Jacoby Ellsbury & Adrian Gonzalez are on fire

Despite what the Bill James' and stat geeks of the world will tell you (through 1000 page books and boring websites), baseball is and will always remain a simple game.

To that point, when you have a leadoff hitter that is consistently getting on base and a middle of the lineup bat that is driving guys in, you are going to have a potent offense.

Such is the case right now with the Boston Red Sox, leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez (their No. 3 hitter).

Ellsbury had three hits, a run and a stolen base yesterday afternoon and Gonzalez had a grand 29th birthday with three hits (including a solo homer), two runs and two RBIs as the Red Sox (16-18) beat the Minnesota Twins (12-20) 9-5 at Fenway Park.

After losing the series opener on Friday night (its third loss in a row), Boston has bounced back with back-to-back wins against Minnesota, who is a complete mess at the moment. Much of the Red Sox' spotty success lately has been due to Ellsbury and Gonzalez who are both currently on fire.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-3) was at his frustrating best yesterday as he gave up three runs in the top of the first but settled down to go six innings, allowing only one more run. He gave up five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Connecticut native Carl Pavano (2-4) has had a terrible start to the 2011 season-trust me, I had him on two fantasy teams-and that continued yesterday. In five innings, he allowed ten hits and seven earned runs with a walk. With that, I dumped him from both teams (and yes, I know you care).

The Red Sox banged out a season-high 14 hits with Kevin Youkilis (4 runs, 2 hits) and David Ortiz (2 hits) also recording multiple hits.

Jason Kubel (3 hits, 2 RBIs) had an RBI single to start Minnesota's big first inning. Danny Valenica (3 RBIs, 2 hits) topped that with a two-run single of his own.

J.D. Drew began the Red Sox comeback with an RBI ground out in the second. In the third, Jason Varitek cut it to 3-2 with another RBI ground and Gonzalez delivered an RBI single in the third to tie it at three. Youk's fielder's choice put Boston up 4-3 in the third before Drew came through with an RBI single to cap off the five-run third for Boston.

Valencia's solo homer in the fourth made it 5-4 Red Sox but Gonzalez answered with a solo shot (his fourth of the season) in the fifth over the Monster. A fielder's choice by Drew increased the lead to 7-4 in the same frame.

Jed Lowrie put this one in the win column with a two-run single in the seventh.

The Twins got one more run on Kubel's RBI single in the eighth.

Matt Albers went two innings (giving up three hits and one earned run but striking out three) and Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless ninth.

Josh Beckett faces Nick Blackburn tonight in the series finale. A win here by the Red Sox would cap off a nice 3-1 series. Beckett last started during the rain delayed game against the Angels last Wednesday, so he should be raring to go since he only went 4.1 innings then.

Angels beat Red Sox in 13 innings, ending at 2:45 a.m. EST

It's only fitting that the Los Angeles Angels finally beat the Boston Red Sox in a game that most either didn't see or gave up on watching and went to bed (even on the West Coast).

The Angels (17-14) won 5-3 in 13 innings last night at Fenway Park against the Red Sox (14-16), in a game that didn't end until 2:45 a.m. EST thanks to a lengthy rain delay (two hours and thirty five minutes).

For someone that never goes to bed at a reasonable hour, it was hilarious to watch the game that would never end. I'd like to give props to the die-hard fans that stayed but you had to be insane to stay for the entire game, a meaningless May game against the Angels.

It was bad luck for both starting pitchers since they were both dealing, particularly Los Angeles' Ervin Santana (4 innings, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts). He had a no-hitter going when the game was put on hold in the top of the fifth. That no-hitter continued until Jed Lowrie got a hit in the bottom of the seventh.

Josh Beckett (4.1 innings, 1 hit, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts) was nearly as dominant but he was also lifted since you never bring back a starting pitcher after a rain delay.

It became a contest decided by random bullpens and wouldn't you know that somehow Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-3) would find a way to screw it up as he took the loss in his first MLB relief appearance (1 inning, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk).

Vernon Wells broke the scoreless tie with a two-run bomb off Dan Wheeler in the top of the seventh.

Adrian Gonzalez reached on an infield single in the bottom of the eighth and Jason Varitek scored on the play as Angels reliever Fernando Rodney decided for some reason to flip the ball to his catcher Hank Conger. Too bad it wasn't even close.

