Sliced & Diced: Orioles maul Matsuzaka, Sox

Baltimore 11, Sox 5
WP: Leicester (1-1)
LP: Matsuzaka (14-12)
HRs: BOS-Papi (28); BAL-Redman (1), Moore (1), Markakis (17)

SUMMARY
Slumping Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka got filleted like a blue tuna, allowing 8 earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings of work, the lowlight coming when recently acquired Scott Moore blasted a grand slam for his first hit with the Birds, and Baltimore snapped an 11-game home losing streak with an emphatic win over Boston.

#1 STUNNER Moore 2-4, R, 4BI
He was 0-13 on the season and 0-8 since coming to Baltimore from the Cubs in the August 31st trade of Steve Trachsel, but his first hit in that hideous uniform was certainly a memorable one.

PAN's FAUN Dice-K 2.2IP, 6H, 8ER, 3BB, 2K, 2HR
Not only was this his shortest start of the season, but in his last five starts the fact that Matsuzaka is 1-4 and has allowed 34 hits and 28 earned runs in 27 1/3 innings for a 9.22 ERA has alarm bells and warnings lights going berserk all over Yawkey Way.

Warning! Warning! Your $101 million investment is melting down!!

RECAP
This one's gonna be a quick hitter because I missed the early part of this one due to my son's LL practice and the latter parts due to stomach-turning content viewed after joining the game in-progress.

For the fourth time in his last five starts Dice-K got lit up like the burning man sculpture, and this time it wasn't the Stanks or high-scoring Jays or Rays that inflicted the wounds, it was the artists formerly known as the Baltimore Orioles, a team that has been so sorry in recent weeks that its pitchers resort to beaning other players as payback for their own fuck ups.

But Matsuzaka made some middling, meandering miscreants seem like the second coming of the Blake St. Bombers. Not only did he blow a 4-1 lead when he gave up seven runs in the third inning, but he surrendered home runs of the season to a pair of guys who hadn't hit any longballs all year.

From the highlights I saw Big Papi hand Dice-K a 2-0 lead when he jacked his 28th homer of the season with Dustin Bullseye Pedroia aboard in the first, but Matsuzaka let B-More halve that lead when the immortal Tike Redman slammed a solo shot in the bottom of the frame.

Redman's last homer in the bigs? May 2nd, 2005 at Houston for Pittsburgh.

Boston worked to get Matsuzaka a couple more runs in the second when two runs scored on doubles by Drew, Lugo and Ellsbury, and Matsuzaka-san obliged them with a 1-2-3 bottom half.

After the Sox failed to score against the other Jon Leicester (pronounced Lester) in the top of the third, Baltimore decided to go ballistic on Boston in the bottom half of the inning.

Unfortunately this is where i came in.

Things went from bad (single, double, walk to the first three batters) to worse (bases-loaded walk, RBI single, bases-loaded walk to the next three) to "close your eyes, hide the kids, and get out the bottle of tequila" gruesome, but this resembling a bad Creature Double Feature flick, the pain was extended a little bit for effect.

That's because the next batter, Audrey Huff, nearly hit a granny but his long, deep shot went a scootch foul, and when Dice fanned Huff and got Jay (im) Payton to pop up to get to the unheard of Moore with two outs, it looked he had put the worst of the damage behind him.

Not even close.

Moore, a 23-year-old third baseman who has only played five games in the majors this season, took a 2-2 offering from Matsuzaka and deposited it into the first row of seats in right for a less-majestic but more-damaging drive than Huff's, and as the flock of Birds circled the bases Dice-K stayed in a bent over position with his hands on his knees as if to say, "so this is what it feels like to get fucked in the ass."

And that was the end of my viewing.

That's when I turned to the USF/Auburn football game, a contest that has been a pretty big deal down here in the Bay Area and one that definitely turned out to be a much better and entertaining game (USF won 26-23 in OT, in case you missed it) than the one I avoided.

I guess a combination of Tavarez pitching and Lugo's defense gave the Birds three more runs in the next inning, and it appears that the only positives for Boston were Papi's 3-3 performance, three shutout innings of relief from Devern Hansack, and the fact that they only have to play these turds one more time this season.

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Anatomy of a Meltdown: Daniel Cabrera

Last night Baltimore starter Daniel hair trigger Cabrera had a temper tantrum a two-year old could appreciate.

Here at CBS we like to delve deep into these fits of baseball misconduct to try and find out that really happened to create such an explosive situation.

1.)Cabrera glares at Coco because he had the nerve to attempt to bunt his way on base to start the frame; "Why don't you try to homer off me like everybody else, you little piece of...."
2.) After Coco singled his way on and made it around to third base, Cabrera lost his cool as Coco danced around trying to distract the pitcher....

...and ultimately forced Cabrera into a balk that allowed Coco to scamper home gleefully

3.) His blatant foolishness and complete misunderstanding of baseball etiquette then drove Cabrera into a blind rage, when he decided to punish the next man who dared try to reach base on him......who just happened to be 5' 9" (cough!) Dustin Pedroia, the smallest member of the Sox. Did I mention Cabrera is 6' 7" and throws 100 mph?

4.) Even the ump took issue with Cabrera's bush league tactics, telling him "that was a chickenshit thing to do, pal, and if you do it again you won't be able to play in AAU ball!"
5.) This admonishment caused Cabrera, who had not be subjected to that kind of public humiliation since his mom pointed out that he had pissed his pants at the grammar school playground, to go all MMA on, well, no one in particular

6.) The classless clown even tried to pull the tired old "let me at him/hold me back" shtick, using teammate Melvin Mora as a human barricade

7.) Only after the entire Boston ballclub entered the fray and threatened to expose Cabrera as a thumbsucking bedwetter and then string him up on the Cask-n-Flagon sign by his extra large Underoos...

