Getting worse by the day

You can't win a pennant in April but you can lose one if you dig yourselves too deep of a hole.

The Boston Red Sox in 2011 are currently a case study to see how poorly they can start and still compete for the AL East title.

For the second time in a row, Jon Lester (0-1) pitched well enough to win but didn't since his teammates couldn't score him enough runs in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park last night.

Lester went seven innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Tampa Bay (3-8) ace David Price (1-2) was just a notch better going 7.1 innings and giving up five hits and two earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts.

Boston (2-9) has the worst record in MLB and they're living up to that billing by finding a million different ways to lose every game.

Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless eighth and Bobby Jenks threw a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout but the Red Sox couldn't get to Joel Paralta (1 out) or Kyle Farnsworth, who struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season.

Terry Francona loaded his lineup with righthanded bats to face Price and it paid off when Darnell McDonald hit a solo homer in the third for a 1-0 Boston lead.

Granite State folk hero Sam Fuld tied it up in the fifth with a ground out and Johnny Damon (2 hits) had the game-winning hit, a two-run double following Fuld in the fifth.

Jed Lowrie (2 hits) cut it to 3-2 with an RBI double in the sixth but that's all Boston could muster.

The series finale is scheduled for tonight with John Lackey facing James Shields but I doubt it happens since it's been pouring all day.

Don't know which is better for the Red Sox right now: to sit around for a day and here how bad they are or try to get a game in with Lackey pitching. Either way, not good options.

Goodnight Red Sox, see you next spring

Going away on vacation for a week to the Cape allowed me to fully withdraw from the 2010 Boston Red Sox (even though I still paid attention to their games) and admit that this season is over, on to the next one (with apologies to Swiss Beatz).

I faithfully kept up with this ill-fated team from the beginning but from the start (even before all the injuries), you had the feeling that this edition couldn't go anywhere based on their shortcomings and the fact that they play with two of the best teams in baseball in their division (New York and Tampa Bay).

Most will remember this Red Sox season for the injuries but mostly it was about the failure of GM Theo Epstein and the owners to spend money on the right players or make the right moves befitting of such a big market, high spending team.

Their bullpen was a joke all season and that never really changed. They threw money at John Lackey and Mike Cameron and predictably both have been busts based on performance and getting injured respectively.

In a season full of bad losses, yesterday might have taken the cake. The Red Sox (76-51) took a 5-3 lead into the ninth and it looked like they might avoid the sweep at Fenway Park by the White Sox (76-60).

Not so fast my friend. After entering in the eighth, Jonathan Papelbon blew his seventh save of the year and threw a career-high (out of the bullpen) 48 pitches as Chicago won 7-5.

Josh Beckett (6.1 innings, 3 runs, 1 earned, 9 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts) was better than Mark Buehrle (7 innings, 4 earned runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts) but Chicago's superior bullpen was the difference. Other than the fact that they're in the inferior AL Central, the White Sox are still alive thanks to a solid bullpen, Boston's biggest flaw.

Alexi Ramirez put Chicago up 1-0 in the second with an RBI single. David Ortiz made it 2-1 in the third with a two-run double.

In the seventh, two Chicago runners scored on Daniel Bard's throwing error. That appeared meaningless in the bottom of the seventh when Victor Martinez blasted a two-run homer over the Monster. Bill Hall added an RBI groundout in the eighth.

However, Carlos Quentin's (3 hits, 2 RBIs) two-out, two-strike bloop double cut it to 5-4 in the ninth and Ramon Castro's RBI single tied it at five. After Papelbon was pulled, PawSox bum Robert Manuel came on and walked two White Sox with the bases loaded. Thanks for playing, season's over.

Darnell McDonald and Adrian Beltre both had three hits in the loss. They've been two of the only brightspots this whole season.

Telling ourselves that the Red Sox had any chance to make the playoffs the last few weeks (months really) has been avoiding the obvious. With college football underway and the NFL kicking off for real on Thursday, now is a fitting time to bid adieu to the Red Sox.

