Ortiz did steroids; and this is a surprise?

You gotta love baseball and its never-ending witch hunt involving steroids.

The latest chapter hit home yesterday as David Ortiz's name (along with Manny Ramirez) was supposedly on the list of 104 players who failed PED tests in 2003.

This whole saga is too frustrating to put into words but I'll leave it at this: the fact that Ortiz was implicated is completely predictable and it's further proof that baseball can't have it both ways. They rode the popularity of sluggers in the late 90s and early millennium but now old sports writers and MLB get all self-righteous and start questioning the integrity of a game that they completely turned a blind eye to.

The average fan doesn't care what happened six years ago. We live in the moment. If they test positive today that's a different story but can't we all accept that most of the big stars have used at some point and move on? The endless leaking of names is a joke.

Of course on such a big day, Ortiz stepped up in Boston's game as he smacked a three-run homer in the seventh that put the Red Sox up 6-5 en route to an 8-5 win in the series finale vs. the Oakland Athletics.

As I said yesterday, it was almost a must-win and given the result, it could be one of the turning points of the season.

Jon Lester cruised through the first five innings with Boston (59-42) nursing a 1-0 lead but he ran into trouble in the sixth as Oakland (43-58) scored four runs.

Jason Varitek (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run) had singled home the Sox' first run in the second inning. Mike Lowell's lucky RBI double (a pop-up that fell in between first and right field and then bounced into the stands) and another Varitek RBI single cut the A's lead to 4-3.

Tommy Everidge gave Oakland a 5-3 lead in the seventh with an RBI single but that just set the stage for Ortiz's heroic moment.

In the eighth, Boston tacked on two insurance runs as Varitek knocked in J.D. Drew with a double and Jacoby Ellsbury added a sacrifice fly.

Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 26th save in the ninth.

Today is one of the most interesting days in baseball every year, the trade deadline. The Sox have made a big splash in 2004 (trading Nomar) and last year (trading Manny for Jason Bay) and this year, there's rumors of Victor Martinez, Adrian Gonzalez or Roy Halladay coming to Boston.

The Red Sox have the young prospects to make a blockbuster deal and as they've shown, they're not afraid to pull the trigger.

Boston opens up a weekend series in Baltimore tonight before heading off for Tampa Bay and finally New York. The Ortiz steroid saga is only beginning and he will face much different treatment away from the pink hats and homers of Red Sox Nation.

The Pink Hats respond appropriately to a legend's return

If you are a male, around my age (25) that grew up in New England, odds are your favorite baseball player was Nomar Garciaparra. He was a lethal hitter, a slick fielder and a guy that played the game the right way (ie. hustling 24/7) as the old timers like to say.

He was an AL rookie of the year, a five-time All-Star, a two-time batting champion, MVP runner-up and yet since he left the Red Sox his career took a complete U-Turn that few would have ever imagined. Injuries have limited him to a role player and he can't seem to ever stay off the DL.

His path to Cooperstown which seemed inevitable now seems impossible at age 35. Since the Sox made the stunning trade in 2004 and Nomar went to the Cubs, he's bounced from Chicago to LA and finally Oakland.

It's hard to believe that A) it's been five years since the face of the franchise was traded (I remember exactly where I was when I heard that unbelievable news) and B) that he hadn't returned to Fenway again until last night.

Such was the backdrop of last night's Red Sox-A's game. I'm sure Kevin Costner has already bought the rights to some whimsy script about the emotional event.

When Nomar came to the plate in the top of the second against John Smoltz, he received the longest standing ovation I can remember at Fenway. It must have lasted over a minute. It was truly a goosebumps inducing moment.

That was about the only memorable thing from last night as the A's (35-46) completely shutdown the Red Sox (49-33), 6-0 behind the outstanding pitching of rookie Brett Anderson.

In the best game pitched against Boston so far this season, Anderson threw a complete game, two-hitter. He walked two and struck out nine.

To much less fanfare than Nomar, Smoltz was making his Fenway debut in a new uniform and it wasn't a good one. In six innings of work, he gave up five runs on ten hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Nomar (2 hits) actually produced the first run with an RBI single in the fourth. Mark Ellis (2 hits) added a two-run double in the frame and Adam Kennedy (3 hits, 2 RBIs) scored Ellis with an RBI single.

Kennedy made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the sixth which scored newly-acquired Scott Hairston.

Another old friend, Orlando Cabrera (who should have never left) hit a solo homer in the ninth of Takashi Saito.

If the game happens tonight (it's pouring at the moment), Josh Beckett will take the mound for Boston.