Call me a jerk but I honestly hope Dice-K and Lackey never return

When did the 2011 Boston Red Sox become such a wagon?

Holy shit, they've won 12 out of their last 14 games after a tidy 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers last night at Comerica Park.

As I said yesterday about Alfredo Aceves, spot starter Tim Wakefield (2-1) is doing an excellent job and at this point, I hope John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka never return. It's much more satisfying to watch two guys with low expectations succeed as opposed to overpaid bums that were never good fits here anyways.

The Red Sox (29-22) are also alone in the American League East after the Yankees lost last night in Seattle. The Tigers (25-25) haven't shown much of a pulse yet against Boston this season, falling to 0-4.

Wakefield went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Detroit's Rick Porcello (4-3) only lasted three innings as he allowed six earned runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 hits, stolen base) gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first as he scored on wild pitch by Porcello.

Miguel Cabrera tied it up in the first with an RBI single which scored Austin Jackson. The Tigers took their only lead of the game in the second when Jhonny Peralta hit a bomb (solo) off Wakefield.

Any thoughts of a win for the miserable people in Detroit was quickly extinguished as the Red Sox hung five runs on Porcello in the third. Ellsbury hit a solo homer (his sixth), Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run double and Carl Crawford hit a two-run homer (his fourth of the season).

Daniel Bard threw a scoreless 1-2-3 eighth on six pitches but Peralta hit an RBI double off Jonathan Papelbon (non-save situation) in the ninth but who cares?

Clay Buchholz takes the mound tonight for Boston against Detroit rookie lefthander Andy Oliver (who was called up when Phil Coke rolled his ankle the other night). Good luck to you guy, Red Sox are mashing right now.

Alfredo Aceves is better than John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka, true story my friends

Baseball is a funny game. When you're a big market team like the Boston Red Sox you can afford terrible hiccups in free agency like John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka and then you luck out with a scrap heap pickup like Alfredo Aceves.

I'm not exactly sure about his medical history, I assume the New York Yankees let him go because he had an arm issue or something but whatever the reason, I'm psyched that he's crossed over to their bitter rivals.

Yesterday afternoon, he submitted his second good start in a row after being added to the rotation (for the injured Lackey and Dice-K). The Red Sox (28-22) won their 11th game out of their last 13 and it was another laugher, 14-1 in the series opener at Detroit's (25-24) Comerica Park.

Aceves (2-0) went six innings, allowing five hits, one earned run with two walks and six strikeouts in a game that was called off after 7.5 innings because of rain.

Max Scherzer (6-2) entered as one of the AL's top pitchers so far this season but he left with a bruised ego as the Red Sox put up 14+ runs in the second straight game for the first time since 1998. Scherzer lasted only two innings, allowing seven hits, seven earned runs with two walks and a strikeout.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, 2 walks) had the most memorable hit, a three-run homer (his fifth bomb of the season). Moved up to the No. 6 spot, Carl Crawford continued to erase his terrible start. He went 4 for 5 with two triples, three RBIs and two runs.

Recent callups Josh Reddick (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and Drew Sutton (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) also had big days that no doubt they'll be telling their grandkids or bums at the homeless shelter about in a few years.

Tim Wakefield (Boston's other substitute in the rotation) starts tonight against Tigers youngster Rick Porcello.

Can I please trademark "It's never easy with the Boston Bruins"?

Before the Eastern Conference finals started between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks back, I felt that either way the series was going the distance (seven games).

Still I take no joy in knowing that I was right since the B's should have ended this series already. Tampa Bay won 5-4 at the St. Pete Times Forum last night to tie it up at 3 and send the teams back to the TD Garden tomorrow night for Game 7 and a shot in the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks (starting next Wednesday).

Last night's outcome couldn't be more simply defined: Tampa Bay's power play was 3 of 4 while Boston was 1 of 5. The gamesmanship from Lightning head coach Guy Boucher before Game 6 is irrelevant since the B's had more opportunities and also earned the first three power plays of the game so end of discussion.

I would love to dump on the Bruins for losing since it might make me feel temporarily better but they don't deserve it. They actually showed a ton of heart (rare for them) as they battled back from a 5-3 deficit in the third period and essentially ran out of time as Tampa Bay switched roles with Boston and hung on for dear life.

The loss wasted a hat trick by David Krejci along with a big boy game by his linemates Milan Lucic (1 goal, 1 assist) and Nathan Horton (2 assists). Unfortunately, the Lightning received similar primetime performances from Martin St. Louis (2 goals, 1 assist), Steven Stamkos (1 goal, 2 assists) and Vincent Lecavalier (2 assists).