Sure I'll still follow them for this last pitiful month but barring a crazy win-streak or choke job by the Yankees or Rays (both unlikely), the Red Sox will be done in less than a month. It's the first time since 2006 that they'll miss the playoffs.

Darnell McDonald and Ryan Kalish, outfielders of the future for the Red Sox?

2010 has been a revolving door for the Boston Red Sox as they have shuffled through a million lineups to augment an absurd level of injuries.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron were declared done for the season last night (no surprise) but the Sox (68-52) had no time to worry about it. More importantly, Dustin Pedroia-the team's heart and soul-returned to action after being out since June 25.

Thanks to two replacement outfielders: journeyman Darnell McDonald and rookie Ryan Kalish, Boston shut out the Los Angeles Angels (60-60) 6-0 at Fenway Park in the first game of a three-game series.

McDonald hit a solo homer in the third over the Monster that broke the back window of a car parked on a rooftop garage on Landsdowne Street. Pretty cool stuff, sorry person with Rhode Island plates.

Kalish topped that with a grand slam in the fourth, making it 5-0 Red Sox.

Victor Martinez doubled home David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 runs) in the fifth and Boston had accumulated an impressive 6-0 lead over Jered Weaver (5 innings, 6 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts).

It shouldn't have taken this long to mention him but Clay Buchholz (14-5) improved his AL-best ERA to 2.36 as he has quickly added his name to the top of the AL Cy Young discussion. He went seven scoreless innings without his best stuff: five hits, two walks and three strikeouts.

Things figure to get much uglier pitching wise as John Lackey takes on Scott Kazmir tonight in game two. Lackey has been a big disappointment so far with the Red Sox and Kazmir has completely lost his wondrous talents he showed in obscurity for the Rays.

Tampa Bay and the Yankees both won last night, meaning they're both tied and 5.5 games ahead of Boston.

Does this look like the face of a bozo that leads MLB in blown saves?

Once upon a time Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was one of the best in baseball at his position.

Those days seem long gone as he continues to scuffle, blowing his AL-leading sixth game yesterday afternoon in Toronto as the Blue Jays (60-54) shocked the Sox (66-50) 6-5 in the series finale at the Rogers Centre.

It's hard to overstate how important this game was: Boston led 5-2 going into the ninth and they had the chance to sweep a pretty decent team on the road and gain half a game on the idle Rays.

For once John Lackey deserved better: he went eight plus innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts. With a low pitch count, he went back out to start the ninth but promptly gave up a solo homer to Jose Bautista (who's your dealer bro?).

Enter Papelbon (4-5) who gave up three earned runs on four hits before he was mercifully pulled by Terry Francona.

After Vernon Wells (2 hits) double on the first pitch by Papelbon, Adam Lind (2 hits) singled up the middle to cut it to 5-4. Edwin Encarnacion tied it up with a double down the left field line. After a strikeout and an intentional walk, Daniel Bard came on but Fred Lewis delivered a sacrifice fly which scored Aaron Hill with the winning run.

Against scrub minor leaguer (a spot starter) Brad Mills, the Red Sox teed off. Victor Martinez (2 hits) began the barrage with a sacrifice fly in the third. David Ortiz made it 2-0 in the next at bat with an RBI single.

Toronto got one back in the fourth when a run scored on Lind's double play ball.

Jed Lowrie and Ortiz hit solo shots in the fifth to get Mills out of the game.

Another run scored for the Blue Jays in the sixth on Bautista's double play.

Things looked fine though as Darnell McDonald (2 hits) had an RBI triple in the eighth which scored Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 hits) to make it 5-2.

Boston wraps up this road trip with three in Texas, beginning with Josh Beckett vs. 9-1 Tommy Hunter tonight. The Rangers are a very good team and it's always though to play in the Texas heat this time of year.

It'll be interesting to see what happens if the Sox find themselves in a save situation tonight. Bard only threw two pitches yesterday while Papelbon labored through 19 that felt like 40. Francona will stay with a player until his arm falls off so don't expect him to do anything drastic for a long time.

New York (who won last night) are six games ahead of Boston and Tampa Bay is four games ahead of the Sox in the AL wild card.