...did the Dominican decide to exit the premises and seek the help of a guidance counselor at the local middle school to help him control his anger


The end.

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Sox hand Os 11th straight home loss, and things got ugly

Sox 4, Baltimore 0
WP: Lester (4-0)
LP: Cabrera (9-15)
HRs: None

SUMMARY
Jon Lester remained unbeaten by defeating the Orioles for the second time in a week and Boston got enough offense to salvage a win thanks to the erratic Daniel Cabrera, whose weak pitching and wild temper nearly ignited a benches-clearing-brawl in the top of the fourth inning.

#1 STUNNER Lester 7IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K
The young lefty tossed his second straight quality start, both vs. the Birds, lowering his ERA by a full run and proving the Sox have another full-fledged young major league arm to bolster the staff.

Also, Jon, I officially apologize for mentioning you and Cabrera in the same breath in my preview post.

PAN's FAUN Cabrera 3.2IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K, BK, Melee
It's bad enough this disappointing 26-year old can't get his shit together on the mound, but now he's going to try and take his frustrations out on the smallest players on best team in the game?

Way to stay classy, Daniel.

RECAP
Must be football season--my pregame prediction sucked worse than a Mr. Bean movie.

Having seen these two clubs beat each others brains out for most of the 16 games between them so far this season and with two potentially shaky hurlers starting, I had some bad vibes that this was going to be another one of those "pray the offense scores enough runs to get ahead and then hold on" type of games.

Wrong again, piss-poor prognosticator. One starter was steady as a rock, while the other was an embarrassment to his team and the league.

Jon Lester handled the flightless Birds like an expert ornithologist, holding the Os to a mere four hits in seven innings without allowing a runner to get past second base, and it turned out the only kind of fight Baltimore could give Boston on the field had to do with head-hunting pitches and cheap intimidation tactics.

For the sake of wordcount let me cut right to what was really the only excitement in an otherwise mercifully uneventful contest between these two familiar foes.

Boston grabbed an early 2-0 lead when Kevin Youkilis walked and J.D. Boo doubled him over to third base to begin the second inning. Captain Clutch followed up his late-inning heroics of the past two nights with a money shot early tonight when he drove a single into right field to easily score Youk, and then Coco, who would soon find himself embroiled in all the controversy, lofted a sac fly that brought Drew home and set the stage for the fireworks to follow.

Boston let another bases-loaded opportunity slip away without so much as a single run scoring in the top of the third and then Lester set the Birds down in order in the bottom of the frame, but things got out of hand quickly in the top of the fourth.

Coco started the inning, as he so often does, by trying to bunt his way on, a move that apparently didn't sit well with Cabrera, who must think you have to play the game by his rules so he has a better chance to win.

Crisp then grounded a seemingly harmless single to right field, and even though consecutive groundouts by Lugo and Ellsbury moved him around to third, with two outs it didn't appear as if anything major was going to happen here.

Wrong again, dickwad.

As Cabrera got ready to pitch to Dustin Pedroia, Coco was dancing around over at third like Eddie Griffin on speed, and by the time Pedroia looked at ball one Cabrera was flustered to the point of doing something foolish.

Like balking Crisp in on a cockamamie attempt to scare him back to the bag.

Having been humiliated by a man about as intimidating as Arthur Ashe and obviously realizing that he is once again saddled with a losing record, sky-high ERA and on a horrid team, Cabrera retaliated the only way he could--by throwing the next pitch at the littlest guy on the team's skull.

Luckily Inch High Pedroia ducked out of the way and only took the assassination attempt off the shoulder, but if he wasn't quick enough that pitch could have "split him in two" as teammate Mike Lowell so aptly put it after the game.

Needless to say no one on the Boston bench took too kindly to that reprehensible act of cowardice, and a stream of players from both teams emerged from the dugouts and bullpens to air their discrepancies in an open forum.

To add insult to ignorance Cabrera waited until his teammates restrained him, then proceeded to wave his arms in an apparent invitation to take on all comers, but by that time the man had embarrassed himself and his team so much that I don't think anyone wanted anything to do with him, including his manager.

After a lengthy delay and the ejections of Cabrera, Os manager Dave Trembley and Sox catcher Kevin Cash, who wasn't even in the game, order was restored without any real punches being thrown, and Boston would tack on one more run in the seventh on a single and stolen base by Ellsbury and an RBI single from Youk before the latest chapter in a wild season series was in the books.

After the game Cabrera reportedly said the pitch "slipped out of his hand", yet even his beleaguered but classy manager knew better.

"I think he lost his cool," Trembley said. "I can tell you very honestly it's going to be addressed. I'm just glad Pedroia didn't get hurt. He didn't do anything."

And that's how bad things have gotten in B-More. The team has lost 11 in a row at home for the fist time in half a century and 15 of 17 overall, their ace Eric Bedard has just been shelved for the season, and the once glorious Bird's nest of Camden has turned into MASN--Mid Atlantic Sox Nation--and the manager won't even back his pitcher in a feud with a division rival.

The Mother's Day Miracle, the Labor Day No-No, Millar's 10th inning walkoff and the Kevin Garnett-inspired comeback game are a few of the memorable contests these clubs have played this season, and now we can add the Daniel Cabrera Beanball Classic to the list of interesting events that have populated this series.

