Just like old times: Manny, Papi carry Sox to victory

Sox 5, Texas 3
WP: Lopez (1-0)
LP: Benoit (1-1)
SV: Papelbon (6)
HRs: BOS-Manny (6); TEX-Hamilton (4)

SUMMARY:
The comeback kings struck again as Boston rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the 8th, tying the game on a single by David Ortiz and then winning it on a 2-run homer by Manny Ramirez. It was Boston's 4th come-from-behind victory this week.

Superstar: Manny 1-2, 2R, 2BI, 1BB, HR
ManRam is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball right now. He smashed his 5th homer in his last 7 games, his second game winner this week and the second moon blast in his last three games at Fenway.

He currently leads or is tied for the lead in the majors in homers and RBI (20) and is batting .461 over the last 7 games.

The Biggest Loser: Joaquin Benoit 1IP, 3H, 3ER, K, HR, BS, L
The 7-year vet had more blown saves (7) than actual saves (6) last year; nice to see he is following that tradition again this season (1-0)

RECAP:
Another game, another comeback victory for the cardiac kids.

The difference between this one and the other comebacks this season is that David Ortiz, who has mainly been an innocent bystander as Boston has won 9 of its last 12 games, was a key contributor to the festivities tonight.

But for the first few innings it looked like Boston was going to get blown out, let alone have a chance to stage another comeback.

That's because starter Jon Lester (6IP, 10H, 3ER, 2BB, 5K, HR) continued to be shaky and unassertive with his command and delivery in his 5th start of the season. But following the rough start to the game the young lefty settled in to keep the Rangers hitters at bay, giving the Boston batters a chance to work their late-inning mojo again.

Lester surrendered a run in the first on a Monster shot by Josh Hamilton, who should win Comeback Player of the Year every year for his rise from the depths of drug-addled hell, and after Boston grabbed the lead right back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on a pair of doubles, a walk and a double play, Lester let Texas tie it right back up when Adam Melhuese doubled in old friend David Murphy in the top of the 2nd.

The third inning was no better for Lester as Hamilton (2-5, 2R, BI) and Hank Blalock hit back-to-back singles with one out, and reserve outfielder Jason Botts doubled in Hamilton to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

Back and forth for three innings with texas scoring in each frame did not look good for Boston, and you got the feeling at that point that Lester wouldn't be long for this game. It was just a question of what the score would be when he exited.

Especially since Texas starter Jason Jennings (6IP, 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 1K) was pitching well, limiting the potent Boston lineup to just a few scattered hits and a pair of runs in his six innings of work.

But surprisingly Lester settled down form there when he usually gets weaker as the game goes on, and the game remained 3-2 Texas until both starters had exited the game.

And the metamorphosis from hard-luck losers to walk-off winners took place (okay, it wasn't a walk-off win, but it might as well have been.)

The 8th started innocently enough as Texas reliever Joaquin Benoit got Jacoby Ellsbury to pop out to shortstop, and Boston was down to its last 4 outs to complete their comeback.

No problem as Dustin Pedroia got the rally started when he doubled off Benoit 2 pitches later, and Ortiz (1-4, R, BI) chased him home with an infield bleeder that tied the score at 3 and sent the Faithful into a frenzy.

But the raucous cheering was just getting started as Manny stepped to the plate with a chance to single-handedly end a game for the third time this week.

And boy did he ever end it in style.

After looking at strike one from Benoit, Manny unleashed his wicked bat on the next offering and crushed the pitch over the Monster, over the billboard atop the Monster, and probably over Lansdowne for a towering 2-run homer that capped the comeback and sent the fans home happy again.

After all, what's not to be happy about. Manny is being the Manny we all love, the team is winning with regularity, and now Big Papi is finally getting into the act with key contributions at the right time.

Seems like old times at the old ballyard.

Pennant-winning times.

Championship-winning times.

RECORD: 12-7
STREAK: W3
LST 10: 8-2
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Sun vs. TEX, 135PM Millwood vs. Wakefield

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Sox crush Rangers behind Papi's grand slam

Sox 11, Texas 3
WP: Matsuzaka (4-0)
LP: Mendoza (0-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (2), Pedroia (1); TEX-Blalock (3)

The score didn't remain 1-0 for long as Papi watches his shot clear the bases in the 3rd

SUMMARY
David Ortiz broke out of his season-long slump in a big way tonight, blasting a 3rd inning grand slam to the opposite field and driving in another run with a single in the 8th, and Daisuke Matsuzaka became the AL's first 4-game winner as Boston rolled the Rangers at Fenway.

Superstar: Ortiz 2-4, R, 5BI, GS
Not only did Papi hit his first homer since April 2nd in Oakland, but he knocked in more runs in this game than he had all year, and he raised his average 23 points. He's still only batting .134, but he's been swinging the bat much better this past week.

The Biggest Loser(s): Rangers pitchers 8IP, 11R, 11H, 5BB, 4K, 2HR, HBP
Starter and former Red Sox farmhand Luis Mendoza (7ER in 3 innings) was awful, but relievers Josh Rupe and Dustin Nippert weren't much better as each got hammered like chopped meat, turning this game into glorified BP for Boston.

RECAP:
Finally, RSN has a reason to thank the MLB schedule makers.

After beginning the year thousands of miles from home in three different countries, then playing a brief homestand and another road trip that had them facing the Stankees 5 times in the last week, the road warriors were rewarded when they returned home tonight to open a stretch of 15 out of 18 games at Fenway:

the pitching-challenged, perennially disappointing Texas Rangers.

In the words of Ricky Bobby, thank you sweet baby Jesus.