Lackey finally earns some of his joke contract

One thing I never understand is why people get so wrapped up with hefty contracts in sports. Yes athletes make way too much but since we don't pay them, who cares?

As soon as the Red Sox signed John Lackey last winter, everyone save for maybe him and his trophy wife and agent, knew that Boston was overpaying him. Still, if you're a big market team with one of the highest payrolls in MLB, that's the way it goes.

Without question, Lackey had predictably been a flop in his first season until his last three starts. At the time when they need him most, Lackey (10-5) has put together three great outings in a row. For him, last night's was surely the most meaningful as he returned to Anaheim and helped the Sox (57-44) 4-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Lackey went 7.2 innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Making it even sweeter, he outdueled his former protege, Jered Weaver (9-7). The younger and more talented Weaver brother was in control for most of his night: seven innings, two runs (both earned) on two walks and eight strikeouts.

It looked likely to be another low-scoring loss for the Red Sox as the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the third on Bobby Abreu's RBI double.

Jed Lowrie (2 hits) had the play of the game as he put Boston ahead 2-1 in the seventh with a two-run double over Juan Rivera in left field.

Adrian Beltre made it 3-1 in the eighth with a crucial RBI double.

Abreu got Los Angeles back to 3-2 with a solo homer off Lackey but from there, Daniel Bard got the final two outs of the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth on nine pitches for his 24th save of the season.

Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 runs) scored in the ninth after an error by Howie Kendrick. Darnell McDonald (2 hits, walk, run) also had a fine night at the plate, especially considering he was a last-minute replacement for J.D. Drew, who had a strained hamstring.

Josh Beckett takes on Joel Pineiro this afternoon as the Sox try to sweep the Angels, improve to 7-0 against them this season and end this trip 6-4 (which is much better than you could have imagined a few days back).

Sox miss out on chance to gain a game on Yankees and Rays

With the team in a tailspin lately, the Red Sox finally seemed to be receiving some good luck after their win in Oakland on Monday night not to mention Clay Buchholz (Wednesday) and Josh Beckett (Friday) are scheduled to return to the mound for the big club this week.

All those good things were overshadowed by a bitter loss last night, 5-4 to the A's in 10 innings at the Oakland Coliseum.

Boston had 12 hits to Oakland's (47-47) but that didn't matter when Kevin Kouzmanoff singled home Daric Barton off Michael Bowden for the winning run.

The Yankees got blown out by the Angels earlier in the night and the Rays ended up losing in extra innings to the Orioles, two gifts that the Red Sox (53-41) were not able to take advantage of.

In likely his last start for a while, Tim Wakefield (6 innings, 3 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts) pitched decently but couldn't hold onto a 4-0 lead.

Kevin Youkilis gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI double off Dallas Braden (4.2 innings, 10 hits, 4 runs, 1 earned, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts), Marco Scutaro (2 hits, 2 runs) scored on the play but David Ortiz was thrown out at home. The Sox looked about to run away with it in the second as they added three more runs.

Bill Hall had an RBI single, Scutaro drove him in with a double and he scored on Darnell McDonald's (2 hits) RBI double.

The A's got it all back in the third as two scored on Jack Cust's double, Kurt Suzuki scored on a passed ball and Kouzmanoff drove in Cust with a sacrifice fly.

Bowden inherited Ramon Ramirez's (0-3) mess, it wasn't his fault Boston lost. Ramirez walked two, gave up a hit and was charged with the winning run.

Andrew Bailey (1-3) threw two scoreless innings for the win as Oakland's bullpen was just a hair better than Boston's.

Buchholz faces Gio Gonzalez this afternoon in the series finale. The Red Sox need a good start from Buchholz and a win to give them some juice heading into Seattle.

All-Star break? Uh yes please

The 2010 All-Star break couldn't come at a better time for the Boston Red Sox. They currently have 11 players on the disabled list (including Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, Victor Martinez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Jeremy Hermida, etc) and they all need a few days of rest.

