Adrian Gonzalez's first walk-off hit as a member of the Boston Red Sox

If the Boston Red Sox go anywhere this season, I can guarantee that highlights of last night's improbable victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park will be featured prominently.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run double off the Monster in the bottom of the ninth off Orioles closer Kevin Gregg giving Boston (21-20) its fourth straight win, 8-7 over Baltimore (19-21).

The Daisuke Matsuzaka experience was in full effect during a miserable, rainy night. He went 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, five earned runs, seven walks and two strikeouts. I don't know who they could put in his rotation spot but hopefully the Red Sox brass can come up with another fake injury and they can give him a seat next to John Lackey on the disabled list.

The Orioles built up a 6-0 lead with two runs in the first, one in the third, two in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Derrek Lee had an RBI double in the first and Vlad Guerrero (3 hits, 2 runs) drove in a run with a ground out. Matt Wieters had an RBI single in the third, Mark Reynolds had an RBI single in the fifth and J.J. Hardy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Finally, Adam Jones had an RBI single in the sixth.

After Orioles starter Chris Tillman pitched five scoreless innings, Jed Lowrie (2 hits, 2 runs) got the comeback underway with an RBI double in the sixth. Jason Varitek and Gonzalez added RBI singles in the frame and Kevin Youkilis roped an two-run RBI double to pull the Red Sox within a run at 6-5.

Reynolds hit a solo homer to center off Boston reliever Alfredo Aceves (1-0) in the seventh to give the Orioles a 7-5 lead. It turned out to be the only mistake for Aceves as he went three innings for the win. He allowed two hits and struck out one for his first win with the Red Sox.

Varitek cut it to 7-6 in the seventh with another RBI single.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits) walked and stole second with one out in the ninth against Gregg. Pedroia worked a nine-pitch walk, setting the table for Gonzalez's sweet stroke off the Wall.

Tim Wakefield gets the ball tonight in place of Lackey. The O's counter with young lefty Zach Britton (5-2). Boston looks to sweep the two-game set and continue this stretch of good baseball.

Another lengthy rain delay but Red Sox decide to win this one

I don't know when Boston turned into Seattle in terms of rain but this has been a rough stretch for the Red Sox both on the field and with the weather.

They battled another rain delay over two hours (two hours and seven minutes) yesterday afternoon but blanked the Twins 4-0 at Fenway Park thanks to a nice effort from Clay Buchholz.

Buchholz (3-3) started the game and surprisingly returned to the mound in the top of the third after the rain delay ended. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and he struck out six.

Minnesota starter Brian Duensing (2-2) was yanked after two innings. He allowed three hits, one earned run, one walk and two strikeouts and picked up the loss despite throwing just 33 pitches.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 RBIs, run), Kevin Youkilis (RBI), Carl Crawford (run) and Marco Scutaro all had two hits in the much-needed win for the Red Sox (15-18), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Jed Lowrie gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single which drove in Ellsbury.

Youkilis drove in Adrian Gonzalez in the third with an RBI single of his own.

Ellsbury put it out of reach for the Twins with a two-run single in the eighth. Jarrod Saltlamacchia and Crawford scored on the play.

Boston's bullpen came through with four scoreless innings of work. Rich Hill (sixth), Matt Albers (seventh), Daniel Bard (eighth) and Jonathan Papelbon (ninth) combined to allow only one hit with one walk and four strikeouts.

Daisuke Matsuzaka opposes Carl Pavano today in a Mother's Day matinee.

Three aces down, Red Sox are on a roll

It took a full month for the Boston Red Sox to get on track in 2011 but thankfully baseball seasons are way too long anyways.

For the third straight night they faced an ace last night in Dan Haren. Like Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver before him, he was decent but he couldn't completely quiet Boston's offense in a 7-3 Red Sox (14-15) win at Fenway Park.

Jon Lester (4-1) showed that his early season struggles seem to be a thing of the past. The ace in Boston's rotation went seven innings, allowing six hits, one earned run with a walk and 11 strikeouts.

Haren (4-2) suffered his second loss to the Red Sox in less than two weeks. He went seven innings, allowing nine hits, four earned runs with eight strikeouts.

Boston's lineup produced double digit hits (12) for the second straight game. Adrian Gonzalez (2 RBIs), David Ortiz, Jed Lowrie, Marco Scutaro (2 RBIs) and Carl Crawford all had two hits in the win.

