Sox Drawer: While Papi progresses, Manny regresses

David Ortiz has made two rehab starts with the PawSox in his recovery from a wrist tendon sheath injury, and he has walked and mashed a home run in each of his two games.

So it appears that the most important cog in the Sox championship machine is well on his way to rejoining the club in the very near future, provided Papi experiences no setbacks in the next week or so.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that after months of toeing the line, acting like a team player, and singing Kumbaya about his tenure with the Sox, Manny Ramirez has suddenly turned back into the team-altering spectacle that seems to infect the club around this time of the year the past 3-4 years.

With Ramirez in the middle of a pivotal option year, and the Boston management apparently tiring of his antics, the question now is, how long will the dynamic duo remain together after Papi's return?

At first Manny had us all fooled into thinking this year would be different. He showed up to spring training on time (a first), singing the praises of his team and expressing his desire to stay with the ball club after his contract is up at the end this year.

I took this as a not so veiled attempt to get the Boston brass to pick up his 20 million dollar option for next season, so much so that I predicted he would win the AL MVP by putting up 'contract year' numbers, as players in these situations so often do.

The first 2+ months of the season went exactly according to this theory. Manny started off crushing the ball, blasted his 500th career home run at the end of May, and had another memorable MBM moment when he high fived a fan while in the process of turning a rare 7-6-3 double play.

It was all good times and no worries on the Manny front. He wanted to be here. The team and fans wanted him to stay with Boston, and the club appeared to be headed towards another long post season run, especially with Papi's return on the horizon.

But then things stared to change. For the worse.

Two well documented run-ins, one with teammate Kevin Youkilis in a game against the Rays on June 3rd, and the other with traveling secretary Jack McCormick in Houston on June 28th, painted a far different picture of the fun loving, happy-go-lucky left fielder, one that suggests he might have hidden anger issues, or at the very least an over-inflated sense of entitlement.

Who knew those two unfortunate incidents would only be the tip of the iceberg?

Since the McCormick incident, in which Manny shoved the 60+-year-old retired former cop and berated him over a request for 16 extra tickets to the game, the relationship between Manny and management, and even the ever-forgiving fans, has spiraled out of control at a rapid rate.

Before the All Star break, Ramirez pinch hit in a game against the Yankees and watched three straight pitches from Mariano Rivera go by him for a crucial strikeout in the 9th inning of a game the Sox would eventually lose, 5-4 in the tenth.

During the break, Manny had a curious interview in the Boston Herald that rankled Sox owner John Henry, so much so that he issued a response stating how offended he was that Ramirez would insinuate the Boston management has been anything but fair and straightforward with him through all the years of Man-sanity.

And then, on the heels of all this madness, came the play in the outfield in last night's game vs. the Angels.

In the 6th inning of the 11-3 Boston loss, Anaheim's Maicer Izturis blooped a fly ball to shallow left field that looked like a harmless single.

But Ramirez, ever the clown, decided to try and dive for the ball, even though it appeared he had no chance of catching it.

Sure enough, the ball landed in front of him, but instead of responding quickly and professionally to his miscue, Manny rolled backwards, flopped around like a fish out of water, and ended up laying on the ball as Izturis raced around the bases with an RBI triple.

Ramirez got up and laughed the incident off, but Terry Francona and Theo Epstein, who was seated behind home plate, were not laughing, and to everyone watching the fiasco, you got the distinct feeling that the play could have been the straw that broke the ManRam's back in Boston.

Whether or not the Sox deal Manny in the next few weeks, decline to pick up his option at then end of the season, or do end up retaining the unstable slugger, one thing's for sure:

when the circus act known as Manny Being Manny starts to include bodily harm and total disregard for the integrity of the game, it might be time to ship that sideshow off to the next town.

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Sox Drawer: The new MBM?

Manny Being Manny is a phrased that was coined to represent many quirky things the Sox left fielder has been prone to do: Manny being silly, Manny admiring a long home run/fly out, Manny being lackadaisical on the base paths or in the field, Manny taking a leak behind the Monster during a game...

But over the last couple of weeks MBM has taken on a different meaning: Manny Being Mean.

