When Is A Warning Not A Warning?

David Ortiz gets hit by David Price in the 1st inning. Warnings are issued. Mike Carp gets hit by David Price in the 4th inning & Price is allowed to stay in the game because the umpiring crew said it wasn't intentional. After a warning is given, I didn't know intent became a prerequisite. A warning is a warning & Price should have been tossed. Farrell & half of his coaching staff were tossed. Brandon Workman was tossed when a ball slipped out of his hand & sailed behind Longoria. All these fireworks made the Red Sox 3-2 win in 10 innings that much sweeter as the Sox win streak extends to 5 in a row. Jonny Gomes worked a 1 out walk in the bottom of the 10th. AJ Pierzynski hit a deep line drive to the triangle where Jennings & Myers collided, ball dropped & Gomes scored the walk-off run. Bogaerts & Pierzynski stay hot at the plate with multi-hit games. It was nice to see Big Papi lead the charge from the dugout after Carp was hit. A little fire from the big man is always good to rally the troops. These 2 teams really don't like each other. Before he was ejected Workman did a good job to limit the damage to 2 runs. The bullpen was excellent again. Always fun to beat the Rays & Mr. Professor "I'm smarter than you" Joe Maddon & the very annoying pitching coach Jim Hickey will all of his trips to the mound.

Sox Sweep Braves With 4-3 Win

Keystone Cops might best describe the Braves defense in the 8th & 9th innings last night. The Atlanta Braves squandered a 3-1 lead to lose on an error in the 9th 4-3. The Red Sox used one of Jake Peavy's better starts to comeback for this win. Xander Bogaerts is proving that he is a tough out. AJ Pierzynski is coming up with some big RBI. And Brock Holt is adding life at the top of the order. All this with Victorino, Napoli, Doubront & Buchholz on the DL. Big Papi & Carp did not start last night due to soreness, but both entered the game late. Lavarnway left with an injury that may land him on the DL. But as long as we win, who cares! It does take a 25-man roster to make it through the course of a long season. Speaking of new, I am excited to see Workman & de la Rosa pitch the first 2 games of the Rays series.

Are the Jays for Real?

Toronto Blue Jays are in 1st, a position most sports pundits thought that they would be in last year. We know how that turned out. The Jays have won 9 of 10 & are hitting home runs at a record pace. Edwin Encarnacion alone has had 14 dingers in the month of May. Must be drinking good gatorade! I'm not a fan of his raised right arm on his HR trot & maybe some pitcher will let him know that is not acceptable soon. Question is can the Jays continue at this pace? I say no. Hitters will go into slumps. Their pitchers are not tested. And history tells us that these streaks are fleeting. A good finish for the Jays would be 3rd or higher. I'm not a believer that this is a 1st place team.

Party Like 2004

The team of idiots, the team that broke the 86 year curse was honored at Fenway last night. All these former players have aged, some more gracefully than others. There was Curt Schilling, a bankrupt businessman & now someone battling cancer. There was Pedro Martinez, as happy-go-lucky as always. And there was Manny Ramirez, a polarizing figure who has now found God & was willing to apologize for his past antics. Ten years has changed a lot of Red Sox history with 3 World Championships. But this team from 2004 got the big one, the first one, the curse breaker. Nothing has been the same since then.

Lackey, Sox Shutout Braves 4-0

John Lackey pitched a gem. As impressive as his 9 strikeouts, he gave up zero walks. That's the way to make a team earn their way on base. The Sox strung together enough base hits throughout the game to score 4 times. X-man & JBJ led the way with multi-hit games. Gee, good starting pitching & timely hitting equals winning baseball. Win streak at 3 games now. Red Sox finally win a series & they win at Fenway after dropping 6 straight. Too bad Brock Holt will be the odd man out after Stephen Drew is ready to return. He has been as good a leadoff hitter as anyone that Farrell has used. You hate to tinker with a lineup that has been beating a good team. Let's see if Jake Peavy can follow Lester & Lackey tonight with a better performance than his last few.

Back-to-Back

No, not back-to-back championships. But we'll take back-to-back wins as a way to push the recent 10-game losing streak into the rear view mirror. Sox & Jon Lester beat the Braves 6-3 in Atlanta. Mad Dog Russo on MLB Network made a point yesterday of saying the Red Sox have a tough task ahead which involves climbing over 4 other teams in the AL East. True. I think if the Sox can get to 3rd place & 5 games or less back from the leader of the pack by the All-Star break, that would be a good fete. At that point Cherington might add pieces to make a stretch run. However, if the Sox continue to play sub .500 ball through the break, I could see Ben Cherington start to trade off current assets & assemble a Red Sox team for 2015. And any current player would become available for the right price or right prospects. It will certainly get interesting over the next 6 weeks.

