It's about time: J.D. Drew hits his first walk-off hit for the Red Sox (in the 14th inning)

It's only fitting that a game that goes 14 innings (the longest Boston Red Sox game of the season), complete with a four-run lead blown in the ninth and having two players ejected, that J.D. Drew delivered the first walk-off hit of his Red Sox career.

Things were going well for Boston (32-26) as they went into the bottom of the ninth up 7-3 yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park on the Oakland A's (27-32).

Then closer Jonathan Papelbon started giving up hits in a non-save situation like he always does and before you knew it, he was tossed along with catcher Jason Varitek for arguing balls and strikes.

Oakland tied it up at 7 in the ninth and both teams scored a run in the 11th before Drew (2 hits, 2 RBIs) drove in Carl Crawford (4 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) in the 14th for the winning run.

Alfredo Aceves (3-1) was the unsung hero and turned out to be the winner as he went the last four innings for the Red Sox. He allowed one earned run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

It's hard to remember since this game went five hours and 17 minutes but this started out as a tasty pitching matchup between A's stud Trevor Cahill and Red Sox ace Josh Beckett. As usual, that's not how the game unfolded.

Cahill went seven innings but he allowed five earned runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Beckett went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Things got off to a good start for Boston as Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo homer (his 11th of the season) in the first. Drew added an RBI single, driving in Crawford in the fifth, for a 2-0 lead.

Josh Willingham tied it up in the sixth with a two-run single in the sixth. The Red Sox responded with three runs. Dustin Pedroia had an RBI single, Kevin Youkilis had an RBI double and Crawford had an RBI single in the frame.

Cliff Pennington drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh but Crawford's two-run double in the eighth made it 7-3 good guys.

You knew something was up in the ninth when Pedroia let a routine grounder go through his legs, scoring a run. Pennington had an RBI double and Conor Jackson tied it with an RBI single as Papelbon melted down literally and figuratively (the first ejection of his career).

Ryan Sweeney put Oakland ahead with a sacrifice fly in the 11th but Jacoby Ellsbury (4 hits, 2 steals) tied it with an RBI double which knocked in Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Boston goes for the sweep today but I wouldn't bet on them since John Lackey returns from the DL and his rehab stint in the minors. He faces Oakland lefty Brett Anderson, who is good and typically gives the Red Sox trouble.

Red Sox finally top the world beating Indians

After four tries in 2011, the Boston Red Sox (26-22) finally beat the Cleveland Indians (30-16) 4-2 last night at Progressive Field.

Josh Beckett (4-1) picked up his first regular season win in Cleveland (who could ever forget his legendary start there in the 2007 playoffs?) after 6.2 innings. He allowed five hits, one earned run with three walks and six strikeouts.

Fausto Carmona (3-5) went eight innings for the Indians but he allowed five hits, four earned runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.

The unlikeliest of heroes stepped up at the plate for Boston as Jason Varitek hit a two-run homer, his first in almost a year (May 30, 2010).

Jonathan Papelbon gave up a solo homer to Travis Buck in the ninth but recovered to get his ninth save of the season.

Some Amish guy named Ezequiel Carrera gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second which scored Buck.

Jed Lowrie tied it up in the third with a sacrifice fly which drove in Carl Crawford. The Red Sox went ahead for good later in the frame on Adrian Gonzalez's RBI double (scoring Jacoby Ellsbury).

Varitek's two-run bomb in the seventh plated David Ortiz.

Jon Lester takes on Mitch Talbot this afternoon in the series finale.

Sorry Justin Verlander, even you cannot stop the Boston Red Sox right now

Another game, another win for the Boston Red Sox. Carl Crawford continues to toil at the bottom of the lineup but he still delivered his third walkoff hit in May as Boston beat Detroit 4-3 last night at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox (23-20) have won a season-high six in a row thanks to contributions from everybody: great starting pitching, timely hitting, excellent relief and plain old luck.

The Tigers (22-21) came into Boston hot but left after a two-game sweep with interleague play starting for everybody this weekend.

A pitcher's duel between Detroit ace Justin Verlander and Red Sox stud Josh Beckett was overshadowed by Crawford's heroics. With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Crawford (2 hits) crushed a single over the head of Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson which plated pinch runner Darnell McDonald. Detroit porn star and reliever Al Alburquerque (0-1) was charged with the loss.