Earlier this month cameras caught Ramirez bitch slapping teammate Kevin Youkilis in the dugout during a game against the Rays at Fenway, and the story that followed said Ramirez, like many fellow Sox teammates, had become tired of Youk's post-at bat tirades so Manny decided to make his feelings known, very vocally I guess.

When Youk protested, Manny unleashed a backhand that sent Youk sprawling, and then Ramirez had to be held off by coaches and players as he lunged for the chrome domed first baseman.

The incident was downplayed as a minor flare up that occurs during the course of a long season when 25 mean spend the majority of their time together for 6-8 months, and both parties as well as the Sox management brushed it off as an isolated incident, forever to be forgotten.

Until now.

A report in today's Providence Journal states that Ramirez laid another smackdown on a member of the club, this time the team's traveling secretary Jack McCormick, Saturday afternoon in Houston.

And suddenly Manny Being Manny isn't so cute anymore.

This latest incident is interesting for the simple fact that it illustrates a side of Ramirez that has rarely been seen, or at least publicized, in all his years with the Sox.

Reportedly Manny asked for 16 tickets to Saturday night's game sometime Saturday afternoon. When McCormick, a retired cop who handles all ticket requests for players both at home and on the road, informed Manny that he might not be able to come up with such a large number so soon before game time, Ramirez fired back at him "just do your job."

That response begot a heated exchange between the two, with the ex-cop and longtime Sox secretary presumably telling Manny to stick his request in his dread-nest (pure speculation on my part, but what do you think a retired cop would tell a spoiled athlete?)

Anyway the situation has once again been downplayed, with McCormick stating that "It's over. He apologized. That's it. Everything's fine" and Francona blowing it off by saying "Sometimes things happen and when they do, we choose to handle them internally."

That's all well and good, but when an incident becomes public, that internal bullshit goes out the window.

The big question here is why a guy known for his easy going manner and good natured playfulness is suddenly taking swipes at teammates and 60-year-old club personnel.

Is it a sign of a surly Manny Ramirez, upset over a recent mini-slump that saw him go 15 games without a homer while he battles a hamstring problem?

Or perhaps this behavior is a direct result of the fact that Ramirez came into this season with a new attitude, arriving to spring training on time, vowing to table the annual "Manny wants to be traded" talks and generally trying to be a model citizen and teammate?

Or is he cracking under the pressure of living up to Manny Being Manny?

Who knows. But maybe next time he explodes he can direct his ire towards an opponent and not someone in his own clubhouse.

Tonight against the Rays might be a good place to start.

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Oki blows another game against Baltimore as Sox lose at home

Orioles 10, Sox 6
WP: Sarfate (4-1)
LP: Okajima (1-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS- Drew (9), Manny (15); BAL-None

SUMMARY:
Despite back-to-back home runs by the team's two hottest hitters and a gritty effort from Josh Beckett Boston dropped its second straight game to Baltimore when Hideki Okajima allowed three runs in the 7th inning, leading to the Sox sixth home loss of the year.

#1 STUNNER: Audrey Huff 4-5, 1R, 2BI
The guy may be an aggravating, arrogant, overrated and overpaid douchebag but he was the difference tonight as it was his 7th inning single that drove in two runs to tie the game and propel the O's to the win.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 1/3IP, 2H, 3ER, 2BB, 1K, 26P
In his last two outings against the Birds Oki has allowed 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 earned runs in one full inning of work for an ERA of 63.00 and a WHIP of 9.00. Wow.

RECAP:
Maybe it's these damn 6:00 starts that are throwing everything out of whack for the Sox.

Last time it happened a benches-clearing brawl erupted, resulting in the suspension of eight players, and a couple of Boston teammates got into a slap fight on the bench.

Tonight the Sox and O's played "I want the lead, no you take it" for six innings before Baltimore pulled away for good with a pair of three run innings late.

The funniest thing, and by funny I mean absolutely asinine, is that the start times have been moved up an hour to accommodate Celtics fans who don't want to miss any of the NBA Finals games, yet the two six o'clock contests have had run times of 3 hours, 40 minutes and 3 hours, 27 minutes.

So much for that theory.

After the debacle of the first game and the meltdown of the second I say to hell with this experiment. Start the games at the normal time and just put the Sox on the PIP until its over.

