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.

Ask and You Shall Receive

In yesterday's post, I shamelessly hoped for a Beckett gem and lo and behold, he came thorough last night.

After three straight losses, Beckett (10-8) picked up his first win in nearly a month as the Sox dumped the Royals, 8-2 at Kauffman Stadium.

The right-hander from Texas went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Hitless in the series opener, Jason Bay came back with a vengeance last night, going 4-for-5, including two doubles, two runs and two RBIs. Hitting once again out of the ninth spot, Jacoby Ellsbury was 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and two steals.

In the first, David Ortiz's RBI single knocked in Dustin Pedroia, giving the Red Sox (65-49) a 1-0 lead.

Kansas City (53-61) tied it up in the home half of the first when Mark Teahan's double plated Mike Aviles.

Boston scored seven straight runs to put the game out of reach. Bay's double in the fourth scored Mike Lowell. Ellsbury came home on Pedroia's RBI single in the fifth. Ellsbury knocked in Bay with a single in the sixth and Jason Varitek scored on Pedroia's infield single later in the inning.

The Sox scored three more runs in the seventh. Bay's second double knocked in Youkilis and Jed Lowrie tripled, scoring Lowell and Bay.

Mitch Maier knocked in Alex Gordon with an RBI single in the seventh that signalled the end of Beckett's night.

Mike Timlin got four outs and rookie Chris Smith (who'll probably be sent down when David Aardsma is recalled) had a scoreless ninth.

Tim Wakefield goes against Luke Hochevar tonight in Kansas City as the Sox try and take the series before heading to the hood in Chicago.

We Could Have Used Manny Last Night

Baseball is such a grind that there's no point in getting wrapped up in individual games (unless it's October). Things change daily and it takes weeks, sometimes even months to get a real read on your team.

I said last week that the Manny Ramirez trade was a good thing. It was lopsided (not in the Sox' favor) but it had come to that point. Still, you couldn't help but wonder last night while the Sox left 21 guys on base, what Manny would have done in any of those spots?

We'll never know. The Kansas City Royals tried to give it away in the ninth but held on to beat Boston, 4-3 last night at Kaufman Stadium.

David Ortiz is already starting to gripe about the lack of good pitches he's seeing (without Manny hitting behind him). The Sox (64-49) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Gil Meche and the Royals (53-60) in the first but after that they continually shot themselves in the foot.

With Mike Lowell out with a hip injury and Jacoby Ellsbury still lost at the plate, J.D. Drew led off. Drew walked to start the game then moved to third on Dustin Pedroia's (3 hits, run, walk) double. Ortiz's ground out scored Drew and Kevin Youkilis's double knocked in Pedroia.

Meche looked to be on the ropes early, not fooling any of the Sox hitters but he settled down after that. Meche (10-9) went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with five walks and nine strikeouts.

Staked to a 2-0 lead right out of the gate, Clay Buchholz (2-7) couldn't make it last past the second inning. Alex Gordon (2 walks) hit a solo homer in the second and the Royals scored three times in the third.

Mark Teahan had an RBI single, Billy Butler added a sacrifice fly and Buchholz hit John Buck with the bases loaded.

I never thought I'd say this in 2008 but Bartolo Colon can't come back soon enough to the Sox rotation. Buchholz is talented, no question, but it just doesn't seem like he'll put it together this season. Maybe next year or the season after that, he'll be like Jon Lester this season (ie. he'll completely improve). Who knows?

Buchholz gave up four runs in six innings, allowing seven hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

Boston made some noise in the ninth as they loaded the bases with two outs against Royals closer Joakim Soria. With runners at first and third, the Royals elected to walk Youk (something that wouldn't have happened say last week). Jason Bay hit a weak grounder to third but third baseman Gordon and shortstop Tony Pena Jr. collided while Coco Crisp scored.

Sean Casey had a rare start and he was up next. He hit a decent shot to right but Teahhan snared it for the final out. Soria had to throw 31 pitches, giving up three hits, one walk and a strikeout but in the end he recorded his 32nd save.

Josh Beckett faces Brian Bannister tonight and nothing would be better than a vintage Beckett start.

Props to Billy Beane for throwing away another season

It turns out that the 2008 Oakland Athletics as currently constructed are the cure for what ails you.

After a week of doom and gloom, with the Sox playing terribly against the Yankees and Angels before shipping away Manny Ramirez, everything is bright and sunny once again on Yawkey Way.

Boston won 5-2 yesterday at Fenway, sweeping the three games against the A's, who have traded Joe Blanton and Rich Harden earlier this season, all but surrendering the rest of the year.