Neither starter got a decision as Verlander went eight innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs with nine strikeouts. Beckett departed after six innings (with a stiff neck, man baseball players are warriors), five hits, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts.

Andy Dirks (what is with these names?) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second.

J.D. Drew tied it up in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly which scored Kevin Youkilis.

Things looked to be turning in Boston's favor as Drew hit a solo homer in the fourth and David Ortiz (3 hits, quietly having a very solid season) followed with a solo shot of his own in the seventh.

Matt Albers got a scoreless seventh (1 hit, 2 strikeouts) but Detroit hit a pair of solo homers off Daniel Bard in the eighth. Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera did the honors.

No worries though, the Red Sox are finding every possible way to win right now and this time, it didn't even take extra innings. Just another ho hum walkoff.

The Chicago Cubs come to Fenway for a three-game series which kicks off tonight. It's the first time since the 1918 World Series (remember that classic?) that the Cubbies have been to Boston. I can feel the collective boners from all the baseball nerds across the world. It promises to be a memorable weekend in Boston.

Josh Beckett owns the Yankees (at least so far this season)

It's funny how in a couple days, the New York Yankees have become a complete mess with a legendary player (Jorge Posada) removing himself from the lineup while the Boston Red Sox look like a team that has underachieved so far this season but is built for big things in 2011.

The Red Sox (19-20) shut out the Yankees (20-17) 5-0 last night at Yankee Stadium with Josh Beckett (3-1) outdueling CC Sabathia (3-3) for the second time in a month.

It was the second straight win for Boston in the Bronx and they'll go for the sweep tonight on Sunday Night baseball.

Beckett went six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, two walks with nine strikeouts.

Sabathia matched Beckett for the first four innings before giving up two runs in the fifth and four in the seventh. The big lefty went 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits, six earned runs, three walks with six strikeouts.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 RBIs) got the Red Sox on the board with a two-run double in the fifth.

Boston benefited from a missed strike call on Jason Varitek in the seventh. On the next pitch, he laced an RBI single which scored Mike Cameron. Later in the frame, Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer (his ninth of the season and fourth in his last four games).

Dustin Pedroia added three hits, a run and a stolen base in the win.

Curtis Granderson was the only Yankee with multiple hits. He had two hits and a stolen base.

The two most pleasant surprises in the Boston bullpen continued to get it done. Matt Albers pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth with two strikeouts while Rich Hill threw a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts of his own.

Tonight is the fifth time that the Red Sox have a chance to get to the .500 mark. Jon Lester will take on Freddy Garcia as Boston goes for the three-game sweep.

Carl Crawford, for the win!

I think it's time for Carl Crawford to move up in the Red Sox' lineup. He is finally ready to get out of the eighth spot hitter's purgatory. Haha although don't ask me where to put him, maybe fifth?

For the second time on the homestand, he had a walk-off hit to help Boston win. Last night it was an RBI double in the 11th that took care of the Minnesota Twins (12-21) at Fenway Park.

It let the Red Sox (17-18) end the season-high 11 game stay at home 6-5 with their third straight win over the Twins while inching them one game away from .500. Baby steps right?

Josh Beckett was outstanding, throwing seven scoreless innings but he wound up with the no-decision after Jonathan Papelbon blew the save opportunity in the eighth (his first of the season). Beckett allowed six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Hideki Okajima (1-0) was the unsung hero as he threw a career-high 42 pitches and managed to submit a scoreless 10th and 11th despite allowing two hits and walking two. He also struck out three.

Nick Blackburn was similarly good for Minnesota but he departed with a no-decision as well. He went 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run with three walks and five strikeouts.

Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) continued his excellent play with an RBI single in the fifth that scored Jason Varitek (2 hits) and gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Jason Kubel broke his bat but was able to get an RBI single off Papelbon in the eighth which plated Denard Span.

Crawford's RBI double in the 11th was off the Monster and rookie Jose Iglesias (pinch running for Jed Lowrie who walked) raced around and just beat the relay for the exciting win.

Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hit streak to 18 games with a single.

Boston hits the road for two in Toronto then their first visit to Yankee Stadium this season takes place this weekend.

