Clay Buchholz: Still as erratic as Andy Dick with a room full of teenage girls

With Scott Boras and Theo Epstein sitting separately in baller seats behind home plate, the Boston Red Sox started the second half of the season with a whimper as the Los Angeles Angels thumped them, 11-3 in Disneyland last night.

Making his second start since returning from Pawtucket, young righty Clay Buchholz once again looked like a college freshman at a party: lost and in over his head. Blessed with great stuff, Buchholz is struggling at the moment to find consistency on the mound.

The Angels (58-38) scored three in the first and touched Buchholz up for eight runs (four earned). Clay (2-5) lasted 4.2 innings, giving up eight hits, two walks and two strikeouts. It was a good sign when he had quick second and third innings but the fifth inning ended his night early.

Shortstop Alex Cora's error with two outs in the fifth didn't help Buchholz as it extended the inning, allowing the Angels to score the four runs. Anaheim added three more in the sixth to wrap it up.

With David Ortiz doing his thing at Pawtucket-a homer in two consecutive games-Boston's (57-41) lineup looked shaky at best against John Lackey, who is normally batting practice against the Sox.

Boston tied it at three with two in the second on Kevin Youkilis' two-run homer and one in the fourth on Manny Ramirez's solo shot. After that, Lackey (7-2) shut them down and lasted seven innings. Lackey gave up five hits, walked two and struck out six.

Manny and Dustin Pedroia each finished with two hits apiece. For the Angels, Casey Kotchman, Maicer Izturis and Vlad Guerrero all had two hits, Los Angeles totalled 14 as a team.

Before the game, Garret Anderson took a time machine back to somewhere between 2000-2003. As a result, he went 4-for-5 with a homer, two runs and five RBIs.

The beautiful thing about baseball is that as ugly as last night was, things could completely change today. And if not, I will stubbornly hold onto the fact that the Sox have won nine straight over the Angels in the playoffs. The Angels look like they'll be in October once again but with Vlad looking somewhat human for once, you can't tell me this team is any different from the 2004 or 2007 versions, with slight tweaks.

Sox bullpen coughs up another one

The script was altered from Saturday afternoon but the end result was the same last night at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox let another game get away that they had in their pocket.

New York won 5-4 in 10 innings last night as rookie Brett Gardner (2 hits, run, RBI, stolen base) grounded a single up the middle off Jonathan Papelbon (3-3) which scored Robinson Cano (2 hits, 2 RBIs) with the winning run.

Boston (52-39) was up 3-1 after five innings and 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh but the bullpen once again couldn't hold the lead.

Cano tied it up in the seventh with a two-run triple off Javier Lopez.

Tim Wakefield and Joba Chamberlain had nearly identical lines. Wakefield went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits, a walk and five strikeouts. Joba went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

A-Rod had a solo homer to left in the second off Wakefield and Derek Jeter had an RBI single in the sixth which scored Gardner.

Kevin Youkilis (2 hits) scored on Joba's wild pitch in the fifth and Dustin Pedroia came through with a clutch two-run single which put the Sox up 3-1 at the time.

Kevin Cash extended Boston's lead to 4-2 in the seventh with an RBI double plating Julio Lugo.

Manny Delcarmen got four outs without allowing a hit while Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless ninth.

Cano singled to start the 10th vs. Papelbon and moved over on a bunt by Melky Cabrera. After striking Wilson Betemit out, Gardner had a great at-bat (spoiling a bunch of two-strike pitches) before shooting one up the middle past Papelbon and a diving Alex Cora (at shortstop).

Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless eighth for New York before Mariano Rivera (3-3) had two scoreless innings.

The Red Sox finished 3-7 on a pretty bad road trip. They didn't play well against an average team in Houston, ran into a red-hot team at the wrong time (Tampa Bay), and won the first two in the Bronx before choking away the last two.

Things don't get easier as the hottest team in baseball (winners of 17 of their last 20), the Minnesota Twins, comes to Fenway for three games starting tonight.