See the Future

Gaff & I had a chance to see the Portland Sea Dogs play the Manchester Fisher Cats yesterday. Portland is loaded with talent. Mookie Betts hit the ball on the nose 3 times, but got only 1 hit out of it. Mookie is still learning the outfield, but his speed makes up for any mis-routes to the ball. He made a strong & accurate throw to 3rd. Deven Marrero is a little bigger in size than Mookie & he is very smooth at SS. He had a good approach at the plate & took a few balls to the right side. Blake Swihart is a power-hitting catcher who was the DH yesterday. He hit a 2-run homer to break a 3-3 tie. We didn't see Henry Owens, who pitched a gem on Friday, or Travis Shaw, a hard hitting 1B/3B. Knuckleballer Steven Wright sailed through 5 innings, but he was touched up for a homer. Lots & lots of talent in Portland. I said to Gaff that we may see some of these kids when we go to a Sox game in late August. If the big team continues to play below .500 until the trading deadline, you could see a fire sale of sorts & young guys play the last month for spots on the 2015 roster.

Josh Beckett No-Hits the Phillies

It's been 3 long years since Josh Beckett showed any signs of baseball life. Beckett threw a no-hitter yesterday against the Philadelphia Phillies. He walked 3 & that was all the Phillies could muster against a guy who used multiple breaking pitches with an occasional fastball. Hey, good for Beckett. He's collected a lot of paychecks from the Dodgers for no return before this game. Let's see if he stays healthy for the rest of the year. Dodgers are 5-1 favorites by Vegas odds makers to win the World Series.

It's Over!

The losing streak is over. Early afternoon I got a text from my niece saying I hope you're not watching the game when the score was 6-1 in favor of the Braves. I was out, but when I got home I turned the game on & it was 6-6 in a rain delay. Later, I caught the 9th inning to see Koji get a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Sox win 8-6 in comeback fashion after a horrendous start by Clay Buchholz. Buck needs to be taken out of the rotation. I think that's a no-brainer at this point. Thanks to great relief work from the bullpen the Sox bats were able to climb back into the game & eventually win it. David Ortiz collected a big 3-run homer to tie the game & then a sac fly to win it. AJ Pierzynski added a big insurance run with a broken bat RBI. Good for the Red Sox not quitting on this game which they could have easily done. A nice win to get the monkey off their backs. 18 runs scored in the last 3 games now, or 6 per game. If the offense keeps scoring 5 or 6 each night, we only need mediocre pitching to get a few more wins. Let's get another young arm up to join Workman in the rotation.

No Excuses

10 losses in a row. An 8-5 loss yesterday in Tampa Bay for a 3rd straight sweep. This team is either hitting & getting no pitching or pitching & getting no hitting. I usually agree with the Rem Dawg on his comments, but not yesterday. To say that injuries to Victorino & Napoli are the cause of this losing streak is wrong. Other teams are winning with major players out. This is a case of non-performance by all 25 guys on that roster. Inconsistency has been the correct word to describe the 2014 team since the start of this season. It is hard to duplicate a long & emotional road to a championship where big hits in key situations were a nightly event. Lady Luck is fleeting. Injuries have not helped the situation, but I don't look to injuries as the reason for this 10-game streak. Poor defense at times. The pitching has taken a big downturn. Playing from behind almost every night. At least the bats are coming around, scoring 5 runs each of the last 2 games. But let's not look for excuses, Jerry. The simple truth is that too many players are performing at a subpar level. Period. Nuf ced!

Loss #9 in a Row

Victorino on DL. Nap not healthy. Bogaerts lifted as a precaution. Not a good vibe coming from the Red Sox dugout these days. Lots of bad juju. I saw the Sox score 5 runs in the 1st inning yesterday & I turned it off. I knew only bad things could happen after that. At dinner I checked the score & it was 5-5 in the 13th. Again, I turned it off & I couldn't believe that the Sox could hold a 5-run lead against the light hitting Rays. Finally, the Sox lose 6-5 in 15 innings. It's a killer to play all of those extras & end up losing, like rubbing it in your face. Maybe all these injuries will get us a look at some different players -- Brandon Workman today, Stephen Drew soon (although Brock Holt has been delivering as the leadoff guy), Daniel Nava is back, etc. Henry Owens, Mookie Betts & Deven Marrero are in Manchester this weekend for the Portland Sea Dogs. If things stay on a downward spiral, we may see them with the big team later this year. Another lost series, I think 4 in a row now. No wonder we are in last place. Too many subpar years from too many players.

It's 2012 Again!

8 losses in a row. John Lackey couldn't have done anymore. Why didn't Farrell pinch-run for Pierzynski? Why not use Koji in the 9th & 10th if needed to get a win? And on & on the 2nd guessing goes, but the end result is another loss 1-0. My beef last night is that the Red Sox should have played & managed this game like it was game 7 of the World Series, meaning all hands on deck to get a win & stop this losing streak. It shouldn't have been played & coached like a regular season game. Example, Brock Holt gets a leadoff double. Why not have Bogaerts bunt him to 3rd with Pedroia & Ortiz coming up? Instead we get 2 strikeouts & a ground out to end the inning. I'd like to see the Sox do more of whatever is necessary, especially in the late innings. I know Bogaerts is one of the only hot hitters right now, but I'd rather take a chance on a fly ball or hit by Pedroia, then a hit by Ortiz or Napoli if Ortiz draws an intentional walk. Let's show a little desperation & not business as usual to get out of this streak!

