Home cookin', sure sounds good, to a country boy like me

To say the Boston Red Sox limped home after losing all six games on their road trip (to Tampa Bay and New York) would be an insult to cripples and drunks everywhere.

The Sox (63-48) can't hit and the bullpen is falling apart but all those troubles were forgotten for an evening as they beat Detroit (59-52), 6-5 last night at Fenway in the start of a four-game series.

The Yankees lost to the Blue Jays last night and the Rangers were idle so Boston moved up to 5.5 games behind New York in the AL East and a half game up in the Wild Card.

It only took two innings for Boston to double its output from the last three games combined against the Yankees.

Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run homer in the first off Tigers All-Star Edwin Jackson. In the second, Nick Green hit a solo shot and David Ortiz knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs) with an RBI single.

Brad Penny gave his usual six inning performance and it was better than most of his recent outings: six innings, three earned runs on six hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

Magglio Ordonez (3 hits) tripled home Miguel Cabrera in the fourth and Brandon Inge scored Ordonez with a single.

An inning later, Detroit cut it to 4-3 when Marcus Thames knocked in Curtis Granderson with a sacrifice fly.

Jason Bay hit a solo homer in the fifth that just stayed fair down the line in left.

What would a Red Sox game be without the bullpen giving up a lead? Manny Delcarmen did the honors last night in the seventh. Placido Polanco (3 hits) had an RBI single and Marcus Thames' RBI double tied the game at five.

Nick Green, who has been an automatic out for the last month and a half, knocked in the winning run (J.D. Drew) with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Jonathan Papelbon came on in the eighth with runners on second and third, two outs and Granderson at the plate. Papelbon got him to pop out to catcher Victor Martinez and then he recorded a 1-2-3 ninth for his 28th save of the season.

23-year-old rookie Junichi Tazawa gets his first MLB start tonight against Tigers rookie Rick Porcello.

The one that got away

With the Yankees playing out of their minds for the last month, the chances for the Red Sox to gain ground on them (especially now that they're in second) have been few and far between.

Coupled with the fact that Boston (58-41) was playing a crappy team (the Oakland A's) at Fenway, last night's loss was one of the more disappointing setbacks of the season.

The Sox were up 7-4 going into the ninth but a meltdown by Nick Green (two errors) and the bullpen led to a 9-8 Oakland (42-57) win in 11 innings.

Before the game, Jim Rice's #14 was retired and put up on the right field awning with the other retired numbers.

Clay Buchholz (5.2 innings, 2 runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts) left with a 5-2 lead but the Red Sox bullpen (which hadn't allowed a run in 24 innings) completely imploded against a terrible offense.

The Athletics banged out a season-high 21 hits. Adam Kennedy (5 hits, 3 RBIs), Mark Ellis (4 runs, 4 hits, RBI, steal), Orlando Cabrera (3 hits) and Rajai Davis (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run, steal) were the biggest stars for Oakland.

Another aspect that the loss overshadowed was the Red Sox' offense coming through with 14 hits of its own. J.D. Drew (3 hits, 2 runs, RBI), Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 2 RBIs, run), Mike Lowell (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, run, RBI, steal) all had strong performances.

Brett Anderson takes on Brad Penny tonight.

I'm sure Adam LaRoche will turn everything around

The Red Sox finished a terrible post-All-Star game road trip in fitting fashion last night, with a 3-1 loss to Texas, giving the Rangers the sweep.

Boston (55-39) has now lost a season-high five games in a row and they're two games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East.

Vincente Padilla was scratched before the game and Texas (52-41) was forced to start Dustin Nippert. If you know anything about the Sox in the last decade, they can solve most top of the rotation starters but for some reason they often struggle against journeymen and young guys.

Nick Green gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the third with a solo homer.

In his second start of the season, Clay Buchholz (1-1) worked slowly and didn't have his A stuff. Your favorite laptop stealer lasted four innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Nippert (2-0) as expected, baffled the Sox and got the win. He went 5.2 innings, allowing a run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Fantasy stud Ian Kinsler improved on his 20-20 season with a solo homer (his 23rd) in the third and a steal (his 21st). Believe it or not, the Rangers also beat the Red Sox using small ball. George W. Bush is rolling over in his grave!

In the fourth, Taylor Teagarden's groundout scored a run then Elvis Andrus' squeeze scored former Sox great David Murphy.

The bigger news of the day, considering the shitty on-field performance, was that Boston acquired Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche for two no-name prospects (that I'm too lazy to look up) and the Cardinals traded Chris Duncan for Julio Lugo.

Neither guy is going to change the pennant race but LaRoche allows the Red Sox to rest Mike Lowell more when necessary and he gives them another option against righties. He also has a history of stronger second halves.

As for Duncan, he's starting out in Pawtucket so who knows when (if ever) he'll be called up to the big club but the fact that Lugo was traded for another human being is mind-blowing.

Mercifully, Boston flew home last night and have today off before starting a series tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles.

Nick Green, more than just a temporary solution?

Somehow between our month-long rain showers, the Red Sox and Atlanta Braves managed to wrap up their series at Fenway yesterday afternoon.

Nick Green made sure it was a memorable Father's Day for all the rich dads in attendance as he hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch he saw from Braves pitcher Jeff Bennett in the ninth. It wrapped around Pesky's Pole in right, traveling probably about 305 feet but the degree of difficulty with the swirling winds and mist made it much harder than usual.

Boston (42-27) won 6-5 to take two of three from Atlanta (32-36). Coupled with the Yankees' loss in Florida, the Sox have a four game lead in the AL East.

Brian McCann gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run double off Boston starter Tim Wakefield.