Nadal and Federer thrill the masses at Wimbledon

It might be a sport of elitist, out-of-touch millionaires but once in a while, a tennis match goes to another level and becomes one of the greatest sporting events you've ever seen.

Such was the case yesterday in the Wimbledon gentleman's final as Rafael Nadal, the pride of Spain, outlasted five-time defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.

The 4-hour, 48-minute marathon lived up to the hype and then some, as the English crowd patiently waited through three rain delays to see some of the best tennis they could ever imagine.

At 26-years-old, Federer has been nearly invincible the last few years. 22-year-old Nadal is the master of clay at the French Open but with his win on the grass of the All-England club, he can stake a claim as the world's top player at the moment.

Federer is still at the top of his game, as his ridiculous comeback attests to, the difference is that Nadal has closed the gap to the point where they're equal for all intents and purposes.

Each player has his strengths. Federer has a hard serve and his shot-making is amazing. Nadal is in top shape and can chase down any shot while also putting more top-spin on his shots than any other player on tour.

The next big event on the tennis circuit is the US Open which is at the end of August in Flushing Meadows, NY. Hopefully Nadal and Federer can roll through their matches and meet up once again in another final. Odds are it won't be as good as yesterday but with those two, you can never be sure.

New York State of Mind

Down 2-1, bases loaded with no outs in the top of the ninth. Yankee Stadium, Mariano Rivera on the mound. That's a dream scenario for somebody (anybody) to step up for the Boston Red Sox but with the last three positional players you'd want up in that spot, the Yankees escaped 2-1 with a win yesterday afternoon that you'd have to see to believe.

Coco Crisp meekly struck out for the first out in the ninth, Jason Varitek popped out and Julio Lugo fittingly ended it with another strikeout.

After taking the first two games of the series, a win yesterday would have been beautiful as the Yankees are quickly fading into oblivion in the AL East.

New York (46-42) got a fine start from Mike Mussina (11-6). The Moose went six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out five before leaving with "dizziness." The Yankees' bat boys Cheech and Chong were seen outside Hank Steinbrenner's office after the game.

Melky Cabrera had an RBI single in the second with the bases loaded and then rookie Brett Gardner hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth, scoring Wilson Betemit.

After J.D. Drew (2 hits) singled to open the ninth and Manny Ramirez was hit for the third time in the game, Mike Lowell knocked in Drew with an RBI single.

Sox (52-38) rookie Justin Masterson pitched well but once again he didn't have luck or much help from Boston's offense.

Masterson (4-3) also lasted six innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Javier Lopez-who has been Boston's best reliever in the last month-had a clean seventh and Mike Timlin had a 1-2-3 eighth.

The Yanks got scoreless innings from the unlikely combination of Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth.

If nothing else, the immortal Rivera (23 saves) had to throw 25 pitches, making him less than 100% going into tonight's series finale.

Tim Wakefield goes up against Joba Chamberlain. I look forward to watching Joba, the next big thing, be worked over by a patient Sox offense that will make him throw say 100 pitches in 4.2 innings.

That'll Do Tampa Bay, That'll Do

Nothing will quite get you in the holiday mood for drowning your sorrows at the nearest Fourth of July party like watching your favorite team be exposed by an up-and-coming contender.

Down 4-1 going into the seventh, the Rays rallied for six runs in the inning, before holding off Boston 7-6, last night at the Trop.

Tampa Bay (52-32, the best record in baseball) swept the three-game series against the Red Sox and last night was the real kick to the groin. Boston has now lost five games in a row.

Lil' Dustin Pedroia did everything he could do to keep his team in the game but it wasn't enough. The second-year second baseman was 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs. He actually fell a single shy of the cycle and he had two doubles. J.D. Drew was 2 for 4 with a triple, run, RBI and walk.

A pitcher's duel between Dice-K and Scott Kazmir never really materialized as both struggled with high pitch counts early in the game.