Another Day, Another Loss, Another Sweep

Not much to say when even your best pitcher gets lit up. Toronto continued to play home run derby in a 7-2 win over the Red Sox, completing the 3-game sweep. When have we ever seen back-to-back sweeps of the Red Sox at Fenway Park? Sox have now lost 7 in a row after showing signs of life earlier this month. No team is ever as good as you think. Example - Tigers have lost 4 in a row. No team is ever as bad as you think. Example - Red Sox. Tampa is as good a place to go if you are looking to get healthy. Maybe the Sox can find some mojo on the road for the next 5 games.

Tito's Men Sweep Tigers

I get to see a lot of the Cleveland Indians in spring training. They have an number of ex-Red Sox players -- Justin Masterson, Mike Aviles, David Murphy, Rich Hill. And of course they have Terry Francona as manager. The Indians made it to the wild card game last year, but got beat by the Rays. The club's attitude in 2014 was summed up on a t-shirt brought to camp by Nick Swisher that read "unfinished business." Cleveland is looking to push further into the playoffs in 2014, but they have had a similar start to the Red Sox - very slow. One down factor in Cleveland's run of 2013 was their inability to beat the Detroit Tigers. I think they were 4-15 against the Motown Men & division rival. Well, this week the Indians came to life & swept the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland after the Tigers had just swept Boston. Maybe the Indians are coming to life. Wish we could say the same.

Sox Lose 6th Straight

There's not much to take away in a 6-4 loss to Toronto, other than it's another series loss at home in Fenway & it's the 6th straight loss in a row. But I'll go with what Eck said - that the offense looked better & now it's the starting pitching that's the problem. No question that Jon Lester is the one bright spot. (How's that $70 million offer looking now, Larry?) John Lackey has been good, but even he joined Jake Peavy, Felix Doubront & Clay Buchholz in getting lit up during their last turns through the rotation. Doubront is on the DL after hitting his shoulder getting out of a car. Funny how these things only surface after a bad outing. Buck should be on the DL, maybe for mental issues. I say give the guys in Pawtucket a chance - Renaudo, de la Rosa, Webster, Workman. What's to lose? One will need to take Doubront's turn anyways. Maybe Buck should come up with a "sleeping wrong on his shoulder" injury again. The ship is sinking. Time for all hands on deck.

Tanaka, Yankees Beaten

Thank you, Cubbies!! The lowly Chicago Cubs beat Mashahiro Tanaka & the Yankees 6-1 last night. The Cubs were the first team to face Tanaka twice & maybe there's a message to be read. Second-time around won't be as easy for the previously unbeaten pitcher of 2+ years. The Yankee announcers had it down to the number of days since he had been beaten, 600+ days. Really? Is that detail important? With Tanaka now looking beatable, the Yankees now look very beatable & vulnerable too since the rest of their pitching staff is underperforming. Misery loves company. Let's invite the pinstripers to joins us in the lower half of the AL East.

Drew Back

If I'm a Red Sox pitcher, I say great! J.D.'s little brother can sure pick the ball & a shortstop like that will give pitchers more confidence to pound the strike zone. Stephen Drew needs about a week of minor league games before rejoining the big team. This signing or re-signing will move Bogaerts to 3B & leave the status of Will Middlebrooks up in the air. It may start out as a platoon with Drew playing against right-hand pitching & Middlebrooks against lefties, but you know that Drew will end up with the bulk of the time. I say good move, can't hurt anything & it may give a little shot of adrenaline to an offense that can't get the big hit. Even Pedroia struck out with men of 1st & 3rd last night to kill a rally. So welcome back, Stephen Drew!

Struggle to Survive

The Boston Red Sox are struggling to survive. The pre-game show said over & over that the way to beat the Blue Jays is to keep their batters inside the ballpark. I guess the Sox pitchers weren't listening. 4 home runs later, the Jays walk away with a 7-4 win. Felix Doubront leaves with a sore shoulder. Now, with a 5 game losing streak, the Sox are just looking to survive the end of may. They need a good game out of Buchholz tonight & if he can keep the Jays in the park, we still have a chance at a series win with Lester pitching on Thursday. The Sox need to stop the bleeding - badly.

Shakeup the Lineup

Our local newspaper & its sports writer has a fix for John Farrell's lackluster offense. Bat Xander Bogaerts leadoff since he has the best OBP on the team & return Dustin Pedroia to his customary #2 spot. Drop Shane Victorino into the 2nd 3rd of the order to help the 5 through 9 spots be more productive. In the meantime, look for a power-hitting third-baseman, like Encarnacion who will be playing for the visitors tonight. OK, I'm game! It can't hurt anything. The Detroit pitching staff can make a lot of offenses look bad, but the Red Sox offense was stop & go before this past series. While they are #3 in OBP the Sox are #10 or #12 in scoring with RISP. After a good start in April Mike Napoli's bat took the month of May off, so getting Nap hot again would help. Grady Sizemore & Jonny Gomes have not produced in the #5 spot. A.J. Pierzynski had a mini hot streak, starting with his grand slam in Toronto, but he has been grounding out to the infield with regularity lately. And Middlebrooks & Bradley at the bottom have been terrible at the plate. Sometimes change can be good. It will be interesting to see what lineup goes out there tonight. P.S. Mookie Betts played CF last night for the Portland Sea Dogs & his .383 batting average may rush him into the big leagues sooner than later on a team that needs more offense.

