Sox Rally Falls Short

The Red Sox opened their 7-game homestand with a 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers. I usually don't applaud the Red Sox opponent, but I was impressed with the effort of a depleted Tigers lineup against Jon Lester & Co. Newly acquired Jhonny Peralta provided 2 homers off Lester & 3 RBI. Lester has not looked sharp in his last few outings, but he gave the Sox a chance to win.

It's obvious to me that Tim Wakefield is not suited for the bullpen. In the 8th the Sox were 3-runs down (4-1) & still in the game. Wake gave up 2 crucial runs, one on the wild pitch, that really sucked the life out of the game. It was 6-1 at that point.

To the Sox credit they fought back & Big Papi's grand slam made it a 6-5 game. But that's how it ended.

Every loss is especially hard now. Tito may be forced to use Bard & Pap more & more, not just when we have a lead, but in close games as well - at least for the next 2 weeks. Otherwise, by the time Pedroia & Ellsbury get back into the lineup, we may be too far out in the standings.

Oswalt to Phillies

Teams are getting active as the trade deadline approaches. The biggest trade by far is Roy Oswalt to the Phillies. Like the Cliff Lee deal last year, it gives the surging Phillies a big boost going into the playoffs.

Other moves include:

- Scott Podsednik from Kansas City to the LA Dodgers.

- Jhonny Peralta from Cleveland to the Detroit Tigers.

- Jorge Cantu from Florida to the Texas Rangers.

- Miguel Tejada from Baltimore to the San Diego Padres.

- Closer Matt Capps from Washington to the Minnesota Twins.

All of these contenders just got better by giving up prospects or money to get these players.

What about the Red Sox? You might say that they re-acquired Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz & Victor Martinez with more "deals" to come as players return from the DL. I'd like to see the Sox acquire a left-handed reliever to replace Oki & bring up Felix Dubront to have 2 lefties in the bullpen against the Yankees & Rays. I'm not expecting any major moves. I'd rather see the kids from the farm get a chance to prove themselves for 2 months.

Trifecta in Anaheim

The Boston Red Sox pulled off a 3-game sweep against the team with the longest & weirdest name in baseball - the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - with a 7-3 win in the finale yesterday. Like his rotation mates, Beckett was very good, giving up 3 runs & 5 hits over 7 innings.

The story of yesterday's game was the long ball power flexed by the entire infield. First Beltre. Then Hall. Then Youk. Finally, Scutaro put the icing on the cake with a grand slam.

As my brother said, this was a little payback for eliminating the Red Sox in the ALCS last year in Boston. The Angels are a team that let too many key players walk away in the off season & now find themselves out of it & looking up at the Texas Rangers. It's next year for them.

The 3-game sweep coincides with the return of Victor Martinez. You decide if that's a coincidence. I think not.

A much-needed day off will allow fans to concentrate on the trade deadline & any possible moves. Chris Iannetta, catcher, will the Colorado Rockies & David DeJesus, outfielder, with the Kansas City Royals join names like Kerry Wood & others who may be pieces the Red Sox are exploring to get.

Sox Win Again

Another night of good starting pitching by John Lackey who duplicated the 7-innings, 1 run by Clay Buchholz the night before. Another game where the Sox score big runs in last 3 innings to close out the game. And a 4-2 win in Anaheim assures the Sox of a .500 west coast road trip.

The Sox offense was punchless through the first 6 innings off Jared Weaver. In the 7th a big 2-run double by Jed lowrie, hitting 2nd in the order after a late scratch by Drew, gave the Sox a 2-1 lead. Then it was Adrian Beltre in the 8th with a gap ball the left center scoring a hustling Big Papi. The Sox scored an insurance run in the 9th as Jonathan Papelbon came on for the save for the 2nd night in a row.

The game featured excellent stops in the infield by Beltre & Lowrie. Scutaro cut a man down at the plate for a big out early on. The pitching & defense in this series has limited the run production of the Angels to 5 runs in the first 2 games. Good to have Theo's run prevention scheme working when the offense has been inconsistent.

A win today by Beckett will give the Sox a 6-4 road record for this trip. I know my prediction was the Sox needed a 6-4 split to stay in the race. Tampa Bay won but the Yankees lost yesterday, so both the Rays & Sox gain a gain on the leader. We're not dead yet!