Dice-K went five innings, giving up one run on two hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

Kazmir also only lasted five, allowing four runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

The biggest area where the Red Sox (50-37) were exposed over the past three games was in the middle relief department. With Hideki Okajima struggling, we currently don't have a bonafide 8th inning guy (which is extremely important) and therefore everything short of Jonathan Papelbon (who didn't even pitch in the series) is a mess.

Surprisingly, Okajima had a scoreless sixth last night (with two strikeouts). His ineffectiveness must be contagious though as it popped up in Manny Delcarmen (3 runs, 3 hits, no outs) and Craig Hansen (1-3; 3 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, no outs), who completely butchered the seventh.

On the other side, Tampa's trio of Trevor Miller (scoreless sixth), Gary Glover (1-2; 1 run, 1 hit, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 5 outs) and Dan Wheeler (3rd save; 1 run, 1 hit, 1 strikeout, 4 outs) weren't spectacular but they did enough to win.

Rookie Evan Longoria was the Rays' hitting star, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a run. Carl Crawford had three hits and Jason Bartlett added two hits, two RBIs and a run.

Pedroia hit a solo homer in the first inning to put Boston up 1-0 but Longoria came back with an RBI single in the bottom of the first.

Manny Ramirez knocked in Pedroia with a ground out in the third, putting the Sox up 2-1.

Boston added two more runs in the fifth as Drew's triple plated Pedroia and Drew scored on a Kazmir wild pitch.

The Rays seventh was ridiculous as the Sox simply couldn't get an out. Akinori Iwamura reached on an infield single while Bartlett scored. Carlos Pena walked with the bases loaded. Longoria doubled, plating Crawford and B.J. Upton. Finally, Bartlett singled to center, scoring Pena and Longoria.

Bidding to reach the cycle in his fifth at bat, Pedroia instead drove in Julio Lugo with an RBI double.

Kevin Youkilis looked like the hero in the ninth when he drove a ball hard and deep to center but Upton tracked it down. Manny scored on the sacrifice fly but the Sox ran themselves into an out. For some reason, twice in a row Terry Francona had Mike Lowell running from first with strikeout machine Jason Varitek (who's currently in the worst slump of his career) at the plate. After fouling it off the first time, Varitek swung and missed before Lowell was out at second by some distance. I guess it really doesn't matter though, since Varitek was caught looking later in the at bat to end the game.

For once the Sox go to the Bronx and the hype isn't sickening. It probably has something to do with the Fourth being tomorrow. Nothing puts people over the edge like planning a holiday, particularly with family. I don't know if you've heard but it's the the most important day of our lives.

Jon Lester is facing Andy Pettitte tonight. Barring a sweep by either team, this series won't determine much. It will be nice to see the Yankees, it seems like forever since they last played and it's timely as A-Rod is at the center of another tabloid cyclone (his rumored affair with Madonna).

Happy Fourth of July, Go Sox!

Some Nightmare Fuel

The baseball world is quickly taking notice as the Tampa Bay Rays once again knocked off the Boston Red Sox, 3-1 last night at Tropicana Field.

Boston has now lost four straight games and it looks to salvage something from Tampa before heading to New York for four (not three like I said) games with the Yankees.

Is there a better top three of a rotation than Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza? If you asked me after last night, I'd say probably not. Following up Shields' fine performance Monday, Garza was great last night.

The young right-hander went to 7-4 after seven innings. He gave up one unearned run on five hits with three strikeouts. Reliever J.P. Howell struck out two of the three men he faced (he walked the other) and substitute closer Grant Balfour recorded four outs for his second save of the season. Troy Percival was placed on the DL after last night's game.

Boston's (50-36) offense continued to scuffle without Ortiz. It doesn't help that Jacoby Ellsbury has been slumping big time, same goes for Manny. And Jason Varitek? He pinch hit and struck out twice last night, the captain is currently enduring the worst slump of his career.

Tampa Bay (51-32) and the Red Sox both had six hits but the Rays made those count a little more.

