Might as well end the season now

A good test of someone's sanity and how much of a prisoner of the moment they are is to gauge their viewpoint after a baseball team has been swept in April.

If you freak out and start talking like the season is over, like the Boston Globe's over-the-hill Dan Saughnessy, you have completely lost touch with reality and it's best for everyone if you retire this second.

The Boston Red Sox started their 2011 season in about the worst possible fashion: getting swept in Texas by the Rangers.

Last season's AL champs, the Rangers (3-0) wrapped up the laughable beating with a 5-1 win yesterday afternoon at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Red Sox (0-3) starter Clay Buchholz (6.1 innings, 5 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) was no match for a Texas lineup that churned out 11 home runs in the three lopsided victories.

Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz became the first teammates to start a season with homers in three consecutive games.

The reason I'm not panicking one iota is that the baseball season is so ridiculously long. Sorry Dan, a three-game sample in April tells us nothing about how this team will play in the summer or fall. You also have to give Texas credit, this wasn't the Kansas City Royals that were looking like world-beaters.

Rangers starter Matt Harrison pitched what I would venture to guess was probably his best game in the majors: 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks and eight strikeouts.

Carl Crawford was about the only bright spot for Boston. He was temporarily dropped from third to seventh in the lineup (ahhhh!) but responded with the first two hits of his Red Sox career, including an RBI single in the seventh.

Texas got solo homers in the second, third, fifth and seventh inning from David Murphy, Kinsler, Mike Napoli and Cruz respectively.

Michael Young added an RBI double in the eighth off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. Pap hadn't gotten a chance to pitch all weekend so he was thrown into a 4-1 deficit and promptly gave up two hits and a walk before striking out the side with the bases loaded. Makes sense. Get used to a lot of white-knuckle work by Papelbon, who no longer has great stuff.

Boston mercifully gets today off before beginning a three-game series in Cleveland tomorrow. Josh Beckett takes the mound tomorrow night and will try to get the Red Sox in the win column for 2011. If the terrible Indians roll over the Red Sox, then we'll really have something to talk about.

John Lackey is hopeless

Oh John Lackey, you make it too easy.

While the rest of the United States was captivated by the NCAA basketball men's Final Four (count me among them), the Boston Red Sox were getting smoked by the Texas Rangers last night.

Every Ranger had a hit (15 total) as Texas (2-0) rolled to a 12-5 win over Boston (0-2) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

As I predicted, this one wasn't a pitcher's duel. Well at least Colby Lewis showed up (6 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts). Lackey (3.2 innings, 10 hits, 9 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) couldn't make it out of the fourth inning. Yikes.

It's only a matter of time before Lackey is moved to third or even fourth in the rotation, assuming that Josh Beckett is a shell of his former self. Nobody not named Lackey can honestly believe he's a No. 2 starter on an AL East team and a World Series contender.

Ian Kinsler had a leadoff homer for the second straight game but David Ortiz answered with a two-run bomb, his second of the season, in the second inning for a 2-1 Boston lead.

That's when the wheels started to fall off for Lackey and the Red Sox. Elvis Andrus (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) had an RBI triple in the third and Josh Hamilton (2 hits, stolen base) added an RBI single.

Ortiz tied it at 3 with an RBI groundout in the fourth but Texas exploded with six runs in the fourth. Julio Borbon (2 hits) had an RBI triple and Andrus had an RBI double. Former Red Sox Adrian Beltre took any intrigue out of this one with a grand slam off Lackey.

All that was left was to pad the stats for the Rangers as Yorvit Torrealba took Dan Wheeler deep (two-run homer in the fifth) and Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer off Tim Wakefield in the sixth.

The only other highlight for Boston was Jacoby Ellsbury's two-run homer in the seventh.

The Red Sox will try to avoid the sweep and an unsightly 0-3 start this afternoon as Clay Buchholz faces Matt Harrison. That matchup clearly favors Boston so Buchholz needs to settle down his team and quiet the Rangers' potent lineup.