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (21 saves) continued his trick or treat series with another rough outing. Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson (16 saves) didn't do much and looked extremely shaky as well but hey, he came out on top.

Besides the power play struggles for Boston, which everyone in New England could point out (including my dog and cat at this point), the much more unreported nightmare has been the Bruins' propensity to give up both early and late goals in periods. Two times last night, Tampa Bay scored with 36 seconds or less into a frame. That's simply unacceptable at any time, especially now with so much at stake.

Teddy Purcell made it 1-0 Tampa Bay 36 seconds into Game 6, scoring his fifth of the playoffs assisted by Lecavalier. Before Bruins fans could freak out too much, Lucic had scored his third of the playoffs (at 7:09 from Horton and Johnny Boychuk) and Krejci potted his eighth of the playoffs (at 16:30 off a nice feed from Daniel Paille of all people).

All the effort and hard work in the first was quickly wiped out in the second as the Lightning got a pair of power play goals. St. Louis tied it up at 7:55 (from Lecavalier and Stamkos) and Purcell scored his second at 13:35 (from Steve Downie and Brett Clark).

Boston always seems to play better from behind so a one-goal deficit wasn't the end of the world, particularly since they were on the road (where they're more mentally tough for some unknown reason).

Stamkos scored (his sixth of the postseason, from Eric Brewer and St. Louis) another power play goal, 34 seconds into the third and that seemed like game over.

Krejci wouldn't let the B's go down so quietly as he cut it to 4-3 at 9:46 on the power play (!). Horton and Tomas Kaberle had the assists.

Before you could even get too excited though, Boston made sure to punch you in the gut one more time as St. Louis scored the game-winner 29 seconds later. Downie and Stamkos assisted on a play that was a complete fail by so many Bruins. Boychuk pinched in offensive zone and got caught up ice, Thomas over committed and came out too far and Ference didn't cut off the cross ice feed. Yuck.

Boucher was still in a gift giving mood and he let Krejci get his hat trick (Boston's first in the playoffs since Cam Neely in 1991) at 13:28 from Lucic and Kaberle. However, the Bruins couldn't find the tying goal and are forced to play one more deciding game.

I don't care if you have tickets to Game 7, no sane Bruins fan (an oxymoron) wanted it to happen. Boston survived Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round but in the last three seasons they've departed the playoffs with brutal Game 7 losses. The last two were particularly unforgivable since they were on home ice.

Tomorrow night will answer many questions regarding head coach Claude Julien's legacy along with the leaders of the team: Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron to name a few. If the Bruins lose, it's time to shake things up since this group will have maxed out and they won't go any further with a coach as stubborn and simple-minded as Julien.

Red Sox take a dump on the Cleveland Indians, leave town with a series win

I was all set to watch the series finale yesterday afternoon between the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. However, when I flipped the game on the radio (while I was on the computer), I listened in amazement as they hung seven on Indians (30-16) starter Mitch Talbot in the first inning, en route to a 14-2 ass kicking.

Thanks to the blowout, I felt comfortable going to the gym and catching bits and pieces of the game when I could. The Red Sox (27-22) won the series and their 10th game out of their last 12 thanks to a season-high 20 hit attack including four homers and six doubles.

Jon Lester (7-1) was the lucky recipient of the ridiculous output from his offense. Lester threw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. After a couple subpar outings in a row, it was nice to see him be lights out once again.

Talbot (1-1) deserves some sympathy since he was making his first start off the DL, against a red-hot team, but thems the breaks sometimes. In three innings, he allowed 12 hits, eight earned runs with two walks and a strikeout.

Carl Crawford led the Red Sox, going 4 for 4 in his best game so far in an underwhelming season in Boston. He had a homer, two doubles, three runs and two RBIs. Jacoby Ellsbury (2 walks) and Drew Sutton (2 runs) had three hits while Dustin Pedroia (3 RBIs), Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3 RBIs) and Mike Cameron all had two hits.

Pedroia, Ortiz and Saltalamacchia had the other homers in this joke of a game.

Boston travels to Detroit for a four-game series beginning with an afternoon game today. Alfredo Aceves takes on Max Scherzer.

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.

Black and Gold are getting it done

At times in the last few years as I got into the team more and more, I honestly never thought the Boston Bruins would reach this point in my entire life.

