Looking for my game recap?

I was waiting for it to be official before I broke the news and now it is: Curt's Bloody Sock has gone national as I am now contributing my game previews and recaps for the respected baseball site Bugs and Cranks.

Wait, this site is national, too? True, but not nearly as well-read as B&C.

In answer to your question yes, I will still be posting here. Just not the same material that I have been producing, as that will all be on B&C. Please check there every day for the regular pre- and post-game stuff and then here for more traditional blog posts, like what the team is up to and alternative material.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this blog over the years and given me the confidence and ability to take it to another level, and be sure to visit both sites frequently because I need all the help I can get.

J Rose

For my recap of last night's devastating Sox loss, click here.

I will have another post here later describing my interesting time at the Trop.

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Sox look clueless in lackluster loss to Rays

Rays 3, Sox 1
WP: Garza (7-4)
LP: Wakefield (5-6)
SV: Balfour (2)
HRs: None

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox offense has disappeared without a trace as Boston could muster just six hits - 5 singles, two of the infield variety, and one meaningless 2-out 9th inning double - off three Rays pitchers, and once again Tim Wakefield pitched a brilliant game and got nothing to show for it.

The loss dropped the Sox 2 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay, the furthest they have been out of first place this season.

#1 STUNNER: Dionner Navarro 2-4, 2BI
The Rays catcher drove in two of Tampa Bay's three runs, both were big and both came with two outs.

THE BIGGEST LOSER(s): Hansen & Delcarmen 1IP, 1H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K
Can anyone in that fucking bullpen come in and get three consecutive outs? Is that too much to ask of a bunch of guys who throw 95+ mph and are supposed to have such scintillating stuff?

Evidently so.

RECAP:
As I was sitting on my sofa and watching tonight's game on the HD set, trying not to get annoyed with the nauseating Rays announcers I'm stuck listening to down here, I suddenly realized the similarities between tonight's and last night's games are pretty freaky:

-Tampa Bay jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of both contests

-the Sox didn't get their first hit until the 4th inning, when they went on to tie the game at one

-the Rays came right back to take the lead again in the bottom of the 4th, both times for good

-Tampa Bay's starter handcuffed the Boston batters for the better part of the night

-the Sox had a chance to tie or win the game in the 9th, but a late rally came up short

-the Rays won both games

The other similarities between the two games has been the anemic Boston offense.

In two games Boston has tallied five runs, 14 hits, four extra base hits and just four walks. By contrast in their game against the Astros on Saturday the Sox scored 10 runs, ripped 13 hits including 6 XBHs and walked four times, although they lost that game too, and they were facing inferior pitching.

But my point is the Rays pitching hasn't been all that great, it's just that the Sox offense has sucked worse than The Love Guru.

Case in point tonight. Starter Matt Garza (7IP, 5H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 3K, 102) was nowhere near as dominant as he was in his 1-hitter against the Marlins last week, and he threw mainly fastballs near the plate the whole night, yet the Sox batters could do nothing with his heater.

Ditto interim closer Grant Balfour, who was "bringing the heat" with 93 mph cheese, yet the Boston batters acted like they were facing a pre-injury Joel Zumaya. Fouling pitches off, looking at strikes right down the plate, LATE ON 93mph FASTBALLS.

Guys this is the freakin' major leagues. If you can't crush a mid-90s fastball get back down to AAA, okay. I mean you'd have thought the Sox were facing Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson, not a 24-year-old head case and 30-year-old mediocre middle reliever for crying out loud.

Like last night the Sox had their share of chances in this game too, thanks to some shoddy fielding by the Rays MLB-best defense, which committed three errors on the night, all while Jacoby Ellsbury (2-4, R, SB) was burning down the first base line.

After Tampa Bay took the lead in the first on a walk, a ground out, an error by Alex Cora and a wild pitch by Wakefield (7IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K, 115P) Boston tied it up in the fourth when Ellsy reached on an infield single and made it all the way to third base when Navarro threw the ball into right field.

One out later J.D. Drew hit a sac fly to tie the game, but just like last night the Rays wasted no time taking the lead right back.

In the bottom of the inning Evan Longoria (1-3, R) reached on a one out infield single, moved to second on another Wake wild pitch and scored on a clutch two out single to right by Navarro before Eric Hinske struck out to end the inning.

And the score would stay 2-1 for a while despite Boston getting men on base in each of the next five innings.

In the fifth a two out single by Brandon Moss (2-4) went nowhere when Cora ended the inning by grounding out; in the sixth Ellsy again reached on an infield hit and made it to second on an error by shortstop Jason Bartlett, followed by a bloop single by Dustin Pedroia, but Drew popped out and Manny fouled out to squelch the threat.

The seventh was deja vu of the fifth - Moss two out single, Cora shit the bed. Then the eighth represented Boston's best chance yet to take control of the game once and for all, but again the inept offense couldn't get the job done.

Ellsy (stop me if you've heard this before) reached on a error by pitcher J.P. Howell to lead off the frame, then stole second in front of a walk to the Little Big Man, and with Drew, Manny and Lowell due up it was rally time for sure, right?

Wrong.

Drew inexplicably watched three straight mid-80s pitches from the junkballer Howell go right down the plate to earn the statuesque strikeout (June's over, guess he's back to being Nancy), and after Manny (0-3, BB, K) drew a walk from newly inserted Balfour to load the bases, Lowell grounded out meekly to short, and the Sox hopes to pull this game out might as well have died right there.

I only say that because Tito called upon the Boston pen to keep it a one run game, and lately that's like asking Nick Hogan to drive your kids to school.

Craig Hansen, he of the nasty 95 mph stuff, walked Carlos Pena and Cliff Floyd sandwiched between a couple of outs, and then for some reason Francona thought Manny Delcarmen would be a better candidate to get out of the jam than the similarly armed Hansen.

Delcarmen, he of the nasty 95 mph stuff, went to 2-2 on Navarro before the portly catcher laced a single into center to score Longoria with the all too important insurance run, and with the way Boston had been batting it might as well have been 13-1 instead of 3-1.

Turns out the run was big (what a shock) when Cora miraculously lined a two out double down the third base line to keep the Sox hopes alive, but Balfour (1.1IP, 1H, 1BB, 3K), juiced up on adrenaline, get Jason Varitek to strike out to end the game and the Trop nearly imploded under the joyous screams of all the new Rays fans.

Two games, two putrid performances and a 2 1/2 game deficit in the AL East. If the Sox don't find a way to hit Rays ace Scott Kazmir tomorrow night, and Dice-K doesn't reprise his outing from last Friday in Houston, it's gonna be a long trip to the Bronx for this team.

So I suggest the boys eschew the temptations of Ybor City and Channelside tonight and hit the sack early.

After all, they can't hit anything else here.

RECORD: 50-36
AL EAST: 2nd, 2 1/2 GB
STREAK: L4
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Wed @ TB 710 Matsuzaka vs. Kazmir

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Rays take Round 1 despite late Sox rally

Rays 5, Sox 4
WP: Shields (6-5)
LP: Masterson (4-2)
SV: Howell (2)
HRs: BOS-Drew (16); TB-Upton (6), Gross (6)

SUMMARY:
James Shields out dueled a shaky Justin Masterson and Tampa Bay used two big home runs and survived an odd ninth inning to take the first game of this series, increasing its lead over the Sox to a game and a half in the AL East.

#1 STUNNER: Gabe Gross 2-2, R, 2BB, 2BI, HR
Acquired in a late May in a deal with the Brewers the part time right fielder had the biggest hit of his Tampa Bay career when he drove a monstrous two-run blast into the right field seats to give the Rays a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 4th.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Julio Lugo 0-4
The useless former Ray ended four innings tonight against his former team, the worst coming when he left the tying run stranded at third as he lined out to shortstop to end the game.

Has this loser ever had a big hit in all his time with Boston?

RECAP:
What's worse than being a Sox fan and having to deal with this humbling loss?

Being a Sox fan living in the Tampa Bay area and having to deal with this loss.

For the first time since God created his own personal waiting room down here on the Sun Coast of Florida myself and all the other New England transplants do not own bragging rights over the once feeble legion of Rays followers.

And lemme tell you its a strange feeling indeed.

Everywhere I go everyone's clamoring about the new and improved Rays, and when they find out I'm a Sox fan I receive death stares, boos, hisses and insults not fit to reprint in a family blog.

Which is fine, because being a Boston sports fan I know it's par for the course; we accepted the fact long ago that everyone who's not one of us hates us. No biggie.

But for the better part of this decade we could always fall back on the number one argument stopper when it came time to shut the yahoos up: scoreboard. Now these pesky fucking upstart Rays have taken that hard earned privilege away from us, and if we don't take it back soon things are gonna start getting ugly down here.

Because there's so many members of RSN South here we'll turn this fucking tranquil tropical paradise into a mini Southie if they're not fucking careful.