Jon Lester goes up against on Kyle Drabek tonight at the Rogers Centre.

Angels beat Red Sox in 13 innings, ending at 2:45 a.m. EST

It's only fitting that the Los Angeles Angels finally beat the Boston Red Sox in a game that most either didn't see or gave up on watching and went to bed (even on the West Coast).

The Angels (17-14) won 5-3 in 13 innings last night at Fenway Park against the Red Sox (14-16), in a game that didn't end until 2:45 a.m. EST thanks to a lengthy rain delay (two hours and thirty five minutes).

For someone that never goes to bed at a reasonable hour, it was hilarious to watch the game that would never end. I'd like to give props to the die-hard fans that stayed but you had to be insane to stay for the entire game, a meaningless May game against the Angels.

It was bad luck for both starting pitchers since they were both dealing, particularly Los Angeles' Ervin Santana (4 innings, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts). He had a no-hitter going when the game was put on hold in the top of the fifth. That no-hitter continued until Jed Lowrie got a hit in the bottom of the seventh.

Josh Beckett (4.1 innings, 1 hit, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts) was nearly as dominant but he was also lifted since you never bring back a starting pitcher after a rain delay.

It became a contest decided by random bullpens and wouldn't you know that somehow Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-3) would find a way to screw it up as he took the loss in his first MLB relief appearance (1 inning, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk).

Vernon Wells broke the scoreless tie with a two-run bomb off Dan Wheeler in the top of the seventh.

Adrian Gonzalez reached on an infield single in the bottom of the eighth and Jason Varitek scored on the play as Angels reliever Fernando Rodney decided for some reason to flip the ball to his catcher Hank Conger. Too bad it wasn't even close.

Erick Aybar's sacrifice fly scored Wells in the top of the ninth and gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Boston showed some resiliency as they scored twice in their last at bats against LA's new closer Jordan Walden. Lowrie scored on a throwing error by Conger and then Jacoby Ellsbury delivered with an RBI single that plated Carl Crawford.

Bobby Abreu was the hero for the Angels as he hit a two-run single in the top of the 13th against Matsuzaka, scoring Howie Kendrick and Peter Bourjos.

The fourth and final game of this series has already begun with John Lackey opposing former Red Sox Joel Pineiro. With a 15-2 record the last two seasons against the Angels and 6-1 this year, Boston will try to close out this series on a high note even though they have to be dead tired.

Red Sox lose another game that nobody watches or cares about

Didn't see more than a few minutes of the Red Sox-Orioles game last night and can't say I missed much.

Baltimore (10-12) beat Boston (10-13) 5-4 at Camden Yards as Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard (0-3) had another bad outing (3 hits) and a comeback went for naught.

Jeremy Guthrie (6 innings, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts) outpitched Josh Beckett (6 innings, 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 4 strikeouts).

Derrek Lee led the Os with three hits while Adam Jones had two hits.

Jacoby Ellsbury had three more hits for Boston from the leadoff spot while Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz had two hits.

The bad Beckett popped up as he gave up back-to-back homers to Luke Scott and Adam Jones in the fourth inning to give Baltimore a 3-0 inning. Beckett did his usual tough guy/Texas bad ass bullshit as he stared down Scott running around the bases (he was mad that Scott flipped his bat, lol). Hey Josh, give it a rest. This isn't Little League, that crap doesn't work.

Brian Roberts' sacrifice fly scored Matt Wieters in the fifth for a 4-0 Orioles lead.

Gonzalez started a rally in the eighth with an RBI single that drove in Ellsbury and then Kevin Youkilis delivered with a three-run bomb to tie it up.

Vlad Guerrero hit an RBI single off Bard in the eighth that scored Lee with the winning run. For the second straight night, Kevin Gregg recorded the save, his fourth of the season.

The Red Sox will try to avoid the series sweep and get some momentum back tonight as Jon Lester takes on Brad Bergesen. It's the last game of Boston's road trip so a win would be doubly nice.

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.

Josh Beckett brings you back from the edge of the Tobin Bridge

After Saturday's latest pathetic loss, the Boston Red Sox were in desperate need of a quality start from a starting pitcher.