And if a brawl breaks out flip it back, or if a Boston reliever melts down flick it off.

Things started out bad for Boston tonight, got worse, then cleared up for a while before a black cloud covered the park in the form of another blown save for Hideki Okajima.

To make matters worse the Celts tantalized us with a potential upset win in Game 4, only to have King Kobe and Co. hag on for a series-saving win.

Talk about a double whammy of doom.

The way the game started it looked like the Sox would cruise to another easy home win. Boston loaded the bases in the first inning before Daniel Cabrera had recorded an out on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury, a double by Dustin Pedroia and a walk to red-hot J.D. Drew.

But Cabrera (5IP, 7H, 6ER, 4BB, 3K, 2HR, 94P) escaped a potential devastating inning when he got Manny Ramirez to ground into a double play, and even though Ellsbury came in to score the damage could have - and should have - been much worse.

The missed opportunity came back to bite Boston in the ass shortly thereafter when Josh Beckett (6IP, 8H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 114P) gave up a four-spot to the Birds in the second inning.

After retiring Audrey Huff for the first out (and the only time on the night) Becks allowed a Monster double to original idiot Kevin Millah and then walked new nemesis Luke Scott.

As if that weren't bad enough Beckett then plunked .200-hitting catcher Ramon Hernandez (1-4, R, 2BI) to load the bases, but it appeared he would escape the inning unscathed when he got Adam Jones, the hero of Baltimore's last win over Boston, to pop out to first for the second out of the inning.

Ah, no.

Fellow Mendoza dweller Freddie Bynum promptly stroked an 0-1 offering from Beckett
off the Monster for a shocking 2-out, 2-run double, but unfortunately the hurt didn't end there. Five pitches later Brian Roberts launched another Wall-scraper to score Hernandez and Bynum, and Baltimore had a 4-1 lead on three doubles, a walk and a HBP.

Ugh.

The bottom of the second was eerily similar to the first as Boston got the first two batters on base before a double play killed what could have been a potential rally, but things turned around in the third when the Sox plated a pair of runs to climb right back in it.

Pedroia (2-3, 2R, HBP), who had been mired in a horrid 4-37 slump, started it off with a single to left for his second hit in two at bats, and after Cabrera wild pitched him to second JD drew his second walk of the game. After a single to center by Manny loaded the bases RBI groundouts by Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis cut the Orioles lead to 4-3.

Then the fireworks came in the fifth inning.

Once again Pedroia started the rally when Cabrera hit him with a pitch on the elbow on a 3-2 count, and on the very next pitch Drew (1-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB) exacted some payback for his teammate when he crushed a fastball over the bullpens for a 2-run homer that gave the Sox a 5-4 lead.

Before the celebrating over Drew's 5th homer in his last nine games had ended Manny Ramirez, who clubbed three longballs in three games against the O's in Baltimore last series, obliterated a another fastball from Cabrera for home run #15 on the season and 505 of his career, and just like that Boston had a 6-4 lead despite Beckett's troubles and their own missed chances.

Ironically, on a night when Manny was honored for joining the 500 club by guys such as Eddie Murray, who joined Rem Dog and Don O in the booth in the previous inning, Manny passed the former Oriole great on the all-time home run list.

Pretty cool.

Unfortunately that would be the end of the good times for Boston; Beckett tossed one more inning before he was replaced in the 7th by Okajima after throwing 113 pitches on the night.

And it quickly became hide the women and children time.

A one-out walk by Roberts (1-4, 1R, 2BI) seemed harmless enough at the time, but that was followed by another Wall double, this time by Nick Markakis, and when Melvin Mora walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases it was lump in the throat time for the Faithful.

The lump came up when Huff slapped a single into right to score Roberts and Markakis and tie the game at six, and then the horrible horrible sense of deja vu was complete going back to the last time Oki pitched against the Os.

And we all remember that game.

Manny Delcarmen came in to relive a discouraged Oki and immediately allowed a sac fly to Millar (1-4, R, BI) to give Baltimore the lead back aat 7-6, and even though Manny D got out of the inning the damage was done, both to the score and Oki's psyche.

