Marlins leading 2-1. Still anyone's game.

Again tonight, we see David Ortiz not running out a pop-up that gets misplayed. Instead of being on 2nd base, he's on 1st. In a tight game you do not concede any bases. Run out all of your hits, it's basic baseball.

I'm tired of seeing the old Manny routine from Ortiz. It's time for Tito to say something.

Penny Gets Win # 100

Brad Penny pitched 5 innings of 1-run ball & got 4 scoreless innings of relief from the bullpen to beat the Marlins 6-1. It was Penny's 100th win of his career. The win keeps alive the debate as to whether the Sox will keep Brad Penny or trade him.

At this point the Sox are in no rush to make a decision on Penny. They need to see how far John Smoltz has progressed from his arm surgery. Smoltz will start on Thursday in Washington against the Nationals. In addition, they need to see if Dice-K can round back into form after coming off the DL from a sore arm, courtesy of the wonderful WBC. The Dice man will start at home against Atlanta on Friday.

These situations usually work themselves out. It's just taking longer this year since all 5 starters are healthy right now. Time is on the Red Sox side.

Wake An All-Star?

Another solid performance by Tim Wakefield helped the Sox to an 8-2 win over the Florida Marlins. With his 9th victory there is talk now of Wakefield going to the All-Star game for the first time in his career.

It would be quite a feat for the 42-year old knuckleballer to join an All-Star team. In his career Wake has been a starter, a reliever & a closer. He controls an uncontrollable pitch which is why he has lasted so long in the bigs. In business you would say that he has a niche market.

If this is Wakefield's last year, it would be a nice touch to see him in the All-Star game.

A Week of Intrigue & Interleague

The first-place Sox start a stretch tonight of 25 games in 27 days with a week of interleague play at Fenway against the Marlins & Braves. There is also much speculation over who will stay & who will go on the 25-man roster with the addition of John Smoltz.

First, there needs to be a roster move to make room for Smoltz. TV & talk radio have it down to either Bard or Masterson as likely candidates to go back to Pawtucket. Whoever goes down will likely be back in 3 weeks after the All-Star break.

Although a trade is expected at some point, it is more likely that nothing will happen until the All-Star break. The Red Sox brass need to see Smoltz in action to evaluate where he is in his comeback bid. The suitors continue to line up for the Brad Penny sweepstakes & the Sox want to make the best deal possible. And Jed Lowrie is progressing with his efforts to get back to the big club. All these things take time. Lugo & Delcarmen may also be pieces to the trade puzzle.

After these 25 games I think we will know who's in & who's out for the rest of the year.

Dice-K Versus Smoltz

After a successful 2 out of 3 wins in Philly this weekend the Sox have a day off on Monday. You know what that means -- more Dice-K talk on the sport shows.

John Smoltz is ready to join the Sox rotation. Of the 5 starters, Dice-K has had the worst of it since coming off the DL. Do the Sox drop the Dice-man back onto the DL & add Smoltz? Here's my thoughts.

If you have ever pitched at any level, you know how hard it is to start a game, then wait 90 minutes & get yourself ready to go again. The first inning in Philly went well for Dice-K. 3 up, 3 down. After the rain delay things were not so good. I attribute that more to the rain delay.

I continue to be a proponent of the 6-man rotation in this next stretch of only 2 off days over the next 25 games. It will give Red Sox management more time to evaluate Dice-K, evaluate Smoltz & see if there is a sweetheart deal out there for Brad Penny. I advocate patience.

Sox Win Philly Series

Neither rain or sleet or snow could stop the Red Sox bats last night as they beat up the Phillies at home 10-6 in an elongated game due to a rain delay. Beckett pitches the series finale this afternoon.

The Sox are 9-2 so far in June. They are beating the top teams in each division. I say ride the wave, baby, because you know the law of averages & things will change. For now the Sox have opened a nice 3 1/2 game cushion between themselves & the Yankees who lost to the Mets yesterday.

It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox brass handles the Dice-K situation after another lackluster performance. I will say that it is hard for any pitcher to gear it back up after an hour & a half wait in the rain. I think the 6-man rotation is still a good possibility.

Everyone Pitching In

Daniel Bard has an ERA below 1.00 for his first 11 innings in the big leagues. The Red Sox bullpen has the best ERA in baseball. And John Smoltz tries to find a place in the starting rotation next week. Did I mention Buchholz?

The depth of the Boston staff showed again last night as they outlasted the Phillies pen 5-2 in extra innings on the road. With Dice-K & Beckett going the next 2 games we stand a good chance to take the series in Philadelphia. The Sox are now 8-2 in their last 10 games & bettered their record to 16-16 on the road.

How do the Sox, who already have a talented pitching staff, find room for a John Smoltz? I'm against a trade of Brad Penny after such a great outing against the Yankees. Penny is a bull out there like Beckett. Wakefield leads the staff with 8 wins, so hard to find a mysterious DL injury for him. Dice-K needs to take his turns to get back into pitching shape. Lester & Beckett are going nowhere as the aces of the staff.