Red Sox bullpen blows Opening Day and it wasn't even Papelbon's fault

Opening Day is one of baseball's special moments. The season begins anew and even the hopeless franchises have something to celebrate for a day.

Seeing your newest players in action is always a highlight and yesterday, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford couldn't have scripted much different debuts for the Boston Red Sox.

Gonzalez had two hits and three RBIs while Crawford was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as the Sox lost 9-5 to the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Neither starting pitcher did much as Jon Lester (5.1 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 3 home runs) and C.J. Wilson (5.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts) looked better suited for some extended Spring Training.

The most surprising aspect was that Boston's bullpen imploded and yet Jonathan Papelbon didn't even get a shot to screw it up.

David Ortiz tied it up at five with a solo shot off Darren Oliver in the eighth inning but Texas scored four times in the home half of the inning.

Josh Bard was charged with four earned runs as David Murphy started it off with a two-run double down the left field line that hit the chalk. Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton followed with RBI doubles of their own and it was game over.

Boston was not going to score one run let alone four off All-Star closer Neftali Feliz.

The Red Sox got off to a nice start with two unearned runs in their first at bats of the season. Rangers center fielder Julio Borbon dropped a routine fly ball and Kevin Youkilis took advantage by knocking in Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 runs, walk, steal) with an RBI double. Gonzalez kept the line moving with an RBI single in his first plate appearance for the Red Sox.

The defending AL champions got to work immediately and Ian Kinsler hit a lead-off homer against Lester in the bottom of the first, cutting it to 2-1.

Nelson Cruz (2 hits, 2 runs) tied it in the second with another solo homer.

Gonzalez came through once again with a timely hit, a two-run single in the fourth gave Boston a 4-2 lead.

Mike Napoli (2 hits, 2 runs) wrestled the lead back for the Rangers with a three-run bomb in the fourth inning (5-4 Rangers). Lester only allowed 14 home runs last season but he gave up three yesterday.

Boston's 1-6 in the lineup is lethal but it's clear that 7-9 is likely to be a black hole. Yesterday against the lefty Wilson, Mike Cameron, Jarrod Saltlamacchia and Marco Scutaro combined to go 0-for-11 with three strikeouts.

John Lackey goes for the Red Sox tonight and he'll be opposed by Colby Lewis. Needless to say, expect a high-scoring game.

The Texas Rangers are a legitimate World Series contender, fact

When you watch the AL East (baseball's best division) day in and day out, it's easy to overlook other AL divisions and especially the National League.

However, seeing quality teams like the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox allows you to know talent when you see it and this season, the Texas Rangers appear to have the right combination of pitching, great lineup and a closer to go deep into October.

The Rangers (67-49) took two out of three from the Sox (67-52) over the weekend, sealing it with yesterday afternoon's 7-3 win.

The temperature hovered around 100 degrees for each game and it was an easy metaphor to say that Boston's playoffs hopes continue to wilt as the summer quickly vanishes.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (8-4; 6.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts), who has quietly become Boston's third best starting pitcher, deserved a better fate on this scorcher of a day.

Dice-K left down 2-0 (sacrifice fly in the second and bunt single in the seventh) with two outs in the seventh but Manny Delcarmen allowed a three-run homer to Michael Young (2 hits) on his first pitch of his outing.

Down 5-0, the Red Sox decided to make it somewhat interesting. Marco Scutaro had an RBI double and Darnell McDonald hit a two-run homer which cut it to 5-3.

It wasn't enough though as Texas added two more in the eighth to close it out.

C.J. Wilson (11-5) beat Boston for the third time this season. He went 7.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

The big 10-game road trip fittingly ended 5-5 for the Red Sox. They're six games behind New York in the AL East and five games behind the Rays for the wild card. Neither of those teams are playing particularly well at the moment either but Boston has been unable to gain any ground.