The Sox treated the break from the pressure-packed, media-centric Stankees series' like a CPA treats April 16th - like an unofficial vacation day, as they clobbered the Rangers pitchers early and often en route to a ho-hum 11-3 victory.

Although Daisuke Matsuzaka (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K, HR) wasn't sharp again, especially early on when he surrendered a pair of hits and a couple of walks, plus a stolen base and a sac fly in the first three innings, his offense remained hot enough to bail him out and allow him to win his 4th consecutive start, making him the first four game winner in the American League this year.

And it didn't take long for the offense to get him out of that 1-0 hole, thanks to the resurgent bat of David Ortiz.

Following the Ranger's sac fly in the 3rd that gave them the lead, Boston immediately loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning against former prospect Mendoza on a double by Jed Lowrie (2-3, R, BI) and consecutive walks to Ellsbury and Pedroia.

Up stepped Papi, whose bat came alive a bit in the series in New York and had shown signs of coming out of his season-long funk. What a perfect opportunity to silence some of the growing critics who have been whispering that he is either too hurt or getting too old to continue putting up Ortiz-like numbers.

All it took was one pitch for Papi to dispel those rumors as he launched a Mendoza offering high and deep over the Monster for a crowd-pleasing, critic-silencing grand slam, the 8th of his career and first since last August 18th against the Angels' Jered Weaver.

Hilarity ensued as his teammates gave him the silent treatment at first when he entered the dugout, only to jump up and mob the affable giant moments later as he strolled down the bench looking slightly bemused.

The good times continued to roll in the next inning as Boston drove Mendoza from the game when they scored 5 more runs to blow the game wide open. A leadoff walk by JD Drew, the only starter not to record a hit, was followed by a booming double off the top of the Monster by Cap'n Tek to push the lead to 5-1, and when Mayor Casey (2-4, 2R) followed that hit with a single, Mendoza was yanked in favor of Josh Rupe.

Unfortunately for Texas manager Ron Washington, the Sox treated Rupe like a rube, greeting his arrival with a sac fly by Lowrie, a triple over the center fielder's head by Jacoby Ellsbury, and a 2-run homer by Pedroia that ran the score to 9-1 and essentially turned the remainder of the game into garbage time.

When Hank Blalock blasted a 2-run shot off Dice-K in the 6th, Tito pulled the tiring starter (101 pitches thru 5 1/2) and saw his bullpen turn in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. In the "insult to injury" department, Boston got those two runs back on a single by Ortiz in the 8th that scored Casey, and when the cutoff got away from everyone, Ellsbury scampered home to finish the scoring and send the crowd home happy to see a blowout in the team's return to home turf.

There were a lot of good things to build off of in this one, and with three more games coming against Texas, including the Patriot's Day brunch game on Monday, the team could be in excellent position to enlarge its division lead before the tough Anaheim Angels come to Fenway on Tuesday.

As long as Papi keeps hitting like he's capable, and the rest of the team stays hot, the sky's the limit for this club as it finally shakes off the jet lag from the early travels.

No thanks to the schedule makers for that, though.

RECORD: 11-7
STREAK: W2
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Sat vs Tex 7pm Jennings vs. Lester

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Series Preview: Texas @ Sox

Texas Rangers (7-9) at Red Sox (10-7)
4 game series at Fenway

Game 1 Fri 7PM
Mendoza (0-1) vs. Matsuzaka (3-0)
Game 2 Sat 7PM
Jennings (0-3) vs. Lester (1-2)
Game 3 Sun 135P
Millwood (1-2) vs. Wakefield (1-0)
Game 4 Mon 11AM
Gabbard (1-0) vs. Buchholz (0-1)

What to watch for: a pair of old Sox return to Fenway
Former Sox players Kasson Gabbard and David Murphy make their first visit to Fenway since being traded for colossal bust reliever Eric Gagne last July 31st.

With Murphy (.305, HR, 6BI, 9R) and Gabbard (1-0, team low 2.41ERA) off to good starts and showing signs of becoming solid contributors for years to come, and Gagne off blowing saves for the Brewers, this could be one of those trades that comes back to haunt Boston for years to come.

Who to watch: Josh Hamilton .308, 3HR, 15RBI
This kid represents the comeback story of all comebacks as he has gone from prospective big league bust to one of the majors best success stories in the last couple of years.

The former Tampa Bay phenom and No 1 draft pick has battled years of substance abuse and MLB-sanctioned suspensions to climb back to the majors, earning Comeback Player of the Year honors with the Reds last season before being traded to Texas in the off season. His 5-tool talents and sweet swing make him one of the most exciting players to watch in the game.

PREVIEW:
The Sox return to Fenway and finally catch a break with the schedule as the lowly Texas Rangers come to town for a 4-game wraparound series that concludes with the Patriot's Day morning game on Monday.

Fresh off a couple of long games against the Stanks in the Bronx Boston should welcome the Rangers to Fenway with open arms. The Rangers notoriously own one of the worst pitching staffs in the league, and having guys like Luis Mendoza and Jason Jennings throw in this series should be a welcome relief from having to face the Mike Mussinas and Andy Pettittes of the league.

The highlight of this series should be the return of a couple of young prospects the Sox gave up at the trade deadline last season for a man who will forever be reviled in the Hub.

Outfielder David Murphy, who had worked his way up from the minors to make the big club and looked like a potential mainstay in the Sox outfield for years to come, and pitcher Kasson Gabbard, who along with Jon Lester promised to be the backbones of the Boston rotation for many seasons as well, were surprisingly sent packing for washed-up former closer Eric Gagne.

With Gagne already gone and Murphy and Gabbard having the potential to be quality contributors at the major league level for years to come, that move will go down in the annals of bad Sox trades alongside Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell and Babe Ruth for cash.