Sorry, I let myself get carried away a bit there. Let's get back to the game.

To say the night started off poorly for Boston would be a massive understatement.

Tampa Bay starter James Shields retired the side in order in the top of the first on seven measly pitches resulting in three weak grounders, and when the Rays came to bat center fielder BJ Upton, leading off in place of suspended Akinori Iwamura, knocked Justin Masterson's first pitch of the game over the wall in straightaway center for a lightning quick 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.

It would go downhill from there.

While Shields (6.1IP, 5H, 2ER, 1BB, 5K, HR, 104P) was dealing more like he did in his complete game 2-hit shutout against Boston on April 27th than his last two starts against the Sox, where he allowed 11 runs and 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings, Masterson was having a hard time locating his pitches and seemed to behind on every batter.

In fact on the night the 23-year-old fell behind 15 of the 28 batters he faced, including 10 of the first 18 hitters at a time when he needed to establish some rhythm and control over the Rays while Shields didn't allow a hit and struck out four Sox batters through the first three innings.

But the lack of control didn't hurt Masterson (6IP, 5H, 4ER, 5BB, 5K, 2HR, 105P) early on as he used a double play grounder and a couple of one-pitch at bats to keep the Rays at bay, and his abilty to keep his team in the game paid off when the Sox finally got to Shields in the top of the fourth.

Who else could get the first hit for the Sox than the red hot Dustin Pedroia (1-4, R) as the Little Big Man hit a hard hopper to short that was bobbled by Jason Bartlett but ruled a base hit.

After J.D. Drew flew out to deep right for the second out of the inning Manny the mauler drew a four pitch walk before Mike Lowell (3-4, R, BI) ripped a scorching line drive past a diving Evan Longoria at third base to drive in Pedroia and tie the game at one.

Temporarily.

The Sox fans in the stands (and there was quite a bit fewer Nation members present at the Trop, by all accounts) had barely stopped celebrating before the Rays silenced them completely. Masterson walked Willy Aybar on four pitches with two outs in the bottom of fourth and then Gabe Gross connected on a 2-1 pitch and nearly put it through the back of the stadium, sending the pro-Rays crowd into a frenzy and giving Sox fans the feeling that this was not going to be our night.

That feeling grew as Tampa Bay tacked on single runs in the fifth on an RBI double by Carlos Pena (1-3, BI), and although Drew would stem the tide briefly when he hit his 12th homer of the month to cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth, the Rays added a key insurance run in the seventh when reliever Chris Smith loaded the bases on three walks and Javier Lopez allowed an RBI groundout by pinch hitter Jonny Gomes.

That run would prove to be a very large one indeed.

After Lopez worked out of a self-induced jam in the bottom of the eighth the Sox had one more chance to try and salvage this game in the top of the ninth. And they very nearly did.

Closer Troy Percival began the frame by striking Ramirez (0-3, Bb, 2K) out on a blazing 90 mph fastball, but then the streaking Lowell belted a double to deep left center to set the wheels in motion for aa potential game-tying rally.

Youk then sliced a ball down the third base line that Longoria overplayed but knocked down for a single that saved a run, and then something happened that you can only see at the glorious stadium known as the Trop:

Brandon Moss hit what should have been a sure pop out but got a ground rule double out of it.

The sky high shot off Moss' bat hit one of the catwalks that ring the top of the Trop, and when it landed 25 feet in front of Gross Lowell had scored, Moss stood at second base and Lowell was at third as the whole place shook their collective heads, thinking THIS is reason #1 why the Rays need a new stadium.

An even stranger thing happened at the tail end of the play as Percival pulled a hammy running to cover third base, and despite his vehement (and profane) protests to manager Joe Maddon he was removed from the game in favor of J.P. Howell.

Alas even with all the oddity and obvious anti-Rays karma working they still had one thing in their favor - Lugo at the plate - and he reminded every Rays fan why they are glad to be rid of the overpriced underachiever when he hit a soft line drive on a 3-2 pitch right at his counterpart Bartlett, and the game ended with a fizzle instead of a bang for Boston.

Round 2 tomorrow and the Sox better have a win in them or its gonna be even tougher for us ex-Pats to exist here in the Bay.

Things could get so bad I might have to head to the beach and drown my sorrows in a bucket of beer while grabbing a handful of smooth white sand.

RECORD: 50-35
AL EAST: 1 1/2 GB
STREAK: L3
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Tue @ TB

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Bullpen blows another one as Sox fall from first

Astros 3, Sox 2
WP: Aardsma (2-2)
LP: Brocail (4-3)
SV: Valverde (21)
HRs: BOS-Manny (16), Pedroia (8); HOU-Blum (5)

SUMMARY:
The Sox head to Tampa Bay having fallen out of first place for the first time since June 3rd when Hideki Okajima allowed Mark Loretta to knock in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as Boston dropped 2 of 3 in its interleague series finale.

#1 STUNNER: Loretta 1-1, GW RBI
Did anyone in the Nation have any doubt that the ex-Sox second baseman was going to drive in the winning run against the artist formerly known as Oki?

Didn't think so.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 2/3IP, 1H
Once again the numbers don't tell the story with Oki because he allowed yet another inherited runner to score in this one, making it 10 of his last 11 IRs and 12 of 15 total to cross home plate this season.

RECAP:
Another day, another shitty effort from the Boston bullpen cost the Sox and Josh Beckett a shot at what would have been a hard fought win if not for the maddening enigma that is Hideki Okajima.

How a guy who was so incredibly dominating one season can turn into one of the least reliable relievers in all of baseball the next should be the subject of Stephen King's next baseball-related tale:

The Nation That Hated Hideki.

After battling through stranded baserunners and missed opportunities all day long, Boston finally tied the game at two when Manny Ramirez hit his first home run in 15 games off Oscar Villareal with one out in the seventh inning.

That opposite field shot got Beckett (7IP, 8H, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, HR, 111P) off the hook and set up what could have been a great come-from-behind victory to close out the interleague portion of the 2008 schedule.

Instead the loss left the Sox looking up at the pesky Rays, who have won 11 of their last 15 games as the two teams get set to square off in the Trop tomorrow night.

Maybe Boston will leave Hideki in Houston.

Which brings me to my next point (pardon me while I rant but I, along with the rest of RSN, am a tad ticked off right now) - why did Tito bring in the ticking timebomb that is Oki in the 8th inning of a tie game, something he had been sterring clear of doing ever since Oki's epic meltdown in Baltimore on June 10th?

I realize the bullpen was taxed, with Hansen and Delcarmen having pitched in each of the first two games of the series and Papelbon reportedly unavailable due to a cold, but why not stick with the flamethrower Aardsma after he allowed a one out single to Miguel Tejada?

Just like the night before Aardsma, who has been Boston's most consistent reliever for the better part of this season, would have been a better candidate to get out of his own jam than the unpredictable trio of Hansen, Delcarmen and Okajima.

Plus Francona had been remiss to bring Oki in at all whenever there were runners on base due to his inordinately high percentage of allowing inherited runners to score.

But for some reason Tito went against the percentages and probabaly against his own gut instinct and brought Oki in in a situation where he had made a name for himself last season, and the Japanese lefty failed worse than a college sophomore taking his finals the day after an all-night kegger.

Aside from the beleaguered bullpen this game was a stark contrast from last night's wild and wooly affair as runs were at a premium this afternoon following the run-a-minute pace of that game.

Boston left the bases loaded in the first inning when Houston starter Brian Moehler (5.2IP, 7H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K, HR, 111P) allowed a one out single to scorching hot Dustin Pedroia and walks to J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell.

But Moehler worked out of the jam by retiring Youk on a grounder to end the inning, setting the tone for the game in which Boston left 13 runners on base.

The 'Stros got on the board first when light-hitting second baseman Geoff Blum took Beckett deep for his fifth homer of the year and fourth hit in nine career at bats against the Sox righthander.

But Boston wasted no time in tying it up when Pedroia (2-5, R, BI) blasted his 8th homer of the season to left to lead off the third inning. It was Pedroia's 8th hit in 10 at bats in the series and he has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games at a .510 (25-49) clip.

As Dan Patrick used to say, he's en fuego.

The game remained tied at one as both pitchers worked in and out of mini-jams for the next couple of innings until Houston re-took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and the rally began when Beckett comitted the cardinal sin of National league baseball: he walked the opposing pitcher.

(note: Someone needs to tell these Sox hurlers that the opposing pitcher is supposed to be a rally killer, not starter. On Friday night Daisuke Matsuzaka walked Runelvys Hernandez with one out in the third, last night Jon Lester hit Brandon Backe to ignite a five run rally in the third, and now this.)

After Michael Bourne forced Moehler at second, Hunter Pence beat out an infield single to short (typical Lugo) and then last night's hero, Lance "Big Puma" Berkman laced a single up the middle to plate Bourne with the go-ahead run.