Erick Aybar's sacrifice fly scored Wells in the top of the ninth and gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Boston showed some resiliency as they scored twice in their last at bats against LA's new closer Jordan Walden. Lowrie scored on a throwing error by Conger and then Jacoby Ellsbury delivered with an RBI single that plated Carl Crawford.

Bobby Abreu was the hero for the Angels as he hit a two-run single in the top of the 13th against Matsuzaka, scoring Howie Kendrick and Peter Bourjos.

The fourth and final game of this series has already begun with John Lackey opposing former Red Sox Joel Pineiro. With a 15-2 record the last two seasons against the Angels and 6-1 this year, Boston will try to close out this series on a high note even though they have to be dead tired.

Dice-K wishes you a Happy Easter

I didn't get to see much of the Boston Red Sox game last night against the Los Angeles Angels but I had a good excuse since the Bruins beat the Canadiens in double overtime.

From what I gathered, Daisuke Matsuzaka tossed his second gem in a row as the Red Sox (9-11) won 5-0. It was Boston's fourth win in a row and their seventh in their last eight games.

Anaheim (12-9) was limited to two hits, both infield singles, as they meekly went down to the Red Sox for the third straight night.

Matsuzaka (2-2) went eight innings, allowing one hit, three walks and nine strikeouts in 115 pitches. The long outing was especially important since both Bobby Jenks and Jonathan Papelbon were unavailable due to a ton of work lately.

Daniel Bard threw a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Once upon a time Ervin Santana (0-3) was compared to a young Pedro Martinez. Haha, must have been one of his relatives or baby mamas that came up with that ludicrous comparison. He's a good MLB pitcher but nothing close to special, ever. He went seven innings last night, allowing nine hits, five earned runs, one walk and nine strikeouts.

Boston got on the board in the second inning as Carl Crawford's (2 hits) infield single scored Jed Lowrie (2 hits).

Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single in the third which drove in Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases), who looked good in the leadoff spot.

Kevin Youkilis returned after missing most of the last two games (he fouled a ball off his shin) and hit a two-run opposite field bomb for a 4-0 lead in the fifth.

Jason Varitek notched an RBI double in the sixth which scored Crawford for the final Red Sox run.

John Lackey gets the start tonight against his former team as Boston goes for the sweep against Matt Palmer and the Angels.

Dice-K on Marathon Monday, the reverse lock of all-time comes through

When we last saw Daisuke Matsuzaka, he was reduced to a lonely puddle on the mound at Fenway Park after get shellacked by the Tampa Bay Rays.

So of course, when his start was pushed back and he closed out Boston's long homestand with a Marathon Monday outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, he was outstanding.

Dice-K (1-1) allowed one hit in seven innings, walked one and struck out three in one of his most dominating and mystifying starts of his Jekyll and Hyde MLB career.

As I said last season, I'm done expecting anything of Dice-K or trying to predict what he'll do since he's the ultimate trick or treat pitcher.

Yesterday's 9-1 Red Sox (5-10) win on Patriot's Day, allowed them to win three of four from the Blue Jays (7-9), and hit the road (9-game, 10 day trip) on a good note.

For whatever reason, Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero (1-2) is a very good pitcher against everyone but Boston. Like always, the young lefty struggled. He gave up eight hits, five earned runs, five walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.

The Red Sox pounded out a season-high 13 hits led by Jed Lowrie (4 hits, 4 RBIs, 2 runs), Kevin Youkilis (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) and Jacoby Ellsbury, who all hit home runs.

The red hot Lowrie continued to crush the ball, get started early with a two-run single in the first that scored J.D. Drew and Dustin Pedroia for a 2-0 lead.

David Ortiz's RBI single in the third made it 3-0 and scored Youk.

Lowrie hit a two-run homer in the fifth (scoring Ortiz) over the Monster.

Earlier Youk had a double off the top of the bullpen wall in right so it was only fair that he hit a two-run homer in the sixth (that scored Adrian Gonzalez). Carl Crawford broke his horrendous slump with an RBI double that scored Lowrie and made it 8-0 later in the sixth.

Ellsbury's solo shot in the seventh opened it up to 9-0.

Yunel Escobar broke the shutout with a garbage time solo home run off Tim Wakefield in the ninth.