Dustin Pedroia is returning to the lineup tomorrow (out since June 25) as the Sox kick off a nine-game homestand vs. a favorable trio of teams (Angels, Blue Jays, Mariners). Boston will not go anywhere unless they catch fire in the next week or so, time is running out.

Rangers take 3 of 4 at Fenway, send Sox on do or die West Coast swing

Even before they acquired ace Cliff Lee, I thought the Texas Rangers were finally a legitimate threat to take the sisters of the poor AL West and more importantly, make some noise in October.

They always have a formidable lineup and this year is no exception. Now with Lee, they boast one of the most underrated and deep pitching staffs in MLB.

It's no surprise that they took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend. What's surprising is the one game they lost was the one that Lee started on Saturday night. Granted, he went nine innings and the Sox tied it in the ninth before winning in 11 innings.

Yesterday it was former closer C.J. Wilson's turn to completely shutdown to Boston (52-40) as the Rangers (53-39) won 4-2.

Wilson (8-5) went 6.2 innings, striking out a career-high 10 as he gave up one earned run on three hits with five walks.

As of today, the Red Sox are 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL wild card and 6.5 games behind the Yankees. The good news is that Clay Buchholz is scheduled to start Wednesday in Oakland and Josh Beckett is set to return on Friday in Seattle. The bad news is that Boston's next 10 games are on the West Coast and 20 of their next 27 are away from the friendly confines of Fenway.

They are not going to catch New York period, end of discussion. I don't think they'll catch the Rays either but that's their only hope. The A's are average, the Mariners are terrible and the Angels are OK, so even though this trip will be a test of endurance, a .500 mark is certainly reasonable.

Sox ace Jon Lester (11-4) couldn't win yesterday despite eight solid innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Possible trading chip Michael Bowden made his first appearance of 2010 for Boston and it was a good one: a clean inning with two strikeouts. Time will tell if he's a solution in the bullpen but right now, he's a better option than Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Scott Atchison, Manny Delcarmen or Dustin Richardson.

Adrian Beltre gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double.

Texas scored two in the fourth on Nelson Cruz's (2 hits) double and an error by Beltre. The Rangers added a run in the fifth on a double steal by Elvis Andrus (3 hits) and Julio Borbon, the latter whom stole home. Finally, Ian Kinsler added an RBI single in the eighth when Andrus just beat the tag at home by Kevin Cash.

Mike Cameron hit a solo homer in the ninth off Rangers closer Nefalti Perez but he was able to work around that with two strikeouts for his 24th save of the season.

As if the 10:07 EST start time tonight in Oakland wasn't bad enough, Dice-K faces Ben Sheets. This could very likely set the record for longest game in MLB history after they faced each other earlier this season in a complete shitshow.

Darnell McDonald, your 2010 Red Sox MVP

For a lifeless team that was burying itself before the season had even really started, Darnell McDonald was a breath of fresh air.

The journeyman outfielder was called up from Pawtucket earlier in the day when Jacoby Ellsbury went on the DL (retroactive to April 12).

Nobody except his family, friends and people that work for the Pawsox had ever heard of him but he came to Fenway last night for his first game with Boston and delivered not only a pinch hit two-run homer in the eighth to tie it but also a walkoff RBI single as the Sox (5-9) finally snapped its five game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Rangers (5-8).

He is in the lineup tonight in center field but at 31-years old odds are last night will be his biggest MLB highlight. If so, oh well. Baseball is great at providing those memorable moments for scrubs (Morgan Burkhart, Creighton Gubanich, Rico Brogna, etc).

McDonald's heroics overshadowed what began as another very ugly night at Fenway. Texas tied a MLB record with nine stolen bases. The combination of Tim Wakefield on the mound and Victor Martinez, who has the defensive prowess of a little league catcher, led to the perfect storm on the bases.

The Rangers jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to timely hitting and the aforementioned stolen bases. Martinez (3 hits) finally came through with an RBI single in the first, breaking a teamwide 0-for-32 stretch with runners in scoring position.