True Fans

Are you a true-blue Red Sox fan? We've been spoiled with 3 championships in the last 10 years after 86 years of agony & waiting. Wouldn't it be worse to be a Cubs fan or an Astros fan? It's hard to come down from the mountain top, but things are not breaking Boston's way thus far during the first 2 months of the 2014 season. For our parents & grandparents who suffered through the drought from 1919 to 2003 I think we owe it to this team to hang with them. Quoting John Kruk last night, the Red Sox can't get any lower after this 4-game losing streak, their first such streak since the Bobby V. era. Law of averages says that key hits will come, more runs will score. Everyone likes a winner. No one likes a loser. Let's give the Sox the benefit of the doubt for a few more months. Hang in there!

Tigers Sweep with 6-2 Win

They came. They saw. They conquered. The Tigers from Detroit swept the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend. Perhaps the Tigers were interested in payback for last year's ALCS defeat in 6 games. A healthy Miguel Cabrera to lead the offense & a potent pitching staff were dominant in the 3 games in Boston. On the other side, I believe Red Sox fans now know how fortunate the Boston team of destiny was last year to have had the sun, moon & stars align on their way to a championship season. The Boston offense could muster only 3 runs in 3 games. No big hits this time around. No David Ortiz, no Mike Napoli, no Shane Victorino to the rescue. I told my brother that this series was over after the 1-0 loss on Friday. I believe that that game set the tone for the whole series. But - there's always a but - even John Kruk from ESPN said that as bad as the Red Sox have played through the first 2 months, they are still in contention. The AL East is tightly packed with the Yankees on top with a record of 23-20. No one has broken away from the pack. A couple of good series wins could see the Sox move from 4th up towards the top. The incoming Toronto Blue Jays would be a good team to start winning against.

Is This Detroit's Year?

Scherzer is a free agent to be. Cabrera, Martinez, Hunter & Verlander are getting older. Maybe this is the now-or-never year that the Tigers need to win a World Series. And they just might. The Motown Men have one of the best records in baseball. Pitching & offense are tops or near tops of the league. The Tigers' win last night 6-1 over the struggling Red Sox shows just what a good team they are. Well balanced & consistent, something the Red Sox had last year. The Red Sox magic candle extinguished at the end of the 2013 season. There has been no magic in Boston this year. No consistency in part to 3 younger players breaking into the lineup & going through growing pains. No big hits or timely hits like last year from guys hitting .200+. 10 games have been lost by 1 run. If anything, the Red Sox pitching has been the most stable part of their season. But even John Lackey is human as we found out last night. If I'm a Red Sox pitcher these days, I'm thinking 1 or 2 runs given up & the game might be over with the non-offense of late. This year the Tigers are getting it done -- for example, like finding a way to barely beat Jon Lester 1-0 in the opener. Good luck, Jake Peavy, tonight! The Tigers are a handful.

Detroit 1, Red Sox 0

It's like a continuation of last year's ALCS. This time the Tigers come away with the win. Great pitching on both sides. Again, I thought that John Farrell should have played it safe & had JBJ bunt in the 8th with 2 runners on, even though it was a left-right matchup. JBJ strikes out & pinch-hitter AJ Pierzynski grounds into an inning-ending double play. Terrible. With runs at a premium I would have tried to take my 2 shots with runners at 2nd & 3rd, even with the bottom of the order coming up. The Red Sox have lost 3 out 4 now & face the possibility of losing another series at home. I believe that this is the type of team that we have this year -- plus or minus a few games around .500. Maybe an 85 win season while JBJ, X-man & Middlebrooks learn about everyday life in the big leagues. I'm not going to expect an 8-2 or 7-3 run. It's going to be 4-6, 5-5, 6-5. That's where we have been this year & I don't see it changing anytime soon. I'm going to adjust my expectations.

20-20 At the Quarter Pole

First quarter of 2014 is in the books. The Red Sox, like many teams, are in the pack of teams right around .500. As play begins today, the Sox are 1 1/2 games out of first. The old saying is that you can't win a championship in April or May, but you can sure lose one. Just as the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs & Arizona Diamondbacks. Other than those 3 teams, the other 27 are still in the hunt as Q2 begins. The Red Sox start a series tonight, rain permitting, with the top dogs of the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers last trip to Boston was for their elimination in the ALCS. The Sox will miss Verlander, but they will face Scherzer, Porcello & Sanchez. Lester, Lackey & Peavy will have their work cut out for them. It should be an interesting series for the 2 best teams from the AL a year ago. I'm giving the Sox my vote for the series win at home.

Miller Gives Up Another Walk-Off

Andrew Miller is glad to get out of the Twin Cities. Both losses occurred with him as the last man on the mound. After pitching the 9th I don't know why John Farrell didn't go to Koji, who was loosening up, or Tazawa in the 10th for that matter. The Twins had already used their closer, Glenn Perkins, so it was our bullpen against theirs. After tying the game on big 2-run RBI single by Middlebrooks in the 9th the Sox lose 4-3 in 10 innings & thus lose the series to Minnesota. I think Farrell has some explaining to do on the use of Miller for a 2nd inning. Maybe he was thinking about the upcoming series with Detroit. Follow your own motto, John. Stay focused on the job at hand today.