Boston has two games in Oakland, four in Anaheim and then three in Baltimore. It's a long trip but against three teams that they should beat.

John Lackey gets the ball tonight against A's young stud Brett Anderson. Lackey last pitched on Opening Day at Fenway so hopefully seeing an old AL West foe will allow him to be half decent. It's asking a lot, I know.

Go home Dice-K, we don't need you

Just when you think the Boston Red Sox have built some momentum after taking two of three from the New York Yankees over the weekend, Daisuke Matsuzaka submits the worst outing of his MLB career.

Matsuzaka allowed seven runs in the first two innings and was yanked without recording an out in the third as the Tampa Bay Rays (2-8) rolled to a joke of a 16-5 win last night at Fenway Park.

I honestly don't know what the Red Sox (2-8) can do right now with Matsuzaka (2 innings, 8 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 homers allowed). Tim Wakefield is the most obvious replacement and he actually was the first guy summoned from the bullpen last night to clean up Dice-K's mess.

Wakefield (3.1 innings, 7 hits, 5 earned runs) isn't the answer either, the guy is 45 and even though he's so likable, he's painfully washed up.

Tampa Bay had 20 hits and almost scored as many runs as they had in the first nine games (20).

Philips Exeter alum and New Hampshire native Sam Fuld led the Rays with four hits, three RBIs and three runs. He had a two-run homer off Matsuzaka. Johnny Damon had a solo homer in his first at bat against Dice-K and finished with three hits, three RBIs and two runs. Ben Zobrist (3 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs), B.J. Upton (3 hits, 3 runs), Reid Brignac (2 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and John Jaso (2 hits, 3 RBIs) all feasted on poor Boston pitching.

Jeremy Hellickson (5.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout) didn't have to do much for his first win of the season (1-1).

Carl Crawford had two hits, David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez had triples (really) and Jacoby Ellsbury had a solo homer for Boston after the game was long over.

Jon Lester takes on David Price tonight in a game that should be much more competitive and interesting.

Will the Boston Red Sox ever win in 2011?

At this point, the Boston Red Sox in 2011 are the car crash of Major League Baseball. You can't help yourself but look at the carnage as this superstar-laden team is still winless going into the second week of the regular season.

If all goes right, in the dog days of summer, we'll all sit back over our Fenway Franks and Sam Adams beers and laugh about this nightmare start. However, at the moment, there's nothing funny about a team that's now 0-5 (only three winless teams left in MLB-Tampa Bay and Houston) after an 8-4 loss last night at Progressive Field.

Like Josh Beckett the night before him, Red Sox fans were forced to abandon all rational thought (not a tough concept for us) and pretend that Daisuke Matsuzaka would spin a gem against a bad Cleveland (3-2) team.

Instead, Dice-K was exactly as maddening as you remember. He lasted only five innings (like Beckett) and departed after giving up six hits, three earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts. Congratulations to him since he only needed 96 pitches and about four hours to get that far.

Indians starter Mitch Talbot wasn't any better (4.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts) since he left after 102 pitches.

It turned into a battle of bullpen's and Boston's JV trio of Dennys Reyes (3 earned runs), Dan Wheeler (earned run) and Tim Wakefield (earned run) predictably couldn't get the job done.

Another loss overshadowed nice games from Carl Crawford (2 hits, 2 steals) and Adrian Gonzalez (double, two-run homer).

Shin-Soo Choo gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run bomb.

Boston tied it up with a pair of runs in the second: Marco Scutaro's chopper scored David Ortiz and Jacoby's Ellsbury groundout drove in J.D. Drew.

Asdrubal Cabrera put the Indians back on top with an RBI single in the second.

Michael Brantley's fielder's choice in the sixth scored Travis Buck but it was all Jason Varitek's fault as he made a Little League type brain cramp. Kevin Youkilis got the force at third base and tossed it to Varitek covering home. He forgot he had to tag Buck so he just harmlessly stepped on the plate.

That run looked big at the time but it didn't matter as Wheeler allowed a three-run homer to Cabrera in the next at bat.

Gonzalez cut it to 7-4 with his first homer for Boston. A two-run shot to right that scored Crawford. Should be the first of 35+ this season for Adrian.

Matt LaPorta tacked on an insurance run with a solo homer off Wakefield in the eighth.