There are only 2 logical choices to Theo & Co. First is go with a 6-man rotation until the All-Star break which is about a month away. That would give everyone 4 + starts & time to evaluate the effectiveness of Smoltz.

Second is to make a trade that improves the team. Maybe package Penny, Delcarmen & Lugo for a first string catcher, another lefty reliever & a DH/1B/3B-type player. Victor Martinez & Jarrod Saltalamachia come to mind.

This is a positive problem for the Red Sox, especially with Buchholz & Bowden in the wings.

Red Sox Are Family

The Red Sox come-from-behind victory last night makes it 8 in a row against the Yankees this year. Their next meeting isn't until August, so the Yanks get to stew about the first 8 games for almost 2 months.

Here's a true story about last night. My brother calls me during the game & wanted to know if I thought Francona would send Penny back out for the 6th. I said yes. He says that he's OK either way, as long as they don't go to Delcarmen who walks too many batters in close games. Who comes in in the 7th? Delcarmen. He gives up 3 runs.

As I turn the game on in the bedroom in the bottom of the 7th, I said to my wife that the only thing in our favor is that we are playing at Fenway. We always win close games at home. Sure enough, the final is a 4-3 win.

Red Sox are like family to many, many New Englanders & fans around the country. It's always great table talk when they beat the Yankees.

Yankees Swept At Fenway

The Yankees looked like they were finally going to win one against the Red Sox. They had a 3-1 lead in the 8th with C.C. Sabathia cruising along.

Then came a hit to Nick Green & a walk to Dustin Pedroia, 2 on, no outs. Girardi goes to the mound & leaves Sabathia in since J.D. Drew was coming up. Lefty on lefty didn't work too well as Drew singled home the 2nd run to chase Sabathia. The rest is history as poor relief yielded 2 more hits & a sac fly to plate 3 totals runs in the inning. Saito & Papelbon made it game over 4-3.

My question is why wasn't Phil Coke up in the bullpen with Aceves? All you needed was 3 outs in the 8th to get to Mariano Rivera. Coke could have pitched to Drew. Or, why not go to Rivera in the 8th? He had 2 nights off.

The Yankees bullpen is a mess. That's why Girardi left Sabathia in so long. In his own way Girardi gave a vote of no confidence to his own bullpen.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 0

What a great start to the mid-season matchup for first place. The Sox totally dominated this game from start to finish as the Yankees could only eke out 2 ground ball singles all night.

In hockey, they announce the 3 stars of the game. Here's my 3 stars from last night.

1) Josh Beckett who was superior with his control & kept hitters off balance with his use of all 3 pitches.

2) David Ortiz who hit a long homer to center (or "central" as Eck likes to say) & put the Sox ahead to stay.

3) The Sox bullpen for pitching another 3 scoreless innings.

One other key play for me was the hard running of Mark Kotsay on a grounder to A-Rod. A-Rod fumbled the ball just enough for Kotsay to be safe at 2nd. That error led to 2 more unearned runs on a J.D. Drew wall ball double.

As good as Beckett was pitching, the offense was relentless all night. They added runs throughout the game & chased Burnett early with good patience at the plate.

We are in good shape to take this series.

Red Sox-Yankees Again

The 3-game series against the Yankees at Fenway Park starts tomorrow night. Beckett vs. Burnett to lead it off. The weather may be cool & damp, but the pitchers are both hot.

A 2-1 split for either team keeps them within 2 games of the top spot. A sweep by either team would give a small amount of breathing room at the top of the AL East. We may be in for 3+ months of the Sox & Yankees trading places at the top.

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees is one of the greatest sports rivalries in all of sport. Personally, like everything else, I think the media goes totally overboard with their coverage. These 3 games will not settle anything in June. But I still want us to win all 3.

Get ready for some great baseball this week.

Dice-K's Struggles Continue

Speaking in Japanese after his latest start, Dice-K's interpreter said that he was just fair today because he could not command his pitches. That kind of sums it up. Matzusaka has just one win so far this year after a year in 2008 of 18 wins.

I am not a fan of the World Baseball Classic & Dice-K is just another casualty this year. Even Youk & Pedroia left the WBC with minor injuries. When you go on the DL you have to start the whole process of preparation over again.

Hopefully, the Dice man works out the kinks in his next start or two. Just last week I was defending him from the trade rumor mill. I'll stand by it for now. He can be dominating when he throws his breaking pitches for strikes & stays away from the middle of the plate. Same thing we saw with Beckett & Lester early this year.

Dice-K is too good not to rebound.

Lester Near Perfect

Jon Lester found out he had cancer in 2006.

He returns to pitching after beating cancer in 2007 & pitches the clinching Game 4 in the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.

In 2008 he pitches a no-hitter in May against the Kansas City Royals.

Now, in 2009, he flirts with a perfect game for 6-plus innings & throws a complete game 2-hitter against the heavy hitting Texas Rangers.