Shockingly, it came from former ace Josh Beckett, who turned back the clock last night and was lights out in a 4-0 win over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.

I don't think anyone in world expected Beckett (1-1) to deal like he did. It was incredible especially after a middling performance last week in Cleveland. He went eight innings, allowing only two hits with a walk and ten strikeouts.

Boston (2-7) won two out of three against New York (5-4) and fingers crossed, now they can put their miserable opening week behind them. This team is way too good to be as awful as they've been for the first nine games by and large.

CC Sabathia (0-1) was effective but couldn't get out of the sixth inning. The big lefty went 5.2 innings, giving up nine hits, one earned run, four walks and four strikeouts.

The Red Sox were a mind-numbing 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and they left 16 on base and yet, they won.

Dustin Pedroia led Boston with three hits while David Ortiz and Marco Scutaro had two hits.

Boston scored its first run in the third inning. It came by way of an infield single by Mike Cameron.

Scutaro had the most important hit, a two-run double in the seventh, which scored Ortiz and J.D. Drew.

Ortiz added an RBI double in the eighth for some valuable insurance.

At only 103 pitches, Beckett could have started the ninth but why push him in April? Jonathan Papelbon came on for the second time in the series and was great (two strikeouts, no hits or walks).

So yeah, who knows what to expect from Beckett next time out. At least we don't have quite bury the guy yet since he couldn't have done more in one outing to prove that he can still be Josh Beckett circa 2003 or 2007 when he wants to be.

Tampa Bay (1-8) comes to town for three games starting tonight. Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Jeremy Hellickson in game one. The Red Sox should take advantage of a team that's playing even worse than them and cannot score any runs with Evan Longoria out.

Let's all kick the Boston Red Sox while they're down

Well another game went by last night and the Boston Red Sox are still 0-for-2011 in the win department.

This latest installment was perhaps the most embarrassing since the Red Sox (0-4) lost to the Cleveland Indians and something named a Josh Tomlin completely shut them down for seven innings in a 3-1 loss at mostly empty Progressive Field.

Josh Beckett (5 innings, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts) proved once again that he'll never be anything close to the stud that he was in 2003 and 2007. He racked up 106 pitches in five innings against Cleveland's (2-2) Triple A lineup and his night was over.

I can't say that Tomlin had great stuff (7 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts) since Boston helped him out by nervously swinging early in counts (see: 91 pitches in 7 innings of work).

The lone highlights (if you can call them that) for Boston's neutered offense was two hits from Dustin Pedroia and Jarrod Saltalamacchia's RBI single in the second inning (his first hit of the season) which gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. David Ortiz scored the run but J.D. Drew got thrown out at the plate by a money throw from Shin-Soo Choo.

The Indians got Beckett's pitch count up and scrapped for two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. Old friend (especially to Red Sox wives) Orlando Cabrera had an RBI single to tie it. Then Jack Hannahan had an RBI single and Carlos Santana hit a sacrifice fly.

Boston wasted three perfect innings from Matt Albers, Bobby Jenks and Daniel Bard (who combined for eight strikeouts and no hits).

Cleveland reliever Tony Sipp only needed seven pitches (are you kidding me?) to get through the eighth before closer Chris Perez nailed down his first save of the season.

The Red Sox looked like they might rally in the ninth as Pedoria got a single and Youkilis walked with two outs but Ortiz flew out to left on Perez's 27th pitch.

It has come to this: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Mitch Talbot tonight as Boston still searches for its first win of the 2011 season.

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.

How have Ichiro and Felix Hernandez not demanded a trade out of Seattle?

Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki are two of the best players in Major League Baseball and yet they will continue to toil in obscurity until they get out of rainy Seattle.

True to form, the Red Sox (73-55) had a nice opportunity to build some momentum yesterday and they did that, well kind of but not really.

They beat the Mariners (50-77) 5-3 in game 1 of a day-night doubleheader before losing to King Felix (10-10) 4-2 in the nightcap.

The Rays got blown out by the Angels and the Yankees lost once again to the Blue Jays, but after one long day at Fenway, Boston was still 5.5 games back in the AL East and wild card.

Game 1 was a sort of Josh Beckett (4-3) mirage: he pitched great (albeit against a pathetic lineup) for six innings then nearly coughed up a 4-0 lead.