Mark Trumbo gave the Angels (16-14) their only lead of the game, with a solo homer in the top of the first.

Gonzalez knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single in the sixth and Lowrie put Boston ahead 2-1 with an RBI single later in the frame that scored Gonzalez.

Haren started to falter in the seventh as Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit an RBI double that drove in Crawford.

There's a reason the Red Sox are 15-1 (6-0 this season) in their last 16 games against the Angels since they find every conceivable way to beat them.

Gonzalez's solo homer in the eighth knocked Haren out of the game. Ortiz and Scutaro (two-run) broke it open with homers in the inning as Boston went ahead 7-1.

Jonathan Papelbon came on in a non-save situation and did what every closer has to do in such an event: shit the bed. Erick Aybar had an RBI double and Trumbo had a sacrifice fly.

On the plus side, Daniel Bard had a scoreless eighth on nine pitches.

It's raining now and supposed to rain tonight so we'll see if Josh Beckett vs. Ervin Santana takes place as scheduled.

Red Sox decide to finally win a road game in 2011

It doesn't get any uglier than the 0-6 and then 2-10 starts for the 2011 Boston Red Sox.

However, going 0-7 in their first seven road games was similarly unforgivable. Boston (6-11) finally notched a road win yesterday afternoon, 5-3 against the A's (9-9) at Oakland Coliseum.

Clay Buchholz (1-2) picked up his first win of the season too after his first two starts were nothing short of disasters. He wasn't great yesterday but he got the job done. He went 5.1 innings, allowing six hits, one earned run, four walks and two strikeouts.

Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez (2-1) came in on the opposite end of the spectrum after being basically unhittable in his first two starts. The Red Sox got to him though somehow as he went six innings, allowing eight hits, four earned runs, one walk and nine strikeouts.

Boston's offense righted itself with three home runs: by Kevin Youkilis, Jed Lowrie and J.D. Drew.

The real star of the game was reliever Daniel Bard who inherited a bases loaded situation in the sixth with one out and the Red Sox clinging to a 4-1 lead. He got out of that unscathed and also pitched a scoreless seventh. That made up for Bobby Jenks and Jonathan Papelbon who each allowed an earned run. Papelbon settled down and recorded the last two outs in the ninth with runners on first and third.

Coco Crisp gave Oakland an early (and I mean early 1-0 lead) as he homered on Buchholz's first pitch of the game.

Carl Crawford answered with an RBI single in the top of the second which tied it at 1. Youkilis' solo shot in the fourth, Lowrie's two-run bomb in the sixth and Drew's solo homer in the seventh gave Boston some breathing room.

They were able to withstand Crisp's RBI single in the eighth and Landon Powell's RBI single in the ninth.

From here, Boston travels to Anaheim with four games scheduled against the Angels. Josh Beckett faces rookie Tyler Chatwood tonight in the series opener.

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.

A new and improved Jed Lowrie

When you get off to a 2-10 start, tying the worst start in franchise history, you will take any spark you can get.

Jed Lowrie stepped to the forefront yesterday for the Red Sox (3-10) as he led off and continued his run as Boston's only hot hitter in a 4-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays (7-7) at Fenway Park.

After an early career littered with crazy injuries and sicknesses (mono?), Lowrie has earned his playing time and deserves to play every day at shortstop over the useless, worn out Marco Scutaro.

Yesterday, Lowrie had three hits (including a two-run homer), two RBIs and two runs.

Coupled with another fine start from Josh Beckett (2-1) and that was enough to get the win. Beckett went seven innings, allowing three hits, one earned run with two walks and nine strikeouts.

On a freezing cold afternoon at Fenway (game-time temperature 39 degrees), Toronto starter Jo-Jo Reyes (0-2) struggled with his control. He could only go three innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs with five walks and three strikeouts.

Beckett's work allowed Terry Francona to line up his bullpen in the best possible fashion with Daniel Bard pitching a scoreless eighth (1 hit, 1 strikeout) and Jonathan Papelbon (1 hit, 1 strikeout) wrapping it up for his second save of the season.

Adrian Gonzalez gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single which drove in Lowrie. Kevin Youkilis followed that with an RBI double which plated Gonzalez.

Travis Snider cut it to 2-1 in the top of the second with an RBI double for the Blue Jays which scored Aaron Hill.

Lowrie hit his two-run homer in the bottom of the second, just over the Monster. Jacoby Ellsbury scored ahead of him.