Sox Win, Sox Win

Finally, a Sox win. It seems like forever. A 6-3 win in Anaheim & nothing but good news.

- Victor Martinez is back. He even had an RBI in his first at-bat.

- Clay Buchholz is back. 1 run over 7 innings & he made it look easy in innings 3 through 7. 100+ pitches.

- Big Papi broke the offensive drought with 2 homers & 3 RBI. He hit a few other balls that just missed going out as well.

- J.D. Drew comes through with a meaningful hit in the 9th to drive in 2 big runs & extend the lead from 4-3 to 6-3.

Everything was roses last night.

Stupid Commercials

OK, I'm crabby now that the Sox dropped 2 winnable games in the last 2 days. As I'm watching NESN, I hope you agree with me that there are 2 very annoying commercials that I want to throw my sneakers at every time I hear them or see them.

First annoying commercial - New York Life.
Every game Don Orsillo has to read the goofy line about so & so just reached 2nd base. He's "safe & secure" at 2nd base. C'mon, New York Life. Get a better tag line & stay out of the game. Pay for a real commercial in-between innings like all the other annoying companies.

Second & most annoying commercial - Southwest Airlines.
"It is on, it's so very on." Where did Southwest get the goofy guy to say that line & where did they get the other guy to say "I like than "on" on you? Go back to bags fly free, please.

The Sox better start winning soon so I can tolerate these commercials. I've actually started listening to games on the radio more.

It's the Little Things

Isn't life about the little things? Take bunting for instance. The Seattle Mariners pulled off 2 comebacks in the 8th inning of each game by bunting. What a lost art, especially in the American League.

Yesterday, the Sox closed out a 4-game split with the Mariners by coughing up their 2-1 lead in the 8th & losing the finale 4-2. Dice-K did his 100+ pitch / 6-innings routine, getting to the bullpen too early. Bard pitched the 7th instead of the 8th. Oki comes in to face lefties in the 8th & can't get an out until 3 runs score. Seeing-eye groundballs & 2 bunts did him in.

As one reporter put it, the Red Sox have hit the wall - both offensively & defensively. Even Youk missed a pop-up yesterday & he has been swinging for balls out of the strike zone. That's when you know he & others need a day off to re-group. Thursday's off-day can't get here fast enough.

In the meantime, there's a 3-game series to be played against the Angels. The Sox need to take 2 out of 3 just to end their trip 5-5. Right now the burden is on the starting pitchers to keep the team from falling completely out of the Wild Card race with 62 left to go.

No Offense = No Win

It was another great start for the 3rd night in a row. John Lester was perfect with 16 up, 16 down. However, the game ended in a 5-1 loss to Seattle.

The Sox offense could only manage 1 run, a homer powered by Big Papi. We can talk about the error in CF by Eric Patterson. We can talk about leaving Lester in too long in the 8th. But it all comes down to a lack of run production. I knew it would be a long night in the 2nd when we had runners at 2nd & 3rd with one out & we left them hanging. Couldn't even get a sac fly.

The Sox have scored 3 runs in their last 2 games. I guess we are lucky to have 1 win & not 2 L's. Tampa won, so we are back to 4 1/2 behind.

The Sox are 3-3 on this road trip with 4 games left. The offense needs a shot in the arm from someone.

Beckett, Hall Help Sox Win 2-1

Josh Beckett pitched effectively for 5+ innings in his first start back off the DL by giving up only 1 run over 98 pitches. Having the old Josh Beckett back in the rotation is a huge plus. It means the Sox can win low-scoring games like last night as their offense continues to be inconsistent.

Bill Hall hit a golf shot way down the left field line for an HR that gave the Sox the lead 2-1 & that was the final score. I'm not a big fan of Billy Hall because I think his defense, no matter where they put him, is suspect. But he has provided an offensive lift, so I'll give him his props offensively.

Even better, the Sox win on a night that Tampa Bay lost to move up to within 3 games behind for the Wild Card. I'm hoping we get a 4-game sweep in Seattle before heading to Anaheim. In my book 6-4 is the minimum we need on this road trip to stay in contention.

Sox Win in Extras

"Sleepless in Seattle" is appropriate. There are many Red Sox fans going to work blurry-eyed today. It was a long night, but the Red Sox came away with a win 8-6.