The Red Sox were up 4-0 thanks to an infield single by Adrian Beltre in the sixth, Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly and Daniel Nava's two-run single off former Sox scrub David Pauley.

Russell Branyan hit a solo homer off Beckett in the seventh and then former Sox first baseman Casey Kotchman cranked a two-run homer.

Bye Josh. He went 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Daniel Bard pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and Jonathan Papelbon had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 32nd save.

In the nightcap, Boston waved the white flag before the game even began: subbing Tim Wakefield for Jon Lester, who will pitch the opener at the Rays tomorrow night.

Wakefield (3-10) pitched about as well as could be expected in a no-win situation: 5.2 innings, four runs (three earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts.

Hernandez lowered his ERA to an absurd 2.47 (second in the AL to Clay Buchholz) with 7.1 innings of ace stuff: two runs (one earned) on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

Beltre and Terry Francona were both tossed in the third thanks to a misunderstanding by a rookie umpire, perfect. He thought Beltre was talking trash to him when in fact, he was gabbing with Felix, his former teammate. It's been that kind of season.

Ichiro scored in the first on Branyan's ground out. Jose Lopez drove in two in the third inning with a single.

Ryan Kalish scored on a wild pitch in the third but Matt Tuiasosopo (3 hits) had an RBI double in the sixth.

J.D. Drew closed out the scoring with a solo homer to center in the sixth.

Brandon League recorded the last five outs for the save.

With three in Tampa Bay this weekend: Lester vs. Price, Buchholz vs. Garza and Shields vs. Lackey, the Red Sox need to win at least two games to prolong this agony. If they can somehow sweep the Rays, this will get very interesting but don't count on it.

Damn it Beckett

Despite his past success in the playoffs in 2003 with the Marlins and 2007 with the Red Sox, Boston pitcher Josh Beckett has not been a big game performer for the last few seasons.

Facing one of the biggest games of the season last night at Yankee Stadium, Beckett couldn't get through the fifth inning as the Sox (63-49) lost 7-2 to New York (69-41) on a day when Tampa Bay lost its fifth straight game.

Beckett (3-2) went 4.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Scheduled starter A.J. Burnett was scratched before the game with back spasms but Dustin Moseley (2-1) stepped in and pitched very well: 6.1 innings, two earned runs, six hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

New York scored twice in the second inning on a throwing error by Bill Hall and an RBI single by Derek Jeter (2 hits, 3 RBIs).

Hall (3 hits) atoned for his usual fielding blunder with a solo homer in the fifth, cutting it to 2-1 Yankees.

The bottom of the fifth was when the wheels fell off for Beckett and the Red Sox. Mark Teixeira led off the inning with a solo bomb. Lance Berkman (3 hits, 2 runs) hit an RBI double, Kevin Cash made a throwing error which led to another run and Jeter sent Beckett to the clubhouse with a two-run double.

Boston got one more run, on an infield hit by pinch hitter Mike Lowell in the seventh. A ball that looked like a double play ball by Alex Rodriguez that he couldn't corral.

Needless to say, today is the biggest game of the season for Boston. They have Jon Lester on the mound, he's lost four straight starts and he needs to get right. Also, they can't lose more ground to New York and I'm sure the Rays will turn around soon despite all their injuries.

Phil Hughes takes the ball for the Yankees in the afternoon matinee.

The Sox are seven games behind the Yankees in the AL East and 4.5 behind Tampa Bay. This is the start of a ten-game road trip and it figures to remain very difficult with three in Toronto (who is playing great) and in Texas (who are legit and Arlington is always a tough place to play in the summer heat).

Mike Lowell says "I'm not dead yet"

After losing on Monday night to the Indians and having Kevin Youkilis placed on the DL with a thumb injury (that might keep him out for the rest of the season if he needs surgery), the Red Sox needed a boost of energy or else they're done.

Last night, that came in the form of Mike Lowell who returned to the field, playing first base, and hit a two-run homer as Boston (61-46) beat Cleveland (45-62) 3-1 at Fenway Park.

Josh Beckett (3-1) had his third straight good start, actually this was his best one in a long time. He went eight innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 25th save of the season. He also became the first closer to get 25+ saves in his first five MLB seasons.