Another bases loaded situation wenbt by the wayside for Boston when Pedroia struck out with the sacks jacked in the top of the sixth, but with Beckett holding the 'Stros at bay the Sox finally came back to tie it when Manny (2-4, R, BI) took Villareal deep to the opposite field with one out in the seventh, and suddenly it was a winnable game again.

But Boston blew another golden oppportunity to take the lead when Villareal followed Manny's longball by allowing a bloop infield single by Lowell and walking Youk and last night's winner Doug Brocail came in to retire Tek and Lugo to end the threat.

Then the bottom fell out in the last half of the eighth when Aardsma (1/3IP, 1H, 1R) allowed a slicing single to Tejada after a lengthy at bat and Francona made the call to the pen for Okajima.

Three pitches in to his outing the reliever bounced a pitch that got by Tek and sent Tejada to second base, and with Oki's confidence at an all time low Houston manager Cecil Cooper sent Loretta, who hit a monster 3-run homer last night, up to bat for Brocail, and the ex-Sox delivered another big hit when he smacked a single into center to easily score Tejada with what turned out to be the game-winning (or losing) run.

Boston made a little noise in the ninth when Manny walked off closer Jose Valverde, but Lowell barely beat out a double play ball at first and then Youk flied out to end it, and the sox had suffered the indignity of losing two of three to a team that had lost 12 of its last 17 games coming into the series.

So it;s off to the Trop to take on the loaded for bear Rays, and with first place on the line and the bad blood still simmering from this month's Raysbrawl affair, tensions should be high and the action should be hot and heavy under the teflon-tarped dome.

Hopefully I'll be there for a couple of the contests to give a first hand account of all the festivities.

And Hopefully Boston will win a couple of the contests, too.

RECORD: 50-34
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: L2
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Mon @ TB 7:05 Masterson vs. Shields

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Dice-K strikes back with solid effort in win over Houston

Sox 6, Astros 1
WP: Matsuzaka (9-1)
LP: Hernandez (0-1)
SV: Papelbon (24)
HRs: BOS-Drew (15); HOU-Abercrombie (1)

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox began a(nother) 10-game road trip with an impressive victory over the unimpressive Astros. Daisuke Matsuzaka bounced back from a horrible start to earn the win and J.D. Drew provided all the offense the team would need with a three-run bomb off emergency starter Runelvys Hernandez in the third inning.

Boston outhit Houston 12-4, with 7 of the knocks coming from Pedroia and Youkilis.

#1 STUNNER: Drew 1-3, R, 2BB, HR, 3BI
Mired in a 2-19 skid and coming off sitting out the finale of the Arizona series due to Randy Johnson syndrome, errr a stiff neck, Drew picked back up where he began the month by hitting another huge home run.

Honorable mention: Matsuzaka 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 3BB, 4K, 87P
An excellent effort by the Sox top starter allows everyone to breath a sigh of relief that Boston's $101 million investment has not turned into a broken down bust.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Hideki Okajima 2/3IP, 2H, 1R, 0BB, 0K, HR, 15P
While everyone has been worrying about Dice-K's health, it's Boston's other Japanese import who is now causing brows to furrow throughout the Nation. This month the unconventional lefty has allowed 9 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings of work, raising his ERA from 0.72 to 3.21.

I mean seriously, what's wrong with this guy?

Dishonorable mention: Manny Ramirez 0-4, K
Manny is now mired in a 2-15 slump and hasn't homered in 13 games or knocked in a run in his last 10 contests. Can you say power outage?

RECAP:
You can put away the rosaries and stop pounding sake. Everything appears to be okay with Dice-K.

After suffering his worst loss since he came to the Sox in his last outing, his first since spending nearly a month on the DL, Daisuke Matsuzaka made up for that horror show against the Cardinals with a strong showing tonight in Boston's first ever trip to Houston's Minute Maid Park.

Thanks to a potent offensive attack and a strong effort on the back end by Jonathan Papelbon, Matsuzaka finally earned his ninth victory of the season, 36 days after he logged his then league leading eighth win on May 22nd against the Royals.

In fact it's been so long since his last victory Hillary Clinton was still running for President, the Celtics hadn't won title #17, and people thought the Happening might actually be a good movie.

Yeah, that's how long ago.

Before we get too exited that the shoulder trouble that sidelined Daisuke for a month is all in the past let me state that he didn't have an absolute lights out performance tonight.

For example he barely made it through the requisite five innings to earn the win when he loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth before inducing David Newhan to pop out to shortstop to preserve the Sox shutout.

He also walked three batters, including Astros starter Runelvys Hernandez, who hadn't hit in a major league game since September of 2006, and struck out twice at the plate himself.

But the good far outweighed the bad for Matsuzaka this evening, and it was apparent from the start that this outing would be quite different from the last time he took the mound one week ago tonight.

In that game six St. Louis batters reached base in the first innings as the Cards jumped out to a four run lead, and the carnage continued in the second inning when Dice-K loaded the bases with no outs on a single and a pair of walks.

Tonight was the exact opposite of that as Matsuzaka not only didn't allow a run or base runner in the first inning, but he began the game by striking out the side with all three batters swinging at strike three.

Talk about night and day.

After putting three batters on in the first two innings Boston finally broke through in the third against Hernandez (5IP, 5H, 3ER, 3BB, 5K), who was called up to start in place of disgraced/released starter Shawn Chacon.

Matsuzaka led off with a strikeout before Coco Crisp drew a one out walk and Dustin Pedroia (3-4, 2R, 2B, BI, BB) followed with a ringing double to left field. Three pitches later J.D. Drew slammed a towering, titanic blast to right that banged off the facade of the upper deck for a key three run bomb, and just like that Dice-K had some breathing room to work with.

It was a good thing, too, because had the game been scoreless who knows how he would have handled the pressure packed situation he faced in the fifth.

Geoff Blum lined out to right to begin the frame, but then Hunter Pence walked and Humberto Quintero singled to right to set up runners at second and third with one out.

Darin Erstad (I know, he's still alive!) pinch hit for the pitcher and promptly struck out, and it looked like Matsuzaka would escape the jam easily. But he walked Michael Boure to load the bases, and suddenly it was finger nail biting time in the Boston dugout.

Before they could reach the cuticles Dice-K got David Newhan to pop out harmlessly to short on a wicked breaking ball, and with that Houdini act Matsuzaka's night was over.

The Sox scored another run when Julio Lugo led off the seventh with a bloop single to right and two outs later Pedroia drove him in with a sharp single to center, and although they missed out on a golden opportunity to blow the game open when Youk (4-5) and Tek both singled with one out in the eighth, with Boston sporting a four run lead and just six outs to go this one was all but over.

And then Hideki Okajima entered the game.

The embattled Boston reliever has been tattooed more than Eddie House the past month, and tonight would be no different.

After getting ex-Sox second sacker Mark Loretta to fly out to open the inning, Bourne took an Okajima offering all the way to the left field wall before Jacoby Ellsbury caught it on the track.

The next time he wouldn't be so lucky.

Pinch hitter Reggie Abercrombie, who has only appeared in 155 games in his career and has just seven homers to his credit, turned on a 2-2 pitch from Oki and deposited it on that silly train track the 'Stros have way up at the top of the stadium, and just like that the shutout was gone and the game was on.

When Miguel Tejada followed that blast with a ringing single off the left field scoreboard Tito had seen enough of Oki's antics and brought in Paps to nail it down.

A strikeout of Lance Berkman (1-4) ended the inning, and when Boston tacked on a couple more runs on a two run single by Mike Lowell in the ninth this one was in the bag.

Sure enough paps tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save, and Boston had it second straight impressive win against a lesser National League opponent.

In those two wins the Sox have outscored the opposition 11-1, outhit them 24-7, and generally outplayed the mediocre competition of the senior circuit.

And with Dice-K looking healthier, Drew still mashing longballs and Pedroia and Youk hotter than asphalt in August, things are looking good for the team.

Although they still just have a slim 1/2 game lead over those pesky Rays.

They'll have to take care of that problem starting Monday.

RECORD: 50-32
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: W3
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sat @ HOU 7:05 Lester vs. Backe

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Sox Cash in on superb outing by Wakefield

Sox 5, D-Backs 0
WP: Wakefield (5-5)
LP: Johnson (4-6)
SV: Papelbon (23)
HRs: BOS-Cash (1)

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox rebounded from a string of sub par games by executing a near-perfect performance in the series finale with the Diamondbacks. Tim Wakefield tossed seven shutout innings, battery mate Kevin Cash hit his first homer since 2005, and the Sox outhit Arizona 12-3 in the rubber match.

#1 STUNNER: Wake 7IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 6K, 94P
Boy, when that knuckler is working it's like a work of art. Of course when it's not it resembles torture porn, so thankfully tonight it was working.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Eric Byrnes 0-4, 1K
I know he just came off the DL prior to the start of this series, but the D-Backs leadoff hitter was 1-13 in the three games, failing to provide the spark this slumping club needed.