Okay, maybe not that bad, but don't you just get the feeling that Murphy will come back to beat his old club with a clutch later homer and Gabbard will twirl a masterpiece to defeat his former team?

Aside from those guys, the Rangers are looking like the typical Rangers teams of the past few...decades: plenty of offense, lousy pitching. "Ace" Kevin Millwood is 27-28 in his 2+ seasons with the club, and their No 2 starter is the immortal Vincente Padilla.

After losing guys like Gary Matthroids Jr, Gagne, Mark Teixeira and closer Francisco Cordero, this team has gone from potential contender in the AL West to a sure fire division doormat for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully Boston will be able to take advantage of this break in the schedule and rattle off at least 3 wins in this series before the potent Angels come to town on Tuesday.

And keep your fingers crossed that Murphy doesn't tear it up over the weekend and Gabbard doesn't toss a no-no on Marathon Monday.

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Sox bounce back as Beckett stymies Stanks

Sox 7, New York 5
WP: Beckett (2-1)
LP: Mussina (1-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Manny, 2 (5); NYY-Cabrera (3)

Maybe Manny screamed BUNKO! every time he hit a round tripper

SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett had his best outing of the season in a game the Sox desperately needed after last night's humiliating defeat, and Manny Ramirez continued his demolition of New York pitching with a two-homer, 3-RBI night as Boston split the two game series in the Bronx.

Superstar: Manny 3-5, 3R, 3BI, 2HR
The Bronx-bred boy ravaged his hometown team once again, slamming the 54th and 55th homers of his career against the team he grew up admiring. He also had 3 hits for the second game in a row and is now batting .343, has 18 RBI, and is just 5 homers away from 500.

The Biggest Loser: Mike Mussina 3IP, 7H, 5ER, 0BB, 2K, 2HR, 2HBP
Not only did Manny hit his 2nd & 3rd homers off him this week, but the regressing veteran has given up 9 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings against Boston over the past 6 days.

RECAP:
Can't really recap this one, because I didn't get to see it.

And of course it had to be the exciting Sox victory I miss, not the travesty of baseball that was last night's abortion of a game.

The story behind it is (are you ready for a good laugh?)...I had to vacate the house tonight because the wife was having the girls over for Bunko.

Not sure what that is, single fellas out there? It's when a bunch of women gather round, drink too many cocktails, tell too many dirty stories and lament about their families all in the guise of playing a meaningless, no-strategy card game.

Okay, you can stop laughing.

Anyway, it wasn't a big deal because they would be done by 9:00-9:30ish, and I had set the DVR to record the game. After taking my son (as a responsible dad I can't expose him to the nonsense) to the batting cages and out to dinner, I would retreat to my den and rewind the game to catch up with what I missed, since it would probably only be in the 4th or 5th inning by then.

Except when I got home the wife had breaking news for me, you know, the kind of news that makes you want to break something.

"Honey, you're not gonna believe this. Right after you left the power went out and the TV and stuff is dead."

After recovering from that sucker punch, I just figured I go reset the breaker and settle for watching the last half of the game.

Nope. "I tried to reset the breaker, but it wouldn't stick" she informs me.

Luckily my son was standing there as well as a couple of Bunko stragglers, so I summoned up all my willpower and didn't toss anything.

Although after checking the score on the computer, I wanted to toss my cookies.

I quickly learned that Beckett was in the midst of handcuffing the cocky sons of bitches from the boogie down, and that Manny had mashed not 1 but 2 dingers off that dickhead Mike Mussina, and that's when the hurt really started to sink in.

All the three TVs with cable boxes were dead, and with the game on Extra Innings, the two with no boxes were about as useful as Eric Gagne in a close game.

From what I "saw" on Game Cast, Boston built a 7-0 lead on Manny's homers, RBI singles by Pedroia and Tek and an RBI double by J.D. Drew, but the Stanks touched Beckett (8IP, 6H, 3ER, 1BB, 5K) for 3 runs in the 5th to slice the lead to 7-3. After giving way to Paps in the 9th, New York tacked on two more against the Boston closer to make a blowout look much closer than it was.

The bad part about following a bunch of dots and stats online is I didn't get to see Kyle Farnsworth nearly decapitate Manny in the 7th, nor did I see Manny's classic irked/amused expression after it happened.

I didn't get to see it, but I probably had a similar look on my face at the time.

After all, how else do you handle missing a great Sox/Stanks contest because of a power surge and a bunch of ladies screaming "BUNKO!"?

RECORD: 10-7
STREAK: W1
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Fri vs TEX 7PM @ Fenway Mendoza vs. Matsuzaka

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Stanks outslug Sox in sloppy game in the Bronx

New York 15, Sox 9
WP: Hawkins (1-0)
LP: Tavarez (0-1)
SV: Bruney (1)
HRs: BOS-None; NYY- Abreu (2), A-Rod (4)

This screenshot says all you need to know about the game

SUMMARY:
Another day, another interminable, near unwatchable Sox/Stanks slugfest, this one featuring 24 runs, 30 hits, 9 pitchers and 341 pitches, all contained in a tidy 4 hours and 8 minutes. The Stankees had 4 innings in which they scored at least 3 runs, or once more than they had done it all season prior to tonight.

Ug-ly.

Superstar: Georgie Posada 2-5, 2-2Bs, 2R, 3BI
He might be too sore to catch, but he can still hit, and he burned the Sox twice tonight. His first double in the 5th brought the Stanks back to within one run at 8-7, and his second double provided plenty of insurance, plating 2 in the 8th to push the NY lead from 11-9 to 13-9.