They are on the cusp of the Stanley Cup finals (for the first time in 21 years) after last night's 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

As everyone knows, closing out a team is the toughest part (especially for this franchise) but don't you have the feeling that this year is different?

The B's are up 3-2 in the series thanks to another outstanding performance from goaltender Tim Thomas (33 saves). He made the save of the season (which really shouldn't surprise you if you've watched him for years) on Lightning scumbag Steve Downie which left Downie pouting alone on the bench after the game had long ended. Strange cat.

Tampa Bay gave Mike Smith (17 saves) his first career playoff start and he wasn't good or bad. The two goals that he gave up were impossible to stop by anyone while Boston added an empty-netter to close it out.

The crazy part about the win was that the Lightning came out flying in the first period while the Bruins seemed to be stuck in the locker room, on the tarmac at Logan Airport or at some other undisclosed location.

Simon Gagne gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead 1:09 into regulation after a 2-on-1 break from Steven Stamkos. Andrew Ference got caught up ice and Gagne was able to pot his fifth of the playoffs. If I had been in Boston at the time, I might have jumped off the Tobin Bridge but thankfully the Bruins always always play better from behind as everybody knows at this point.

Thomas held the fort for the rest of the period and his teammates finally woke up from their zombie-like slumber near the end of the frame as they got engaged physically and put four (4!) shots on Smith.

Nathan Horton was one of the only Bruins that was emotionally into it from the start (and that caused two stupid penalties on him) but he tied it up at 4:24 of the second period on a sublime one-timer. Horton's seventh of the playoffs (called by Ryan before the game started) featured a great backhand assist from Milan Lucic and Krejci had the second helper.

Brad Marchand (or as my girlfriend mistakenly called him-The Marshmallow Man) scored the game-winner at 15:56 after an even sweeter feed from Patrice Bergeron. Stationed along the boards, Bergeron whipped a forehand pass to Marchand, who skated past Martin St. Louis and tipped it past Smith (for his sixth of the playoffs). Zdeno Chara had the second assist as he started the play by holding the puck in Tampa Bay's zone.

Thomas made a huge save (helped out by the post) on Adam Hall early in the third period and then came the bananas stop on Downie which barely left the roof on the Garden.

Rich Peverley (second of the playoffs) put it away with an empty-netter at 19:47 of the third period, assisted by Chris Kelly.

So here we are. One more win and the Bruins will get to a place that nobody and I mean nobody predicted they would find themselves this postseason or maybe ever again. Game 6 is tomorrow night in Tampa Bay and Lightning part-time serial killer and head coach Guy Boucher has already announced that Dwayne Roloson is the starter again in between the pipes. It could be some gamesmanship from the Butcher, we shall see. If it's true, advantage Bruins.

Nothing is ever easy for this team or this franchise but for God's sakes, get it over tomorrow night. I don't want to see them in another Game 7 with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals on the line.

Cleveland rocks (or so I've been told)

Sooner or later in 2011, the Cleveland Indians will come back to Earth. Right? Maybe not for MLB's surprise top team.

For the fourth time this season in four games at Cleveland's Progressive Field, the Indians (30-15) beat the Red Sox (25-22). Last night, the Tribe rallied for a 3-2 win as Daniel Bard (1-4) once again failed to get the job done.

Bard deserves blame since he you know, threw the pitches. However, Red Sox manager Terry Francona should get some heat too since he had Bard face Asdrubal Cabrera (who was 5 for 5 on Sunday and had hit a solo homer earlier last night) with first base open and a struggling Shin-Soo Choo up next.

Cabrera hit an RBI double off Bard which scored Michael Brantley (who had tied it with an RBI single) with the winning run in the eighth.

Indians closer Chris Perez worked around two hits in the ninth to get his 13th save of the season. Carl Crawford ended the game by grounding into a double play.

Clay Buchholz started for Boston and yet again, he shut down the opposition enough to earn a win. He went 7.1 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs and two walks with four strikeouts. He was pulled after 94 pitches since he threw an obscene 127 in his last start.

Former Red Sox pitcher Justin Masteron (who went to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade on July 31, 2009) continued to baffle his old team. He also got a no decision but he pitched well. He went 7.2 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts.

Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single that scored Crawford.

Cabrera tied it up with his 10th homer of the season in the fourth inning.

Crawford answered with just his second homer of the season-solo of course-in the fifth.

Tonight figures to be another pitcher's duel as Josh Beckett opposes Fausto Carmona.