The Red Sox look to start their first win streak of 2011 today as Jon Lester takes on Jesse Litsch.

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.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is no Russell Martin

Over the winter, the Boston Red Sox had the chance to pick up former Dodgers All-Star catcher Russell Martin.

Coming off injury-plagued seasons, he could have been had for cheap money but the New York Yankees snatched him up and gave him the starting job as Jorge Posada was shifted to DH.

The Red Sox chose to go with Jarrod Saltalamacchia (don't ask me why) and Jason Varitek as the backup.

Only eight games into the 2011 season and that seemingly minor decision has already completely blown up in Boston's face.

Martin had two home runs yesterday and four RBIs as New York (5-3) beat Boston (1-7) 9-4 yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Saltalamacchia doesn't call a good game as far as I can tell and he can't hit a lick. So yeah, don't ask me what Theo Epstein and Co. were thinking there.

Clay Buchholz (0-2) faced Ivan Nova and surprisingly, Buchholz was worse. He only went 3.2 innings, giving up eight hits, five runs (four earned), three walks and two strikeouts.

Nova wasn't much better: 4.1 innings, seven hits, four earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts.

The Yankees jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning on a groundout by Nick Swisher and an RBI double by Eric Chavez (3 hits).

Kevin Youkilis' groundout cut it to 2-1 in the third but Martin's three-run homer made it 5-1 in the fourth.

Boston had one last comeback attempt with three runs in the fourth. Jacoby Ellsbury had an RBI groundout and Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 RBIs) added a two-run double. Once again, Pedroia is the only Red Sox hitter that was able to come through with a big hit in a big spot. Hopefully his clutchness becomes contagious soon.

Three more homers from the Yankees ended it. Curtis Granderson had a two-run bomb in the fifth while Robinson Cano (3 hits, 2 runs) and Martin had solo shots in the sixth and seventh respectively.

Josh Beckett takes on CC Sabathia tonight in a Sunday night game that is basically must-win for the Red Sox. That's not good news either since the pitching matchup is really shaky for 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.

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.

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).

Will the Red Sox be toast by the trade deadline?

If you've learned anything from fantasy baseball (and hopefully I have since I currently run an obnoxious five teams), it's that when a starting pitcher returns, it always takes him at least a few starts to find his form. I don't know why hitters can seemingly adjust faster but Clay Buchholz proved this point once again yesterday afternoon.

He was at the top of his game on June 26 when he left a game in San Francisco with a strained hamstring (running the bases, don't get me started with the JV NL rules).

The Sox (53-42) desperately needed a win from him and a series victory over Oakland (48-47) but he couldn't deliver as the A's won 6-4 to take two out of the three from the free-falling Sox.

You can't blame Buchholz (10-5) for his sub par performance: 4 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts.

The A's have won seven of eight and they were able to scratch away despite an average start by Gio Gonzalez (9-6): 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts.

Adrian Beltre (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run, stolen base) continued to show why he's been the Sox MVP, keeping their patchwork lineup intact during all the lineup shuffling.

Shortstop Jed Lowrie (2 walks, hit, run, RBI) made his 2010 debut for Boston and he played well. To say the guy has been cursed with injuries and other problems (mono) would be an understatement. Hopefully he can stay healthy and get his career back on track.

Beltre gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single which knocked in Lowrie.

Buchholz had only given up three runs this season coming into yesterday but Matt Watson hit a solo shot in the second to tie it up then Jack Cust put Oakland ahead 3-1 in the third with a two-run bomb that scored Kurt Suzuki (2 hits, 2 runs).

Lowrie cut it to 3-2 A's in the fifth with an RBI single but Oakland added three in the home half of the inning. Mark Ellis had an RBI single and Rajai Davis knocked in two with his two-run single.

Beltre closed out the scoring with a two-run blast in the sixth.

Michael Wuertz had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his second save of the season.

Rumors are swirling about who the Red Sox are trying to acquire: Jayson Werth, David DeJesus, Chris Snyder, relievers. Theo Epstein has to go for it now or else he can raise the white flag ala 2006 and admit this season is going nowhere fast.

Boston begins a four-game series at Safeco Field in Seattle tonight. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in baseball so realistically the Red Sox need to win at least three of these games even though it seems like they always struggle in the Pacific Northwest. The good news is that they miss King Felix who pitched last night.

John Lackey opposes Ryan Rowland-Smith tonight at 10:10 p.m. EST.