Lowell cranked his two-run bomb off David Huff (2-10) in the second, taking the first pitch he saw in months in the big leagues over the Monster.

Lou Marson cut it to 2-1 in the third with a solo shot and Bill Hall (2 hits) pushed across the last run in the fourth with a solo homer of his own.

Ryan Kalish continued to impress, adding two more hits out of the ninth spot in his fourth MLB game. He's hitting .538.

Things got crazy in the eighth when Indians reliever Jensen Lewis threw behind Adrian Beltre. Beckett came out of the dugout and started barking at anyone in a Cleveland uniform, especially Shelley Duncan, who he plunked earlier in the game.

Beckett, Lewis and Indians third base coach Steve Smith were all ejected. Terry Francona was fired up too, yelling at Smith. However, it was a typical baseball "fight" with both benches emptying but not much actually happening other than some pushing and name-calling.

Former Red Sox Justin Masterson takes on Jon Lester tonight at steamy Fenway.

Scutaro's slam helps Red Sox sweep the Angels

It's time for everyone to jump back on the Boston Red Sox' bandwagon.

They're still seven games behind the Yankees and five behind the Rays for the wild card but at least now, it looks like August and September will be competitive as they went 6-4 on their West Coast trip and wrapped it up with a nice 7-3 win and a sweep of the Angels yesterday afternoon in Anaheim.

Josh Beckett (2-1) was solid in his second start back from the DL. Beckett went seven innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

In a game that both Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were promised a day off, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings respectively.

Just before the series finale began, the Angels (52-52) found out starter Joel Pineiro was scratched with an oblique injury (which will keep him out 6-8 weeks). The Red Sox (58-44) caught a big break by facing five Angels relievers but for most of the contest, it didn't seem like they'd fully take advantage of that.

Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall hit solo homers in the second for the early 2-0 lead.

Bobby Wilson and Reggie Willits were both credited with RBI singles in the bottom of the second but they didn't deserve them since Boston fielders made mistakes on both plays. Jeremy Hermida, who is brutal in the field, hesitated on Wilson's liner to left and Hall lost Willits' pop-up in the sun.

Maicer Izturis hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Los Angeles a momentary 3-2 lead but Kevin Youkilis tied it up with a solo homer in the seventh.

Finally, Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 walks, career-high five times on base) came through with one of the biggest plays of the season: he hit a grand slam off Fernando Rodney with no outs in the top of the eighth.

Eric Patterson (3 hits, run) also had a good game hitting out of the ninth spot.

Boston comes home and gets a three-game set beginning tomorrow against the sinking Tigers.

Love you Theo but what were you thinking last winter?

Since we can already say that the Boston Red Sox aren't going anywhere this season, who can we blame? Answer: GM Theo Epstein.

The Brookline native delivered two World Series championships so he's bulletproof for locals but someone has to be held responsible for the poor construction of the 2010 Red Sox.

As many things as you can make fun of the owners for, one thing that is not debatable is that they spend money. It's Theo's job (and his legion of minions) to put that money to good use and clearly they didn't in the off-season, as their obsession with statistics has led them astray.

That was a long introduction to a completely forgettable weekend in Baltimore. Boston (11-14) got swept for the first time since 1998 by the terrible Orioles (7-18), who won 3-2 in 10 innings yesterday at Camden Yards.

Ty Wigginton won it for the O's, who are 4-2 against the Sox this season, with an RBI double off Jonathan Papelbon (1-2) that scored Nick Markakis (2 hits, 2 runs, walk).

Boston wasted a strong effort from Josh Beckett: seven innings, two runs on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

Kevin Millwood matched Beckett, going eight innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew provided the only runs with solo homers in the fifth and seventh respectively. Baltimore had jumped ahead with two runs in the fourth.

It will not get any easier for the Red Sox even though they come home for another 10-game homestand. They play the Angels, then Yankees and Blue Jays.

Clay Buchholz takes on Joe Saunders tonight.

Beckett gets shelled but Sox still win shitshow in Toronto

I can't remember being less enthused about the Red Sox to start a season so I won't pretend I was hanging on every absurd pitch last night in Toronto.

The Bruins finished off the Sabres which was much more important than the Sox' silly 13-12 win over Toronto at the Rogers Centre.