Couple of points:

- John Lackey finally showed the goods last night. He was strike one to most batters. Even though the radar gun showed 92 to 93, his fastball had a lot of life & looked much quicker. Lackey took a no-hitter into the 8th & was very, very sharp.

- The offense finally scored more than 5 runs. 3 long balls by Scutaro, Drew & Hall gave the Sox an early lead. Ortiz had a homer taken away by Ichiro.

- Delcarmen & Pap couldn't hold the lead in the 9th. Who would have thought that Oki & Ramirez would hold Seattle down to get the win?

- Finally, and most important of all, an ugly win (which this was) is better than a pretty loss.

We'll take it!

Sox Drop Series to A's

Disappointing is an understatement. When is the last time the Red Sox offense scored 5 or more runs?

Today's 6-4 loss was like a Spring Training game as fans watched Buchholz & Lowrie comeback from rehab stints. It is getting to be sad & it is getting tough to watch the Sox lose with regularity.

Game 2 was the pivotal key to this series. A hit at any number of times during that game would have the Sox leaving Oakland with 2 out of 3 wins. But that's baseball, right?

Not a good start to the road trip. Not a good start at all.

Missed Opportunities

Someone once told me that every team gets one opportunity to win each game. Over my time as a player & coach I found that statement to be true. Last night the Red Sox squandered several opportunities to win their 3-game series in Oakland with a 5-4 extra innings loss.

Ortiz was thrown out in the 3rd trying to go from first to home on a double by Youk. Big Papi looked like he had a piano on his back chugging in from 3rd to home, but he made it a close play with a good slide that looked like he may have been safe on replay. Darnell McDonald missed a home run by 5 feet. The absolute killer, though, was the 2 innings that the Sox left the bases loaded without scoring. Game over once you see Ramon Ramirez come in.

And the home plate umpire, Bob Davidson, was bad all night on balls & strikes. A phantom hit-by-pitch was given to J.D. Drew & there was a phantom balk by Ramirez in the 10th. But the Sox can't blame the umpire for stranding 12 base runners. No clutch hitting.

On a night that the Yankees & Rays lost it would have been nice to pick-up a game in the standings. At least they don't fall further behind. The clock is tick, tick, ticking on the Sox to catch-up.

Sox Win Nail-Biter 2-1

Pitching ruled the day as Dice-K, Daniel Bard & Jon Papelbon allowed the Oakland A's just 1 run in a 2-1 win. Big Papi's sac fly & Adrian Beltre's HR were enough offense off Ben Sheets to hand him the loss.

Dice-K ran into trouble in the 7th with runners on 2nd & 3rd and 2 outs. I give Francona a lot of credit for making a move to Bard at that point of the game. Bard got the next batter to pop to 3rd. Inning over.

A loss last night would have started this important road trip on a negative note. But it was run-prevention with good pitching & solid defense that won the day.

The offense continues to struggle which is not a good sign. The 7-8-9 batters are striking out with regularity. A few hitters in the 1 through 6 spots need to get hot.

Tim Wakefield goes against Darren Braden tonight. Let's hope Wake pitches better than his last few outings. We need every win we can get.

Trade Deadline Help

After listening to a fair share of different views by various reporters last night it seems that the consensus of opinion over trade deadline moves for Theo & Co. will be centered on bullpen help & outfield help. Most don't believe the Red Sox will "rent a player" like Billy Wagner last year. They expect the Sox to trade for someone who will stay with the club for next year.

Given this scenario, the most bantered names include Kerry Wood & Cory Hart. Wood has a history of arm injuries, but gives the Sox another Daniel Bard-type guy for 7th inning duties. Hart doesn't hit for average, but is hitting a lot of long balls this year & is an above-average outfielder.

The bullpen will have a different look for this road trip. Michael Bowden is in the pen. Felix Dubront is probably joining the pen soon. Begrudgingly, Wake is now going to the pen. I'd be a little nervous if I was Oki or Ramirez.

Buchholz & Beckett are back in the rotation on Wednesday & Friday. The normal starting 5 rotation, back for the 1st time since May, will each need to have 2 good starts over the next 10 days to keep the Sox in contention, still 3 1/2 behind the Rays.

Get some naps in, fans. 10 o'clock starts this week will have many sleepy workers going to their jobs in the mornings.

Bad Start to 2nd Half

The Sox drop 3 of 4 to the Texas Rangers as they continue their limp through the start of the 2nd half. Even Jon Lester couldn't get a win today as the offense struggled mightily to put up 2 runs on the board.