Jed Lowrie carries the Red Sox to their fourth ALCS in the last six seasons

I alluded to it during the Celtics title run in the spring and summer but I can't emphasize the fact enough that I'll never take this for granted. Sure in the company of my fellow Massholes, I will talk a big game and boast that this success across New England pro sports will continue forever but I see the writing on the wall (especially with the Cubs collapse fresh in my mind). Despite how great they are at this moment, each local franchise will go through downtimes in the future (except for the Bruins who will always be mediocre). Hopefully, by that time I'll be married to Jessica Biel and will have no use for sports.

The Boston Red Sox won game 4 of the ALDS, 3-2 over the Angels as rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie came through with the key hit, a walk-off RBI single in the ninth off Angels reliever Scot Shields that scored Jason Bay.

On a related note, Julio Lugo was arrested for robbing a 7-11 in East Boston last night. Just kidding,a although I'll be the first one to help Lugo pack his bags and get the hell out of town. No use for that bum anymore.

Hate to be redundant but Jon Lester once again delivered in a huge game. The workhouse and second best lefty in MLB (behind Johan Santana) pitched seven scoreless innings on a cold night, which was just what the Sox needed since every bullpen arm had been used the last few games. Lester allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four. He left with a 2-0 and should have gotten the win if not for some shaky moments by Hideki Okajima and especially Justin Masterson.

Boston broke the scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth off Angels starter John Lackey. Jacoby Ellsbury's groundout drove in Mark Kotsay and Dustin Pedroia broke out of his series-long slump with an RBI double off the Monster which scored Jason Varitek.

After Mark Teixeira and Vlad Guerrero walked, Torii Hunter scored them both with a clutch RBI single off Masterson in the eighth. All the air went out of Fenway as fans realized how screwed the Sox would be if they had to fly back to Anaheim for a game five with Dice-K starting. Yuck.

The Angels series could be summed up by what happened in the ninth. Pinch hitter Kendry Morales led off the ninth with a double and yet he couldn't score. Howie Kendrick bunted him over but then Erick Aybar blew a squeeze play with one out. Aybar missed on a bunt attempt, Jason Varitek caught the ball and ran up the third baseline to tag pinch runner Reggie Willits who was too far off third (anticipating the bunt).

Kevin Youkilis and Kotsay both had superb defensive plays earlier in the game, another thing which separated these two teams in such a tight series.

From there, Jason Bay hit a bloop ground-rule double to right, Kotsay hit a rope that Teixeira (how good is he?) dove and caught before Lowrie stepped up.

The Red Sox will go to Tampa Bay on Friday for Game 1 of the ALCS. Facing off against a division foe, especially such a fresh-faced up and coming team means this best of seven series should be pretty exciting.

The only bad news coming out of Fenway last night was that Mike Lowell is out for the ALCS and probably the rest of the playoffs with the hip injury.

Lester is a stud; no homo!

The Red Sox' hopes of stealing the AL East out from under the Tampa Bay Rays lived for at least one more night as Boston (94-65), won its third straight against the Indians (79-80), 6-1 last night at Fenway.

Jon Lester (16-6) wrapped up his breakout regular season with one last solid start. It's almost guaranteed that the Red Sox will travel to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs to face the Angels. If Beckett can be anything like he normally is in October, coupled with Lester and a decent start or two from Dice-K, I like this team's chances.

Lester went six innings last night, allowing one run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Jed Lowrie, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury led the offense-something you'll be reading for five years-with two hits apiece. Ellsbury continued his career-high 15 game hitting streak while each guy scored two runs. Youkilis even crushed his 28th homer of the season.

The New York Yankees come to Fenway for three basically meaningless games this weekend. It's pouring right now and rain is forecasted tomorrow as well so who knows what they'll do if they have to cancel?

Slowly but surely, everything is coming together for the 2008 Red Sox.

which hurts more: a ninth-inning comeback or an extra innings marathon loss?

If the Tampa Bay Rays defy the odds and somehow win the 2008 World Series, the last two nights at Fenway Park will no doubt figure prominently in the official championship DVD narrated by Dick Vitale.

After stunning Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox in the ninth on Tuesday night, Tampa Bay (87-57) hung around last night and eventually won 4-2 thanks to Carlos Pena's three-run homer off Mike Timlin in the top of the 14th.

With the win, the Rays move back to 2.5 games ahead of Boston (85-60). The teams only have three more games left in the regular season, beginning Monday at the Trop (where the Red Sox are 0-6 this season).