The Red Sox are off to their worst start in 15 years. They'll look to avoid a disastrous 0-6 start this afternoon as Jon Lester gets the ball for his second start of the season. Fausto Carmona opposes him and ironically both got shelled on Opening Day.

Needless to say, Boston needs a win to salvage some pride. Otherwise, Opening Day tomorrow afternoon at Fenway against the New York Yankees could be rough.

The Texas Rangers are a legitimate World Series contender, fact

When you watch the AL East (baseball's best division) day in and day out, it's easy to overlook other AL divisions and especially the National League.

However, seeing quality teams like the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox allows you to know talent when you see it and this season, the Texas Rangers appear to have the right combination of pitching, great lineup and a closer to go deep into October.

The Rangers (67-49) took two out of three from the Sox (67-52) over the weekend, sealing it with yesterday afternoon's 7-3 win.

The temperature hovered around 100 degrees for each game and it was an easy metaphor to say that Boston's playoffs hopes continue to wilt as the summer quickly vanishes.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (8-4; 6.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts), who has quietly become Boston's third best starting pitcher, deserved a better fate on this scorcher of a day.

Dice-K left down 2-0 (sacrifice fly in the second and bunt single in the seventh) with two outs in the seventh but Manny Delcarmen allowed a three-run homer to Michael Young (2 hits) on his first pitch of his outing.

Down 5-0, the Red Sox decided to make it somewhat interesting. Marco Scutaro had an RBI double and Darnell McDonald hit a two-run homer which cut it to 5-3.

It wasn't enough though as Texas added two more in the eighth to close it out.

C.J. Wilson (11-5) beat Boston for the third time this season. He went 7.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

The big 10-game road trip fittingly ended 5-5 for the Red Sox. They're six games behind New York in the AL East and five games behind the Rays for the wild card. Neither of those teams are playing particularly well at the moment either but Boston has been unable to gain any ground.

Dustin Pedroia is returning to the lineup tomorrow (out since June 25) as the Sox kick off a nine-game homestand vs. a favorable trio of teams (Angels, Blue Jays, Mariners). Boston will not go anywhere unless they catch fire in the next week or so, time is running out.

I'm starting to love this team

They've been counted out for basically the whole season, the ratings are way down as the Pink Hats have jumped aboard the latest trend and the injuries have mounted at a ridiculous pace but through it all, the 2010 Boston Red Sox have survived. Kind of like Arnold in the Terminator 2.

The Sox (65-49) won 7-5 last night at the Rogers Centre over the previously hot Blue Jays (59-53).

Neither Daisuke Matsuzaka (5.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 6 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts) nor Ricky Romero (6 innings, 5 earned runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts) were on their game so this one was decided by the bullpens.

Felix Doubront (2-2) gave up a solo homer to Jose Bautista, his 35th (major league leader) in the seventh but he survived to get four outs and serve as the bridge to Manny Delcarmen (eighth) and Jonathan Papelbon, who pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save.

Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning which qualifies as an explosion for them these days. Adrian Beltre had an RBI double, Jed Lowrie (2 hits, 2 RBIs) had a ground-rule RBI double and Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits) kept the line moving with a run-scoring single.

Toronto leads MLB in homers so it was no surprise when Adam Lind (2 hits) crushed a solo shot in the bottom of the second.

Mike Lowell put the Red Sox up 4-1 in the third with a sacrifice fly but Travis Snider tied it up in the bottom of the third with a three-run bomb.

J.D. Drew hit a solo homer in the fifth but Bautista tied it in the seventh.

Lowell and Lowrie teamed up for the winning runs in the eighth. Lowell hit a solo homer and Lowrie had another RBI double.

Clay Buchholz faces Shawn Marcum tonight.

The Rays rolled last night but the Yankees lost so Boston is five games behind New York and 4.5 behind Tampa Bay.

Beltre and Dice-K help Red Sox split with Indians

The bad news seems to come daily for the Boston Red Sox and yesterday was no different as Kevin Youkilis will miss the rest of the season with his random thumb injury.

Every time you want to bury this team you can't though as they emerge from their shallow grave with a nice win. Last night, the Sox (62-47) earned a split with the Indians (46-63) thanks to a 6-2 win at Fenway Park.