RECAP:
Old beat older tonight as Boston's ancient warrior Tim Wakefield out dueled Arizona's grizzled vet Randy Johnson in a battle for the aged.

No word if the AARP protested on Yawkey Way.

But the way these two guys pitched tonight, you would have to think that the other old folks are pissed at being shown up by a couple of 40-something hurlers who have no business getting hitters out with such alarming regularity as these two.

Johnson, 44, known for his lanky frame, lousy haircut and high '90s fastball, threw his best game in over a month but got nothing to show for it because once again his anemic offense couldn't give him any run support.

That was mostly due to the fact that his soft-tossing counterpart Wakefield, 41, was baffling the D-Backs' batters with an array of butterflies, moths and other assorted flittery flying flutterballs.

It was an interesting study in contrasts in what was the oldest mound match up in a Red Sox game since 1965, and the most interesting part was that the slower, young guy beat the faster, old guy, but not by much.

In fact both geezers were pretty damn awesome this evening, giving instant credence to the term "forty is the new twenty".

(Sorry, something happened with this post and the rest of it got erased. Here's the finished version)

I said up above that the Sox pulled off a near-perfect performance tonight, and the reason it was "near" perfect and not absolutely perfect is because they missed out on quite a few chances to blow the D-Backs out of the park.

For example, Boston put the first two men on base in the second inning when Mike Lowell led off with a single and Coco Crisp (3-4, R) followed with the first of his three doubles on the evening.

Two on (in scoring position) + no outs = big inning, right?

Ah, no. Kevin Cash lined to center, Brandon Moss (0-3, 2BI) got one run home with a ground out, and after Julio Lugo walked, Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to the Unit and the Sox had to settle for just the one run.

After that the two hurlers traded scoreless innings for a while, scattering a hit here and a walk there but not really encountering any trouble.

Boston had another golden opportunity to add to the lead when Lugo led off the fifth with a double off the Monster and then stole third one out later, but after Pedroia (3-5) reached on an infield single to short Kevin Youkilis, returning to the lineup after receiving that nasty bump below his eye and sporting some funky sunglasses, bounced into an inning ending double play to kill the rally.

The Sox did get another run home in the sixth when once again Lowell (2-3, BB, 3R) singled and Coco doubled (deja vu), but after Cash was intentionally walked to load the bases, all Boston could muster was a sac fly by Moss for another solitary run and a 2-0 lead that could have been five or six-zip.

Ugh!

The good news about that frame is that it was Johnson's last. Although he pitched well (6IP, 8H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, 109P), working in and out of all those jams raised his pitch count and it was time for the ole' mullet man to get some rest.

And it didn't take long for Boston to break it open against Arizona's pen men.

Juan Cruz allowed a two out double by Youk (1-4) in the seventh but escaped that spot, and after Manny Delcarmen tossed a 1-2-3 eighth with two Ks, the Sox tagged Cruz in the bottom of the inning to blow the game open.

Lowell walked to lead off the frame and then Cruz (1IP, 3H, 3ER, 1BB, 2K, HR, 36P) surrendered Crisp's third double of the game three pitches later.

Then, after an epic 8-pitch at bat, the slender right hander gave up Cash's first home run since June of 2005, a titanic blast that cleared the Monster, and finally the Sox had some breathing room at 5-0.

The breathing was a bit labored, though, thanks to Craig Hansen loading the bases on two walks and an infield hit in the ninth inning.

But Tito called on Paps as soon as the game became a save situation, and the closer needed just five pitches to dispatch Chad Tracy on strikes to save the game and wrap up the series win.

So the Sox ended up salvaging the home stand, ending up with a 3-3 record when it could easily have been 1-5, and the team will get a day off before starting the final interleague series of the year in Houston on Friday.

After that a first place showdown awaits with a trip to the Trop to face the Rays, and hopefully by this time next week the boys will have a comfortable lead in the East as the prepare to face the Feeble Empire in the Bronx.

RECORD: 49-32
AL EAST: Up 1 gm (damn Rays!)
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Thu-Off; Fri @ Houston 8:05 Matsuzaka vs. Hernandez

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The comeback kings return, just in the nick of time

Sox 5, D-Backs 4
WP: Smith (1-0)
LP: Qualls (1-6)
SV: Papelbon (22)
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (7); ARI-Tracy (4)

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat tonight when they plated four runs in the eighth inning to overcome a 4-1 deficit and eke out a one-run win. Mike Lowell tied the game with a 2-run double and Jason Varitek won it with an RBI single, giving rookie reliever Chris Smith his first major league victory.

#1 STUNNER: Smith 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K, 28P
Lowell and Tek both had clutch two-out hits that allowed the Sox to pull out the win, but they're supposed to do that shit. Smith bouncing back from allowing a grand slam to his second major league batter on Saturday to pitch two no-hit innings and earn his first ML win - that deserves star of the game honors.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Chad Qualls 2/3IP, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 1K, 24P
With a line score like this he might want to go back to being a DJ.

RECAP:
Let me start off by saying I missed most of this game due to technical difficulties with my Extra Innings package.

The picture would flash on and off in spurts, freeze at some points, and go black at other times.

It got so bad that I was frustrated to the point of watching the premiere of "Wipeout", that Americanized/ESPN-ized version of "MXC" that ABC shoved down our throats throughout the entire NBA Finals, which wasn't so bad because from what I could gather from GameCast the Sox were getting wiped out as well.

In between blank screens I found out that Dustin Pedroia put the Sox ahead 1-0 in the first inning with a titanic blast off Arizona starter Doug Davis, but the 'Backs tied it right up in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Chad Tracy off Justin Masterson (6IP, 7H, 4ER, 4BB, 4K, HR, 101P).

While I was watching a bunch of effeminate dudes and one pretty hot chick getting covered in mud, blasted in the package and bouncing face first off giant balls (teehee, get it?), Arizona was busy taking the lead when light-hitting Tracy (3-4, 1R, 4BI) launched an 0-1 pitch from Masterson over the Red Sox bullpen for a three run homer and a 4-1 Diamondbacks lead.

Speaking of a blast in the package.

Luckily the score stayed that way for a while because I missed all the action in between, like Masterson working out of two on, two out situations in the fourth and fifth innings and Boston doing absolutely nothing off Davis (7IP, 3H, 3ER, 1BB, 6K, HR, 98P) after the first inning and prior to the eighth.

By the time my reception got back to 21st century standards it was the bottom of the eighth inning and Jacoby Ellsbury had just singled to right to put runners at first and second (evidently Julio Lugo had just singled as well) with nobody out.

That development got Davis, who has now tossed three straight quality starts and has nothing to show for it, removed from the game in favor of Chad Qualls, a move that backfired on Arizona manager Bob Melvin worse than New Coke.

Pedroia (2-4, 2R, 2BI) worked the count by fouling off four consecutive pitches before driving a single into center field to score Lugo and cut the deficit to 4-2, and with two on, no one out and JD Drew and Manny Ramirez coming up it looked like the Sox were going to break this one wide open.

But then Qualls got the suddenly slumping Drew (0-4, 2 for his last 19) to strike out, and one pitch later Manny grounded out to third, although he did advance the runners up a base.

That little piece of fundamental baseball proved to be mighty advantageous for Boston
because Mike Lowell (2-3, 1R, 2BI) took a 2-0 pitch from Qualls and popped it off the Monster for a clutch-as-hell two run double that tied the game at four and brought the Faithful back to life.

But the heroics didn't end there.

Up stepped captain Tek, who just snapped a career-worst 0-24 skid last night with a double off of Dan Haren and was mired in a brutal 1-30 stretch entering this at bat.

After looking at strike one from Qualls, the captain said "what fucking slump?" as he dropped a single into right field that scored Lowell with what wound up being the game winning run, provided Papelbon could brush off a couple of recent blown saves and nail down the win in the ninth.

Eric Byrnes (1-4) made things interesting when he worked Paps for a 9-pitch at bat that resulted in a base on balls with one out, but the steely closer buckled down and got Stephen Drew to strike out and Orlando Hudson to ground out to end the game, and Boston had a much needed come from behind victory to stay one game ahead of the Rays in the East.

The crisis may have been averted tonight but the Sox are still an extra inning home run and a couple of clutch two out hits away from an 0-5 record on this home stand, and if they don't start getting it together soon those effing Rays will overtake them for first place.

And that would be a HUGE blast to the package.