Jose Fernandez Done

Take a number. Now serving #18. Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez becomes the 18th pitcher since the start of spring training to go down with an arm injury requiring Tommy John surgery. I was in the stands this spring when Patrick Corbin from the Diamondbacks went down with the same injury. Corbin was cruising along & then one pitch in the 7th & he grabbed his arm & walked off the mound. Why is this happening? I believe you need to start looking at the throwing regimes with kids in Little League. Personally, I have a crooked arm from pitching. I never threw a curve ball in Little League. I started throwing curves in Babe Ruth, high school, American Legion & continued through college. By my junior year in college I found that my arm was permanently bent at the elbow. My results suffered that year, but I continued pitching that year & my senior year & for 3 more years after college. I'm no professional, so I'm not interested in having an operation. But I do see kids at 10-11-12 years old trying to throw some kind of breaking ball. It's going to come back & bite them. All you dads who are teaching your kids to throw curves & sliders at a young age, stop! Look what's happening. A good fastball that you can throw for a strike & a changeup should be all a young pitcher needs to get by for quite a while. Try gripping the ball differently & see if it moves naturally without breaking your wrist. I know a guy who had pretty good success by just changing grips - Mike Flanagan.

Big Papi Goes Off Again

Sox win 9-4. Good performance by Doubront. Another 2 home run game by David Ortiz, his 2nd in as many days. Big Papi has 7 hits in the first 2 games. The offense was very good while Felix Doubront limited the Twins to 1 run. Still scary to see Edward Mujica out there. With no pressure Mujica still gave up runs in the 9th before finishing the game. Now it's up to Buccholz to try & win the series this afternoon.

Guest Article #4: Baseball in Arizona

Thursday, March 27th - Cubbies vs. White Sox. I have always loved the Cubbies. I remember some of their greats - Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Harry Cary, Andre Dawson, Mark Grace, Greg Maddux & now Sam Fuld. I had been looking forward to going to the new Cubs spring training park on this beautiful, sunny Arizona afternoon. This happened to be the last spring training game for the Cubs this year. It was a very beautiful park with the best scoreboard I had seen that week. The game was sold out. The 20-20 raffle drawing was $28,000 before the split. Coach Huot almost guessed the attendance correctly, 15,000. I think he was one or two off from the exact figure. The doggies were good, the beer was cold & the sun was hot. I asked myself if it could get any better than this. I guess it could if I was on the bench. I was hoping that I would see Theo Epstein, one of the architects of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. I think I would have had a better chance of winning the lottery. As you walk into the park, there was a replica of the iconic Wrigley Field sign. To my amazement you had to pay to take a picture with family, friends, etc. Come on, man, you have to be kidding! I guess that is why money rises to the top of the economic pyramid for the benefit of a few. All in all, it was a great day to watch a ball game. (Author: Coach Gaff)

Guest Article #3: Baseball in Arizona

Wednesday, March 26th - Kansas City vs. San Diego. This was the last spring home game for the San Diego Padres. The stores & stands were selling everything at 1/2 prices. The people selling merchandise were very friendly. I would diagnose the fans, however, as narcissistic. The first instance was when a batter let go of his bat while swinging. It landed in the next section from ours not far from a security guard. As I watched it land, I saw a man 10 rows down run up the stairs at lightning pace & grab the bat. Do you think that he would give it to a young fan? No way. Maybe he had a child at home or a grandson to give the bat to or he just wanted to make some money. I do not know. However, the next fan took the cake, frosting & ice cream. We were trying to find good seats, so we sat in the front row just down from where our ticketed seats were. Just as the game got started a couple that were season ticket holders bumped us out. No problem. That is the way it works in baseball parks. A little bit later the husband caught a foul ball. He did not attempt to find a child to give it to. Towards the end of the game a ball bounced into the hands of his wife. She also did not attempt to give it to a child. That's when I almost lost it. It ran through my mind that I ought to go down to where they were sitting & embarrass the crap out of them. Unfortunately, I restrained myself. In hindsight I probably just should have asked them what does it mean to be a baseball fan. What can I say? They were probably from San Diego & they left the game in the 6th inning. Maybe I should have asked them to join me at Fenway. Maybe after that experience they would get it! We are lucky to live in New England where the best fans in the world live!!! (Author: Coach Gaff)

Ortiz Has Big Night For Not

Crap. It's tough when your starter can't make 5 innings & he gives up 6 runs. It's worse when you fight back to tie the game up, only to lose in walk-off fashion. Sox drop game 1 to the Twins 8-6. David Ortiz had a monster night - 4 hits, 2 HR's, 4 RBI. Normally good Andrew Miller gave up a game-winning homer to a light-hitting lefty. I thought that Middlebrooks should have gotten to the ground ball by Suzuki to end the inning. The pre-game comments that Middlebrooks is an above average fielder don't ring true with me. I think that his range left & right is very limited. Next batter Parmalee hit the winning homer with 2 outs in the 9th. Middlebrooks is in the lineup for his bat & he took an 0-fer last night, bringing his average below .200. Bogaerts had been slumping at the plate as well before his triple last night. Growing pains with the left side of the infield for sure. It's going to be a tough series when your rotation is your 3-4-5 starters anyways. Now we have to rely on Doubront & Buchholz to win this series. And let's not forget that Detroit is awaiting the Red Sox for a home series this weekend.