Josh Beckett looked good once again on a low pitch count (84 pitches in 6 innings, are you taking notes Dice-K?). He allowed one run on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

One of the worst aspects of the loss was 7.1 innings of scoreless relief by four Boston relievers was thrown out the window after Timlin's work. Hideki Okajima (1 inning), Justin Masterson (2 innings), Manny Delcarmen (2 innings) and even Javier Lopez (2.1 innings-which has to be a career-high) allowed only three hits and three walks over their combined seven innings.

Timlin's had two outs in the 14th before giving up a 3-0 hit to Akinori Iwamura and another single to Rocco Baldelli before Pena hit his 28th homer of the season. Timlin's (4-4) ERA is now 6.09. He shouldn't be on the postseason roster, there I said it. If you're only let in the game in the 14th (despite not working in days) that should let you know how much confidence Terry Francona and the rest of his staff have in you.

Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine pitched seven innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits with seven strikeouts.

Willy Aybar (2 hits, 1 RBI, walk) tripled home Cliff Floyd in the second to put Tampa up 1-0. Boston responded in the third when Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, RBI, walk) hit an RBI double which scored Jed Lowrie.

It looked like the Red Sox might pull off a ridiculous comeback of its own in the 14th when Troy Percival couldn't get anyone out (I'm sure he's hurt again) and left with the bases loaded. Jason Hammell came in and got Kevin Youkilis to fly out to right which scored Jacoby Ellsbury. Jason Bay (0 for 7, 3 strikeouts) struck out and Alex Cora popped out to end the game.

Toronto-the hottest team in the American League-comes to Boston tomorrow with four games in three days (doubleheader on Saturday). The Sox have had plenty of trouble with the Blue Jays this season so they'll have their hands full.

The Orioles are falling apart faster than John McCain and Sarah Palin's campaign

The spontaneous combustion of the Orioles' pitching staff (which you can pretty much set your watch to every season) has come at the perfect time for the Boston Red Sox.

After taking game one at Fenway, 7-4 on Labor Day, the Red Sox (81-57) came back last night to smoke the Orioles (63-75), 14-2.

As alluded to in the title, as the Orioles and the Republican Party's nominees fall apart, others are rapidly gaining strength-Obama and Dustin Pedroia for MVP (topical, no?).

Breaking the recent history of Rookie of the Years, who never really do anything after the first year, Pedroia is having a monster season. He leads the AL in batting average and runs. Hitting cleanup the past few games, Pedroia was 3 for 5 last night with five RBIs and a run. He provided the biggest hit of the game, a three-run bomb in the fourth inning.

The suddenly stacked Sox lineup banged out 20 hits and worked eight walks. David Ortiz was 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs, two runs and a walk. Coco Crisp had three hits, three runs and a steal. Jed Lowrie scored three runs, walked three times with a hit and two RBIs. Mark Kotsay (who has been great) added two hits and an RBI. Jeff Bailey notched a hit, two walks and two runs. Finally, Jacoby Ellsbury walked twice, scored twice, stole a base, had a hit and an RBI.

Jon Lester only needed to go five innings to improve his record to 13-5.

Dice-K looks for his 17th win this afternoon as the Red Sox look to sweep Baltimore.

Jed Lowrie, You Give Me the Business

With the injuries piling up lately, it hasn't been pretty but the Red Sox took care of business (baby) with a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings yesterday at the Rogers Centre.

Boston (75-55) won two of three in Toronto and has a day off today before playing its final regular season series at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto (67-63) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Daisuke Matsuzaka and with A.J. Burnett on the mound, the Blue Jays looked poised to take another one from the Red Sox.

It was a true team win as numerous guys on the Red Sox contributed in big ways. Jacoby Ellsbury ran into a wall to make a catch, Jason Bay made a leaping catch at the left field fence to end the 10th, Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run bomb, Jonathan Papelbon threw two scoreless innings, Manny Delcarmen recorded a save and Jed Lowrie put Boston up for good with a homer in the 11th inning.

On a day where Dice-K really needed to give his beleaguered bullpen some innings, he came through. Kinda. Matsuzaka lasted six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Now that Rich Harden is healthy (knock on wood) and racking up wins and double digit strikeout totals for the Cubs, Burnett has officially taken over the title of baseball's most hyped pitcher, who has never put it together for a full season. Believe it or not, for as good as Burnett's stuff is, he's never had more than 12 wins in a season.