Boston's other run was in the fourth on Jeremy Hermida's solo homer. Wakefield as always was a good soldier and he toiled away for six innings and 114 pitches to save the Sox' bullpen. All six runs were earned on seven hits with five walks and three strikeouts.

Another Pawtucket callup, Josh Reddick, fueled the comeback with a two-run double in the sixth which cut it to 6-4 Rangers.

Manny Delcarmen got five outs and Hideki Okajima wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth to preserve the two-run deficit.

After McDonald tied it in the eighth with his two-run shot, Jonathan Papelbon (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth before McDonald stepped up again.

Rangers star Nelson Cruz (3 steals, 2 hits, run, hit, walk) left in the bottom of the ninth with a hamstring injury.

Josh Beckett is on the bump tonight against Matt Harrison. Beckett has pitched well in his last two starts and the Sox need more of that to calm their MLB worst rotation down for a night.

Winning on the road is overrated

The Red Sox concluded their weekend series in Texas yesterday with a 4-3 loss.

Boston (66-51) has now lost three series in a row and four out of five but who's counting?

Pitching hasn't been the issue lately as the Sox' starters for the most part are having decent outings. The offense is the culprit is timely hitting seems to be a foreign concept. It seems like the only way Boston scores on the road is via solo homers.

Rookie Junichi Tazawa (1-2) made his third appearance, second start, and it wasn't as good as his first start against the Tigers last week.

In five innings, he allowed four earned runs on ten hits with three walks and no strikeouts.

With the win, the Rangers (66-50) flip-flopped with the Sox and now lead the AL wild card by half a game. The season series is over and Texas won seven of the nine games between the teams. It's also troubling that the Sox' biggest competition for the wild card, Tampa Bay and Texas, own Boston this season.

Dustin Nippert (4-1) pitched well for Texas, going six strong innings. In 95 degree heat, he allowed two earned runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

After the worst outing of his career on Friday night, Rangers closer Frank Francisco bounced back with a 1-2-3 ninth yesterday for his 17th save.

David Ortiz (2 runs, 2 walks) hit his second homer of the series, a solo homer in the second which gave the Sox a 1-0 lead.

Ian Kinsler responded with a solo shot of his own in the home half of the inning. Texas went up 3-1 in the third with a Josh Hamilton (everybody's favorite recovering addict) RBI double and Kinsler's RBI single.

Recently promoted Brian Anderson cut it to 3-2 Texas with a sacrifice fly in the fourth but Taylor Teagarden hit a bomb of Tazawa to open the sixth.

Dustin Pedroia hit a solo homer in the seventh (see the theme?) but that was as close as the Red Sox would get.

Victor Martinez (2 hits) was the only Boston player with more than one hit in the game.

An off day today is followed by three in Toronto beginning tomorrow. The Blue Jays are playing the role of spoiler as usual but the Sox will have their hands full as they have to face Roy Halladay and Ricky Romero.

I'm sure Adam LaRoche will turn everything around

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Sox forget how to score runs, win baseball games

Ok, what gives? Since returning from the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox have been terrible. They lost their fourth game in a row (first time that's happened in a year) last night, 4-2 to the host Texas Rangers.

For the most part, the pitching has been fine, it's the lack of timely hitting that's become an epidemic for the slumping Sox (55-38). To make matters worse, the Yankees are on fire and with their win last night, they took over first place in the AL East.

Hank Blalock gave Texas (51-41) a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run single off Josh Beckett.

Kevin Youkilis cut it to 2-1 with an RBI double in the sixth which scored Dustin Pedroia.

The Rangers couldn't do much against Beckett after the first inning but they kept chipping away and David Murphy had a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Josh Hamilton singled home Michael Young in the eighth.

Beckett (11-4) went all eight innings for Boston, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Rangers youngster Tommy Hunter (2-1) went 6.1 innings, allowing only one earned run on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

The Sox got one in the ninth off Rangers closer C.J. Wilson as Mike Lowell singled home Jason Bay (3 walks) but if you were watching the game, you knew there was zero chance they were coming back.