Bruins - Canadians Game 7

Isn't the modern Bruins-Canadians matchup like the old Red Sox-Yankees confrontations? Hate may be a strong word, but these 2 teams really do not like each other, from coaches throwing barbs back & forth to players ready to drop their gloves at a moments notice. It reminds me of Carlton Fisk, Bill Lee & other great scrums between the Red Sox & Yankees. The fact that there is a game 7 seems only proper with this series. Good luck Bruins!

Lester & Lackey Remain A Great 1-2 Punch

If we have a series where both Lester & Lackey are going to pitch, I always feel that we have a better chance of winning that particular series. Take Texas for example. Even though we lost the first game when the Rangers #1 pitched against our #5, I just knew that things would turn out OK with Lester & Lackey going the final 2 games & it did work out in favor of the Red Sox. Regarding the rest of the rotation, Jake Peavey has pitched better than anticipated, so we have a better than 50-50 chance of winning when Jake is on the hill. Doubront & Buchholz are less than 50-50 at this point. It seems like these guys pitch 1 good game & 2 bad ones. Both may straighten out or both may find themselves on the DL for a few turns to work on mechanics. Brandon Workman, Allen Webster & Rubby de la Rosa are all ready for their chance to join the big rotation. And maybe they will get it soon.

Sox Win 5-2 Behind Lackey

Winning recipe: score 3 runs in the first inning before your pitcher takes the mound. RBI hits by Mike Napoli & A.J. Pierzynski staked John Lackey to a 3-run lead & ultimate victory. Lackey was very good, especially in the 7th when he worked out of trouble. Dustin Pedroia seems to be getting the hang of hitting leadoff. He had another multi-hit game, including a solo homer in the 7th that kept the Sox lead to 3 runs. The Sox are now 19-18 & they move onto Minnesota for a series beginning on Tuesday. Maybe this is the week where the Sox take off. All other AL East rivals lost today.

Lester, Offense Pace Sox to 8-3 Win

How much money will it take to re-sign Jon Lester if he keeps pitching like he is? Lester went 7 innings against the Rangers, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. The 1-2-3 part of the Red Sox order was very productive, including Big Papi's 380th HR as a Red Sox. And the Sox win 8-3, a nice bounce-back after being shutout by Yu Darvish the night before. While no team in the AL East is running away with the division the Sox have at least done enough to stay with the pack until they can put consistent performances together back to back to back. If Lackey can be Lackey today, the Sox have a great chance to win this series after a terrible start. That would be impressive to me, especially against a Rangers team that usually gives them trouble.

Yu Nearly Perfect

Thank you, Big Papi, for not compounding a terrible 8-0 loss with a no-hitter. Yu Darvish pitched 8 2/3rds innings of no-hit ball before Ortiz singled in the 9th. Give props to Darvish who held the Sox in check all night while counterpart Clay Buchholz fumbled through his start. Buck couldn't make it through 5 innings, giving up 6 runs on 10 hits. So question marks still abound about a guy who looked untouchable before injury set in last year. Capuano was also ineffective, allowing 2 inherited runners to score plus 2 more of his own. Mentally, sometimes it's better to get beat 8-0 than 1-0. As a player, you know it's just one of those games. Lester & Lackey now get their chances to salvage this series.

Buck Versus Darvish

Clay Buchholz for the Red Sox. Yu Darvish for the Texas Rangers. Should be a good matchup in game 1. For some reason I'm not a fan of Darvish. He punches out a lot of batters, but he never seems to come up big in big games. He will have a good regular season, but Darvish seems to disappear in September & October. Maybe it's just me. I'll look up some numbers & get back to you on my opinion.

6 Road Games Coming Up

Get ready for some late night TV. 4 of the 6 upcoming games in Texas & Minnesota start at 8 PM, meaning an ending for die hard Red Sox fans around 12 midnight. But these could be 6 very important games as the Sox attempt to take off after reaching the elusive .500 mark for the first time in over a month. With 2 wins under their belt & 6 out of the last 10 the Sox need another round of good performances from their starting pitchers. Situational hitting with RISP is slowly improving. Young guys like Middlebrooks, Bogaerts & JBJ are hanging in there & perhaps starting to figure out life on the big league field. Pedroia is getting comfortable at leadoff. And Big Papi should warm up with the weather. One series at a time, one game at a time. With a built-in off day on Monday the bullpen should be fresh & ready. All signs are pointing up as the Sox invade Texas tonight. I'm predicting 2 out of 3 wins in each of these series.