My question is why bring him in in the 7th when that inning has been the domain of Lopez, Delcarmen and Hansen in the first place, something I'm sure Tito will be second-guessed about for a few days to come?

Boston had a chance to tie the game up in the 8th but yet another double play quelled that chance, and then Hansen crushed all hopes of a comeback when he allowed three runs in the 9th, although an error by Pedroia on a potential double play grounder was a key factor in the late uprising.

No matter because this one was lost as soon as Oki stepped on the field, and my guess is Tito will throw him right back out there tomorrow so so he can get this orange and black monkey off his back.

Thank god there's no Celtics game tomorrow.

RECORD: 40-27
AL EAST: Up 1 gm
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed vs. BAL 7:05 Olson vs. Colon

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Sox bounce back with massacre of Mariners

Sox 11, Mariners 3
WP: Wakefield (4-4)
LP: Batista (3-7)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Manny (14), Drew (7); SEA-None

SUMMARY:
Boston got back to business today - the business of winning at Fenway. Tim Wakefield handcuffed the Seattle hitters for seven innings and the Sox batters took care of the rest, pounding 13 hits including mammoth homers by Manny & Drew in a satisfying rout of the M's.

#1 STUNNER: Drew 3-5, 3R, 2BI, 3B, HR
The Sox right fielder continues to wield a blazing hot bat, ripping a triple ahead of Manny's homer in the first and then blasting a homer of his own to straightaway center in the sixth.

Over his last 15 games Drew is batting .396 (21-53) with 4 doubles, a triple, 4 homers and 12 RBI. Yes, keep those fingers crossed he stays healthy.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Miguel Batista 4.1IP, 6H, 5R, 4ER, 6BB, 1K, 1HR, 85P
The Seattle starter was solid but not spectacular in his start against Boston in their recent series in Seattle, but today the veteran righty was downright awful, walking a half a dozen men including two in the 4th and 5th innings when the Sox broke open a close game.

RECAP:
Wasn't it nice to witness a game in which no punches were thrown, no one got ejected, no fights erupted in the dugout and the Sox came out on top?

Now if they could just get the regular starting lineup back on the field everything would really be kosher.

As it is we'll happily settle for the results put forth by another of Tito's patchwork lineups as the substitute Sox simultaneously slapped Seattle while keeping the Rays at bay in Boston's 24th home victory this season.

For the third straight start Tim Wakefield pitched at least seven innings and allowed 2 earned runs or less, but this time he actually got a win to show for his efforts.

And if Manny Ramirez and JD Drew keep crushing baseballs like they have for the past 10 days or so the Sox might not need Ellsbury, Papi, Pedroia, Lowell in the lineup anyway.

After all the team did pretty well without them today.

With the Mariners having posted 21 consecutive scoreless innings on the Sox over their last three meetings, all Seattle wins, Boston wasted no time in breaking that embarrassing streak.

In the bottom of the first inning Drew smacked a ball off Ichiro's glove and hustled it into a triple, and then Manny followed with a titanic shot that cleared the Monster and landed in a parking lot on Lansdowne for his sixth homer in the last 10 games and 504th of his career.

Seattle tied it in the third when Wake's knuckler wasn't knuckling and the Mariners plated two runs on a pair of singles and a ground rule double by Raul Ibanez, but after he walked Adrian Beltre following the double Wake retired 12 straight batters until Kenji Johjima's one-out single in the seventh.

In the meantime Boston slowly pulled away, thanks to the wildness of Miguel Batista and the timely hitting of the makeshift lineup.

With Ellsbury still nursing his strained wrist and Manny's hammy still too sore for him to play the outfield, plus other myriad situations, Francona went with a lineup that once again resembled a split squad spring training game: Cora subbing for Pedroia at second; Youk taking third in place of Lowell while Casey manned first; Brandon Moss playing left in place of Manny; Cash of course catching Wake; and the odd 1-2 combo of Coco and Lugo leading off at the top.

Even with that odd configuration the Sox managed to pile up the runs against a team that had confounded them for most of their meetings this season, scoring two in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead before blowing it open late in the game.

Boston too the lead back for good in the fourth on a walk to Moss a deep double to left center by Cora (2-4, 2R, BI) and an RBI single by Coco Crisp, his second hit in two innings and the first in a few games that involved his bat and not his fists.