It was nine innings but the game was the longest (4 hours, 3 minutes) nine inning game of the season thus far.

Apparently a 5-0 lead is not big enough for Josh Beckett as he gave it all back in the third as the Blue Jays (10-10) took a 6-5 lead.

I won't get into the play by play since that could take days. Boston (9-11) banged out a season-high 18 hits. Marco Scutaro (4 runs), Dustin Pedroia (3 runs, 2 RBIs, 2 steals), Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek (4 RBIs) and Adrian Beltre all had three hits.

Lyle Overbay led Toronto with three hits and four RBIs. Jose Bautista had a three-run bomb off Beckett and four RBIs overall while Vernon Vells and Adam Lind also had three hits.

Manny Delcarmen was the first effective pitcher for Boston after Beckett gave up eight earned runs in three innings. Delcarmen calmed things down with a scoreless sixth and seventh innings.

Hideki Okajima entered with a 13-10 lead in the eighth but promptly gave up two runs. Josh Bard struck out two and got a 1-2-3 eighth and Jonathan Papelbon went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his sixth save.

Clay Buchholz needs to go deep tonight against Shawn Marcum since the Sox' bullpen is understandably dead.

To go nowhere it's all about run prevention

It hasn't taken long to figure out why nobody was excited about the 2010 Red Sox season: by not adding a bit bat in the middle of the lineup (to replace Jason Bay), it was clear that this flawed team from last season would only take a step back.

The Sox brass talked all about run prevention which has already backfired as they make errors left and right and on top of that, they can't score any runs making defense rather pointless.

It's hard to remember a much more depressing result in April but yesterday has to be the front-runner as Tampa Bay won two games in one night at Fenway Park.

First, they wrapped up the suspended game from the night before with a 3-1 win in 12 innings. Pat Burrell hit a two-run homer off Manny Delcarmen in the 12th.

That was bad enough but it came after the laughable sequence of not being able to score one run (to win it in the 11th) with the bases loaded and nobody out. David Ortiz hit a groundball that forced J.D. Drew at the plate before Adrian Beltre grounded into a double play.

Tampa Bay (8-3) won their fifth straight (5-0 on the road) and sent Boston (4-7) to its third straight loss with a 6-5 victory late last night.

With the rain, miserable temperatures and delay from the first game, it was a rare scene at Fenway: empty seats everywhere. The only enjoyment in last night's game was listening to a couple hardy drunks yelling at the Red Sox. Yup, it's come to that already.

The Rays scored four runs in the first off Clay Buchholz. The first was solely Mike Cameron's fault as he dropped a routine fly ball by Carlos Pena. From there, Buchholz was rattled and gave up a three-run double to Burrell.

Marco Scutaro got the Red Sox on the board with a solo homer-his first with Boston-in the fifth inning. After a John Jaso RBI double and Evan Longoria's solo shot, Tampa Bay was up 6-1. James Shields (1-0) was cruising but ran into trouble in the seventh.

Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, the only Boston hitters you can count on at the moment, made it interesting with a pair of two-run homers over the Monster.

Ramon Ramirez finally did something positive, throwing two scoreless innings but Dan Wheeler (eighth) and Rafael Soriano (fourth save, second of the night) didn't allow the tying run from Boston.

Tampa Bay goes for the sweep this afternoon as Matt Garza takes on Jon Lester.

Welcome back baseball

Like always, the baseball offseason flew by and before we knew it, Opening Day (or Night) was here.

Last night, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees opened the 2010 MLB season with a thrilling 9-7 comeback win by the Sox at Fenway Park.

Since the Sox only made one great move, signing Jon Lackey, and didn't resign Jason Bay, I came into this season with too many questions surrounding their shaky lineup.

For one night at least, the new trio of shortstop Marco Scutaro (2 hits, run, RBI, walk), center fielder Mike Cameron (2 hits, run, walk) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (1 hit, 2 RBIs) proved that they know how to do more than just play defense. However, if I hear the words run prevention one more time, I might puke up a couple Fenway franks.

With Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia on the mound, a pitcher's duel appeared likely but in reality, how many times does that happen with these two teams?