Finally, .500

You can say the 9th time is the charm. With a 4-3 win & short series sweep of the struggling Cincinnati Reds the Red Sox improve their record to 17-17, hitting the .500 mark for the first time in over a month. A monkey off their back of sorts. Pitching was good, starting with Peavy & ending with the Koji of old. The offense continued to strand runners early. But the Sox bats were able to push across 2 runs in the 8th on RBI hits by Pierzynski & Middlebrooks - the tying & go-ahead runs. And the Boston 9 scratch out another 4-3 come-from-behind win. The NESN pre-game show mentioned that taking 6 out of every 10 games results in 96 wins over a full season & it just so happens that the Sox have won 6 out of their last 10. So maybe things are getting on track finally. I think that they need one more round of 5 good starts by the starting rotation against Texas & Minnesota to really take off. As Eck said, this is a week-to-week watch of the standings since all 5 AL East teams are bunched together. 2 more series wins on the road would be nice.

Tazawa & Koji Back On Earth

Junichi Tazawa always came into situations in the 7th or 8th inning where the opponent's toughest out was at the plate with the game on the line. 99 times out of 100 he got the big out to preserve a chance for his team to win. Koji was so automatic at closing that it took less than 10 pitches most nights to get the final 3 outs. That was 2013. This is now. The 2 talented back-end relievers for the Sox have come back to earth in a very big way this year. Uncharacteristically, they are both going through bad stretches right now - giving up runs, giving up leads, not looking very dependable. Lucky for John Farrell that Red Sox starters have been going deep in games & guys like Capuano, Miller, Badenhop, etc. have been good out of the pen. You have to think that Tazawa & Uehara will work through it, but the results are not what Red Sox fans are use to seeing. Automatic is no longer a word used when they come into a tight ballgame. Just another reason why the Sox are teetering around the .500 mark in the early going of 2014.

Mo Takes Pedroia Over Cano

Mariano Rivera has pitched a lot of years. He has seen a lot of players. In his book he talks about Dustin Pedroia playing hard for 9 innings & 27 outs every game. He further talks about the ability of Robinson Cano, but there was a lack of desire to be the best you could be. If Mo had to pick a 2nd baseman for 1 game, he said it would be Pedroia. That may offend some Yankee fans, but not as many as you might think now that Cano is a Mariner. Could you see it in Cano's everyday play? Some would call it effortless when he made a play. I called it too casual, like fielding a grounder was an imposition. Maybe Cano is just too cool for school. It's just interesting that the best closer ever would come out & pick a rival player, a Red Sox to boot, over a former teammate. But Mo has nothing to lose. His playing days are over. And Cano is no longer a Yankee. So live with it Yankee fans & live with it Cano (all the way to the bank).

Sox Hold On 4-3 in 12 Innings

As the WEEI blog said, the Red Sox are surviving at this point. We hope that better baseball, more consistent baseball, lies ahead. Sox outlasted the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 last night on a walk-off single by Grady Sizemore. With the Yankees woes of late the Red Sox are still in the pack like all other AL East team. None of the 5 East teams has been able to catch fire & all are bunched up within 1 to 2 games of each other through the first 6 weeks. Funny start to this season for sure. Doubront worked out of trouble to limit the damage to 1 run over 5+ innings. Pedroia stayed hot at the top of the order with a 3-5 night. Mike Napoli drove in 2 runs without leaving the infield, a grounder past the pitcher & a walk. It wasn't pretty in the 8th & 9th for Tazawa (2 runs) & Uehara (2 hits), but the Sox gained the win in the 12th on singles by Big Papi, Nap & Sizemore. Nice relief work by Badenhop, Miller & Breslow took care of the Reds in extras. The game today gives the Sox their 9th chance to reach the .500 mark. Fingers crossed!

Jenny Dell Among the Missing

With an off-day & nothing of particular importance going on, other than everyone crabbing about no big hits with RISP, I googled Will Middlebrooks' girl friend to see if she got a new job yet. Nope, not from what I could see. Jenny Dell is fielding offers while technically still under contract with NESN. Sarah Davis & Elle Duncan are teaming with Leah Hexstall & Adam Pellerin on NESN Sports Tonight. No sign of Jenny that I could find on any NESN shows. How weird is it to have a guy as the new sideline reporter? C'mon, Tom, what ever happened to the likes of Jenny, Heidi, Hazel & Tina? Like I said, a slow off-day. My mom use to say that days are so long when there is no game. I agree, mom.

Sox Fail Again to Reach .500

For the 8th time this year the Red Sox lose a game that would have put them at the .500 mark for the season. Today it was the A's salvaging a game in extras by a score of 3-2. And today it was the A's that had lady luck with a seeing eye infield hit to score the winning run in the 10th. Chris Capuano was bad 2 days in a row, ruining the chance for the Red Sox to sweep this 3-game series. The Sox are 3-3 on this homestand with 2 left against Cincinnati on Tuesday & Wednesday. If we keep winning series, though, things will be OK. One series at a time.