NOTES:
-Yoooouuuuk!: Kevin Youkilis, still recovering from the shiner he received courtesy of an errant warm up toss from Lowell last night, came on in the 9th inning as a defensive replacement for Brandon Moss and fielded the last out of the game, ironically a semi-low throw from Lowell

-Rem Dog honored: it was Jerry Remy day at the ballpark as the club honored the likable Sox second baseman turned analyst turned president of Red Sox Nation with a lengthy pregame ceremony. The cool thing was Extra Innings decided to carry the event live as a bonus for subscribers. The bad news was between the pregame rain and my shitty reception, I barely got to see any of it

-Speaking of rain: for the third straight game the start was delayed by showers, this time for 36 minutes. The two previous contests saw 32 and 50 minute interruptions

RECORD: 48-32
AL EAST: Up 1 gm
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Wed vs. ARI 7:05 ESPN2 Johnson vs. Wakefield

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Sox lose Youk and another game at Fenway

D-Backs 2, Sox 1
WP: Haren (8-4)
LP: Beckett (7-5)
SV: Lyon (16)
HRs: None

SUMMARY:
Boston lost for the third time in four games when Dan Haren out dueled Josh Beckett in a well-pitched nail biter at Fenway.

More costly than the game, though, was the injury suffered by Kevin Youkilis who caught a between innings bad hop below the eye, forcing him to leave the game and leaving the Sox shorthanded on the bench with Sean Casey serving his Raysbrawl suspension.

#1 STUNNER: Haren 7IP, 2H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K, 98P
The man who had never won at Fenway tossed an absolute gem at the old ballyard tonight by limiting the potent Sox lineup to a pair of hits and a base on balls.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Beckett 8IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, 8K, 115P
I know he pitched a whale of a game himself, but when the game was winding down and the sphincters were tightening up, Becks folded like a TV tray in a 33-pitch seventh inning when Arizona scored both its runs.

The Josh Beckett of 2007 would not have allowed that to happen.

RECAP:
The Boston Red Sox are kings of their castle no more.

After losing just seven out of its first 35 games at home, suddenly the Sox have dropped three of four in the perhaps too friendly confines of Fenway.

Making matters worse is who they've lost to - an overachieving bunch of scrappy nobodies from St. Louie, and now to a slumping Diamondbacks squad that had dropped 9 of its last 12 games away from the desert and owned a 19-29 mark against teams outside of the squishy soft NL West.

Adding injury to insult was the loss of Sunday's extra innings hero Kevin Youkilis, who caught a bad hop from a Mike Lowell throw while warming up before the fifth inning and had to leave the game when a large black and blue bulge appeared under his right eye socket.

The injury didn't appear to be serious and normally it wouldn't have affected the Sox all that much had Sean Casey been able to come in and back Youk up.

But Casey was unavailable as he began serving his Raysbrawl suspension today (figures), and the incident did end up coming back to cost the team later on when Brandon Moss misplayed a routine grounder into what ended up being the game-winning run.

Guess we can blame it on the Rays. (cue Reggae Paps and Manny D)

For six innings, though, this game was all about the starting pitchers. Haren and Beckett were sporting near-identical records and ERAs coming in to this one, and both were being counted on to pick up the slack from slumping star starters, Brandon Webb and Daisuke Matsuka.

And after a 30+ minute rain delay at the start of the game, both hurlers did just that.

Beckett allowed a two out double in the first inning to Orlando Hudson, another two bagger to Justin Upton with one out in the third, and an infield single to Chris Young with one down in the sixth and that was it for Arizona base runners in the first six innings.

Becks had all his pitches working as he flummoxed the helpless 'Backs batters with a variety of splitters, vertigo-inducing curve balls and filthy heaters; poor Chad Tracy struck out three times on the night against Beckett, all looking.

But as good as Beckett was Haren was a bit better. The only base runners he allowed early on were on a lead off double by Varitek in the third, which broke an 0-24 skid for the captain, and a walk to Jacoby Ellsbury two outs later. That's it.

Sure he wasn't blowing guys away or leaving looking perplexed at the plate like Beckett, but he was getting the job done by doing whatever it took to stop the best lineup in baseball, including going parallel to the ground to snag a botched bunt by Coco Crisp immediately following Tek's double.

In any case both guys were untouchable for the first 2/3 of the game.

And then came the seventh.

It began ominously when Beckett walked his first batter of the game to lead off the inning, Conor Jackson, and progressively got worse as after Tracy struck out (again) Mark Reynolds (1-3, R, BB, 2K) blooped a single to shallow left to set up runners at first and second with one out.

That wouldn't be so bad except where Beckett was breezing earlier he was now laboring, and when Chris Young stepped to the plate with the chance to break the scoreless tie Josh had already thrown 16 pitches in the inning.

Seconds later Young (2-3, 2B, BI) crushed an 0-1 pitch off the Monster for an RBI double, and even though it was just 1-0 I got the feeling the Sox were not gonna win this one.

It was almost as if Beckett had to throw a complete game shutout to ensure a Sox victory tonight.

If that ball that nearly put a hole in the wall wasn't proof enough then the next play just about sealed the deal. With men on second and third Tito had the infield playing in to prevent the run from scoring, and it looked like the strategy would work out when Beckett got Chris Snyder to tap a 3-0 pitch to Moss, who took over at first for Youk.

Except the novice first baseman bobbled the easy grounder, and by the time he found the handle the only play was to tag the runner coming down the line as Reynolds scored to put the Backs up 2-0.

But the way Haren was pitching it might as well have been 12-0.

Boston did get to the tiring righthander in the bottom of the inning when Haren hit Manny (0-3) on a 3-2 count and allowed a single to Mike Lowell one pitch later, but he quickly retired Moss and Tek to escape the mini-jam and end his evening.

A better chance to get this one in the win column fell by the wayside when Boston loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off reliever Tony Pena, Jr.

But after J.D. Drew's sac fly got the Sox on the board, Reynolds make a spectacular snag on a laser beam line drive by Manny down the third base line that would have surely tied the game or gave the Sox the lead but instead ended the inning, and that was that.

After David Aardsma worked his way into and out of a bases loaded jam of his own in the ninth, ex-Sox reliever Brandon Lyon needed just five pitches to dispatch his former team in the bottom of the inning to put a bow on this hard-fought, well-played but ultimately frustrating game for Boston.

If the Sox don't take the next two games it could be time to push the panic button in Beantown. And with trade rumors already swirling regarding this team every game from here until the trade deadline will be like a three hour version of American League Idol.

RECORD: 47-32
AL EAST: Up 1 gm
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Tue vs. ARI 7:05 Davis vs. Masterson

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Deja Youk: Homer wins it in extra innings after Paps blows save

Sox 5, Cards 3 (13)
WP: Lopez (2-0)
LP: Parisi (0-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Youk, 2 (13); STL:None

SUMMARY:
For the second weekend in a row Jonathan Papelbon blew a save with two outs in the 9th against a National League club, and for the second straight Sunday Kevin Youkilis bailed out his dance-impaired teammate with an extra inning homer. This one came with one on in the bottom of the 13th and helped Boston avoid the sweep and remain in first place.

#1 STUNNER: Youk 2-5, 2R, BB, 3BI, 2HR
His second multi-homer game of the season ended with the first walk-off shot of his career, and it's safe to say Paps owes him an expensive steak dinner for the latest save he provided for his closer.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Rick Ankiel 0-6, 2K
Not only did the ex-pitcher, ex-juicer have a lousy day at the plate, but in the 8th inning the Cards' centerfielder fell after over-running a ball hit by Coco Crisp that wound up as a leadoff triple and allowed the Sox to tie the game.

RECAP:
Wow. This game had more going on than a CGI-laden summer blockbuster.

It was a pitcher's duel as both starters, Joel Pineiro and Jon Lester, threw seven solid innings of two-run ball.

It was a pitcher's nightmare, evidenced by Paps' blown save and Mike Parisi's blown game. Also, Hideki Okajima allowed 5 base runners in 1 2/3 innings and Chris Perez walked three straight batters to force in the go-ahead run in the seventh.

It's was a hitter's heaven, with the two team's combining for 29 hits. Seven players had at least two hits, two guys racked up three knocks, Dustin Pedroia ripped four hits and Aaron Miles tallied five base hits on the day.

It was a hitter's hell, as Ankiel went 0-6, Troy Glaus 0-4, and Jason Varitek and red-hot J.D. Drew both suffered through 0-5 afternoons.

It had highs & lows, "ahhhhs" and groans, and a couple of plays that made you sit and scratch your head.

Did I mention it was delayed by rain for nearly an hour at the start and there were 13 pitchers used today?

Let's just hope there's not a sequel in the near future.

The craziest part about the game was that it started out as an ordinary pitcher's duel, with both St. Louis starter/ex-Sox hurler Pineiro (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 0BB, 1K, 1HR, 81P) and Sox lefty Lester escaping numerous jams early to keep the game scoreless for five innings.

With 29 combined hits and just 8 runs scored, you gotta figure there were a lot of men left on base, which there were, but there were also four double plays, a caught stealing and a runner gunned out at the plate that combined to keep the score down and the pitch count up (362 total) in this game.