In the fifth the Sox loaded the bases on walks to Moss and Manny (1-2, 2R, 2BI, 3BB) and a single by Casey, chasing Batista from the game, but reliever R.A. Dickey came on to squelch the threat, allowing just one run to score and that was on a passed ball by Johjima.

The lead went to 6-2 when Drew hit a tracer missile off the wall above the camera stand in center field, and after Craig Hansen relieved Wakefield and pitched a scoreless 8th, Boston blew the game open in the bottom of the inning when it sent nine men to the plate and five scored.

Cora got the party started with a leadoff single to right, and after Coco lined out Lugo slapped a single to right as well to set the stage for the team's hottest hitters.

And they didn't disappoint as Drew also laced a single to right for his third hit of the game to score Cora, and after Manny drew his third base on balls pinch hitter Mike Lowell lined a double down the third base line to score Lugo and Drew and push the lead to 9-2.

Kevin Youkilis, who has noticeably toned down his post-at bat antics since the Ramirez dugout incident, provided the final margin when he dropped a double into left that scored both Jacoby Ellsbury, who pinch ran for Manny, and Lowell, and all that was left was for closer Jonathan Papelbon to come in and get some much-needed work.

Unfortunately things didn't go so smoothly for the boys in the 9th as Youk made an error after moving to first base when he botched a throw from Cora, ending his record-setting errorless streak for a first baseman at 238 games.

That blunder, which perhaps was a karmic makeup for the one he should've got last night that went to Lowell, led to an unearned run by Papelbon, but a pair of Ks and a fly out to (appropriately) Drew put a cap on the day and sent the Faithful home happy.

Tomorrow the Sox can take the series from Seattle and put further distance between themselves and the ugly incidents of the Rays series.

Wonder what the lineup will look like.

RECORD: 39-26
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Sun vs. SEA @ Fenway 1:35 Bedard vs. Masterson

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Sox and Rays go MMA in an ugly, costly win for Boston

Sox 7, Rays 1
WP: Lester (4-3)
LP: Shields (4-4)
SV: None
HRs: BOS- Manny (13); TB-None

Umpire: "Batten down the hatches, this shit is going down NOW!"

SUMMARY:
A wild game at Fenway saw the Sox engage in fisticuffs with the Rays on the field and then between each other in the dugout as Boston completed the sweep but lost two center fielders.

Coco Crisp charged the mound after James Shields hit him with a pitch in the second inning, inciting a benches-clearing brawl, and later Manny Ramirez was seen slapping & shoving Kevin Youkilis in the Boston dugout. In between the brawling Jacoby Ellsbury left with a sprained wrist, but at least Jon Lester pitched well enough to get the win.

#1 STUNNER: Manny 2-3, BB, 1R, 5BI, HR
He did damage with his bat - belting a 3-run bomb over the Monster in the first inning and a 2-run single in the fourth - and with his hands when he bitch slapped Youk in the dugout at the end of the fourth inning. He also left with a potential knee injury in the seventh.

Busy night for ManRam.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Crisp 0-0, HBP, ejected
He started this whole mess when he package-punched Aki Iwamura last night because he was mad at Jason Bartlett, and then after James Shields appropriately plunked him on the leg, instead of taking his base he took it to the mound, touching off an ugly incident that could linger long into the summer.

RECAP:
Nothing like a little on-field battle royale and off-field infighting to divert attention from the Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals Game 1 taking place across town.

The Sox and Rays renewed long standing hostilities that trace back to Pedro Martinez plunking Gerald 'Ice' Williams in 2000, but to find the origins of this latest incident one only has to look back to last night's game.

When Coco Crisp clocked Akinori Iwamura in the johnson in retaliation for Jason Bartlett dropping a knee in front of the bag as Crisp attempted to slide into second base earlier in that game, everyone knew there would be ramifications in tonight's ballgame.

What we didn't know was how swiftly and severely those repercussions would play out, and the end result of all this misplaced hostility could end up costing Boston dearly in the near future, especially in light of the injury to Jacoby Ellsbury.