Boston responded with three in the bottom of the first from a Jason Bay sacrifice fly and a two-run shot by David Ortiz over the Monster. Again, with the crazy weather, Papi truly crushed the ball to get it out.

George Kottaras added to the lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give Boston a 4-2 lead.

Wakefield didn't factor into the decision but he gave the Red Sox 6.2 innings. He allowed four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts.

Gregor Blanco and Nate McLouth (2 hits, walk) with RBI singles in the seventh.

After some controversy, J.D. Drew gave his team a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh. He looked at a 1-2 pitch that was clearly a strike from Braves pitcher Eric O'Flaherty but umpire Bill Hohn called it a ball. O'Flaherty, Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox all lost it and consequently were tossed. On the next pitch, Drew lined the single off the Monster that scored Kottaras.

Garret Anderson (2 hits) tied it up with an RBI single in the eighth off Hideki Okajima.

Jonathan Papelbon loaded the bases in the ninth with two walks and a hit but managed to strike Matt Diaz out. Papelbon earned the win (1-1) after Green's heroics.

The Sox are off today and they fly to our nation's capital to play the Nationals, starting tomorrow. Washington is the worst team in baseball so there should be plenty of Red Sox fans in attendance and John Smoltz makes his Red Sox debut on Thursday (Dice-K was placed on the DL).

Oritz's mango salsa tastes great with Marlin

The Boston Red Sox are the best team in baseball. Yes, the Dodgers have a slightly better record but that doesn't mean much since they play in the National League (which is terrible) and the worst division in baseball, the horrid NL West.

Boston on the other hand, plays in the superior AL and the best division in baseball, the AL East with four competitive (over .500) teams out of five.

The Sox (39-25) demolished the Florida Marlins (32-34) last night, 8-2 at Fenway. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the strong first couple months for Boston has been that they've done it with slugger David Ortiz basically on life support.

Slowly but surely, Big Papi is starting to come around. He had a solo homer last night and added a two-run single later in the same inning. With John Smoltz coming to the rotation next week, this team is ready to make a serious bid for another World Series title.

Tim Wakefield improved to 9-3 with six workman like innings. He gave up two runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

In the second, Nick Green's (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run) infield single scored Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) from second.

The Marlins tied it in the third as Chris Coghlan hit an RBI single.

In the bottom of the inning, Jason Bay gave the Sox the lead for good with an RBI single which scored J.D. Drew.

Florida starter Chris Volstad imploded in the fourth as the Red Sox poured on six runs. After Ortiz's homer, Green had an RBI double, George Kottaras (2 hits) added an RBI single, Bay walked with the bases loaded and Ortiz fittingly ended the frame's scoring with the two-run single.

Coghlan was the only guy playing for the Marlins as he notched an RBI double in the fifth, the last run of the game.

Brad Penny takes the ball tonight vs. the inconsistent but very talented Andrew Miller of the Marlins.

When Big Pop-Up is hitting bombs, you know it's going well

For whatever reason, we own the New York Yankees (for now). The Red Sox (34-24) shutout the Yankees (34-24) 7-0 last night at Fenway to improve to 6-0 against the Bronx Bombers this season. With the win, Boston also tied New York atop the AL East standings.

Going into last night's series opener, it looked like it had all the makings of a pitchers' duel but only Josh Beckett (7-2) lived up to his side of the bargain.

Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett (4-3), he of the frequent DL trips, only lasted 2.2 innings. He gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits with five walks and a strikeouts.

Beckett was nearly unhittable as he continued his recent hot streak. He threw six shutout innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts and two walks.

David Ortiz and Nick Green led the Sox offense. Ortiz opened the scoring with a two-run blast to deep center in the second, his third homer of the season. The Fenway faithful treated him to his third curtain call of the season afterwards. Enough already.

Green had an RBI double in the third and a solo homer in the seventh. He still can't play good defense but Green is a solid hitter. With Jed Lowrie getting closer to returning, Boston's revolving door of shortstops doesn't seem to have an end in sight.

The Sox scored its other runs on a two-run double by J.D. Drew in the second and Mike Lowell's RBI single in the fourth. Kevin Youkilis added two hits, a run and a walk.

Boston's top-ranked bullpen had another stellar night. Manny Delcarmen (4 outs), Ramon Ramirez (2 outs) and Daniel Bard (3 outs) combined to pitch three shutout innings.

Tim Wakefield opposes Chien-Ming Wang tonight.

A nice little Mother's Day is completed in style

The Tampa Bay Rays (15-18) are the Red Sox' biggest rival right now so it was great to see Boston (20-12) take two of three from the Rays with a 4-3 series finale last night at Fenway.

Josh Beckett was good but not great. He went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. More importantly, the Sox found a way to outlast Matt Garza, who has absolutely owned them. Garza went seven innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Kevin Youkilis sat out his sixth straight game with a back strain. Dustin Pedroia left the game in the fourth after straining his groin.

Despite all the early-season injuries, Boston continues to find ways to get it done.

Down 1-0 after Pat Burrell's RBI single in the first, the Sox tied it on J.D. Drew's fielder's choice.

Boston scored twice in the fourth on Jason Varitek's RBI double and Nick Green's (2 hits) RBI single.

Carl Crawford made it 3-2 Boston in the fifth with an RBI single and Jason Bartlett tied it in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.

Jason Bay continued to play out of his mind as he had the game-winning hit, an RBI double that scored David Ortiz in the eighth.

Hideki Okajima got five outs, Ramon Martinez got the last out in the eighth (and earned the win) before Papelbon worked around a hit and error to strike out Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Crawford for his eighth save of the season.

Boston flew to the West Coast last night and opens a three game set with Anaheim tomorrow night.