Tim Wakefield (5-6) pitched well but didn't get any run support. Wake went seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Carl Crawford scored on a Wakefield wild pitch in the first, putting Tampa up 1-0.

Boston tied it with some aggressive play of their own. Ellsbury had reached on an error, stole second (his 35th steal of the season) and eventually scored on J.D. Drew's sacrifice fly.

Underrated Rays catcher Dioner Navarro pushed his team back ahead, 2-1, with an RBI single which plated Evan Langoria in the fourth.

Navarro struck again in the eighth when he knocked in Carlos Pena with another RBI single, this time off Sox reliever Craig Hanson.

Alex Cora reached base with a two-out double in the ninth off Balfour (three strikeouts) but struck out Varitek on a high fastball (which is still Tek's big hole in the strike zone).

Dice-K matches up with Kazmir tonight as the Rays look to sweep the Sox. So far in the 11 games between the teams this season, the home team is unbeaten. Boston is 6-0 against Tampa Bay at Fenway and Tampa is 5-0 at the Trop.

Getting Drunk off the Rays Kool-Aid

How long will it take people to realize that the Tampa Bay Rays are legit? Maybe one of the reasons that casual fans hold onto false beliefs for so long is because baseball has such a marathon of a season.

I can't tell you how many times recently, guys have told me, "the Yankees will make a run and Tampa will come back to earth." This is based on the last few seasons when the Yankees had slow starts but the Bombers heat up with the summer weather. Ain't happening this season folks. The Yanks still have no pitching (starting or middle relief) and their once-potent offense is starting to show the wrinkles of its age.

The Orioles? A .500 team, nothing more or less. Toronto? Great pitching, pathetic hitting so ditto about .500. Boston is a cut above those three teams but for the first time in its history, Tampa Bay is right next to the Red Sox. Make no mistake, the Rays have a very good shot at making the playoffs. I might be wrong but you'd have to be a Luddite not to see the progress being made in Retirement Country.

Last night was the beginning of probably the most important series in Tampa Bay's history and the Rays delivered with a 5-4 over the Red Sox in a game that they would have lost in any previous season.

Down 5-2 going into the ninth, Boston (50-35) scored twice and had the tying run on third when Julio Lugo (a symbol of Tampa Bay's shitty past) lined out to short to end it.

With one out in the ninth, Tampa Bay (50-32) had two terrible instances of bad luck as Brandon Moss's pop-up to right hit a catwalk and fell for an RBI double. Jason Varitek cut it to 5-4 in the next at-bat as he hit a sacrifice fly which scored Kevin Youkilis. As he tried to cover third on the throw, Rays closer Troy Percival appeared to tweak his hamstring (an injury that put him on the DL earlier in the season). No problem. Young lefty J.P. Howell came in to retire Lugo and record his second save of the season.

The Rays always had control of this game as B.J. Upton led off the home half of the first with a home run off Red Sox starter Justin Masterson.

Masterson has been good but he might have made his last start for the Sox for a while as Clay Buchholz has regained his control in Pawtucket. Last night, Masterson (4-2) lasted six innings, giving up four runs on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa Bay starter James Shields improved to 6-5 after 6.1 solid innings of work. He allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Boston tied it in the fourth when the scorching Mike Lowell (3 for 4, run, RBI) knocked in Dustin Pedroia with an RBI single.

The Rays responded with two in the fourth as Gabe Gross hit a two-run bomb. Tampa Bay padded its lead with another run in the fifth on Carlos Pena's RBI double.

J.D. Drew hit a solo shot in the sixth, keeping it within striking distance for the Sox (4-2 Rays).

The one last run Tampa Bay added in the seventh proved to be the difference. Jonny Gomes grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.

Tim Wakefield (who always pitches great indoors, especially at the Trop) takes the ball for the Sox tonight against the Rays' Matt Garza. It's a big week for the Red Sox as they have three at the Trop, followed by three in the Bronx.