The game, which was moved up an hour to 6:05 to accommodate everyone who wanted to watch the Celts play in its first Finals game in 21 years, started out with a bang and just got louder from there when Rays starter James Shields plunked Dustin Pedroia with a pitch one out into the first inning.

JD Drew, who has been scorching the ball since Papi went down, then doubled to deep left center, and up stepped Ramirez, who has also been mashing the ball of late.

After taking ball one from Shields (1IP, 3H, 4ER, 2K, 1HR, 2HBP, 27P), Manny uncoiled his patented silky swing and drove the ball high and deep over the Monster and out of the park, and the Sox had a 3-0 lead before most of the late-arriving crowd had, well, arrived.

Shields went on to get out of the inning, but little did anyone know it would be the only inning he would complete on the night.

Lost in all the wackiness was the fact that Jon Lester (6.1P, 8H, 1ER, 0BB, 5K, 109P)pitched a solid game, the only run he allowed coming in the top of the second when Willy Aybar hit a double high off the Wall with two outs, and after running the count full Jonny Gomes singled him in to cut the lead to 3-1.

Little did we know it would be the last time Jonny would come to bat tonight, but definitely not the last swing he would take.

The real action started as soon as Coco came to bat to lead off the bottom of the second. After throwing him a ball, Shields nailed Crisp with a little message pitch on the thigh, a play Coco himself would have to brush off by admitting it was just "tic for tac."

Only Coco wouldn't take his punishment like a man and walk to first base, and after thinking about it for a second or two, he decided to charge the mound and attempt his best Kimbo Slice imitation.
But Shields was ready for him, and lucky for Coco he dodged the first punch thrown by the Rays starter or Crisp would have been in the BI emergency room having his face reconstructed right now.

The melee then turned into a full scale brawl, complete with sucker punches, cheap shots, rolling around and pig-piling by members of both clubs and coaching staffs, and when the dust settled Shields, Crisp, Gomes and Sox third base coach DeMarlo Hale were ejected, and the only reason there wasn't more is because it was too hard for the umps to get a clear picture of who was really beating on whom.

After the fracas and things settled down Boston scored another run when rookie Cris Carter, who came in for Crisp, came home on a sac fly by Pedroia, but by this point the score was almost irrelevant.

What wasn't irrelevant was what happened during and after the fourth inning.

First Ellsbury suffered a scary injury when he dove and caught a sinking liner off the bat of evan Longoria to lead off the inning, bending his wrist under his body as he hit the ground. The rookie had to leave the game and tests show it's probably just a sprain, but with Coco already gone that meant Boston had to go with an outfield of Carter, making his first major league start, Drew in center and Youk in left.

Ugh!

In the bottom of the frame Boston blew the game open when Carter recorded his first career hit, Lugo followed with a hit, and after JP Howell relieved Grant Balfour, Pedroia (0-2, 2R, BI, BB) walked to load the bases.

Drew (1-3, 1R, 1BI, 2BB) then drew a walk to force in Carter and when Manny dropped a single to left to score Lugo and Pedroia to make it 7-1 Boston, it was all over but the shouting.

Literally.

Following the inning Manny apparently had an altercation with Youk, first backhanding the bald first baseman/third baseman/outfielder and then shoving him against the dugout railing before teammates and coaches separated the two.

As Youk walked away to take his spot on the field he appeared to be clueless as to what set Ramirez off, but something tells me the hot-tempered Youk said something about Manny's lack of participation in the brawl, touching a normally untapped nerve in the eternally placid slugger.

To make a long story shorter (so much for that early start time) the rest of the game was pretty uneventful until Manny possibly injured his knee on a swing in the 7th inning; after drawing a walk he was pinch run for by Kevin Cash of all people, making Manny the third outfielder to be removed from the game due to injury and/or idiocy.

Mike Timlin and David Aardsma combined to keep the score the same despite allowing five baserunners in the last two innings, but the real story of the night wasn't the win, or the second Sox sweep of the Rays at Fenway, or the fact that Boston once again owns a 1 1/2 game cushion in the AL East.

No the talk of this game will be all about the brawls, both on the field and off, and something tells me the ripple effects are going to be felt for many weeks and months to come.

By the way, Celts won Game 1, 99-88.