In fact in the first four innings the teams hit into three double plays and two fielder's choices which killed a few potential rallies, but the Cards finally broke the seal when they scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back doubles and an RBI single by Ryan Ludwick (1-6, BI).

Lester (7IP, 9H, 2ER, 1BB, 3K, 101P) worked his way out of that situation without any further damage, and Boston sliced the lead in half in the next inning when Youk hit a solo shot over the Monster with two outs in the seventh.

And this is when things started to get wild.

Boston finally got Pineiro, who was signed by the Sox prior to last season and was at one point going be the closer for the club, out of the game when Ankiel misplayed Coco's routine flyball into a leadoff triple to start the eighth.

On came reliever Chris Perez, and soon the St. Louis lead would disappear in a sea of bad pitches.

Julio Lugo worked the count to 3-1 before driving a ball to right to score Coco easily, and thanks to Ankiel's blunder the game was tied at two.

After getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out for the second out of the inning, Perez allowed a single to Pedroia (4-5, 2 2Bs, R), and after the Little Big Man stole second, the St. Louis righty walked Drew, Manny and Mike Lowell to force in Pedroia with the go ahead run, 3-2.

Perez did strike out Youk with the bases loaded to end the inning, but needing just three outs and with Paps on the mound it appeared as if the game was over.

Ah, not so fast Faithful.

Last Saturday Papelbon entered the game in Cincinnati with Boston leading the Reds 4-3 when Edwin Encarnacion took the closer deep with two outs and two strikes to send the game into extra innings, where Youk and Coco hit back-to-back jacks in the 10th to win the gaame.

Couldn't happen twice in the span of 8 days, right?

Well, it didn't happen exactly like that, but when Papelbon walked Chris Duncan with two outs it did bring up similar feelings of "not again". After all, it was just paps' fifth bases on balls he had issued this season.

Sure enough pinch hitter Adam Kennedy (3-3, BI) drilled a fat fastball into deep center, and this time it was Coco's turn to misplay the ball as he got a bad jump on it, came in first then went back as the ball helplessly bounced off the base of the wall and Duncan came around to score the tying run.

And the park was shrouded in silence.

Paps (1IP, 1H, 1ER, 1BB, 2K, 19P) bounced back to get Skip Schumaker to ground out to end the inning, but the damaage was done and it was time for the emotional closer to take out his frustrations on his mitt in the dugout.

After the Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, the next three innings went simialr to the first three - plenty of baserunners, but nobody scoring.

Hideki Okajima took over for Paps in the top of the 10th, and Oki did his best Timlin impersonation when he gave up a single and a walk sandwiched around an out before retiting the last two batters to escape the jam.

Boston, meanwhile, got a leadoff double from Ellsbury in the bottom of the 10th, got him to third on a sac bunt by Pedroia, but left him stranded when Drew struck out and pinch hitter Sean Casey flew out.

Oki (1.2IP, 4H, BB, K, 28P) was no better in the 11th as he allowed singles to Yadier Molina, Kennedy and Aaron Miles (5-6) before Craig Hansen came in and struck out Ludwick to squelch the rally.

The frustrations continued in the bottom of the inning when Lowell (3-5, R, BI, BB) led off with a two bagger and Youk and Coco walked, but Jason Isringhausen struck out Alex Cora and ellsy to squelch that threat.

Is this thing ever gonna fucking end?!

Hansen tossed a 1-2-3 12th before Boston got yet another leadoff double in the bottom of the inning, but Pedroia was nailed at third on a bouncer back to the mound and then casey hit into a double play to sq....ah screw it.

The game finally wrapped up in spectacular fashion in the 13th inning, which was an unlucky frame for St. Louis but proved to be very lucky for Boston.

After Javier Lopez releived Hansen with one out to face Duncan the slumping Cards' first baseman drove a double into deep center, and one pitch later Kennedy lined a single to right that looked like it would plate the go-ahead run.

But as Drew ran in and scooped up the ball, Duncan barrelled around third, and instead of trying to slide under Tek's tag Duncan tried to plow him over. Bad move.

Tek hung on to the ball and applied the tag and a disgruntled Duncan was out at the plate, and two pitches later Schumaker flied out to set up Youk's heroics.

Lowell led off the frame with a single to left and five pitches later Youk unloaded on a Mike Parisi fastball and drilled it over the Monster for a long-awaited walk-off homer, and finally this 5 1/2+ hour (with delay) marathon was over.

So the Sox avoided what would have been the first Fenway sweep since 2006 and enlatged its lead in the east with the Rays loss to the Astros.

Next up is a series with the slumping Diamondbacks, and its safe to say the Sox could use a herculean effort from Josh Beckett so the rest of the staff can get some rest after this wild and wooly affair.

RECORD: 47-31
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Mon vs. ARI 705 Haren vs. Beckett

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Matsuzaka gets blitzed as Sox lose 2nd straight at Fenway

Cardinals 9, Sox 3
WP: Boggs (2-0)
LP: Matsuzaka (8-1)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Drew (14); STL: Glaus (10), Miles (1), Ankiel (12)

SUMMARY:
Daisuke Matsuzaka made his first start since going on the DL almost a month ago, and he looked as rusty as an old swing set; he allowed 9 baserunners in one+ inning of work, and rookie reliever Chris Smith did him no favors by giving up a grand slam to the second batter he faced after coming in with no outs in the second inning.

The loss was the Sox 2nd straight at Fenway, only the second time this year they've lost two in a row at home.

#1 STUNNER: Troy Glaus 2-4, 2R, 4BI, BB, GS
The surly, burly third baseman has been hot in June, and his seventh homer of the month was a doozy as his second inning granny off Smith blew the game open and turned the last eight innings into yard work time.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Matsuzaka 1IP, 6H, 7ER, 3BB, 1K, HR, 48P
We all knew the guy would need some time to round back into form, especially with just one rehab start under his belt. But this outing could be considered a major step backward for the previously unbeaten starter. He. Had. Nothing.

RECAP:
Well that didn't go too well now, did it?

On a picturesque day at Fenway in front of a national TV audience, with its full compliment of players in the lineup and its winningest starter on the mound, it appeared as if a Sox victory was all but certain.

And then the game started, and it quickly became apparent that not only would Boston probably not win this game, but it might lose it in humiliating fashion.

Less than an hour into the game the Sox trailed 8-0, and any hopes of winning this series and Matsuzaka earning his 9th victory of the season were gone in a barrage of Red Bird base hits and bases on balls.

The Cards opened up an industrial strength-sized can of whup ass on Dice-K and the Sox this afternoon, and by the time the second inning was over the team was in worse shape than before Matsuzaka came back from his shoulder injury.

Suddenly the once solid staff is in a spot of trouble, because in the last few days Bartolo Colon and Mike Timlin have gone on the DL, Curt Schilling has all but called it a career, Hideki Okajima has developed a case of Steve Blass disease, and now it appears Daisuke's problems may be more than what a quick trip to the DL can cure.

Is it too late to trade for Santana?

It was obvious right from the beginning that Matsuzaka was either not fully recovered from his sore shoulder or just real, real, rusty. He walked the first batter of the game, the immortal Skip Schumaker, on five pitches that weren't really close to the strike zone, then surrendered a two-run homer to Aaron Miles for a lightning-quick 2-0 St. Louis lead.

Following last night's theme of the Cardinals scrubs doing the damage it was the light-hitting Miles' first homer since last September.

Unfortunately before he was out of the inning Dice K would let every one get in on the act as he followed the longball by allowing a single to Ryan Ludwick, a one out single to Troy Glaus, and after a ground ball moved the runners into scoring position, a two-run single by Jason LaRue (2-5, 2BI) pushed the lead to 4-0 before the Faithful had downed their first $9.00 beer.

Boston looked like it might jump right back in it when Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a leadoff double down the left field line, but rookie Mitchell Boggs, making his third career start in his fourth career appearance, got Pedroia, Drew and Manny to fly out to left, center and right, and before we knew it Matsuzaka was back on the mound.

But not for long.

Second verse, same as the first. Only worse.

Schumaker walked, again, for the second time in two innings, and then Miles (2-5, 2R, 2BI) dumped a single to center and Ludwick walked and the Cards had the bases loaded with no outs and it was all the fans could do to keep from booing Matsuzaka off the field.

Luckily for him this is the kinder, gentler, more forgiving post-titles Fenway crowd.

Mercifully Francona made the trip to the mound to pull his piss-poor starter, and on came rookie Chris Smith, who had been up and down from Pawtucket three times this year without ever getting into a game.

So he gets to come into a bases loaded, not outs jam with Ankiel and Glaus due up.

Welcome to the bigs, kid.

Things looked promising at first when the 27-year-old righty got Ankiel to strike out on three straight knee-bending breakers, but when he tried a similar tact with Glaus the strapping third baseman caught up to a hanging curve and swiftly deposited it into the seats above the Monster, and at 8-0 this one was all over save for the stat-padding.