The Biggest Loser: take your pick-

• Clay Buchholz - gave up back-to-back homers in the 1st inning, and that wasn't the worst part of his night. By the time he was finished he had been charged with 8 hits and 7 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, and miraculously he didn't take the loss


• Chien Ming Wang - fresh on the heels of his 2-hit gem last Friday, Wang was gonged to the tune of 8 runs and 9 hits in 4 innings, and he didn't take the loss


• Julian Tavarez - was handed a 2-run lead after the Sox rallied for 6 runs in the 5th, only to revert back to the Julie of old by allowing 4 runs and 3 hits in an inning and a third; he did take the loss


• Mike Timlin - made sure Boston could not stage another 9th inning comeback when he surrendered 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in the 8th. His ERA is now a Fisk-like 27.00.

The list could go on and on, but I guess I'll stop there.

RECAP:
How do you summarize a game like this? I mean without using 4,000 words and 3/4 of them being curses?

I actually missed the first 3 innings because I was at my son's Little League game, which his team won 12-6; by the time I got in the score was 4-3 Stanks, and little did I know the teams were just getting warmed up, or that my son's game would actually be the more entertaining, better played contest I would see this evening.

You've heard of that genre of movies called 'horror porn'? Well the Rivalry has turned into horsehide horror porn, full of disgusting, over-the-top images that make the viewer want to turn their head, only you can't because you are mesmerized by the sickening sights you are seeing in front of you.

Except these major league gross-outs are about 3 times longer than any of the installments of 'Saw' or 'Hostel'.

I can't find the right words to describe what happened, so I'll revert back to an old lazy blogger trick and let the numbers (and bullet points) do the talking:

• The teams combined for 30 hits (Bos-14, NY-16), and 10 players had at least 2 hits apiece


• 17 players scored at least one of the 24 runs with 7 scoring a pair of runs


• 14 batters drove in at least 1 run, and 7 knocked in at least 2 runs


• Boston trailed 3-1 after one inning, tied it at 3 in the 4th, surrendered 4 in the bottom of the 4th to fall behind 7-3, then exploded for 6 in the 5th to take a 9-7 lead


• Not to be outdone, New York countered that 6-spot with 4 of their own in the bottom of the 5th to take an 11-9 lead, then tacked on another 4-run inning to blow the doors off


• Out of the 30 hits, only 10 went for extra bases, and Boston scored all 9 runs without the benefit of a home run


• Jacoby Ellsbury (0-5) was the only starter on either side not to record a hit

It was one of those games that after its over, you can't really remember exactly what happened and when it happened. It comes back to you in bits and pieces, like a bloop single here and an RBI double there, a big hit by Jeter here and a monumental error by Julio Lugo there...

You know, just like the scenes in a horror porn flick. You can't remember exactly what point in the movie the guy got his larynx sliced open with a rusty butcher knife, but you recall it happening at some point in the picture.

Basically that's all I've got to say about this one. I've already snapped at the wife and berated the dog, so now I'm gonna go play a violent video game on the 360 and take some of my frustrations out on a horde of unrelenting alien attackers.

Maybe then I'll rent Turistas and try and forget about this game.

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Series preview: Sox @ Stanks

Red Sox (9-6) @ NY Stankees (8-7)
2 Game series, Yankee Stadium

Game 1 Wed 7PM ESPN
Buchholz (0-1, 3.27) vs. Wang (3-0, 1.23)
Game 2 Thu 7PM
Beckett (1-1, 6.35) vs. Mussina (1-2, 4.15)

What to watch for: see if the Sox (4 straight wins) can keep on rolling
Boston has not lost a game since last Friday, when tonight's starter, Chien Ming Wang, beat them with a complete game 2-hitter. The Sox would love nothing more than to defeat Wang tonight and extend their winning streak to 5 games

Who to watch for: Wang
All eyes will be on the Stankee ace to see if he can duplicate the success he had last week and keep his spectacular start to the 2008 season going.

PREVIEW:
Weren't we just here?

Not here as in new York, but talking about a Sox/Stanks series?

Indeed we were, and thanks to MLB's scheduling buffoons we get a rematch of last weekend's series, in which Boston took 2 of 3 at Fenway, just three days later in the form of a mid-week, 2-game mini series in the Bronx.

My question is, why?

For one thing these 2-gamers suck. They're useless, go by too quick, and don't give an adequate reading of how one team compares to another.

Except for the ones against the Indians. If the Sox played a 100-game series against those chokers, the outcome would be the same 99 times - come from behind victory for Boston.

Thanks to a pair of those in Regressive Field coupled with the last two Boston won against New York, the Sox are riding a 4-game winning streak into the House that Ruth Built (and the city is ready to tear down), and that run has put the them squarely back where they belong: in 1st place in the AL East.

But with all of the teams in the division closely bunched together (last place Tampa Bay is only 2 1/2 games out), the Sox need to keep winning to place some distance between them and the rest of the pack.

And what better way to start than by knocking off their arch enemies and the man who made them look like pony leaguers last weekend, Cheien Ming Wang?

Wang was masterful last Friday at Fenway, allowing just a solo homer by JD Drew and a bunt single by Coco Crisp in defeating Boston 4-1. In three starts this year the righty has allowed just 12 hits and 3 runs in 22 innings, while striking out 11 and walking just 4 batters.

And to think some people question whether or not he should be called an ace?

But there is no reason to think that his fortunes can't change on any given night, and the way Boston has been swinging the bats since that game and the confidence they got from staging two emotional comeback wins in Cleveland says to me that the Sox are ready to end Wang's run and continue their own streak.

Who's with me on this?

Good.

So enjoy the series while it lasts. Tomorrow night we get a classic matchup of a motivated Josh Beckett (a +6.00 ERA just won't cut it for him) and a deteriorating Mike Mussina, so that should be fun. After that the rivals don't play again until the 4th of July weekend in Boston.