You won't win many games by scoring 2 runs, no matter who is pitching. And the errors in the field didn't help anything. It's the same start we all saw in the 1st half. Slow. Very slow.

And now we have 10 road games in 10 days. Maybe it will do the team good to get away from home. Clay Buchholz is back & Josh Beckett can't be far behind. But the offense has been struggling to score enough runs to win games. Some one or two players have to get hot out west.

A poor road trip, anything less than 6-4, would be disasterous - in my opinion. The Sox can't afford to fall further behind the Rays. Forget the Yankees for now. We need to win each series & throw-in a sweep here or there to keep pace &/or gain on the Rays.

There could be a Sox player or two playing to keep their job or be traded. Names like Ramirez, Okajima & Dice-K come to mind. I expect the Sox to be active at the trade deadline.

Thank You, Youk!

Kevin Youkilis ended the drought with a sac fly in the 11th to give the Sox a much needed win over Cliff Lee & the Rangers 3-2.

John Lackey finally held an opponent under 5 runs & pitch like the Lackey the team thought they were getting. We'll take 14 more starts like that, please.

More good news. Clay Buchholz will rejoin the Sox rotation & make his start on Wednesday in Oakland. Josh Beckett made another start in Pawtucket, hopefully his last, & hopes to rejoin the big team as well.

What a difference a day makes!

Going, Going, Almost Gone

A rookie pitcher makes rookie mistakes. Felix Lebrount fell into that trap last night as a big error lifted Texas to another win, this time 8-4.

The season is going, going, almost gone. The Sox have lost 7 out of 9 & continue to sink in the standings. As of today, the Sox are 3 1/2 back of Tampa Bay who lost to the Yankees. Go Yankees this weekend!

I told several people lately that I feel time is running out on getting front-line players back from the DL. August may be too late. The Sox may be too far out of the Wild Card by then. And with a long road trip coming up it's not probable that they can reel off 10 wins in a row to gain ground.

But we need to play the games & see what happens. Let's win at home tonight against Cliff Lee & get some monomentum started for the road trip. One day at a time.

Stinky Start to 2nd Half

It was a stinky start by Wakefield who gave up 6 runs in the first inning. Wake may soon see bullpen time when Beckett & Buchholz come back. Sox lose to the Rangers 7-2.

Not much else to say.

Who Will Make the First Move?

The AL East is crowded with the Yankees, Rays & Red Sox all poised to make a pennant run & another playoff appearance. One team, unfortunately, will be the odd man out.

Which of these 3 AL East teams will make the first big move before the trade deadline? The Yankees were interested in Cliff Lee, so pitching appears to be their priority. The Rays are reportly interested in another big bat to bolster their up & down offense. The Sox could use bullpen help & a right-hand hitting outfielder.

Lots of talk about possible trades right now, but the Red Sox #1 priority is to get Pedroia & Martinez healthy & back in the lineup. Beckett should be ready to rejoin the team in another 10 days. Buchholz should be close to returning as well. Both of those guys will be a great help to the pitching staff.

The offense, while it has survived better than expected, is in need of the everyday position guys to get back in the lineup for the stretch run. Can Theo wait until he has a healthy crew again & still stay in the race? We'll find out over the next few weeks.

Good-Bye to the Boss

George Steinbrenner. The name conjures up visions of the Evil Empire buying their way to World Series victories. George did it his way, though. And you have to admire a guy who had a goal & reached it several times as the head man of the New York Yankees.

I also think of 2004 & how George must still be wondering how his boys in pinstripes lost 4 in a row to a bunch of self-proclaimed idiots. The biggest choke in sports history. That ALCS had to be a low point in his tenure as owner of the Bronx Bombers.

Steinbrenner got to see the completion of the new Yankee Stadium last year. He also got a send off to the afterlife with one more World Series ring. Not a bad way to go since the Yanks are in 1st this year. George is going out on top.

Rest in peace, George. The rivalry will continue, but it will be a little different without you.

Big Papi's Comeback Tour

Isn't this like a rock band from the past making a reunion tour?

David Ortiz, Big Papi, wins the home run derby last night. It is redemption for him after all the sports talking heads had him getting released from the Red Sox in April.