Alas Boston couldn't even do that, managing a mere six base hits on the afternoon, and although they did scratch out a couple of runs in the bottom of the second off Boggs (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 1K, 1HR) on a two-run double by Alex Cora, the only other run the Sox could muster on the afternoon was a solo shot by Drew, aka Juno, to lead off the sixth to slice the deficit to five, 8-3.

Ankiel got that run right back when he took Javier Lopez deep to begin the seventh, and about the only good sign for the Sox on the day was David Aardsma pitching his second consecutive 1-2-3, 3K inning in two days in the eighth.

So we got that going for us.

Thanks to Dice-Ks destruction and another win by the motherlovin' Rays, the Sox lead in the East has been reduced back to a minuscule 1/2 game.

Now Jon Lester will be faced with the task of preventing a humiliating home sweep when he takes the mound tomorrow afternoon, and he doesn't have to pitch another no-no.

Just keep the score under 8-zip after two, please.

RECORD: 46-31
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: L2
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sun vs. STL 1:35 Pineiro vs. Lester

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Miscues and longballs cost Sox against Cards

Cardinals 5, Sox 4
WP: Lohse (9-2)
LP: Wakefield (4-5)
SV: Franklin (10)
HRs: BOS-Lugo (1); STL: Molina (4), LaRue (2), Schumaker (5)

SUMMARY:
A couple of costly miscues in the 6th inning by Julio Lugo broke a 1-1 tie, and a late home run allowed by Hideki Okajima ended up being the game-winning run as Boston dropped its 8th game at Fenway this season.

#1 STUNNER: Kyle Lohse 6IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K, HR, 109P
The St. Louis starter wasn't overpowering but he got the bigs outs when he needed them, including fanning Manny Ramirez with the bases loaded in the 5th, en route to winning his 6th consectuive decision.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 1IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 2K, HR, 19P
The woes continue for the team's once most reliable set up man as even bringing him in with a deficit couldn't prevent Oki from blowing this game.

RECAP:
Before this series started if you said St Louis would beat the Sox and Tim Wakefield by bashing three home runs in the opening game, nobody would've thought twice about it.

After all Wake has a tendency to give up the long ball, and the Cards have mashers like Pujols, Glaus, Ankiel, and Ryan Ludwick who are capable of hitting the ball out of the park at any time.

But to lose a game when stiffs like Yadier Molina, Jason LaRue and someone named Skip Schumaker go deep off not only Wake but the artist formerly known as Hideki Okajima, well that's a bitter pill to swallow.

To make matters worse clueless Julio Lugo committed two more costly errors, both coming on back-to-back routine plays in the 6th inning with the game tied at one, and even though he atoned for his flubs with a game-tying home run in the bottom of the inning, the Boston pitchers couldn't prevent those unsung Cards hitters from going yard.

The Sox actually had a lead in this one when Lugo (1-2, R, 2BI, BB) hit a sac fly to score Ramirez with the bases loaded in the second inning, but Boston's inability to capitalize on three sacks full situations in the game would come back to haunt them big time.

In fact the Sox had the bases loaded in the second, two on in the third, bases loaded in the fifth and again in the seventh and only managed to score two runs out of all those opportunities; they stranded 11 men total in the game.

Staked to the 1-0 lead Wake (7IP, 7H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 4K, 2HR, 111P) made it hold up for a few innings, working out of a bases loaded situation himself in the fourth when he got Molina and Adam Kennedy out after allowing a single and a pair of walks with one out.

But in the fifth the Cards tied the game when LaRue, a backup catcher batting just above the Mendoza line, blasted an 0-1 offering from Wake over the Monster to lead off the inning for his second homer of the year, and after Boston blew the bases loaded sitch in the bottom of the inning St Louis would take the lead in the top of the sixth.

Rick Ankiel (2-5, R) started the inning with a shot off the base of the Wall in left center that went for a double, and on the next pitch Lugo botched Glaus' routine grounder when he threw the ball wide of Youk at first, allowing Ankiel to take third.

A few pitches later Wake got Chris Duncan to tap into a surefire 3-6-3 (or 1) double play, but Lugo's relay from Youk back to first sailed past a covering Wakefield as Ankiel scooted home with the Cards' second run of the night.

It was Lugo's 16th error of the season, the most in the majors for any position, three fewer than he had all of last year and just 9 away from his career high of 25, set with Tampa Bay in 2005.

I'd say right now that number is easily within reach.

As I said he did make up for his butchery (somewhat) when he drove a Lohse pitch high and deep over the Monster for his first home run of the year to tie the game at two in the bottom of the sixth, but unfortunately the glory was short-lived as Wake served up a gopherball to the immortal Skip Schumaker with one on in the seventh to give the Cards the lead for good.

The Sox really had a chance to tale control of the game and earn a come-from-behind win when they loaded the bases with no outs off ineffective reliever Randy Flores in the bottom of the inning on a single by Ellsbury and walks to Pedroia and J.D. Drew (1-3, 2BB), but the ancient Russ Springer got Manny to tap into a double play that scored Ellsy but stopped the game-changing rally right in its tracks.

Still down just 4-3 with two at bats left and Lohse out of the game, a comeback was a definite possibility.

And then awful Oki entered the game, allowed a home run to Yadier Molina with one out in the eighth to tack on the all-important insurance run, and all hope was basically lost.

Compounding the pain was the fact that David Aardsma came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, registering three strikeouts of the Cards' most potent hitters - Ludwick, Ankiel and Glaus.

Ouch.

Turns out that run was even more painful than it seemed at the time because Boston did mount one last comeback attempt in the ninth off closer Ryan Franklin when Pedroia hit a one-out double, Manny drew a two out walk and Mike Lowell drove in Dustin with a seeing-eye single up the middle to slice the deficit to 5-4.

Then Franklin, who's subbing for injured closer Jason Isringhausen, got Youk to fly out to right to end the game, and the Sox suffered a rare home loss made all the more frustrating by the way in which they lost.

Game 2 should be interesting as Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his first start since May 27th and puts his undefeated record on the line in a nationally televised game on FOX.

As long as he steers clear of the deadly trio of Yadier, Skip and LaRue, he should be okay.

RECORD: 46-30
AL EAST: Up 1.5 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sat vs. STL 3:55 FOX Boggs vs. Matsuzaka

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Sox win again thanks to Drew's big bat

Sox 7, Phillies 4
WP: Masterson (4-1)
LP: Kendrick (6-3)
SV: Papelbon (21)
HRs: BOS-Drew (13), Lowell (11); PHI-None

SUMMARY:
J.D. Drew's sweltering June juggernaut continued today at Citizens Bank Park as the sweet-swinging right fielder had four hits and four RBI, including his 9th home run of the month, and Justin Masterson picked up the win despite pitching just five innings, the shortest stint of his career.

#1 STUNNER: Drew 4-5, 2R, 4BI, 2B, HR
He's looking every bit worthy of that $70 million dollar deal now.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Chase Utley 0-4, 5 LOB
The major league's leading home run hitter is mired in an 0-20 slump (0-13 in this series), dropping his average from .317 to .294.

RECAP:
As the injuries keep piling up so do the wins for Boston, which won its third straight road series to pull within four games of .500 (18-22) away from Fenway.

Coco Crisp left after his first at bat today with a hand injury, temporarily joining fellow hobbled/disabled teammates David Ortiz, Bartolo Colon, Kevin Youkilis, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Manny Ramirez in the trainer's room as the team limps back to Boston to begin a home stand with the Cardinals on Friday.

But even with all the ailments, both nagging and serious, this team just keeps plugging away, taking 2 of 3 from the second best team in the National League after dropping the first game in ugly fashion.

Ironically the common thread throughout all this instability is the man who has been crucified for being as breakable as a fluorescent bulb, David Jonathan Drew.

Since the beginning of June Drew is batting .441 (26-59) with 9 homers, 7 doubles, 22 runs scored and 21 RBI. With Ortiz missing the entire month while recovering from a wrist injury, and Ramirez playing sporadically lately due to a tender hammy, Drew has literally carried the load offensively as the Sox have gone 12-5 and won all six series this month.

Today he inflicted pain on the fans of a city he spurned coming out of college, and each time they booed him he just stood in the box stoically and drove another dagger into their Philthy hearts.

The onslaught began in the very first inning as Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both singled to right to start the game off Kyle Kendrick (3IP, 6R, 6H, 2BB, 4K, 2HR, 75P) and Drew drove a 1-0 pitch for a majestic three-run blast to deep right center field to give Boston a 3-0 lead before an out was recorded.

Mike Lowell (1-3, 2R, BI, BB) made it 4-0 when he followed with a solo shot, the ninth time Boston has gone back-to-back this year and the fifth time in the last three weeks, and the fans were shell shocked before they even had a chance to line up their batteries.