By that time Boston should be in full control of the division, while the Stanks are calculating which pitcher they are going to acquire at the trade deadline to make up for letting Johan Santana get away.

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Comeback kings crown Cleveland in 9th again

Sox 5, Cleveland 3
WP: Aardsma (1-1)
LP: Lewis (0-1)
SV: Okajima (1)
HRs: BOS-Tek (3)

SUMMARY:
Jason Varitek slammed a pinch hit home in the 9th inning off Jensen Lewis to break a 3-3 tie, and Boston tacked on an insurance run to continue its streak of come-from-behind wins against Cleveland, dating back to last year's American League Championship Series.

**On a side note, my mom called me with the news that my sister had to be taken in for an emergency C-section just as Tek's homer was sailing over the fence. She and the baby are fine now, so I know her and Paul will take the timing as a sign that little Luke is destined to be a slugger for the Sox someday. Be well Sis and I love you.**

Superstar: Tek 1-1, R, BI, HR
This distinction could have gone to a number of players, such as rookie Jed Lowrie, who had three ribbies in his ML debut, but when the team captain comes off the bench to hit a game-winning homer, well the honor is all his.

The Biggest Loser: Lewis 1.2IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, HR
With Cleveland placing closer and yesterday's Loser Joe Borowski on the DL today, it's nice to see they have someone capable of filling his shoes.

It's to be expected though, because the only thing worse than a guy with two first names is a dude with two LAST names.

RECAP:
Wow, are these Indians expert chokers or what?

First the Tribe blew a 3-1 series lead in last year's ALCS by getting bludgeoned in the final 3 contests by a combined score of 30-5, permanently etching their names in the All Time Chokers almanac.

Then yesterday the misery trickled into this season as Cleveland gagged away a late 4-1 lead and lost when Boston scored three times in the 9th, highlighted by a 2-run homer by Manny Ramirez.

And then came tonight's game.

If the playoff losses were gut punches, and last night's was a sucker shot, then this one must have been the kick to the groin.

You know how the song goes: kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down.

But for a little while it looked as if Cleveland was going to exact a small measure of revenge for all these demoralizing losses Boston has inflicted on them the last 7 months.

They grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, on a 2-run single by Victor Martinez off Tim Wakefield (6IP, 7H, 2ER, 4BB, 4K), which came just minutes after the Sox scored the first run of the game on a fielder's choice groundout by callup Jed Lowrie.

Then after Lowrie (1-4, 3BI) drove in a couple more runs the conventional way with a soild single past the shortstop to score Youk and Ellsbury, who had both been walked by reliever Jorge Julio (0IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB) in the 7th, Cleveland tied the game right up in the bottom of the inning, thanks to another awful relief effort by Manny Delcarmen.

People, Cleveland announcers included, love to point out that Delcarmen has "closer's stuff", but might not have the mental makeup to perform well in that high pressure role. Games like tonight, and most of his appearances this year, are proving that axiom to be true.

After Javier Lopez got the first two outs in relief of Wake to start the 7th, he allowed a pair of base runners on a single and hit by pitch, and Delcarmen was called in to put out the fire and keep the lead at 3-2.

Fat chance.

He promptly walked Jhonny Peralta on 5 pitches to load the bases, then hit Ryan Garko on the hand on a 1-0 count to force in the tying run. He got the next batter to end the threat, but the damage was done, and at that point it seemed like momentum had swung in Cleveland's favor.

Maybe, just maybe, this would be their night to stage a miraculous comeback.

Yeah, right.

Boston nearly staged the comeback as they loaded the bases in the 8th when Manny was hit by a pitch (anyone say 'payback'?), Youk (2-4, R, BI, 2B, BB) doubled and Jacoby Ellsbury was intentionally walked. But Jensen got Julio Lugo, who was 3-3 up to this point, to ground into a soul-killing double play, and the stage was set for Cleveland to pull it out.

Except Delcarmen and David Aardsma kept the Tribe off the board in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for Tek's heroics in the 9th.

As is the captain's homer wasn't enough of a back-breaker, Boston padded the lead when Coco singled to center, Pedroia followed with a double that was misplayed by rightfielder Franklin Guiterriez, and two batter later Youk singled in Coco for a totally unnecessary insurance run.

Didn't even matter that Pedroia got tagged out at the plate, because Hideki Okajima set the Tribe down in order in the 9th, two by strikeout, and the Sox have a 4 game winning streak heading into the 2-game set with the Stanks tomorrow.

If only they could play Cleveland every night.

NOTES:
-Big Jed: how sweet it must have been for the kid who was called up to replace injured World Series MVP Mike Lowell to get his first hit and RBI (3, in fact) in his first major league start?

-Big Papi: he's not completely back yet, as evidenced by his GIDP in the first, but he did add another hit to his season total and drove a ball deep to the warning track in the 8th. His average is now up to .113 (6-53). Baby steps.

-Lineup changes: with Wake pitching Kevin Cash got the start, and with JD Drew getting the night off, Ellsbury moved to righfield and batted 6th with Lugo hitting 7th. Ellsbury reached base 3 times (2BB, 2B) and scored twice, while Lugo went 3-4 to raise his average to .280

-Payback: anyone who doesn't think Manny being hit with no outs in the 8th is crazy. The Indians have been pissed at him since he Cadillac'd on that meaningless homer in Game 4 of the ALCS, and with two Indians batters getting plunked the previous inning, payback was in order. Manny knew it, too, and smiled it off, as usual.