The only questions left are can we get an encore, and do we want more?

One things for sure, I can't fucking wait to be done with these filthy free-falling fowl.

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Game Preview: Sox @ Baltimore

Lester (3-0, 5.26) vs. Cabrera (9-14, 5.06)
Camden Yards 705

The Sox will send another young hurler to the hill in hopes of defeating the fading-yet-still-fighting Orioles when Jon Lester tries to keep his unbeaten streak alive tonight at Camden Yards.

But for some reason putting this forgettable flock of floundering foul out of its misery for has proved to be a somewhat difficult task for the best team in baseball.

Even with a 10-0 no-hitter and a 13-4 early April beatdown thrown in, most of the games between these two teams have been close.

And with a couple of erratic young pitchers starting tonight, another barn burner is entirely possible.

Although Lester does boast an undefeated record in seven starts this season, he has allowed at least six hits and four earned runs in four of those starts, and throw in a couple of four-walk outings and you end up with a lot of baserunners and a high ERA.

Last time out though Lester got healthy against these very Birds, tossing six innings of two-run ball and helped his team hang in for a 3-2 win last Sunday, a.k.a the day after the no-no.

Baltimore starter Cabrera has been an enimga for his entire brief career. Possessed with a live arm and lanky body, the 26-year-old Dominican righty has been more wild than a spoiled hotel heiress and despite his massive talent has a career record of 40-45 and an ERA approaching 5.00.

So you have two young starters with high ERAs and a tendancy to be with, and with Millar attempting to blast off every at bat against his old mates, pesky Markakis and Roberts lingering around every corner and a stadium half full of Sox fans pissing off what few loyal Oriole fans there are left in Camden, this game scares me.

But something tells me the starters might be long gone when this one is decided, and hopefully tonight the Sox bully will be able to come through and prove they don't have to rely on Papelbon to get them through every game.

Just as long as Gagne's still out. We all remember what happened last time he was here.

Go Sox!

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...call the offices of Jacoby, Buchholz and Lester

to solve any of your team's needs.

Jacoby, Buchholz, and Lester. *Specializing in providing speedy resolutions to your offensive and defensive needs and reinvigorating aging pitching staffs for at least 30 days in September and hopefully way beyond.

All three are available at a moment's callup and a bus ride from Pawtucket, ready, willing and able to come to the defense of a backsliding ballclub in need of a little youthful injection.

Jacoby, Buchholz and Lester. Call now.
(*offer not valid unless employer is the Boston Red Sox baseball organization)

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1st ND for Wake but Tek helps beat Birds

Sox 7, Baltimore 6
WP: Buchholz (3-0)
LP: Baez (0-6)
SV: Papelbon (34)
HRs: BOS-Coco (6), Papi (27); BAL-Millar (15)

SUMMARY
One night after a bullpen collapse led to a heartbreaking loss the Sox rallied from three separate deficits and then pulled the rug out from under the reeling Birds when Jason Varitek knocked in the winning run in the 9th and Jonathan Papelbon closed it out in style to earn his 34th save.

#1 STUNNER Varitek 1-1, 2B, RBI
The Captain keeps getting clutcher and clutcher. For the second night in a row the ballsy backstop had a big hit to give the Sox a late lead, but this time his pinch hit RBI double wasn't wasted like last night's 2-run 6th inning blast.

PAN's FAUN Kevin Millar 1-5, HR
The original idiot did hit another homer off his former team, but other than that the king of Cowboy Up choked like a chicken; he struck out to end three innings, none worse than when he watched a Papelbon heater bisect the plate to end the game.

RECAP
I don't know about the rest of you but I'm sick and tired of playing these pluckin' Birds.

This is the fourth series between the two AL East competitors in the last six weeks, and even though the Sox own a 10-5 advantage over these foul fowls, the majority of the games have been close.

Aggravatingly, gratingly, keep-sedating-me close.

Yesterday Baltimore surrendered 17 runs to the Devils Rays and lost by 15.

Today they took the Sox to the brink again as the game was a one-run affair for the 6th time in the 15 meetings this season.

These teams are 40 friggin games apart in the standings and aside from the occasional blow out and no-hitter, the Sox can't seem to shed this shitty, sorry excuse for a team.

Which is exactly why I'm dreading these next three games.

Tonight the Sox and Birds played a cute little game of "which starter sucks worse?" While Boston was sending 16-game winner Tim Wakefield to the mound for the first time since his back spasms forced him to miss a start which indirectly led to Buchholz's no hitter, Baltimore was relying on shaky young lefty Garrett Olson, the O's hard-luck starter in the no-no, to right a sinking ship.

Hmmm, anyone else smell a slugfest?

To say Wake didn't have his best knuckler working would be a more than adequate statement as the Birds touched him for six runs and nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings, his shortest stint in three months and the most hits he'd given up since July 17th against Kansas City.

Christ he hadn't even allowed a run in his last 22 innings coming into this game, a streak that ended in a hurry when Baltimore pushed a run across in the first inning tonight.

But it wouldn't take long for Boston to jump on the beleaguered Olson, who in between rides on the minor league shuttle has gotten hammered like a Lohan in five of his seven his MLB appearances.

The Sox tied the game when Coco, Mirablli and Julio Lugo hit consecutive singles to start the third, then took the lead on an RBI groundout by Big Papi one out later.