Boston (51-37) ended the unofficial first half on a high note as they beat Toronto (44-45) 3-2 yesterday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (6-3) took advantage of some crazy shadows with the roof partially open and went six solid innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Marco Scutaro, David Ortiz and Darnell McDonald provided all the offense for the Sox. After Scutaro doubled in the sixth, McDonald drove him in with a two-run bomb. Ortiz followed that with a solo homer, Boston's second back-to-back homers of the series.

Aaron Hill hit a two-run homer in the seventh to pull the Blue Jays within one but Daniel Bard (2 scoreless innings, 1 hit, 1 strikeout) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 inning, 1 hit) combined to shut the door in the last three innings.

Papelbon picked up his 20th save.

The news wasn't all good as Adrian Beltre left the game with a strained hamstring. There are reports today that he'll miss the All-Star game tomorrow night (his first) but we'll have to wait and see I guess.

Through 88 games, the Red Sox have to be considered a huge success to be only three games behind Tampa Bay (the Wild Card leader) and five games behind the Yankees, who have the best record in baseball. It is also without a doubt, the best mangering job of Terry Francona's career so far. There's been so many lineup changes and a constant carousel of minor league players coming up and Tito has done a superb job of pulling all the right strings.

Is it time for the All-Star break yet?

Yikes, this is getting ugly. With the Triple A lineups the Red Sox are forced to trot out each night, they have no chance against anyone, particularly a good team like the Rays. Boston's hand is forced too because they don't really have many trade chips and not to mention there have so many needs (middle of the lineup bat, relievers) to fill.

Last night, Tampa Bay (51-33) swept the Sox (49-36) 6-4 at Tropicana Field as David Price became the first 12-game winner in the AL (probably solidifying that he'll start the All-Star game next week).

Price (12-4) went 7.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield fell to 3-7, lasting 5.2 innings but allowing six earned runs on four hits with six walks and three strikeouts.

Mercifully the Red Sox have an off-day today and then a three-game series in Toronto before they can regroup and hopefully return somebody next week when they start back up.

This was actually a game that Boston deserved to win but unfortunately they got in way too big a hole early. The Rays went up 2-0 in the fourth on Evan Longoria's solo homer and B.J. Upton's infield single. Tampa added three more in the fifth: Kelly Shoppach scored on a passed ball, Carlos Pena had an RBI single and a run scored on Sean Rodriguez's groundout.

David Ortiz started the ill-fated Sox comeback with an RBI double in the sixth. Carl Crawford answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth which turned out to be the deciding run.

Mike Cameron (3 hits) hit a solo homer in the seventh then a sacrifice fly in the ninth. That wacky Joe Maddon even had Matt Garza close out the Sox (since Rafael Soriano had worked four games in a row) and he nearly gave it away as Darnell McDonald (3 hits) hit an RBI double and Ortiz walked before Kevin Youkilis flew out to center to end it.

Jimenez has worst start of season but Rockies win on Giambi's walkoff HR

After losing 2-1 to the Rockies in the series opener on Tuesday night (the first meeting since the 2007 World Series), the Sox (43-30) looked poised to pick up a big win last night at Coors Field as they knocked around ace Ubaldo Jimenez for a season-high six earned runs.

A 6-5 lead in the ninth inning wasn't enough as closer Jonathan Papelbon (2-4) gave up a solo home run to tie it then a two-run walkoff homer by Jason Giambi aka the Giambino.

The Rockies (38-33) are a decent team but this was a bitter loss given the lack of his A stuff from Jimenez. He gave up six earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Once again, John Lackey was not good but he hung around. In 6.2 innings, he allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Colorado led 4-0 after three on Miguel Olivo's two-run homer in the second, Brad Hawpe's groundout in the third and Seth Smith's sacrifice fly.

Rookie sensation Daniel Nava cut that lead in half for the Sox with a two-run double in the fourth.

Jimenez helped his own cause with an RBI single in the fourth (Lackey also had two hits off Jimenez after being 1 for 31 in his career) to make it 5-2.

The Sox went ahead with four runs in the sixth inning on Nava's RBI double, Darnell McDonald's two-run homer and Scutaro's RBI single.