Dice-K improved to 12-2 with a typical start. Six innings, two runs allowed on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He would have been gone anyway after 105 pitches but a short rain delay made that a moot point.

The Red Sox (64-48) offense was paced by Kevin Youkilis (2 hits, RBI), Jason Bay (2 hits, 2 runs), Jed Lowrie (run, 2-run triple, walk) and Coco Crisp (2 RBI sacrifice flys).

Dustin Pedroia led off the bottom of the first with a double. Youk followed with an RBI single and moved up to second on the throw.

Boston put three up in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Lowrie drove in Mike Lowell and Bay with a two-run triple to the triangle in center. Coco knocked in Lowrie with his first sacrifice fly.

The A's (53-57) made it slightly interesting in the fifth as Daric Barton hit a two-run homer to right off Matsuzaka.

Coco's second sac. fly in the sixth scored Bay with the last run of the game. It was a great first weekend for Bay at Fenway, he also threw out Mark Ellis at second, trying to stretch a single into a double.

Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless seventh, Manny Delcarmen worked a clean eighth and Jonathan Papelbon recorded a 1-2-3 ninth for his 31st save.

Boston heads out on the road for a seven game trip: three at Kansas City then four at the White Sox. Hopefully the Sox can continue their solid play against the Royals, another team that has little but pride to play for as we had into the dog days of Summer.

Jason Bay cures Cancer and AIDS before banging Jessica Biel

You can't ask for much more in a debut. The Red Sox (62-48) outlasted the A's (53-55) last night 2-1 in 12 innings and everyone's new favorite player Jason Bay figured prominently in the win.

Missing a home run by a few feet on the Monster, Bay had a triple in the 12th off A's reliever Alan Embree. J.D. Drew (2 hits, 3 walks) was walked intentionally then rookie Jed Lowrie (2 hits, 2 RBIs) came through with the first walk-off hit of his career.

It was an infield hit up the middle that went over Embree and Lowrie beat shortstop Bobby Crosby's throw to first. Bay scored the winning run in his first game in Boston and also had a few nice plays in left field.

Tim Wakefield and Justin Duchscherer dueled for the first six innings. Both ended up with no-decisions but they each deserved better. Duchscherer went six innings, allowing a run on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Wakefield lasted 6.1 innings, giving up four hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

After walking in his first career at bat for the Sox, Bay eventually came around to score the first run of the game on Lowrie's sacrifice fly in the second.

Jack Cust hit a opposite field bomb off Hideki Okajima in the eighth and then the Sox squandered a few great chances to end it before the 12th.

Mike Lowell left in the 12th with a right hip strain. Kevin Youkilis had three hits. Jonathan Papelbon pitched two scoreless innings and Mike Timlin (4-3) worked the 12th for the win.

Thanks for the Memories Manny, Welcome Jason Bay

With the 4pm trade deadline rapidly approaching yesterday, after watching coverage on NESN during lunch with nothing happening (sorry, Ken Griffey Jr. is no longer big news), I took a shower figuring that the Red Sox were going to keep Manny Ramirez for the rest of the season.

When I got out, my phone started to beep with text messages, the unlikely had happened: the Sox worked a three-way trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Manny was going to the Dodgers while Pirates outfielder Jason Bay comes to Boston.

Even after preparing for a moment like this for the last few weeks, the actual event is still surprising. Like in 2004 when Nomar Garciaparra was traded, the Red Sox rolled the dice and made a controversial splash.

Without question, Boston gave up a lot to get rid of their Manny-induced headache. They're paying him for the rest of the year and also traded Brandon Moss (who could be the next David Murphy but didn't have a place in the Sox outfield) and Craig Hansen (who is a bust) to the Pirates. Bay is the only player the Sox get in return.

A Yankees killer, one of the most clutch players and all-around best hitters I'll ever see in my lifetime (especially on my favorite team), Manny has created endless positive memories for Red Sox fans the past eight seasons. This was necessary though; both sides needed a fresh start.

It was too much of a risk to hope that Manny would be motivated for the rest of the season (even though he was theoretically playing for a contract).

Playing in obscurity, Bay at 29-years-old is still an unknown commodity. He's a two-time all-star for the Pirates and rookie of the year. He'll play left field and bat somewhere from 3-6. Will he handle the pressure of Boston? That and many other similar questions are impossible to answer at this point. Let's give the guy some time to get his feet wet before we start making the final decision.

Manny's presence on the Dodgers makes them instant contenders, especially in the weak NL West. He's reunited with Nomar and Derek Lowe, the 2003 Red Sox reloaded. It'll be strange to see him in a different uniform, hitting ropes but such is life. Time to move on and move forward.