One negative to come out of the inning was that Mirabelli, in his first start since coming off the DL for a pulled quad, apparently pulled a hammy running the bases and was replaced by pinch runner Royce Clayton. Let's just say Kevin Cash better practice catching the knuckler a lot in the offseason.

With Wake's flutterball looking more like a dead fish than a lively sprite it didn't take long for the Birds to strike back, and of course it was everyone's favorite idiot Kevin Millar who was right there to provide the punishment.

After allowing a one-out double to Nick Markakis in the bottom of the thitd, Millar ripped a lazy offering from his former teammate into the left field seats to give Baltimore a 3-2 lead, and when Audrey Huff followed that blast with a deep double and then scored on a single by Melvin Mora, it was obvious that Wakefield was either still hurt or just incredibly rusty.

Olson upped the ante in the fourth when he walked J.D. Boo and Youk and then surrendered a three-run jack to Crisp (3-4, 3R, 3BI), his first homer in two months since his Coke bottles grand slam on July 5th against the Rays, and suddenly the score was in Boston's favor again, 5-4.

But Wake (3.2IP, 9H, 6ER, 2BB, 0K) topped him when he handed the lead right back to the bloody Birds in the bottom of the inning on RBI hits by Miguel Tejada and Markakis, and with the score now 6-5 I was starting to feel like I was watching a match at the US Open.

Baltimore manager Dave Trembley had to remove Olson after he injured a muscle following Coco's homer (how conveeenient), and replacement Rocky Cherry (actual name) joined right in on the action when he gave up a solo homer to Ortiz with one out in the fifth.

Not only was Papi's 27th longball of the season his 8th in his last 20 games, but the classic Papi shot was his 200th as a member of the Sox, and does it surprise anyone that it tied the game at six?

After a scoreless inning from Kyle Snyder Tito brought Buchholz in for his first relief appearance against the team who provided him with his best starting memory ever, and although he didn't hold them hitless, he did prevent the Birds from taking the lead in the sixth.

Two walks and a single loaded the bases for B'More, but then Buchholz got Tejada to ground into your classic 5-2-3 double play, and when he whiffed Millar to end the threat you got the feeling this team could turn out to be Buchholz' special bitch.

Just like last night Boston blew another late-inning bases loaded situation when a walk to Lowell and consecutive singles by Youk and pinch hitter Jacoby Ellsbury went to waste when Boo needed just one pitch to ground into a double play to end the 8th, and when Buchholz tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning it looked like this one could be headed into extra innings.

Wait a minute, I forgot how bad the Baltimore bullpen is.

D-Rays reject Denys Baez came on for the 9th and wasted no time in reminding me when Coco reached on a swinging bunt to lead off stole second, and then Varitek, the man who has come up with more clutch hits than anyone on the team this year save for Mike Lowell, came in cold and laced an RBI double to left that gave his team its 3rd and final lead of the night, 7-6.

Last night Varitek's two-run homer in the sixth could have been the game-winner if not for the shoddy relief work, but with Papelbon available tonight and as dominant as he has been lately, this one was as good as in the bag even though the Sox failed to tack on an insurance run.

Didn't matter as Paps wrapped up his 14th straight scoreless outing in style, freezing the ever-smirking Millar with a filthy fastball to end the game, then punctuating his 34th save with a primal scream and glove smack as if to say "not tonight you dirty frigging birds!"

Not it wasn't meant to be for Baltimore tonight, but something tells me the last three games of this season series aren't going to be so easy.

NOTES: Wakefield's streak of 26 consecutive starts with a decison came to an end...Ellsbury's pich hit single was his first of his career and extended his hitting streak to all six games he's played in since his recall...Mike Lowell (0-4) and Dustin pedroia (0-5) had rare off-nights...

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Porous pen brings Sox streak to an end

Toronto 6, Sox 4
WP: Accardo (4-3)
LP: Okajima (3-2)
HRs: BOS-Varitek (13); TOR- Wells (16), Glaus (20)

SUMMARY
The Sox supplied starter Curt Schilling with two leads tonight but the bullpen could not close the deal. Manny Delcarmen allowed a solo shot to Troy Glaus to tie the game in the 8th, and Hideki Okajima gave up a 2-run shot to Vernon Wells in the 9th that brought Boston's 4-game winning streak to an abrupt halt.

#1 STUNNER Wells 3-5, 2R, 2BI
Wells came into the game on an 0-12 skid, went 0-2 in his first two ABs, then ripped off three straight hits including the game winner, a deep drive to straightaway center that got out of the park in a hurry and left the Faithful in stunned silence.

PAN's FAUN (s) Oki & Manny D 2IP, 3H, 3ER, 2K, 2HR
When your veteran starter gives you a quality start and your offense scratches & claws to retake the lead, you would think the artists formerly known as the best bully in baseball could close the game out, right? Right!?

RECAP
Ah, we shoulda seen this one coming.

The Red Sox playoff wagon was starting to ramp up to ridiculous speed following four wins that featured a no-hitter, an explosion of offense, the rise of a new young superstar outfielder and three consecutive appearances (and saves) from the closer for the first time all season.

So anyone wearing a scruffy old Sox hat made in the previous century should have known that the good times would end sooner rather than later, and when the fun finally did end, things could get sideways in a hurry.

And boy did things get out of hand fast.

The third straight quality start for Curt Schilling ended with a no decision beacuse when he exited the contest after six innings two of Boston's top two relievers could not get the outs that were necessary to secure the game and Schill's 9th win.

That's coachspeak for Delcarmen & Okajima sucked ass.

Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on another fielder's choice groundout that could have been a double play, exactly how yesterday's first run scored, but Schill (6IP, 8H, 3ER, BB, 2K) gave that up and more when he surrendered three runs after two were out in the top of the fifth.

After issuing a one-out walk to Greg Zaun Schill retired John MacDonald on a pop out, apparently ending any Toronto rally.

But the Jays batters, led by Wells' first hit in 14 at bats, then stroked four consecutive singles, the last three each driving in one run as Schilling could not stop the station-to-station bleeding.

Finally Curt got Troy Glaus to line out to Jacoby Ellsbury in left, but the 1-0 lead, along with all the good Fenway vibrations, had disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Still, it was early, and when Boston loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on a walk to Tek, a beautiful bunt single by Coco and, after a failed bunt/strikeout by Alex Cora, a single by Julio Lugo, it looked like they would get right back in the game.

Well, not quite.

Ellsbury did manage to get his bat on a low sinker from starter Shawn Marcum (5IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 2K) and drive it deep enough into center firled to score Tek with the Sox second run, but when Big Papi fouled out on a nice play by Glaus at third, the potential big inning was reduced to a single run.

Then for some reason the insane Jays manager John Gibbons (it fucking amazes me this dickwad still has an MLB head coaching job) decided to remove Marcum, his hottest pitcher and winner of seven of his last eight decisions, and the Sox batters wasted no time teeing off on reliever Brian Wolfe.

Wolfe got the first two outs of the sixth and then much like Schill he fell apart a bit when he was on the doorstep of getting out of the frame.

The first mistake came when he nailed Youk with a pitch which not only opened up a pretty good gash on his right forearm but also put the tying run on base, but he followed that bit of stupidity by practically placing a fastball on a tee for Captain Tek, who proceeded to hammer the generous offering into the bleachers in right to put the Sox ahead again, 4-3.

With Schill done for the night, all the pen had to do was get nine outs and this one was in the bag.

Turned out to be easier said than done.

September callup and 2006 coffee drinker Bryan Corey came on first and although he did allow a single by Wells to lead off the inning, he got a ground ball by Matt Stairs that Cora turned into a slick double play, and then he got Alex Rios to ground out to end the inning.

Six more outs to go.

But Boston blew its chance to break the game wide open when another bases loaded situation ended without a run crossing home plate in the seventh.

Gibby used three relievers in this inning and they all allowed baserunners, but after Casey Janssen walked Lowell to pack the sacks he struck out J.D. "Boo!" (it's official now) and Youk to escape the jam unscathed.

You know what happened next.

Delcarmen came on for the 8th and gave up a towering, slicing drive to Glaus that just stayed fair but left the building entirely, and just like that everyone knew this game was going to spell the end of the winning streak, and temporarily, the good times on Yawkey Way.

That suspicion was quickly confirmed when Okajima took the mound in the 9th, promptly hit Zaun with a pitch, and then gave up a heatseeking missile to Wells that soared above the tall center field wall and officially put an end to the feel-good mini-streak.

Now it's off to B-More, a team falling apart faster than Senator Craig but one that has been a pain in Boston's side all season.

At least Papelbon should be ready to go again.

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Game Preview: Toronto @ Sox GM3

Marcum (12-5, 3.75) vs. Schilling (8-6, 4.02)
Fenway Park 705

Ah, it's always enjoyable when things are all rainbows and lollipops in Soxland.

The new kids are more than alright, the injured vets are healing, and the club has used the strength of this four game winning streak to increase its AL East lead back to a somewhat secure seven games with 23 games left in the season.

Yep, it's a good time to be a Sox fan right now...

...as opposed to last week when it was pure misery.

Tonight Curt Schilling will try and keep the good times rolling as he takes the mound for his sixth start since returning from the DL. In those starts he is 2-2 with an ND, and while he is still struggling to find some consistency he has pitched well in three of those previous five starts.

In the three good starts (8/12 vs. BAL, 8/24 vs. CWS, 8/30 vs. NYY) he has allowed just 14 hits and 3 earned runs in 19 innings (1.42ERA), but in the two rough starts (both vs. LAA, 8/6 & 8/18) Schill gave up 17 hits and 9 earned runs in just 12 innings for a 6.75 ERA.

I guess they just shouldn't let him pitch against the Angles.

Hopefully he will pitch better than his career record (3-6, 5.68) against Toronto tonight, because opposing him will be the Jays hot young righty Shawn Marcum.

Marcum has won 8 of his last 10 starts and although he hasn't exactly been dominant, he has been steady enough to provide the Jays another quality starter to go along with hard luck Roy Halladay.

Last time out the Nation needed Schill to come up big against the Stanks to prevent an embarrassing sweep, and if it weren't for little Robbie Cano, he might have accomplished that mission.

Tonight we need him to come up big to keep the winning streak going, keep the momentum going, and prevent another bad loss from derailing all the good vibes floating around Fenway right now.

Is that too much to ask from a former ace?

NOTES: With his 0-4 last night Lowell snapped his 15-game hitting streak; no doubt he'll start a new one tonight, hopefully with a few ribbies thrown in as well...according to the Globe Dustin Pedroia will get the night off tonight and Alex remember me? Cora will get a rare second half start...the wunderkind that is Jacoby Ellsbury will be in the lineup again, batting 2nd and playing LF...speaking of wunderkinds, Clay Buchholz was named the AL Player of the Week; wonder what for?