RECORD: 9-6
STREAK: W4
AL EAST: Up 1/2 game
UP NEXT: Wed @ NYY 7PM, ESPN Buchholz vs. Wang

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Game preview: Sox @ Cleveland GM 2

Wakefield (1-0, 3.27) vs. Byrd (0-2, 11.05)
7PM Progressive Field

The Sox will try to take both games of this micro series when two crafty old vets, 41-year-old Tim Wakefield and 37-year-old Paul Byrd, he of the whirly bird delivery and HGH rumors, take the mound tonight at the stadium previously known as the Jake.

The matchup will be a rematch of Game 4 of the 2007 ALCS, when Wakefield gave up five runs in the 5th inning to get tagged for the loss while Byrd threw 5 innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball to get the win.

But it was just before that game that a report surfaced about Byrd's possible involvement with performance enhancing drugs, and it cast a shadow over his start and career that still has not lifted.

Neither pitcher has thrown well this year, with Byrd getting tagged for 11 runs and 13 hits in 7.1 innings over 2 starts, while Wake has given up 9 hits and 8 walks in his two starts but only 4 earned runs.

Speaking of shitty pitching, last night's goat, Tribe closer Joe Borowski, said he will probably have his arm examined to see why he had no velocity in the 9th inning, causing him to cough up a 1-run lead. On the moonshot that Manny hit off him to win the game, the 2007 saves leader said "It's like I'm stuck in one gear. I had no extra gear. Not only that, I couldn't locate."

It wasn't hard to locate the pitch he threw to Manny, though.

With Papi rapping 2 hits to raise his average over .100, Manny, Youk, Coco and Drew aall in a groove and Byrd on the mound, tonight would be a good win to get as the Sox head to the Bronx tomorrow.

If Borowski pitches again, that win might be guaranteed.

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Sox steal one in Cleveland thanks to Manny's late bomb

Sox 6, Cleveland 4
WP: Timlin (1-1)
LP: Borowski (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (5)
HRs: BOS-Youk (1), Manny (3); CLE: None

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox practiced what us coaches preach to our Little Leaguers every week: it ain't over till it's over. Down 4-1 after six innings, Boston scored 1 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th, the big blow a 2-run homer by Manny Ramirez off closer Joe Borowski that helped beat his former team in a rematch of the 2007 ALCS.

Superstar: Manny 2-5, R, 2BI
He hadn't had the best game up until that point- striking out looking twice, once with the bases loaded to end the 7th- but another thing we always teach the kids is you're always gonna get another chance to redeem yourself, and Manny sure did tonight.

The Biggest Loser: Borowski 2/3IP, 4H, 3ER, HR, BS, L
No sooner had the announcers made a point of Borowski's tendency to give up a lot of base runners and runs, noting his plus-5.00 ERA last year despite 45 saves, did the 37-year-old closer allow plenty of both in turning what seemed like a sure fire Cleveland win into a heartbreaking loss in a matter of minutes.

RECAP:
It was another near 4-hour game, but at least it was worth waiting for the outcome of this one.

Down by 3 runs with just three innings to play, Boston scratched away for solo runs in the 7th off starter Jake Westbrook and the 8th against lights out reliever Rafael Betancourt before breaking the game open with a trio of runs in the 9th inning to earn its third straight victory and send Cleveland to its 4th loss in the last 5 games.

But the game had a couple of twists to it before we even got to that point.

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first when Pedroia walked, David Ortiz broke his 0-17 skid with a bloop single to the opposite field, and after Ramirez struck out, kevin Youkilis hit a clutch 2-out double to right to give the the Sox the early lead.

With Jon Lester (4.1IP, 5H, 4ER, 5BB, 3K) cruising through the first three innings without allowing a hit, Westbrook struggling early, and Papi primed to break out of his slump, it looked as if Boston would win this one going away.

Then, like the weather across the country this spring, things changed in a hurry.

In the 4th inning Lester lost all semblance of control, and his shot at another win at the scene of his return to baseball after beating cancer went along with it. He walked the leadoff batter and then surrendered a single to Travis Hafner, then followed that with an RBI single to Victor Martinez, and after striking out Jhonny Peralta, gave up an RBI single to Ryan Garko that put Cleveland ahead 2-1.

Meanwhile Westbrook (6.1IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 5K) settled down, retiring the Sox in order in the fifth, including Papi swinging to end the frame. But in the bottom of the inning Hafner (2-5, R, 2BI) laced a 2-run single to right that chased Lester from the game and brought Julian Tavarez in from the pen, eliciting gulps and "oh wells" from the Nation

Surprisingly, though, Tavarez (2.2IP, 2H, 4K) pitched effectively, striking out Garko and David Delucci to end the threat, and then breezed through the 6th, prompting Steve Phillips to insinuate that he may be doctoring the ball because it had so much movement on it.

Hey, when Julie pitches as well as that, one can't help but wonder if he's cheating to do so.

Anyway, Tavarez' solid relief work helped his teammates get back in the game. Pedroia knocked in Lugo with an infield hit to cut the deficit to 4-2 in the 7th, but when Betancourt relieved Westbrook and fanned Papi and Manny with the bases loaded to squelch the rally, it didn't look like a comeback was in the works.

Or was it.

Youk's solo shot to lead off the 8th off the fireballing reliever, who was so good in the ALCS, suddenly brought the Sox to within one, 4-3, and if they could just mount a rally against Borowski they could pull this one out.

Which of course you know by now, they did.

Lugo started the winning rally with a double to left to lead off the 9th, and then Coco, who is playing his best ball now that he is injury free and not under pressure to be the man, sacrificed him to third. Pedroia lofted a sac fly to left to tie the game and bring the Faithful back to the edge of their seats, and wouldn't you know Papi blooped another single to the outfield to keep hope alive.