He entered yesterday on a hot streak, with a career-high 16 wins to his name but his record didn't change. Burnett went seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

No hitter has killed the Red Sox as much this season as Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells (2 runs, 2 hits, 3 RBIs, walk). He added to his stats with a two-run homer in the first off Dice-K.

Pedroia put the Sox up 3-2 in the third with his 14th homer of the season. Boston's other hitter having a dream season, Kevin Youkilis, increased the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single later in the frame.

Lyle Overbay hit a solo homer in the fourth and the Jays tied it in the sixth on Wells' RBI double. Rod Barajas put Toronto up 5-4 but Matt Stairs was thrown out at home to end the inning.

Coco Crisp hit a solo homer in the seventh to tie it up and then Lowrie hit his first lefthanded homer (and second overall) in the majors, to put Boston up 6-5 in the 11th.

The Red Sox bullpen gets an A yesterday as they combined for five scoreless innings. Justin Masterson (who's settling down nicely in his new role) got four outs before Hideki Okajima (who has quietly turned his season around) got the last two outs of the eighth. Even in a tie game on the road, Papelbon went two innings and Delcarmen managed to nail down the save after walking the leadoff hitter.

The Rays lost in 10 innings yesterday to the White Sox so they're currently 4.5 games up on Boston. The Yankees are five games behind Boston and the Red Sox lead the Wild Card by one game.

Clearly, the three games against the Yankees could prove pivotal as the Sox could put the final nail in the Bombers' coffin by taking at least two games. Nothing is ever that easy though and with Tim Wakefield (fresh off the DL) and Paul Byrd scheduled to start the first two games, it could turn into batting practice quickly.

Oh Texas Rangers, When Will You Learn?

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, I couldn't update the ol' blog the last few days and that was a bummer since the Sox' series against the Rangers was something straight out of RBI Baseball for SEGA. It was bat-shit crazy with ridiculous comebacks and a revolving door of ineffective pitchers.

The Sox took game one, 19-17 after being up ten runs in the first inning yet facing a deficit in the eighth inning. David Ortiz hit two three-run homers and Kevin Youkilis was the other star with two homers of his own.

Wednesday, Jon Lester pitched the Sox to an 8-4 win over the Rangers. Once again, Boston had a big lead (8-0) but the Rangers at least made it interesting before falling.

Finally, last night Boston (71-51) shutout the Rangers (61-61), 10-0 behind a typical Dice-K outing.

The Red Sox put up a nine-spot in the second vs. Tommy Hunter. The poor guy gave up nine runs on seven hits, recording only five outs.

Coco Crisp had an RBI single, Alex Cora was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and J.D. Drew had an RBI groundout to make it 3-0. Take a breath, Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 runs, RBI) had an RBI double, Ortiz blasted his third three-run bomb of the series, Jason Bay added an RBI single and Jed Lowrie (3 hits, run, RBI) finished the inning with an RBI double.

The Dice-Man as per usual for his starts, couldn't find the plate and yet the Rangers couldn't score any runs off him. It took 115 pitches to get through seven innings but when all was said and done, Dice-K is 14-2 with a 2.74 ERA. He gave up six hits, five walks and five strikeouts.

Could Dice-K win the Cy Young? Surprisingly yes. Cliff Lee is the frontrunner but since he's on a going-nowhere Indians team, his impressive season could fall apart at any point. Dice-K has seemed like about the 20th best pitcher in baseball this season but you can't argue with the numbers.

Pawtucket's Jeff Bailey was called up before the game and was rewarded with some garbage time action. He had an infield single in the eighth which scored Pedroia.

Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin each had scoreless frames to end the game.

Over the three games, the Red Sox suddenly smoking hot offense scored 37 runs off the beyond pathetic Ranger pitchers. Kevin Youkilis, Jed Lowrie (who already has more RBIs than Julio Lugo) and David Ortiz were the stars.

A completely opposite type of team comes to town tonight as the Toronto Blue Jays, they of no hitting and lots o' pitching, arrive for three games. The newest Sox pitcher Paul Byrd goes tonight in his Boston debut against Roy Halladay.

Bidding Adieu to the White Trash at U.S. Cellular Field

Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford is on the DL and might be out for the rest of the season. Evan Longoria broke his wrist and will also be out for the near future. The Yankees are 9 games back in the AL East and 5 in the Wild Card. The Bronx Bombers are on life support.