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Beckett wins 17th in another fun one at Fenway

Sox 5, Toronto 3
WP: Beckett (17-6)
LP: Halladay (14-7)
SV: Papelbon (33)
HRs: BOS-Ellsbury (2), Youkilis (16); TOR-Stairs (19)

The energetic Ellsbury has been the ring leader of the Fenway Fun Bunch

SUMMARY
In an NL-esque pitchers duel Josh Beckett bested former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay en route to earning his major league-leading 17th victory, and Jacoby Ellsbury continued to blaze since his recall, ripping three more hits including a homer and a triple as Boston won its fourth straight game.

#1 STUNNER Ellsbury 3-3, R, 2BI
The speedy rookie continues to amaze Red Sox fans & management with his heady play and hot bat. Since his recall on Saturday Ellsbury is batting an astounding .667 (8-12) and is making it very hard for Francona to leave him out of the lineup.

PAN's FAUN Lyle Overbay 0-4, K, GIDP
The struggling first baseman had a game to forget, ending three innings when he flied out with a man on to end the fourth, grounded into a double play to end the sixth, then watched a 96-mph Papelbon fastball whiz past him for strike three to end the game.

RECAP
I might not have witnessed a no-hitter, but I did get to watch an entertaining, well-played and unusually short American League contest between two division foes.

Plus I nearly won a $50 Best Buy gift card to boot.

Not exactly history-making stuff, but pretty damn fun nonetheless.

And that's the one word I would have to use to describe the current iteration of this team, one that has morphed personalities roughly 147 times this season and has seemed to employ a different lineup for each one of them.

Fun.

The Red Sox are playing fun baseball, it's fun to watch them play baseball, and it looks like they are actually having fun out there playing baseball, not going through the motions waiting for the regular season to end or shrinking away like an anorexic starlet in the presence of a hated arch rival.

And the biggest reason for all this giddiness has to be traced to the exuberance that youngsters like Ellsbury and Buchholz have added to the clubhouse.

The unbridled enthusiasm these guys brought from Pawtucket, along with their suitcases full of talent, seems to have rubbed off on the grizzled vets on the club, turning a loose-but-professional team into a bunch of happy-go-lucky kids.

Fun.

And to think less than a week ago the one word I would equate with this team was 'miserable'.

Tonight's game promised to be entertaining from the get-go when the pitching matchups were announced and we learned that current leading Cy Young candidate Beckett would be squaring off against 2003 Cy winner Halladay in a battle of team aces.

The two did not disappoint, although neither was at his very best.

Halladay (8IP, 9H, 5ER, 2BB, 7K) was definitely the shakier of the pair, allowing at least one base runner in each of the first four innings before Boston broke through for four runs in the frame.

And wouldn't you know it was one of the Fun Bunch who brought the Faithful to their feet again.

J.D. Drew led off the inning with a five-pitch walk from Halladay, then Youk (2-4, R, BI) dropped a single into right to send Drew to third and set up Boston's first real scoring threat of the night.

After Varitek struck out on three pitches Coco tapped an offering from Halladay to second base for what looked like a potential rally-killing double play, but the fleet Crisp barely beat the relay throw to first base as Drew came home to score the first run of the game.

Then the fun really begun. (Sorry, I'll stop now)

On the very next pitch Ellsbury drove a Halladay fastball on a low arc into the Red Sox bullpen for his second major league homer and second longball in three days, and just like that a 0-0 game had become 3-0 in the span of two swings of the bats.

Boston finished the inning with back-to-back doubles by Lugo and Pedroia (2-4, BI), and flushed with a 4-0 lead and their best pitcher on the hill it looked like a potential easy win for the Sox.

Ah, I didn't say it was always fun.

Toronto climbed back into the game in a flash when Aaron Hill led of the fifth with an infield single off Beckett's foot, John McDonald walked and with two outs old friend Matt Lumpy Stairs launched a three-run bomb over the Jays bully to slice the Sox lead to 4-3.

But Beckett (8IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 7K) was lights-out from then on, retiring 9 of the last 10 batters he faced with the one being erased on a double play, and he finished his night in style, striking out Alex Rios looking at a nasty yakker to end the eighth.

Youk added a big insurance run in the bottom of the inning when he blasted a solo shot high & deep to straightaway center field off a tiring Halladay, and the only question left was, with Paps & Oki presumably off limits after pitching two days in a row and Gagme on the shelf with a bruised ego, errr sore arm, which reliever would Tito call on to close out the game?

The answer was a surprising one as the intimidator himself, Papelbon, trotted out for the final inning; it was a miracle Remy didn't tumble out of the booth.

All season long Tito has used his prized closer as if he was made of bone China out of fear that Paps balky shoulder from last September would rear its unwanted mug again.

But sometimes the kid gloves approach came back to haunt him, most notably when he wouldn't use his closer in both games of a doubleheader against the Angels, resulting in one of Gagme's more infamous blown saves of his sure-to-be-brief Sox tenure.

So to see the squared cap and menacing glare of Paps enter the game was, to put it mildly, a major fucking shocker to most of the Nation.

Luckily, the All Star closer didn't make the decision look like a mistake.

Papelbon needed exactly 9 pitches to dispatch the Jays including the above-mentioned tracer to Overbay to end the game with a fist-pumping flourish, and the young & talented closer has saved the last three Boston wins without allowing a base runner.

Suddenly the resurgent Sox have won four straight without the services of Manny Ramirez and with Tim Wakefield's status in doubt due to a tricky back problem.

No worries around the Fens, though, cause the kid's have got things all under control.

Oh, yeah the Best Buy gift card part.