It's been quite a life for Jon Lester so far in his brief 20+ years on this earth. We are luck to have him in a Red Sox uniform, especially since he is a Yankee killer.

What To Do With Lugo?

The Red Sox won a World Series with Julio Lugo at shortstop. That seems like a million light years ago.

Lugo's latest non-stop of a groundball in the hole last night, followed by an Ian Kinsler 3-run homer, once again magnified his defensive inabilities that have plagued him this year. Tito & the Sox brass now have to find a way to deal him & his big contract while getting something in return.

Jed Lowrie is still a few weeks away from returning to the roster. Nick Green has been inconsistent, showing spurts of good play & spurts of bad play. My guess is that Tito will continue to mix & match Lugo & Green until Lowrie gets back.

Lowrie will have a few weeks of games before the trade deadline. By then, the Sox should make a decision on the shortstop position for the rest of the year.

However you cut it, Julio Lugo's days in a Boston uniform are numbered.

The New Manny & Ortiz

Kevin Youkilis & Jason Bay are the new & improved 2009 version of Manny & Ortiz. They are doing a pretty darn good impression by anchoring the #3 & #4 spots in the order. Both are having another very productive year offensively.

Youk received the 3rd most votes for MVP last year which was won by Dustin Pedroia. He is a leader in All-Star balloting at first base. Jason Bay is also a strong candidate for the All-Star team & a definite contender for the MVP this year. Opposing pitchers do not look forward to facing either one.

Isn't it interesting how the face of a team can change in one year?

Wake Keeps Momentum Going

The Boston Red Sox sweep the Detroit Tigers with 3 excellent starts by Dice-K, Beckett & now Wakefield. Wake went 6+ innings in the 6-3 win today.

The old man of the staff now leads all other starters in wins with 7. The key to Wake's success, as mentioned by the Eck several times, is not giving up free bases with walks. On the receiving end Kottaras is not only catching the ball well, but has also thrown out a few runners at second. Wake & Kottaras are working well together.

You have to admire a guy like Tim Wakefield who has mastered a difficult pitch & made a long career out of it.

Beckett Dominates

The Red Sox finally win a road series in Detroit by taking the first 2 games out of 3. Josh Beckett was in vintage form, flirting with a no-no into the 7th.

Gee, 3 good starts in a row by Lester, Dice-K & Beckett results in 3 wins. Funny how that correlates. Let's hope all 5 (or soon to be 6) starters get on a roll during June & we create some space in the AL East before the All-Star break.

Back to Beckett, he is just an overpowering force when he locates his fastball, mixes in his curveball, uses his 2-seam fastball with tail & finally his changeup. The Beckett of 2007 is back & none too soon. It's great to have this guy in a Red Sox uniform.

Dice-K on the Trading Block?

I heard a sports show over the weekend ask if Dice-K might be on the trading block due to his slow start & the Sox log-jam of starting pitching. My answer is no & last night's game is a good reason why.

The Dice man gave up only 1 run in 5 innings. And with 4 innings of scoreless relief by a great bullpen he earned his first win of the season. That was a prototypical game by #18. He was in trouble every inning, but got the big out every time to keep the number of runs down.

If you try to analyze his start, like the Eck on NESN, you will go bonkers. Just accept Dice for what he is -- a 5 or 6 inning starter that will give your team a chance to win. How many games have we seen other starters give up 5 or 6 runs over the 1st 5? They may complete 6, even 7 innings, but the Sox are out of it by then.

Bottom line, it's all about wins. Dice-K has won 33 games in his first 2 seasons. For you math people, that translates to 16.5 wins a year. I say keep him & just expect 5 good innings.

6-Man Rotation?

Beckett. Dice-K. Lester. Wakefield. Penny. Smoltz. Will the Red Sox experiment with 6 starters in June?

I say why not. If we have the arms, let's use them. You could throw Buchholz into the mix as well.

Francona likes to say that things usually work themselves out. But other than Dice-K getting a DL rest from his participation in the WBC, none of the other starters have missed a turn so far. Wakefield & Penny have turned out to be more durable than anticipated.

You have to give John Smoltz a chance to see if he still has it. I'd save Buccholz as insurance for an injury to one of the other starters.

It's a positive problem to have a surplus of good starting pitching.

Heidi Watney or Hazel Mae

It's an off-day, so we need something to talk about. What better topic than the NESN female commentators for the past few years.

Do you prefer Heidi or Hazel?

Even though they both did & do a good job, I miss Hazel. I still get to see her on the MLB Network every once in a while.

I have more appreciation for what most people feel is a glamour job. A few years ago I saw Tina Cervasio in Kansas City doing a pre-game segment for the Sox getting cussed out, yelled at, cat calls & anything you can think of by the KC fans. (These must have been the fans tailgating 2 hours before the game.) She was very professional & just kept her focus. No job is perfect -- as we all know.

Hit the comment button to leave your preference for Heidi or Hazel.