There were basically two reasons why Boston won this game: Daisuke Matsuzaka and Adrian Beltre. Dice-K (8-3) had probably his second best start of the season (behind the near no-hitter at the Phillies) as he went eight impressive innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

For much of the game, Cleveland rookie Josh Tomlin matched Dice-K, starting out the first three innings with a perfect game. However, with one swing, Beltre gave Boston all the runs they would need as he crushed a fourth inning grand slam over the Monster.

Shin-Soo Choo had given the Indians an early 1-0 lead in the first with a solo homer to center.

J.D. Drew added two important insurance runs in the eighth with a clutch two-run single.

Even a 6-1 lead at home isn't safe for Hideki Okajima (2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk). Luis Valbuena hit an RBI single in the ninth and when two runners were on base, Terry Francona had to go to Jonathan Papelbon since they needed this game bad.

Papelbon made it interesting as usual, walking the bases loaded (putting the tying run at the plate in the form of nobody Trevor Crowe) but striking out two batters to end it. It was his 26th save of the season.

For the first time since before Memorial Day (it's an absolute joke that it's been that long), the Red Sox will play the Yankees. The two teams have four in the Bronx this weekend, starting tonight and ending Monday afternoon.

Clay Buchholz faces Javier Vazquez tonight at Yankee Stadium. The Bombers come in six games ahead of Boston and half a game ahead of Tampa Bay (the wild card leaders). Needless to say, the Red Sox have to win at least a couple games in the series to stay alive. They simply can't afford to be swept.

Okajima lets his stinkbomb speak for itself

Just when it appeared the Red Sox were gaining a sliver of momentum, winning the first two games in Seattle, it all came crashing down as they couldn't pull out a win in Lester's gem on Saturday night and yesterday afternoon the bullpen imploded for the millionth time this season.

Seattle (39-60) won 4-2, to earn a split in a series that Boston (55-44) simply had to have. Now, the Sox are eight games behind New York (goodnight) and five behind Tampa Bay for the wild card (keep dreaming). Ugh.

Yesterday's goat was Hideki Okajima (3-3), who had another terrible outing in a terrible season for him that's been chock full of them.

Dice-K had given his team the standard six inning outing: four hits, one run (earned), five walks, four strikeouts. Typical with Matsuzaka, he pitched out of trouble well (including a bases loaded, one out jam) but his high pitch count (110) cost his team since someone other than Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon had to enter the game.

Okajima entered with no outs and a runner on first in the eighth and promptly gave up five hits for two runs (both earned). You have to believe me that none of the balls were hard hit, two were bunt hits, but that doesn't matter at all. He compounded things by screwing up one of the bunts, he fielded Casey Kotchman's (3 hits) bunt, turned to third, hesitated then threw to first. Everybody was safe.

Jose Lopez (2 hits) gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single.

Kevin Youkilis (2 hits) tied it up for Boston with an RBI double in the fourth and ex-Mariner Adrian Beltre put the Red Sox ahead with an RBI single.

In the fateful eighth, Michael Saunders drove in two with a bloop single and Kotchman scored on Milton Bradley's bunt.

David Aardsma, another ex-Red Sox player, got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 18th save.

After a 3-4 stretch in Oakland and Seattle, the Sox wrap up their west coast trip with three in Anaheim against the Angels. Clay Buchholz takes on Joel Pineiro, former Sox bum.

Teach me how to dougie Dice-K

What do I always say about Dice-K? He is the single most unpredictable player in MLB and probably professional sports. Therefore after I bashed him and Ben Sheets going into last night's series opener in Oakland, they responded by turning in a classic pitcher's duel.

It figures that one of the most exciting games of the season was a 10:05 p.m. EST start so who knows how much of Red Sox nation actually saw it, especially considering how low their television ratings are this season.

The Red Sox (53-40) started off the pivotal 10-game West Coast trip with a 2-1 win at the Oakland Coliseum. Dice-K (7-3) went 6.2 innings and allowed one earned run on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Most surprisingly, Dice-K worked quickly and efficiently and was only on 89 pitches when he got yanked in the seventh.

Ben Sheets (4-9) nearly matched him going 6.2 innings and giving up two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Daniel Bard went 1.1 scoreless innings and Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 21st save of the season. Dice-K's fine work allowed Terry Francona to skip over all the bum relievers that have been omnipresent this season.