On the great baseball website Bugs & Cranks they have what's called an indoor four contest, where you pick a player who will hit an inside the park home run and the first player to reach the feat each month wins a $50 BB card for whomever was astute enough to pick him.

Of course I waited until the final month of the season to do so, but my obscure choice almost made a winner out of me tonight: Jacoby Ellsbury.

With guys like Coco, Jose Reyes, Carl Crawford and even Dontrelle Willis all taken already, I decided to take a darkhorse candidate, a speedy September callup who might just pull the feat.

Hey if Kevin Youkilis and Derrek Lee can do it, why not?

In the sixth inning tonight Ellsbury almost made it happen when he drove a ball deep over Alex Rios' head in right field that landed on the warning track, hit the base of the wall and then kicked right back to Rios, who quickly fired it back to the infield.

By that time Ellsbury had scampered into third with a stand up triple, and I was standing up as well, screaming for Rios to bobble the ball and/or Ellsbury to go for broke and try and make more Red Sox history while making me a little richer, entertainment wise.

Alas we had to settle for the three bagger, but at that point I didn't even care...

...because it sure was fun anyway.

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Game Preview: Toronto at Sox

Halladay (14-6, 3.87) vs. Beckett (16-6, 3.29)
Fenway Park 705

Looks like I picked the right time to rejoin the Nation.

After missing four of the more exciting games of the season including the first Sox no hitter in five years I am jumping right back into the fold with this doozie of a pitching matchup.

Call it Cy past vs. Cy future.

While Josh Beckett can take over the major league lead in wins with a victory tonight, a category that will go a long way to deciding who wins this year's Cy Young award, he will be opposed to a man who is no stranger to being the best pitcher in baseball.

Roy Halladay, the 2003 Cy winner, has won at least 12 games in five of the last six years, and after a slow start this season aided by a trip to the DL the ace is just hitting his stride, winning three straight starts before a recent 0-1 stretch over his last three starts despite pitching at least 8 innings in all three games.

He doesn't have a stellar record against the Sox in his career (9-9, 4.79) but anytime he takes the mound there is a chance the opponent will be completely shut down.

Beckett, meanwhile, will try to shake off his last horrendous start when he allowed 13 hits and four runs in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-3 loss to New York on Wednesday. Before that unfortunate outing Becks had won three in a row and appeared well on his way to winning his first Cy.

Now that the competition has stiffened up, he will have to put together a terrific final month in order to not only win the coveted award but help his team win the division crown and ease into the playoffs.

Although the quality of the starters suggests this won't be an offensive explosion like most of the last few games, the way Boston's lineup is clicking one can't be so sure.

Despite the absence of Manny Ramirez, who has missed the last six games with that oblique injury, the Boston batters have been mashing the ball to the tune of 34 runs and 50 hits in the last 4 games, with the miraculous Mike Lowell leading the way.

The ageless vet is laying to rest all the talk of his notorious second half swoons by ripping off a current 16-game hit streak in which he's batting a hearty .500 (30-60) and has knocked in 20 runs.

With 101 ribbies he's just four off his career high and leads the Sox sluggers Ortiz (94) and Manny (86) by a pretty wide margin.

Throw in the infusion of youth from Jacoby Ellsbury and the amazing, ever-improving Dustin Pedroia, and the offense might just be performing at its best level of the season, Manny or no Manny.

All the same I think he'll still be welcomed back when he's ready to return.

And I know I'm ready to welcome Red Sox baseball into my life after a brief holiday hiatus.

What are the chances of Beckett throwing a no-hitter tonight?

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The Lost Weekend: What I missed

In order to keep my meticulous records intact as well as to satisfy an agrravating OCD condition I am going to quickly recap the last four games I missed in order to get back up speed.

Friday Baltimore 9, Boston 8 WP: Birkins LP: Tavarez
With their tails still dragging from that three game beatdown New York handed them Boston rolled back into Fenway and nearly rolled over and died for the suddenly atrocious Os.

Tim Wakefield was a late scratch due to back pains, so Julian Tavarez stepped in and was lit up, as were his successors, Javier Lopez and Mike Timlin, to the tune of 12 hits and 9 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. After falling behind 9-3 after six, Boston chipped away with three in the seventh and two in the ninth to make the score respectable.

Still, giving up 9 runs and losing to a club that had lost 9 in a row starting with that historic 30-3 demolition was an embarrassing way to answer the sweep in the Bronx.

Highlights: David Ortiz hit his 26th homer in the 1st; it was his 5th homer in the last seven games...Boston rapped 15 hits including 3 from Erik Hinske, 3 by Mike Lowell, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and 4 by Dustin Pedroia...Hinske also had 4 RBIs

Saturday Sox 10, Birds 0 WP: Buchholz LP: Olsen
This one hurt to miss. In one of the most impressive pitching performances by a young pitcher in recent memory, Sox starter Clay Buchholz, making just his second career start, no-hit the Orioles en route to becoming the first Boston rookie to toss a no-no.

And to think he only got the start because Tavarez was moved up to start in place of Wakefield yesterday.

Buchholz got all the offense he would need when a fielder's choice groundout by Coco Crisp plated Youk in the 2nd inning, but the Boston offense exploded for nine more runs while Buchholz stymied the Baltimore batters on just three walks and a hit batter.

He also got the defensive standout play required when you pitch a no hitter as Dustin Pedroia slid to snag a Miguel Tejada grounder up the middle to lead off the 7th, whirled around while he popped up and fired a dart to first to nail Miggy by a nose.