Masterson (5Ip, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 1K, 92P) gave one right back in the bottom of the inning when he walked Shane Victorino with one out, who then moved to second on a groundout by Utley and scored on a seeing eye single by Ryan Howard (1-4, BI) to cut the lead to 4-1, but for the next few innings it looked like blowout city for Boston.

The Sox plated two more in the third when Brandon Moss, who pinch hit for Coco after he left the game, singled to center to drive in Drew and Lowell, who had doubled and been hit bu a pitch, respectively, and Boston could've blown the game open whe a walk to Julio Lugo loaded the bases with two outs, but Kendrick got Masterson to strike out to end it.

Maybe Baby Steinbrenner was right.

The 6-1 lead soon became 7-1 when Drew (as Mark Jackson would say, mama there goes that man again) singled in Pedroia (3-4, 2R), who had hit a one out double, in the 4th, and from then on with the way Masterson was pitching the rest of the game was rendered garbage time.

Or was it?

Justin left with a 7-2 lead after five innings and nearly 100 pitches, and soon after the shaky Sox pen nearly let the game get away.

Craig Hansen was the main culprit this time, allowing a pair of runs in the seventh inning on an infield single (which could have been another error on Lugo), a walk, a wild pitch and a 2-RBI single by Pedro Feliz, but Manny Delcarmen came in and after giving up a walk to Jimmy Rollins squelched the rally by retiring the dynamic trio of Victorino, Utley and Howard to keep the margin at 7-4.

A 1-23 8th by Delcarmen led to an appearance by Papelbon in the 9th, and after the miscue in Cincy you could bet your ass Paps wasn't gonna let this one get away.

Sure enough he only needed 11 pitches to record three straight outs to end it, and Boston had a hard-fought series win sparked by a former National Leaguer who had dissed the very team the Sox had just trounced.

Now Boston heads home to play the Cards at Fenway on Friday.

Hey, isn't that the team that Drew chose over Philly?

Get your whoopin' stick out J.D.!

RECORD: 46-29
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Thu-Off; Fri vs. STL @ Fenway Lohse vs. Wakefield

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Sox strike back as Coco, Lester spark win in Philly

Sox 3, Phillies 0
WP: Lester (6-3)
LP: Moyer (7-4)
SV: Papelbon (20)
HRs: BOS-Crisp (5)

SUMMARY:
Coco Crisp hit a two run homer off Jamie Moyer in the second inning, Jon Lester made it stand up with seven solid innings of shutout ball and Boston can win the series in the rubber game tomorrow afternoon.

#1 STUNNER: Lester 7IP, 6H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K, 99P
The kid out pitched the vet for his third straight win and the for the 9th time in 16 starts the lefty allowed 2 earned runs or less.

THE BIGGEST LOSER(s): Utley, Howard, Burrell 0-12, 8K
The Phillies' big three took a big dump tonight, none more so than Howard who followed up his two homer, one triple, four RBI game with an 0-4, 4-strikeout Golden Sombrero gag job.

Talk about all or nothing.

RECAP:
The Sox won behind Coco's two-run homer, Lester pitched seven strong innings and Boston can take the series tomorrow afternoon.

That's all I got because the Celtics just wrapped up World Championship #17, and I'm knee deep in Korbel and Heineken and basking in the first title for the Green Machine since my senior year in high school!

So I'm checking out for tonight and will report back in before the businessman's special tomorrow afternoon.

Good night and
CONGRATS CELTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RECORD: 45-29
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed @ PHI 1:05 Masterson vs. Kendrick

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Phillies give Sox a taste of own medicine

Phillies 8, Sox 2
WP: Hammels (7-4)
LP: Colon (4-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (6), Drew (12); PHI-Howard, 2 (19), Rollins (6)

SUMMARY:
Coming off a series in which Boston hit six homers and scored 16 runs the Phillies turned the tables on them tonight, slamming a double, two triples and three home runs among their 12 hits in routing Bartolo Colon and the Sox.

#1 STUNNER(s): Ryan Howard & Jimmy Rollins 6-10, 4R, 7BI, 3B, 3HR
Philly's leadoff hitter and super slugger tag-teamed the Sox right from the get-go as Rollins hit a homer to lead off the game, Ryan followed with a two-run blast minutes later and both of them did damage later in the game as well.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Mike Timlin 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, 2BB, 0K, 22P
Why Tito brought Tired Arm into a game that was still winnable (4-2) in the 6th inning when David Aardsma was ready and willing to enter the game is a question the Nation will ponder for days to come.

This latest awful outing pushed the ancient reliever's ERA over 7.00. Please, for the love of God, either make him retire or DFA this fossil NOW.

RECAP:
I, like most of RSN, had a bad feeling about this series, and this opening game in particular, before it even started.

It didn't take long for Philly to prove us cynics right.

The Red Sox got chewed up and spit out by the offensive juggernaut that is the first place Philadelphia Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, and they wasted little time in flexing the muscle that has allowed them to score 20 runs not once but twice this season.

Philly scored three runs before they had two outs on a pair of first inning homers, and things got so bad for Boston that 260-lb Ryan Howard and cement-footed Pat Burrell both legged out triples before the night was through.

How good is this offense?

Put it this way - their second baseman, Chase Utley, is leading the majors in homers and is second in the NL in RBI and he went 0-5 tonight (with an RBI) and they still scored 8 runs.

That's how good they are.

Tonight's starting pitcher, Cole Hammels, went 1-3 with a single to raise his average to .316 (12-38).

That's how good they are.

With his four ribbies this evening Howard tied teammate Utley for the NL RBI lead with 62, despite the fact that he's only hitting .225.

That's how...well you get the point.

It was apparent right from the start that Colon did not have the same kind of stuff he had in his four previous starts this season when his first pitch to Rollins missed outside badly, and when he put the next one over the plate the reigning NL MVP crushed a fastball off the facade of the upper deck in right for a quick 1-0 Philly lead.

Two pitches later Shane Victorino (2-4, 2B, BB, R) roped a double to deep right center and after Colon got Utley to strike out, Howard hit a 1-0 offering from Bart just over the wall and into the first row of seats in left to give Philly a 3-0 lead before everyone's seats were even warm.

Hammels (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, 2HR, 110P), meanwhile, kept the Boston batters at bay, escaping jams in the first when he struck out Drew and Manny after Pedroia had doubled with one out, and in the second when he whiffed Colon after Sean Casey (2-4)doubled and Julio Lugo walked with two out.

Colon escaped a two on, two out jam of his own in the bottom of the second when he got Utley to pop out to Casey at first, but he got burned by Howard again in the third when the beefy first baseman hit a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field again, this time making it as far as the third row of bleachers for his second longball of the game and 19th of the season.

He now trails teammate Utley by just three for the league lead in that department.

That's how good...alright, enough of that.

Trailing 4-zip Boston finally cracked the Hammels puzzle when Pedroia (3-4, R, BI, 2B, HR) and Drew hit back-to-back jacks with one out in the fifth, Drew's eighth of the month and sixth in the last nine games and Pedroia's second in two days, and with the lead sliced in half at 4-2 it looked like the Sox could possibly mount a comeback if they could get Hammels out of the game.

Instead it was Colon who exited the game after tossing a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, reportedly due to a back issue, and that's when things got away from the comeback kings.

After Javier Lopez worked around a two out triple to Burrell (2-2, 2BB) to notch a scoreless fifth, Tito inexplicably brought in Timlin to pitch the sixth with the game up for grabs and Aardsma ready in the pen.

Talk about a move that came back to bite someone in the nads.

Timlin went out and tossed his BP fastball to the salivating Philly hitters, and they hammered him like soldiers home on shore leave. Here's a transcript of the destruction of a comeback chance:

-Pedro Feliz walks on 4 pitches
-Carlos Ruiz (who!?) singles to left on 2-1 count
-Hammels sacrifices both runners over
-Rollins hits 2-RBI single to right center, 6-2 Philly
-Victorino singles, Rollins to third
-Utley grounds into fielder's choice, Rollins scores, 7-2 Philly
(here's where Tito might have wanted to remove Tired Arm, preferably with deadly force, if necessary. But no...)
-Howard triples to deep right center on first pitch, Utley scores, 8-2 Philly, game over, Timlin's career officially over as well.

Okay I made that last part up, but one can dream, right?

Things got so bad for Boston that Francona brought in fellow frazzled reliever Hideki Okajima to pitch the 8th inning of an 8-2 ballgame, hoping he'll work out his kinks in a laugher instead of a save situation.

Good news is he pitched a clean inning and even struck out Howard to cap it off.

Bad news is our top setup man and one of the best in the league last year is pitching meaningless innings in blowouts to get his confidence back because lately he has sucked worse than Speed Racer.

Tomorrow night Boston will get a chance to put this ugly loss behind them and even the series at one with Jon Lester on the mound.

Sure the kid will be opposed by 237 game winner Jamie Moyer.

But he's only batting .167.

RECORD: 44-29
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Tue vs. PHI 7:05 Lester vs. Moyer

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