Wilson walked one and struck out one for his ninth save of the season.

Tim Wakefield went on the DL yesterday with a back strain, meaning Clay Buchholz is back up already and will pitch the series finale tonight. Let's hope the Texas native has better luck than Beckett did.

What about John Smoltz?

After losing 6-3 to the Texas Rangers last night at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the Boston Red Sox have to ask themselves, how much longer do they let the John Smoltz experiment play out?

He actually cruised through the first five innings last night and entered the bottom of the sixth with a 2-1 lead. As fast as you can say, deep in the heart of Texas, his outing was over as the Rangers (50-41) exploded for five runs in the inning, including three home runs.

Michael Young (3 hits, 2 runs; captain of the All-Underrated team) started it off with a solo bomb to left center. Hank Blalock (2 hits, 2 runs) singled home Josh Hamilton and then former Sox outfielder David Murphy (2 hits) golfed a fastball for a two-run homer. Finally, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who the Sox desperately wanted over the winter) hit the first pitch he saw out of the park.

Smoltz's (1-3) final line was 5.2 innings, six earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts. Terry Francona seemed to leave him in too long but then again his pitch count was still low and he had been great up until then.

With Clay Buchholz pitching great in Pawtucket (and good enough last Friday vs. Toronto), I have to think that Smoltz has a short leash. He's had a Hall of Fame career and from all reports, he's a nice veteran presence to have around but this isn't a Hollywood movie, it's a pennant race. The Red Sox can't afford to have Smoltz (and Brad Penny) being such liabilities as the season turns to August and September.

Boston (55-37) took a 1-0 lead in the first on David Ortiz's RBI double which scored Kevin Youkilis. Like Friday night in Toronto, Ortiz just missed a homer as his shot glanced off the top of the wall.

Jason Varitek made it 2-0 Sox in the fourth with an RBI double scoring J.D. Drew. Unfortunately, Mike Lowell was gunned down at the plate on the same play.

Kevin Millwood (9-7) prevailed in the battle of former Braves pitchers. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Youk knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single in the eighth but the Red Sox offense continued to sputter in the team's third straight loss. Ellsbury was moved back to the top of the lineup but Jason Bay, Varitek, Drew and Nick Green are all in big time slumps at the same time.

C.J. Wilson notched his eighth save for Texas as he got four outs including two strikeouts.

Texas native Josh Beckett looks to get his team back on track tonight.

Red Sox gearing up for another memorable October

They forgive you for not paying attention yesterday as Tom Brady's season likely ended, but the Boston Red Sox would like to let you know that they're playing their best baseball of the season with only 20 regular season games left.

Boston beat the Rangers, 7-2, yesterday afternoon in Texas to take two out of three in the Lonestar state. The Red Sox (84-58) are just 1.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and Boston leads Minnesota in the Wild Card by 6.5 games.

Alex Cora hit an RBI triple in the second and Coco Crisp (2 hits, 2 runs, RBI steal, walk) followed with a run-scoring single to give Boston the early 2-0 lead. Believe it or not, Crisp has been Boston's hottest hitter the last few weeks which is a sentence I didn't think I'd ever have to write.

David Ortiz hit a two-run bomb in the fifth, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia added RBI singles in the sixth and Jason Bay hit a solo shot in the seventh to give the Sox a 7-0 lead.

Paul Byrd (11-11) continued to impress, submitting his best game in a Sox uniform yesterday. He threw 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Rangers' (70-74) Taylor Teagarden hit a solo homer in the eighth and he also contributed an RBI single in the ninth.

Every series from here on out is huge for Boston's playoff chances. The Tampa Bay Rays come to Fenway tonight for (thus far) the three most important games of the season. In 12 games this year, Boston and Tampa Bay are both 6-6 with the home team winning every contest. The Rays have finally started to stumble lately so this would be the perfect time for the Red Sox to make a further move.