By the time the 9th inning rolled around (the only frame I saw) the score was 10-0 Boston, no one was sitting within 20 feet of Lester on the Boston bench, and the entire Nation was holding its breath as the kid tried to pull off the rare feat.

Three batters later, including one knee-buckling curve from Buchholz to Markakis to end it, and the kid had his name in the record books.

And I kicked myself for like the 10,000th time for not DVRing every game just in cae something like this wre to happen.

Highlights: ah, aside from the no-hit thing, Boston raked 14 more hits with Lowell chipping in another three knocks to run his streak to 14 games...David Ortiz walked three times and also drove in three runs on a booming 4th inning double...Jacoby Ellsbury (1-1, 2BI) and Brandon Moss (1-3, R) returned to the parent club for the Sept callups and immediately contributed with timely hits and nice defense

Sunday Sox 3, Baltimore 2 WP: Lester LP: Cabrera
The youth movement continued for Boston as young lefty Jon Lester threw six innings of 2-run ball and speedy center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury chipped in with his first ML home run as well as a couple of nice defensive plays in the field.

After two more ribbies by Mike Lowell, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and Ellsbury's homer, Boston's pen finally came through when Lopez, Okajima and Papelbon shut the Os down on just 1 hit over the final 3 innings to nail the win down.

Highlights: after slamming double-digits in hits the last two games Boston managed just 5 tonight, 2 each by Ellsbury & Pedroia and one by Lowell

Monday Sox 13, Toronto 10 WP: Dice-K LP: Litsch
Daisuke Matsuzaka finally got what he wanted--plenty of run support--but he needed almost every one of the runs Boston scored as he got lit up for the second straight start.

After allowing six hits and five earned runs in 6 1/3 against New York on Tuesday Matsuzaka surrendered 10 hits and seven earned in 5 1/3 last night,

For the second time in three games Boston jumped out to a huge lead, this time 10-1 after four innings to knock former Rays bat boy Jesse Litsch out of the game, but due to Dice's inability to shut anyone down now the Jays came roaring back when they plated 8 runs in the 6th inning.

Luckily Ellsbury made a spectacular catch to rob Frank Thomas of a possible game-tying hit and after a rough beginning the Sox pen came through again, with Papelbon coming on in the 9th to record his 32nd save of the season.

Not a good sign when your closer has to save what was a 10-1 game, and with the season winding down it looks like Matsuzaka's stamina might be dimiinshing as well.

Highlights: Ellsbury continues to impress with his bat, legs and glove. The rookie was 2-5 with three runs scored plus that diving catch, and since his recall he's 6-9 with 4 runs scored, 3 batted in and a slew of nice defensive plays. I just need him to hit an inside-the-park-homer so I can win this contest...Lowell extended his hit streak to 16 games with his 3-4 night, including his 18th home run and 101st ribbies of the season

RECORD: 83-55
AL EAST: Up 7 on NYY
LAST 10: 6-4
STREAK: W-3
UP NEXT: Tue vs. TOR 705


Okay, I guess I'm somewhat caught up, but a valuable lesson was learned: NEVER skip a Baltimore series at Fenway on a holiday weekend!

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What a weekend! Too bad I missed it.

In taking time away from following the Sox this holiday weekend, I think it's safe to say that I am partially responsible for their current impressive winning streak.

After all, there's no way Clay Buchholz becomes the first Boston rookie to throw a no-hitter if I'm watching.

Cause that's the kind of shit that happens when you take a brief sabbatical from the torture test that is following these Red Sox: winning streaks happen, impressive performances happen, history happens.

So while I indulged in all the familiar aspects of the "last weekend of summer" (an ironic moniker here in sun-baked FLA)--bicycling, beaching, barbecuing and boozing--the Sox got busy turning an ugly four-game losing skid into three straight confidence-boosting wins.

Let me say that I did catch a few innings here and there over the weekend, enough to keep me somewhat abreast of the goings ons but not enough to get any kind of feel of the games.

Friday after trekking to the beach as part of my "kick off the holiday weekend by biking to the beach, get tanked, and then attempt to ride home" campaign, I got home and in front of the TV just in time to see Nick Markakis' 3-run homer that made the score 9-3 Baltimore, after which I promptly drifted into a semi-coma and awoke to the "Good Evening" screen from the Extra Innings package.

Saturday I started out watching Clay's masterpiece, but got so busy getting the house ready for a party the next day that I inadvertently left it on the PIP while I had college football on the main picture. I saw the blowout score of the Sox game and thought nothing of switching it back.

Not until the Sportscenter "30 in 30" spot announced what Buchholz was in the process of doing did I bother to switch it back, and I managed to witness the last three outs without a ball dropping in to punish my blatant stupidity.

Sunday was the day of the party, so game watching was out of the question. Didn't even find out that the Sox won until the next morning, which I believe was Monday but sure felt like a Sunday.

Anyway, last night I made a decision to watch the Florida State football game on the big screen and leave the Sox on the TV in the back and the PIP, just to complete my weekend of lost viewing.

After Boston got ahead 10-1 I concentrated on the offensively weak Noles instead of the offensive fireworks going on at Fenway and failed to see Toronto's 8-run 6th inning that nearly led to one of the most disappointing losses of the season if not for a great catch by Ellsbury.

I know, this one is inexcusable. Fucking Noles.

But now I'm back for the pennant run and I'm not even upset that I missed all the fun because when I tuned out this team was reeling from the Stankees sweep and the Baltimore opener and now it owns a 7-game lead in the East again and control their own destiny from here on out.

You're welcome, guys.

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