Rajai Davis gave Oakland (46-47) a 1-0 lead in the third with a solo home run.

David Ortiz tied it up in the fourth when his sacrifice fly knocked in former A's outfielder Eric Patterson, who had tripled. Adrian Beltre (3 hits) produced the winning run with a solo shot two batters later.

In his last start before Josh Beckett returns to the rotation, Tim Wakefield goes tonight against Dallas Braden, he of the perfect game on May 9. Braden has been on the DL and also has struggled since then, he hasn't won a game since then.

Same old Dice-K

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Dice K's pitch count gets way too high early, he can't hold a lead and the Sox end up losing a game they had firmly in their grasp.

I've said before that Matsuzaka is the most unpredictable player in MLB but you have to admit that he's good at racking up insane pitch counts and blowing leads.

Last night in Tampa was an especially ugly one as the Sox (49-34) led 5-1 going into the bottom of the fifth but eventually lost 6-5 to the Rays (49-33).

Dice-K went five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

One of the most frustrating parts of the loss was the fact that Boston had gotten Rays starter Matt Garza (4 earned runs, 7 hits) out after just three innings. No surprise though, Tampa's bullpen is better than Dice-K and our god-awful middle relievers (Ramon Ramirez).

The Red Sox also wasted a career night by utilityman Eric Patterson who is filling in for Dustin Pedroia. Corey Patterson's little bro had two solo homers and a double.

Carl Crawford (3 hits) put the Rays up 1-0 in the first with an RBI double.

Boston answered with four two-out runs in the top of the third. Patterson hit his first homer, Kevin Youkilis had an RBI triple, Adrian Beltre had an RBI single and Bill Hall (2 hits) had an RBI single.

After Patterson's second blast in the fourth, Boston's offense was completely silenced.

Tampa Bay scored two in the fifth on Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly and Crawford scored on Kevin Cash's passed ball.

John Jaso tied it up with a two-run single in the sixth and Jason Bartlett produced the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Rafael Soriano (who somehow didn't make the All-Star team even though he's 22 of 23 on save chances) worked the ninth for the save.

Felix Doubrant gets his second start for Boston tonight against Jeff Niemmann. Coupled with a Yankees win last night in Oakland, the Red Sox are 2.5 games behind New York and half a game behind Tampa Bay. They can't afford a slide going into the All-Star break even though they're completely decimated by injuries.

Sox bullpen is a complete mess

It's a familiar complaint by fans of pretty much any MLB team: we don't have enough arms in the bullpen.

However, the Red Sox (47-32) are in a serious crisis mode with their bullpen in 2010 because Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez all have ERAs over 4.5 and they are struggling with a capital S.

The Tampa Bay Rays (45-32) salvaged a game at Fenway Park last night with a 9-4 win as they scored six runs in the eighth off Delcarmen and Ramirez.

All told, Dice-K gave Boston a good start by his low standards. He walked the bases loaded in the first but obviously got out of it. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Matt Garza (9-5) continued his mastery of the Sox as he gave his team the solid outing that desperately needed: seven innings, three earned runs on six hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa went up 3-0 in the fourth on a two-run double by Kelly Shoppach and an RBI single by Ben Zobrist.

David Ortiz cut it to 3-1 in the sixth with an RBI double which scored new guy Eric Patterson.

The Rays clinched this one with the six runs in the eighth. Carlos Pena hit an RBI double, Sean Rodriguez had a two-run single and Jason Bartlett hit a three-run bomb off Ramirez and into the Monster seats.

Ortiz fueled a minor comeback in the eighth with a two-run double and Adrian Beltre drove in the other run with a long sacrifice fly. That was one of at least three or four deep fly balls the Red Sox hit to the warning track.

The Fourth of July is always a big deal in Boston and the Sox will be home with the Orioles playing the role of jobber for what should be some big holiday weekend crowds.

The Red Sox are off tonight and then they get things started against the hapless O's tomorrow night.

Yanks win on walk-off bomb in epic fashion

After being down 5-0 in the first inning last night at Yankee Stadium, the Sox were poised to pull off their best win of the season.

Boston (19-20) led 9-7 going into the ninth but one-trick pony closer Jonathan Papelbon couldn't end it as he gave up the tying two-run bomb to A-Rod and a walk-off two-run homer to Marcus Thames.