Victor Martinez had three hits in the loss and survived a scary collision at the plate where his arm got bent back at tried to prevent a run.

Dice-K opposes Jason Hammel tonight as Boston looks to avoid the sweep before taking off for San Francisco.

Give it up for Canada

Our friendly neighbors to the North are often the butt of endless jokes but for one day, I'd like to give a shoutout to Canada: thanks from Masshole nation.

Not only did the Blue Jays lay down to the Red Sox one more time last night (2-0 at the Rogers Centre for the three game sweep) but the Montreal Canadians knocked off the top-seeded Washington Capitals, meaning the Bruins get the Philadelphia Flyers and not the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That's a big difference, we get home ice and face a team that we should be slightly favored over, versus a team that we'd be lucky to beat once.

Jon Lester (2-2) threw out his calendars and iPhone/Blackberry as he ignored the fact that it was still April and turned himself into the stud pitcher he usually is from June on. He struck out 11 in seven innings, allowing just one hit with two walks.

I'd say that the Red Sox (11-11), winners of seven of its last nine, have one of the best set-up men/closer combinations in the American League and all of baseball. Josh Bard allowed a hit but struck out the side in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon struck out one in a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.

The Blue Jays (10-12) are already in free fall mode, about a month earlier than usual, as they managed just two hits for the game.

Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre and Darnell McDonald all had two hits for Boston. After doubling in the sixth off Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (1-1), Dustin Pedroia knocked in McDonald with a sacrifice fly.

Cecil was the tough luck loser as he allowed only that one earned run in six innings of work with five hits, a walk and three strikeouts.

Beltre doubled in the seventh and then McDonald drove him in with an RBI single. Is his jersey available yet at the Souvenir Store on Yawkey Way? Haha, you know it will be by the next homestand, it's not like the Sox to let a moneymaker let that lie untapped.

Today's an off-day and Boston gets back at it tomorrow night at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Nothing less than two wins against that godawful team will be acceptable.

Darnell McDonald, your 2010 Red Sox MVP

For a lifeless team that was burying itself before the season had even really started, Darnell McDonald was a breath of fresh air.

The journeyman outfielder was called up from Pawtucket earlier in the day when Jacoby Ellsbury went on the DL (retroactive to April 12).

Nobody except his family, friends and people that work for the Pawsox had ever heard of him but he came to Fenway last night for his first game with Boston and delivered not only a pinch hit two-run homer in the eighth to tie it but also a walkoff RBI single as the Sox (5-9) finally snapped its five game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Rangers (5-8).

He is in the lineup tonight in center field but at 31-years old odds are last night will be his biggest MLB highlight. If so, oh well. Baseball is great at providing those memorable moments for scrubs (Morgan Burkhart, Creighton Gubanich, Rico Brogna, etc).

McDonald's heroics overshadowed what began as another very ugly night at Fenway. Texas tied a MLB record with nine stolen bases. The combination of Tim Wakefield on the mound and Victor Martinez, who has the defensive prowess of a little league catcher, led to the perfect storm on the bases.

The Rangers jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to timely hitting and the aforementioned stolen bases. Martinez (3 hits) finally came through with an RBI single in the first, breaking a teamwide 0-for-32 stretch with runners in scoring position.

Boston's other run was in the fourth on Jeremy Hermida's solo homer. Wakefield as always was a good soldier and he toiled away for six innings and 114 pitches to save the Sox' bullpen. All six runs were earned on seven hits with five walks and three strikeouts.

Another Pawtucket callup, Josh Reddick, fueled the comeback with a two-run double in the sixth which cut it to 6-4 Rangers.

Manny Delcarmen got five outs and Hideki Okajima wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth to preserve the two-run deficit.

After McDonald tied it in the eighth with his two-run shot, Jonathan Papelbon (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth before McDonald stepped up again.

Rangers star Nelson Cruz (3 steals, 2 hits, run, hit, walk) left in the bottom of the ninth with a hamstring injury.

Josh Beckett is on the bump tonight against Matt Harrison. Beckett has pitched well in his last two starts and the Sox need more of that to calm their MLB worst rotation down for a night.