Sometimes it's the little things from the big fella.

What came next was not little, though, as Manny crushed the first pitch he saw from Borowski over the wall in left center for a momentous game-winning blast, and as his smiling teammate Ortiz greeted him at home plate you got the feeling that this will be Manny's year to bask in the accolades that come from delivering the clutch, game-0winning hits for a pennant contending club.

No problem here.

As long as those hits keep coming, we don't care who's delivering them.

RECORD: 8-6
STREAK: W3
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
UP NEXT: Tue @ CLE 7P Wakefield vs. Byrd

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Series preview: Sox @ Cleveland

Red Sox (7-6) at Cleveland Indians (5-7)
2 game series at Progressive Field

Game 1 Monday 7PM ESPN
Lester (1-2, 4.50) vs. Westbrook (1-1, 2.76)
Game 2 Tuesday 7PM
Wakefield (1-0, 3.27) vs. Byrd (0-2, 11.05)

What to watch for: Sox return to the scene of 2007 ALCS
Bitter Cleveland fans will be booing in full force tonight as the Red Sox make their first trip back to the Jake by the Lake, now renamed Progressive Field, for the first time since staging their miraculous comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the 2007 American League Championship Series.

Who to watch for: DH Travis Hafner
The slugger known as Pronk has yet to get off this season (2HR, 8BI), so you know it's just a matter of time before he starts mashing. Hopefully that time won't be this series.

Preview:
The name of the ballpark may have changed, but the Sox hope the good feelings they have from the last time they played here are still lingering as they take on the Indians tonight in a rematch of the ALCS.

Every Nation member worth his membership card knows that the Sox came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit to win the series last fall, using that emotional win as a spring board to a World Series sweep of the over matched Rockies. But the odd thing about that is that despite the outcome of the postseason for both clubs, neither team made many significant changes in the offseason.

That lack of turnover will make this series all the more interesting, as basically the same cast of characters will face each other in this mini 2-game set. Of course Mike Lowell will not participate, and unfortunately Boston won't face CC Sabathia or Fausto Carmona, whom they treated like human pinatas in their four ALCS starts.

The Sox will have to face Jake Westbrook, the righty who did pitch well against them in Cleveland's Game 3 victory and pitched pretty decently but took the loss in the Gme 7, series-clinching triumph. So you can bet revenge will be on his mind when he takes the hill tonight.

Meanwhile Boston starter Jon Lester will return to the site of one of his most memorable professional moments. It was here last July 23rd that Lester returned to the majors after battling cancer and missing the better part of a year while receiving treatments, and he pitched a gem (6IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 5K) in front of his parents and fans, becoming an inspiration for millions of cancer survivors world wide.

But all that won't matter tonight. All that matters is both teams, who shared the ML lead with 96 victories last season, are struggling to find their footing this early in the season, mired in mediocrity and riddles with slumping superstars (Ortiz & Sabathia) and more questions than answers.

Of course not all the answers will be found in this micro series, the only 2 games Boston is scheduled to play in Cleveland this season.

But they know they'd better get their acts together if the want to meet again here in October.

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Sox hang on to win 2 of 3 from Stanks

Sox 8, New York 5
WP: Matsuzaka (3-0)
LP: Hughes (0-1)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-None; NYY-Giambi (2)

SUMMARY:
The Sox survived a long and arduous rubber match against the Stanks, hanging on for a close victory after jumping out to a 7-1 lead after three innings. Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up his third win of the season, although he wasn't sharp at all, and 5 Boston batter notched two hits apiece while battering New York wunderkind Phillip Hughes.

Superstar: Sean Casey 2-3, 2B, R, BI
The Mayor continues to prove he could be one of the most invaluable pickups of the offseason for any of the contenders as he rapped two more hits, raising his average to .318, drove in a pair of runs and made a number of nice hustle plays at first base.

The Biggest Loser: Hughes 2IP, 6H, 7R, 6ER, 3BB, 3K, WP
The kid was not hot tonight as the young right hander struggled with his control early and often, resulting in a messy 2 innings of work. he exited the game with his team down 7-1, and he found out the hard way what the Rivalry is really like.

RECAP:
Well, so much for a quick game.

Thanks to an excruciating amount of walks (14) and pitches (336), this game just ended at a few minutes past midnight, and thankfully the Sox pen had enough to save what could have been a horrible loss.

Dice-K again made us wonder when, or if, he will ever completely dominate the league for a long period of time like he is supposed to, yet somehow he was not bad enough to lose it.

I can already tell I am not making coherent sentences, a result of spending the afternoon at Tropicana Field with a stadium full of Little Leaguers, so I think I'm gonna hit the hay and wrap this one in the morning.

In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves. Goodnight.
--------------------------------------
And good morning.

Now that I've put my 8+ hours of baseball Sunday behind me, I feel like I can finally put together a few paragraphs and wrap this game up.

If I could just remember what happened.

The first few innings are pretty clear, but everything gets pretty hazy after that. I remember Boston jumped all over 22-year-old Phil Hughes like a Jack Russell on a fresh leg, scoring three in the first inning on 2 hits, 2 walks, a sac fly, a passed ball and an error, but the fact that the inning took nearly an hour to play was a bad sign of things to come.

After Dice-K (5IP, 5H, 4ER, 6BB, 2K, 116P) managed to toss a fairly quick second inning, he gave a run back in the third when he walked Judas Demon (for the 2nd time) and then after Demon stole second (also for the 2nd time, New York's first two steals of the season) gave up a deep double off the top of the scoreboard to Bobby Abreu to slice the lead to 3-1.

But when Boston drop-kicked Hughes in the bottom of the frame, scoring four more times and sending the kid to the showers before he even had time to get a feel for the mound, it looked as if the game was as good as over.