The swing of emotions was dramatic as the best win turned into the worst loss , something that the Sox might not recover from this season that always looks fated.

In true Dice-K fashion, he gave up one run in the second but settled down enough to get into the fifth inning.

David Ortiz's solo homer cut it to 6-2 in the fifth and J.D. Drew made it 6-5 New York (25-13) with a three-run homer off Phil Hughes.

Marcus Thames showed Dice-K the door in the fifth with an RBI double, giving the Bombers a 7-5 lead. Matsuzaka gave up seven earned runs in 4.2 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

Hughes wasn't good either: five earned runs on six hits in five innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

The long ball was Boston's friend as Victor Martinez hit a solo shot in the sixth (7-6 NY) while Youkilis (two-run) and V-Mart went back to back in the eighth to give the Sox a 9-7 lead.

It was Papelbon's first blown save of the season but he fell to 1-3. He gave up four earned runs on three hits and threw 19 pitches so who knows if he's available tonight.

I'm not feeling good about Josh Beckett's chances tonight when he faces C.C. Sabathia. Beckett has been nothing short of pathetic this season and this does not look like the night to get untracked.

He's Dice-K, he doesn't have to make sense

Daisuke Matsuzaka is one of the great mysteries in sports. He has the ability to completely baffle hitters but he's one of the most frustrating athletes because he rarely lives up to any sort of expectations.

Like a friend or relative that's a screwup, I guess we have to go start by start with the Diceman and not dwell on past success or his recent failures. Just living in the moment.

So there he was last night at Fenway Park, toeing the rubber and unleashing a gem against the Blue Jays. Matsuzaka (2-1) went seven innings, giving up one earned run on three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Boston (18-16) won 6-1 over the Blue Jays (19-16), their fifth straight win vs. Toronto this season.

The Red Sox' scrappy offense (ie. no power) continued to scratch runs out of not much substance. They got two runs in the first off a groundout and sacrifice fly.

Jason Varitek continued to swing a hot bat, crushing a solo homer in the second inning. It's his sixth home run of the season, haha he's batting .342

Boston added a run in the fourth on Darnell McDonald's RBI double and two in the fifth on a wild pitch and fielder's choice.

Toronto finally solved Dice-K in the sixth with an RBI double by Fred Lewis but that's all they get on the night.

The Sox go for the sweep with an afternoon matinee pitting Tim Wakefield against Shawn Marcum.

The Diceman Cometh

Now that the Red Sox are 5.5 games in front of the Rangers in the wild card (six in the loss column) and 6.5 behind the Yankees (only five in the loss column), we can finally exhale and assume that yes, Boston will be in the playoffs again.

It's pretty much guaranteed that if you do in fact make it, they'll play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for the millionth consecutive year.

And yes the Angels (86-58) have been one of baseball's hottest teams since the All-Star break but do you really fear that team?

The teams opened up an intriguing three-game set last night at Fenway and Boston won 4-1 behind Daisuke Matsuzaka's triumphant return to the big club.

Dice-K had been on a minor league odyssey since he was last seen at Fenway (June 19), out of shape and completely ineffective. With Clay Buchholz locking up the third spot in the rotation, all we need is a few signs from Dice-K that he can bring something positive to this season.

Obviously, he had a no-hitter into the fifth inning last night and in total, threw six shutout innings. Matsuzaka (2-5) allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five in one of the most promising things to happen to the Red Sox all season.

The Angels own the Yankees and most other teams in baseball but for whatever reason, when they come to Fenway (and especially when they meet in October) they turn into Grade A frauds. The Sox have beaten them in 12 of their last 13 playoff games (spanning '04, '07 and '08).

The Sox even beat Anaheim at their own game last night: small ball. Dustin Pedroia bunted to move over Alex Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury (at first and second respectively). Angels pitcher John Lackey botched the throw on Pedroia's bunt and Gonzalez came around to score, giving Boston a 1-0 lead in the sixth.

David Ortiz singled home Ellsbury later in the inning for a 2-0 lead.

Boston added two more in the eighth as Jason Bay singled home J.D. Drew and Ortiz ripped a solo homer.

Erick Aybar had an RBI double in the ninth off Jonathan Papelbon but that was pretty much irrelevant.

Paul Byrd opposes Joe Saunders tonight in game 2.