Beckett signed a four-year extension today but he didn't look anything like a guy that deserved that last night as he lasted only 4.2 innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits with three walks and a strikeout. He had no feel for his off-speed pitches, so the World Series champs just sat on his fastball and teed off.

Sabathia looked much better, cruising into the fifth inning with a 5-1 lead and sixth up 5-2 but he couldn't hold it. He went 5.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Neither ace earned a decision.

In the second inning, Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson opened the scoring with back-to-back homers in the second off Beckett. Posada's was a rocket off Pesky's Pole in right and Granderson crushed one to deep right center.

In the bottom of the second, after a double by Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), who moved to third on a groundout by David Ortiz (get used to that), Beltre drove in Youk with a deep sacrifice fly to center (that Granderson made a nice leaping catch on). It was 2-1 Yankees (0-1).

New York scored three more in the fourth as Brett Gardner (2 hits) knocked in Robinson Cano with an RBI single. Derek Jeter singled in Nick Swisher then the Bombers successfully pulled off a double steal with Gardner stealing home and Jeter stealing second, 5-1 Yanks.

Scutaro's RBI single in the fifth cut it to 5-2 Yankees and Youk's two-run triple in the sixth (helped out by Swisher's terrible route to the ball) made it a one-run game (5-4 New York). Beltre tied it with an RBI single later in the inning that scored Youk.

After Beckett departed, Scott Schoeneweis pitched a scoreless inning but Ramon Ramirez gave up two runs to the Yankees in the seventh. Mark Teixeira scored on a Robinson Cano groundout and Posada's RBI single made it 7-5.

Surprisingly, the Red Sox (1-0) offense kept rallying and Dustin Pedroia tied it with a two-run bomb over the Monster in the seventh off Chan Ho Park. Youk scored later in the seventh on a passed ball and Boston added an insurance run in the eighth with a Pedroia single scoring Cameron.

Boston's top three relievers all did their jobs as Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless seventh (with a hit and a walk), Daniel Bard, the closer in waiting, pitched a scoreless eighth (with a walk) and Jonathan Papelbon looked nothing like the closer that imploded against the Angels in game 3 of the playoffs last October, getting three outs for his first save of the 2010 season.

With the usual pomp and circumstance of Opening Day (for the first time ever starting at night) and then multiplied times ten since it was the Yankees and a nationally-televised ESPN Sunday Night game, it was nice to see the Sox remember there was baseball to be played.

The teams have today off before getting back at it tomorrow night with A.J. Burnett vs. Jon Lester. The summer temperatures will stick around for a few more days but hopefully the D-list celebs and frauds will be less of a presence tomorrow night at Fenway.

What is going on with Josh Beckett?

As sweet as the win Tuesday night was, last night left a bitter taste in Red Sox fans' mouths since Josh Beckett continued to scuffle (at the most important time of the season).

Tampa Bay won 8-5 last night at the Trop, evening the score in this vital series that the Rays (72-60) have to win.

Beckett was down 5-1 after three innings but he struck around long enough to go six respectable innings. He gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with nine strikeouts.

Rays starter Matt Garza has had a forgettable season but he always seems to pick it up a notch vs. the Red Sox. He lasted 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

One of the trademarks of Beckett not pitching well is the abundance of homers he gives up.

Carl Crawford hit a solo shot in the first. Jason Bay tied it with an RBI triple in the second. The Rays scored three times in the third: Pat Burrell (2 hits, 2 RBIs) hit a solo homer, Akinori Iwamura had an RBI single and Gregg Zaun (3 hits) scored on B.J. Upton's sacrifice.

Zaun's RBI double in the third made it 5-1 but the Red Sox slowly started to comeback. Two in the fourth on a David Ortiz groundout and a J.D. Drew RBI single cut it to 5-3.

Victor Martinez hit an RBI single in the seventh and pinch runner Joey Gathright (former Rays great) tied it in the eighth after J.P. Howell threw a wild pitch.

Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen blew it in the eighth as Burrell touched up Ramirez with a run scoring single and Evan Longoria blasted a two-run bomb on the first pitch from Delcarmen.

The rubber match tonight is between both team's promising young pitchers: Clay Buchholz vs. David Price. It's a meaningful one since a Boston win is up 2.5 games on the Rangers in the wild card and 5 on the Rays.