Red Sox & Cardinals Both 15-16

Is there something to the World Series hangover? Last year's participants, the Boston Red Sox & the St. Louis Cardinals, are both somewhat staggering out the starting blocks this year with identical records of 15-16 after a month + of the 2014 season. An extra month of post-season games does take a toll & it makes team management reconsider how much to push players in spring training. Players are creatures of habit & routine, so taking a month off to rest in October is messed up by the post-season & off-season workouts begin later. No team has won back to back championships since the Yankees in '99 & '00. But there's a lot of baseball left. I find it interesting that both teams are 15-16 at this early juncture of the season. Just a fun fact.

Lester, Gomes Power Sox to 6-3 Win

Jon Lester set a person high with 15 strikeouts over the first 8 innings. Jonny Gomes put the Sox on top 4-0 with his grand slam in the 1st inning to set the tone. Red Sox beat the A's again 6-3 & the Sox finally win a home series after dropping 2 of 3 to the Rays. The A's have just not looked like their dominating self this weekend. Maybe it's jet lag. May it's too much Boston seafood. Whatever, we'll take it. And John Lackey goes this afternoon to try for the first sweep of the year. The Sox are a couple of games behind the Yankees & O's, but things are looking brighter with 4 of 5 starters pitching well now. Only Felix Doubront remains the question mark. We may see Brandon Workman or Allen Webster up soon if Doubront's outing don't improve. The Sox are getting more consistent pitching & more consistent offense which equals better results. A much better last 10 days than the first 3 weeks of the season. Things are moving in the right direction.

Strange Life of Daniel Nava

Last year Daniel Nava was a force to be reckoned with. His OBP of .385 was near tops for MLB outfielders. He had many big hits, including a late-inning homer in the Sox first game after the bombings to bring a much-needed victory to the Boston faithful. This year he started off terribly, hitting just .185. When Shane Victorino returned from the DL it was Nava, not Sizemore or Bradley, that got sent down to Pawtucket. For a guy whose contract was purchased for $1 a few years ago it must have seemed like his career was over. But, to Nava's credit, he has accepted the assignment & results at the plate have improved. Nava now plays a waiting game until Sizemore or Victorino gets injured before returning to the big league club. In the meantime, he will continue to work on playing the outfield & getting his swing back. You have to cheer & root for this guy who is the perennial underdog. I think you will see Nava back with the big club before too long. I like the fact that he is a switch hitter. And his defense is much improved from a few years ago. Hang in there, Daniel! Boston is pulling for you.

Good Win Over A's

Maybe lady luck is starting to smile on the Red Sox as they beat AL West leaders the Oakland A's last night 7-1. Clay Buchholz looks like he is getting back into form, throwing 6+ innings of 1-run ball. The offense via Dustin Pedroia finally delivered a big hit - a grand slam - to put the game out of reach. And even Edward Mujica pitched a scoreless 8th after the A's rocketed several balls off of him. 2 balls, however, found the glove of Napoli & a great catch by JBJ turned into a double play. You need a little luck to win & the Sox had it last night. Maybe the A's were tired from traveling in from Texas were they swept the rangers. Winning game 1 against a hot team is always good. Now we have Lester & Lackey to go for the series win or even a sweep. Don't give up on May yet. And P.S., the Yankees lost in 14 innings to the Rays.

Boston Sports Massacre on Thursday

Wow! Not the type of sports day in Boston that anyone would have predicted. The hated Montreal Canadiens stole game 1 at TD Garden with a 4-3 double overtime win. The division rival Tampa Bay Rays stole 2 1-run games at Fenway from the Red Sox. 3 losses in 1 day make us all feel like losers today. Not only did the Red Sox give away game 1 by walking home the winning run in a 2-1 loss, the nightcap slipped away by poor performances from the Japanese duo of Tazawa & Uehara in a 6-5 loss. You know things are going bad when David De Jesus hits a ball down right field line & it trickles off the padding into the stands for a home run. An inch lower & it's a double. Jake Peavy deserved a better fate in game 1, but the Sox offense was lifeless for the 1st time since the return of Victorino & Middlebrooks. Game 2 was lost in the late innings when Tazawa gave up the tying run on a pair of hits in the 8th & Uehara gave up a game-winning homer in the 9th. Yikes! It's not 2014 Toto & it seems like nothing is a sure thing this year, at least so far. And the Sox lost a 4th time in the public perception arena by forcing the Rays to make up yesterday's wash out as part of a doubleheader when it could have been re-scheduled later in the year. Not many ticket holders for Wednesday night's game were there on Thursday afternoon. But don't worry - you can show your ticket on any non-game day to get your Pedroia bobble-head doll. Good marketing, Larry! So we lose-lose-lose-lose. Back in a last place tie with the Rays. May is starting off worse than April.

A Soggy Day to Play 2

The weather station says that rain will end in Boston around 9 AM this morning. Thus, a good day to play 2. Why not take advantage of a depleted Rays starting rotation while you can. And you miss David Price by doing so. At the end of the day the Sox could be above .500 for the first time this season with 2 wins. The standings today have New York, Baltimore & Boston in the 1-2-3 spots. If it were not for AL East hitters getting their 1st look at Tanaka, the Yankees would be in the middle of the pack as well. The Red Sox are in contention after a tough April, finishing 12-13. They are only 2 games out in loss column. The lineup with Victorino & Middlebrooks looks a lot more potent. Expect May to be a better month. Keep the faith!