Except it wasn't nearly over. Not by a longshot.

The rally that got Hughes out of the game began innocently enough, with a walk to hot-hitting JD Drew (0-2, 2BB, 2R), who was hitting in Papi's 3-hole as Tito decided to give Ortiz the night off to clear his head. That pass was followed by a single to deep short by Manny, and when Youk and Casey both lined RBI singles to bulge the lead to 5-1 and drive Hughes from the game, it should have been easy sailing from then on.

Especially after the Sox tacked on two more off rookie reliever Ross Ohlendorf, the first on a wild pitch (the second gift run the Stanks allowed that way in three innings) and the 7th run on a clutch 2-out RBI single to right by Jacoby Ellsbury.

7-1 after three and the game was nearly 2 hours old. Time for Dice-K to bear down and get this game over with, right?

Unfortunately Matsuzaka was in his "every other game I'm good" mode, and since he was terrific in his lat outing, he was contractually obligated to be horrible tonight. As Dice got behind batter after batter and the pitch count piled up, it became quite apparent that this game wasn't going to be a slam dunk win by any means.

Sure enough Dice let New York right back in the game in the 4th when he allowed 2 doubles, a single, a walk, a wild pitch and a sac fly to Demon, and next thing you know it's 10:00, the Stanks had cut the lead to 7-4, and the Sox bullpen was going to have to be called on before Matsuzaka's pitch count reached 200.

This is where I started to lose it, seeing the time and the game drag on and knowing that by the time the game got over I was going to be either bored to death or incredibly upset, neither of which option did my mindset any good.

So to wrap it up quicker than they did, David Aardsma pitched 2 solid innings in relief of Dice, Mike Timlin came in to start the 8th and immediately had a case of deja vu when he surrendered a solo shot to Jason Giambi for the second time in three nights, and Boston put a key insurance run on the board when Ellsbury (1-3, R, BB, 2BI) knocked in Coco with a sac fly that capped the scoring and gave manny Delcarmen some breathing room in the 9th.

Luckily Delcarmen didn't even need it as he fanned A-Rod for the second out and then got Matsui to ground out to mercifully end the series, and at just past midnight eastern Standard time the first Sox/Stanks series of 2008 was in the books.

And just think, they get to play again on Wednesday!

Rest up.

NOTES:
-Papi off: citing the always helpful "mental day off", Tito decided that rather than have Ortiz try to break out of his 3-44 slump against the hated Stanks, he would let him rest and give it a go on Monday against the Tribe. That put Manny in the DH spot and gave the Sox the rare outfield look of Coco in center and Ellsbury in left; the duo combined for 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 RBIs while Manny had a pair of hits and runs and knocked in a run

-Hit parade: five Sox had two hits apiece (Pedroia, Manny, Youk, Casey, Coco), four drove in runs (Ellsbury, Manny, Youk, Casey) and six Sox scored at least one run (Ellsbury, Drew, Manny, Youk, Casey, Coco)

RECORD: 7-6
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: W2
UP NEXT: Mon @ CLE, 7PM ESPN Lester vs. Westbrook

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Game Preview: Sox/Stanks Game 3

Phillip Hughes (0-1, 5.00) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 2.82)
8:00 Fenway ESPN

If the rubber game of this initial Sox/Stanks series of 2008 is anything like the first two, expect to see plenty of solid pitching, timely hitting, poor weather and quickly played contests.

Then again if every game in the history of the rivalry went as expected we wouldn't have so many bleeping nicknames for past pinstriped players.

For two good reasons to expect the unexpected tonight look no further than the two starting pitchers who will get the call tonight. One one side you've got a highly-touted prospect making getting his initiation into the Rivalry, and on the other you've got a guy who has been more up & down than

And the outcome of the series may depend on which pitcher handles the heat of the battle better than the other.

For New York young righty Phillip Hughes will make his first start against Boston in his 16th career start. The 22-year-old has been on a fast track for major league success since the Stanks selected him with the 23rd pick in the 2004 draft, and now that washed up geezers like Randy Johnson and useless paraplegics like Carl Pavano are out of the picture, its Hughes' and fellow phenom Ian Kennedy's time to step up.

Whether he's ready to handle the intensity of Sox/Stanks, even this early in the season, remains to be seen, but the kids gotta get into the thick of it sometime.

Daisuke Matsuzaka may be sporting a 2-0 record and low ERA, but he has been anything but consistent in his second season in the majors after an illustrious career in Japan. Blessed with a variety of pitches and a deceptive delivery, his inability to throw strikes consistently, and pitch late into ballgames as he did in his homeland, has plagued him the entire time he's pitched for Boston.

Case in point: in the season opener in Japan, Dice K tossed 6.2 innings of 2-hit ball, and after shaking off some early jitters, settled down to hold the As to one run and pick up the win on his native soil. But last week against the Tigers he needed 108 pitches to get through 6.2 innings, walked 4 batters and seemed to be on the ropes consistently even though he shut Detroit out.

Thus is the mystery of Dice K. He was a hot commodity that Boston paid dearly for, but 15 wins last year and a, pardon the expression, dicey start this year is not what the Sox brass, or the Nation, had in mind for their $102 million dollar investment.

So let's just say Matsuzaka better get the best of the kid tonight, or the grumblings are going to start that Boston might have been better off investing in kids from the farm like Lester and Buchholz rather than investing in a .500 pitcher from a foreign land.

As for the speed of the game, it starts at 8:00, you've got two pitchers starting who will probably throw a lot of pitchers, Boston's middle relief has been atrocious, and the last two games have been played in under three hours.

In other words, see you 'round midnight.

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