It meant something to him to win the home run derby. It's part of his Houdini act of showing up after a horrible April. Big Papi wants people to know he is not dead yet.

I think the comeback started after being pinch-hit for in the early part of May. After sitting down twice to have Mike Lowell pinch hit for him the big guy decided to put more work in & he got better. There is no substitute for hard work in any profession. Ortiz got embarassed & he decided to do something about it.

Let's hope he has a monster second half.

Good Dice-K Today

Well, it's anyone's guess when Dice-K takes the mound. Today we got the good Dice-K as he led the Sox to a 3-2 victory before the All-Star break. The Sox take the series in Toronto 2-1.

Darnell McDonald continued his fantasy 1st half with a 2-run bomb, followed by a solo shot by Big Papi. That was all the runs the Sox would need to pull out a close victory. 51 wins at the break is no small fete.

Many Sox players can use the break to heal up. Beltre was taken out of the game with what everyone hopes is a minor injury. He should get to play in his 1st All-Star game on Tuesday.

Let's enjoy the break & get ready for a rough schedule during the 2nd half of July. 4 at home against the AL West leading Texas Rangers & Cliff Lee. 10 game west coast trip through Oakland, Seattle & Anaheim. Then they finish out July at home against Johnny Damon & the Detroit Tigers.

By the end of July we should see a few familiar faces off of the DL. The more, the merrier. We may see a few new faces via trades as well.

Can Players Get Healthy Fast Enough?

If you're Theo Epstein, one important question on his mind is return to health of Ellsbury, Beckett, Cameron, Martinez, Pedroia, Delcarmen, Lowell & Varitek. This answer certainly impacts what needs to be done at the trade deadline later this month.

Cameron is playing day-to-day as he can tolerate the pain from his sports hernia. Beckett is making a rehab start in Pawtucket today &, if all goes well, could be back on the mound shortly after the All-Star break. Ellsbury is ready to resume baseball activities & eyes a possible return in early August.

Everyone else on the DL is "iffy" from a time standpoint of returning to the lineup. And starting today 6 games behind the Yankees in the loss column doesn't allow for just treading water over the last 2 1/2 months. We need to put a team on the field that can win every 2 out of 3 for awhile to get back in the race.

To me Pedroia & Martinez are the keys. Martinez may be back sooner than Pedroia, but what does that mean? Late July. Early August. It's a guessing game as to whether the Sox will still be in contention by then. Their super-crew of fill-ins & replacements seem to have hit the wall, along with a variety of pitchers going through rough patches.

If I'm Theo, I would trade for bullpen help. Then, I would pray that Pedroia & Martinez get back into the lineup sooner than later.

Odds & Ends

Since we are down to one game before the break I'll throw a few thoughts out there on a variety of topics.

Cliff Lee to the Rangers.
Joke's on you, Yankees. Just when you thought the Yankees were ready to pull the trigger, the Rangers step in with a better deal. Thank you, Rangers, for keeping the AL East pennant race open for the 2nd half.

Jacoby Ellsbury back with the team.
Good! He needs to be around the game atmosphere to get re-energized about getting back on the field. Watch a bunch of guys hustle & work their butts off & it's bound to rub off.

Mike Cameron playing through a sports hernia.
Players & coaches alike are amazed that Mike Cameron has been able to play & contribute as much as he has. Cameron is putting off surgery until the end of the season.

Daniel Nava continues to hit.
Who wouldn't like a switch-hitting outfielder who has some pop in his bat? 2 more doubles & 2 big RBI today for Nava. He is adequate in the field & threw a runner out today. Nava may be a keeper.

Beckett to make his rehab starts.
If all goes well, Josh Beckett will be back in 2 weeks with a fresh arm for the stretch run. Then we can move Dice-K or Wake out of the rotation. Beckett, Lester, Buchholz & Lackey can eat up a lot of innings & not expose the bullpen as much.

Last thought. Let's get some bullpen help, Theo, & get rid of dead weight out there. You know things are bad when you are happy to see Scott Atchison come in from the pen as one of your more reliable arms.

Lack-Luster Lackey

John Lackey has not lived up to the pitcher who beat the Red Sox & pitched so well against the Yankees in the playoffs last year. This afternoon he laid a big egg against the Jays as the Sox dropped the middle game 9-5.