The AL playoff picture is slowly sorting itself out; it looks like the Rays and Sox will be duking it out for the AL East, the Angels have the AL West wrapped up and the White Sox and Twins will be in a dogfight in the AL Central. More than any other factor, the reason to have faith in the Red Sox at least making the playoffs is the fact that a top-3 of Beckett, Dice-K and Lester is pretty nice. When October rolls around, its all about pitching, defense and timely hitting as Joe Buck will tell you 1000 times during the first playoff game.

Your Boston Red Sox certainly have issues of their own: Tim Wakefield is on the DL, Clay Buchholz sucks, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and a host of others are banged up but the Sox have a chance to make a move in the AL East the next few weeks as the Rays (hopefully) come back to earth somewhat and the Yankees continue to plummet.

Boston (68-51) earned a split with the Chicago White Sox (65-52) last night with a 5-1 come-from-behind win.

White Sox starter John Danks (9-5) actually had a no-hitter up until one out in the seventh when Youkilis hit a broken bat single over shortstop Orlando Cabrera. After a Mike Lowell walk, J.D. Drew delivered with a two-run single.

The Red Sox added three runs in the ninth on Jed Lowrie's (how good is he?) two-run double and Jacoby Ellsbury's RBI single.

For the second straight time, Josh Beckett (11-8) looked like the 2007 Beckett that should have won the Cy Young. He lasted eight innings and could have closed it out in the ninth but Jonathan Papelbon needed to get out there after having only one other appearance on the road trip. Beckett allowed one run on seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Chicago scored its lone run in the third when scumbag A.J. Pierzynski knocked in hillbilly Nick Swisher with a sacrifice fly.

With one of the best home records (40-16) in all of baseball, the Red Sox have six at Fenway this week: three against the Texas Rangers and then three vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. Pawtucket knuckleballer Charlie Zink was called up for tonight's game.

Hey Look Honey, Jacoby Ellsbury's on base

In big markets like Boston (New York, Philly, LA, Chicago, etc.), we tend to overhype and overvalue our young players in any sport, especially baseball. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when everyone's favorite Native American Jacoby Ellsbury took the American League by storm last year, we figured that this season-his official rookie year-would be filled with about 100 steals and a .330 average. Realistic, no?

Well surprise, surprise, after a solid start to the season, Ellsbury fell into a black hole the last few months, meaning that he was dropped to ninth in the order, something that would have been unthinkable even in May. With the emergence of Evan Longoria in Tampa Bay, Ellsbury's rookie of the year trophy is currently hanging out with the Patriots unbeaten, Super Bowl champs t-shirts but that doesn't really matter. Over the last two games, Ellsbury has showed signs of being the leadoff hitter the Sox saw last season, particularly in the playoffs.

Hitting seventh last night, Jacoby had one of the best games of his short pro career as he went 3 for 5 with 2 runs, 3 RBIs and one spectacular catch.

The Red Sox (66-49) took care of business in Kansas City (53-62) after dropping the first game of the series, winning last night's finale 8-2.

No longer possessing the best 3-4 combo in baseball, Boston is relying on a more diverse attack. Pseudo leadoff man J.D. Drew was 2-for-4 with a 2 RBIs, a run and walk. Rookie Jed Lowrie hit second for the first time and delivered with a two-run double, walk and run. Jason Bay continued to chug along with two runs and two hits.

The only bad news was that Kevin Youkilis got hit on the wrist with a Luke Hochevar pitch in the first and had to leave. X-Rays were negative so I wouldn't be surprised if Youk is in the lineup tomorrow night when the Red Sox open their series in Chicago against the White Sox.

A constant victim of bad luck and little run support, Tim Wakefield (7-8) pitched six innings for the win. The knuckleballer gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits with six strikeouts.

Manny Delcarmen gave up two hits but pitched a scoreless seventh. Rookie Justin Masterson pitched a clean eighth with two strikeouts while closer Jonathan Papelbon got some work in the ninth, giving up two hits but no runs in a non-save situation.

Lowrie's double broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. David Ortiz's RBI single scored Lowrie, giving Boston a 3-0 lead.

Ross Gload's two-run single in the fifth cut the Boston lead to one but the Sox reeled off five more before it was all said and done.

Drew had a two-run single in the sixth and Ellsbury hit a three-run bomb to center off reliever Ron Mahay in the seventh, his first career homer off a lefty.

The Sox travel today and have an off-day before beginning a big four-game set with the AL Central leading White Sox.