Jon Lester opposes Edwin Jackson tonight.

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.

It's Just Too Easy

The Red Sox swept the four-game series with the Texas Rangers yesterday afternoon, winning the early Patriot's Day game 8-3.

When Rangers (7-13) starting pitcher (and former Red Sox player) Kason Gabbard left in the third inning after catching his foot on the mound, you felt like the game was over even though it was 0-0.

Sure enough, Texas reliever Dustin Nippert came in and gave up eight runs on nine hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

Boston (14-7) pitcher Clay Buchholz got out of some early trouble and threw six scoreless innings, giving up five hits, two walks and striking out five to even his record at 1-1.

The Red Sox have now won nine out of their last 10 games and their offense thus far has carried them. Yesterday was no different as the patient Sox hitters worked 11 walks and had 12 hits. The lineup featured Kevin Cash, Jed Lowrie and Joe Thurston.

Fan favorite (in his mind) Julio Lugo went 4 for 4 with two runs, a stolen base and an RBI. Leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs, 1 RBI) continued to heat up while Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 3 RBIs) continues to rake.

David Ortiz had two doubles and three RBIs. One double was a complete gift as Milton Bradley lost the ball in the early afternoon sun by the Green Monster in left field.

The Red Sox put up five runs in the fourth and three in the fifth. Texas had two in the seventh and one in the ninth but it hardly mattered.

Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, David Murphy and Gerald Laird all had two hits in the loss.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come to Fenway tonight for a three-game set that should be much more competitive than this past weekend against Texas.

Deep in the Heart of Fenway

The Texas Rangers were up 5-0 after six yesterday afternoon at Fenway but wouldn't ya know, their god-awful bullpen couldn't hold the lead as the Red Sox eventually won 6-5.

Boston (13-7) got two in the seventh and four in the eighth before Jonathan Papelbon recorded his seventh save on seven pitches.

Kevin Millwood stifled the Sox for six innings before giving up two in the seventh. He gave up ten hits, two runs (both earned) with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield (2-0) surprisingly picked up the win after going eight innings, giving up seven hits, five runs (all earned) with five strikeouts. Wakefield gave up a solo shot to Ian Kinsler in the first and then a three-run homer to everybody's favorite head-case Milton Bradley in the sixth.

Kevin Youkilis had three hits (he leads the AL in batting average) while Jacoby Ellsbury (2 stolen bases), Jed Lowrie, David Ortiz and Sean Casey managed two hits apiece.

The biggest plays in the eighth were a pinch-hit RBI double by Dustin Pedroia and then a bases-loaded walk by Casey. Rangers closer C.J. Wilson (who had given up one hit coming in) couldn't record an out, giving up two hits, two runs and three walks.

Boston goes for the sweep today with the early Patriot's Day start time of 11:05 a.m.

Still the Top 3-4 Combination in Baseball

With the Bruins epic game last night and the first night of the NBA playoffs, I didn't catch much of the Red Sox game but I saw the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth which is all that matters.

Down 3-2 in the eighth, David Ortiz beat the shift and got an RBI single. Manny Ramirez followed with a two-run homer over the Monster and onto the parking garage across the street. Jonathan Papelbon got his sixth save as the Red Sox won 5-3 at Fenway.

Texas (7-11) went up 1-0 in the first as Josh Hamilton hit a solo home run. Boston (12-7) doubled in the home half of the inning that as a run scored even though Ortiz hit into a double play and Kevin Youkilis scored Manny with an RBI double.

The Rangers got another run in the second and third off Jon Lester. The lefty hung in there though, going 6.1 innings and giving up the three runs on ten hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Manny Delcarmen, Mike Timlin and Javier Lopez (who got the win), teamed up for five outs out of the bullpen. Joaquin Benoit was saddled with the loss after giving up the three runs in the eighth.

Tim Wakefield and Kevin Milwood take the hill this afternoon at Fenway.