Lackey gave up 7 runs, 7 hits & 6 walks in 5+ innings. His teammates bailed him out of a 3-run 1st inning by scoring 3 of their own in the 2nd & re-took the lead 4-3. But Lackey couldn't hold it. This may be his worst performance of the year. And it's the free bases via walks that exascerbate the situation.

You have to wonder now about Terry Francona going too long with his starters. He did it in Tampa with Dice-K & Lebrount. He did it with Lackey today. If I'm looking at 3 days off & only 1 more game on Sunday, I think every pitcher is available. In defense of Francona, the bullpen has been horrible lately. But if a starter doesn't have it you hope someone from the pen can get 3 outs for you &, if not, go onto the next pitcher.

Bullpen help is my key to the trade deadline this year.

Sox Explode for 14 Runs

A lot of frustration from a sweep in Tampa Bay got released in Toronto as the Sox broke a 4-game losing streak with a 14-3 win over the Jays.

Jon Lester was solid for the first 6 to earn his 11th win. Mike Cameron stayed hot with 3 more hits, including a home run. Youk & Beltre went back to back with jacks. Bill Hall got the scoring started with a 2-run homer. And on & on it went. 14 hits & 14 runs.

Let's keep it up.

Possible Trades for Bullpen Help

It was an off-day yesterday, so I'm doing some research on teams that are out of it & who we might be able to trade with for some bullpen help.

Possible Pick-Ups:

Octavio Dotel & Javy Lopez from Pittsburgh

David Aardsma from Seattle

Justin Masterson & Kerry Wood from Cleveland

Brandon Lyon from Houston

There are certainly others, but these names are a good start.

Possible Departures:

Delcarmen, Okajima, Ramirez

As long as we're cleaning house, I'd trade Dice-K to Seattle for Cliff Lee too.

Let's see if Theo takes any of my pick-ups later this month.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Red Sox get swept by the Rays. Does anyone think that sounds familiar? Can we turn the clock back to April & remember a 4-game sweep at Fenway Park?

It seems like the 2nd half is repeating the history of the 1st half. Slow start. Sweep by Tampa Bay. Low point of 1st half. 4 losses in a row to start the 2nd half.

The good ship BoSox is sinking lower & lower in the AL East. Injuries & replacement players are finally catching up. Many errors in the field last night similar to the start of the season.

The All-Star break better hurry up & get here.

One Too Many

The injury to Kevin Youkilis last night proved one too many for the Sox team to overcome as they fell again in Tampa Bay 3-1. With Youkilis out Rays manager Joe Maddon intentionally walked David Ortiz 3 times to pitch to Youk's rookie replacement, Numan Romero, who made an out each time. It was a team of more fill-ins than starters as the game ended.

The Sox are now 6-7 in their last 13 & it appears that the magic has started to fade. The law of averages is bound to catch-up with you with so many replacements.

Bullpen struggles continue as Hideki Okajima gave up a critical HR to Carl Crawford in the bottom of the 8th & could not finish the inning. Oki, Delcarmen & Ramirez have not provided the necessary bridge to Bard & Pap. Time to clean house in the bullpen, Theo, & try some new arms.

Squandered is the Word

Many reporters used the word "squandered" to describe the 6-5 loss to the Rays last night by the visiting Red Sox. It's accurate.

On a night where the Sox chased the Rays Matt Garza after 3 innings & had a 5-1 lead it was not to be as Dice-K & Ramon Ramirez couldn't hold the Rays down. And for me it's all about the walks, not so much the hits. Too many free bases which always come back to bite you. Most of the Rays hits were seeing-eye ground balls or bloops over the infield. It was the walks.

If I'm Theo, I am looking for bullpen help at the trade deadline. Package up Dice-K, Delcarmen, Oki & Ramirez for 2 proven arms & bring up a few kids from the PawSox. Maybe take a stab at Cliff Lee from Seattle, Joachim Soria from KC & Justin Masterson from Cleveland. We need to do something to build a better bridge to Bard & Pap.

All-Stars & Trade Deadline

The Sox are well represented at this year's All-Star Game in Anaheim as 6 players will join the AL team. Jon Lester, Adrian Beltre & David Ortiz are the 3 non-injured players selected to the team, as well as injured players Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia & Clay Buchholz. Even though the game has lost much of its past luster, & the Home Run Derby with Chris Berman seems to be the best event, it's still nice to see these Sox players acknowledged for their first half accomplishments.

The All-Star Game also signals the start of trade deadline deals. Looking at the standings today, teams that could be sellers include Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Houston & Seattle. All 5 are out of the running at 15 or more games back. Will the Sox make any moves or just wait for players to come off the DL? Interesting question. I guess we'll hear more rumors as the month moves along.

Sox Lose Finale to O's 6-1

The Sox could only muster a run in the 9th on a Kevin Youkilis home run as the O's did enough against John Lackey to earn a win 6-1 at Fenway on Independence Day. Maybe the highlight of the game for Red Sox fans was the ceremonial first pitch thrown out by a local combat veteran, a real hero, followed by a fly over with 4 jets from Hanscom AFB.

I'm sure it was a long holiday for families with men & women overseas in Afghanistan & other far away places. This blog is visited on a regular basis by a Red Sox fan in India, probably a service man or woman stationed there. We can never forget all we owe to our military personnel & the sacrifice of their families.

49 & 32 Again, But Different

Jon Lester cruised past a helpless Baltimore Orioles team that was terrible at the bat & in the field to win his 10th game by a score of 9-3. Orioles batters showed no plate discipline as they swung & missed at many pitches out of the strike zone. Their defense was horrible as well. It's sad to see such a proud & historic franchise sink so low for so long. The Orioles are 25 games out at the halfway mark. Season over.

On the other hand, the Red Sox are 49-32 for the 3rd straight year at the mid-point of the season. Unlike other years, however, this mark of 49-32 is quite, quite different. Usually, the Red Sox come out of the gate in April & May like gang busters, then start to fade around the All-Star break & into the beginning of August. With the multitude of Sox front-line players who should come off the DL after the All-Star break we should be in line for as good, if not better, a 2nd half than the 1st half.

Red Sox Nation has a lot to look forward to. The contributions of the Daniel Nava, Billy Hall, Darnell McDonald & Co. fill-ins is nothing short of magical. Let's keep it up for 4 more weeks until we get the starters back.

Sox Hit Magic Number 48

The Boston Red Sox, playing with a team of fill-ins, won their 48th game in 80 tries as they beat the Orioles 3-2 last night. As the statistical half-way point of 81 games in the season is reached tonight, the Sox are on pace for 96 wins & a spot in the playoffs.

Daniel Nava, J.D. Drew & Tim Wakefield were the players who came up big last night. Nava's pinch-hit single drove in Marco Scutaro for the go-ahead run in the 8th. Drew had 2 homers to keep the game tied in the early going. And Wake pitched 8 innings of 2-run ball. I would also give Kevin Cash props for catching Wake's knuckleball flawlessly & throwing out Adam Jones at 2nd. Every night it seems like a different player or two steps up to help the team win.

And with lots of players ready to return after the All-Star break how can you not feel good about the effort & gutsy-ness of this team right now as they get ready for a 2nd half stretch run. The Boston Red Sox are "the" story of baseball for the 1st half of 2010.

DL List Continues to Grow

Add Jason Varitek & Manny Delcarmen to the disabled list. Varitek has a leg injury & Delcarmen has an arm injury.

As a result, the Sox traded for Kevin Cash to re-join his old teammates & catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. He & Gustavo Molina will handle catching duties while Victor & Varitek get over their injuries.

Delcarmen's trip to the DL gives the Sox a chance to add Michael Bowden or Felix Dubront back into the pen. Other than Bard & Pap, there has been no consistency in performance.

The Sox start a 3-game series at home tonight against Baltimore. Then it's off to Tampa Bay for 3 & off to Toronto for 3 more before the All-Star break. Given the shortage of usable bodies, I think 5-4 would be OK & keep them in the race as they crawl to the unofficial end of the first half.

Delcarmen, Ramirez Terrible In Loss

All 5 batters faced by Manny Delcarmen scored. Ramon Ramirez came in after Delcarmen & gave up a 2-run homer. And the Sox lose 9-4 to the Rays.

Delcarmen & Ramirez are 50/50 pitchers. One night they made be good. The next night they may be bad. Last night they were bad. With Okajima also having an off year it's hard for Tito not to go to Bard & Papelbon every game.

The Sox enjoy a second off-day in the same week today. Next into Fenway over the weekend are the low-flying Orioles. Remember that the Birds swept the Red Sox in Baltimore earlier this year. Never underestimate your opponent!