RECORD: 38-25
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
STREAK: W3
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri vs. Seattle 705 Hernandez vs. Colon

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Double dose of doom: Sox blow game, lose Ortiz indefinitely

Orioles 6, Sox 3
WP: Johnson (1-2)
LP: Okajima (1-1)
SV: Sherrill (18)
HRs: BOS-Ramirez (12); BAL-None

SUMMARY:
As if losing the game after they had just taken a 3-2 lead when Hideki Okajima suffered an atomic implosion wasn't bad enough, the Sox got worse news when it was learned David Ortiz will be placed on the DL and miss a minimum of a month and possibly the rest of the season due to his wrist injury.

All together now: "Ay, Papi!"

SUPERSTAR: Adam Jones 1-4, 3BI, 2B
The rookie was having a horrible series at the plate (3-17) until he came to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th and blasted a double off the wall off Oki to win the game for his team.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, 1BB, 0K, 24P
How do you say "fuckinggodawfuldogshitstanknasty-performance" in Japanese?

All together now: "Oh-ka-gee-mah!"

RECAP:
Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean that really got out of hand fast.

I realize quoting Anchorman on a blog is akin to wrapping up a complex story with "and they lived happily ever after", but in this case that quote was actually the first thing that came to my mind as Hideki Okajima turned what looked like a satisfying come-from-behind victory into a horrific, soul-sucking loss in a matter of minutes.

To make matters worse shortly after absorbing that low blow I'm watching ESPN and I happen to catch on that annoying, omnipresent bottom crawl that Big Papi might have to miss the season if his wrist injury doesn't heal IN A MONTH!

In a month? Before this game started we were led to believe that this could be one of those pesky little injuries that might get better in a few days. Now we learn it's a torn tendon sheath which will require a minimum month's rehab, and if that doesn't work it's sayonara 2008 season for the team's most clutch slugger.

You talk about a devastating 1-2 punch. My gut felt like the ear of that guy who fought Kimbo Slice the other night.

Normally on the heels of such a devastating announcement the result of one game out of 162 would be a minor footnote. Except this wasn't an ordinary game.

Boston blew scoring opportunities in each of the first four innings off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (6.1IP, 8H, 2ER, 1BB, 5K, 1HR), a theme that would come back to haunt them later in the game.

In the first inning Julio Lugo, batting second with Pedroia getting the night off, singled with one out and Kevin Youkilis (1-3, R, 2BB) followed with a single to right, but Guthrie retired Manny and Lowell to escape the jam.

After Tim Wakefield (7IP, 5H, 2ER, 4BB, 3K) escaped a two-on, one-out situation in the bottom of the inning thanks to a strike 'em out/throw 'em out double play, Boston botched another scoring chance in the second when JD Drew led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice, but once again Guthrie got the last two outs to end the threat.

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the third with a single, but Lugo quickly killed that potential rally when he grounded into a double play, and in the fourth inning Lowell (2-4, RBI) singled with one out and following a strikeout by Drew Coco Crisp broke an 0-22 skid with a single, but Alex Cora lined out to once again squelch the opportunity.

The missed chances would come back to bite Boston in the ass in the bottom of the fourth when Baltimore scored a pair of runs off Wakefield on a walk, and RBI double by Audrey Huff and a run-scoring single by The Original Idiot to give the O's a 2-0 lead.

The red hot Ramirez (2-5, R, BI) got half that lead back when he slammed his third homer in as many days, another opposite field blast, for his 502nd home run, and the Sox would tie the game in the next inning when Kevin Cash doubled in Cora, who had walked, and suddenly it was a new ballgame at 2-2.

Boston grabbed its first lead of the game off reliever Jim Johnson in the 8th when Youk led off with a walk, Manny followed with a single, and after a wild pitch moved them over Lowell singled past the second baseman to score Youk and give the Sox a 3-2 lead.

But a golden chance to get more runs went by the wayside when Manny inexplicably broke for home on a grounder to the shortstop, who was playing in to prevent the run, by Drew, and when Coco walked to load the bases all we needed was a single to break the game open.

Unfortunately Cora grounded into a rally-killing double play, and minutes later the failure to put more runs on the board would come back to cost the Sox a chance to win this game.

That's because the minute Hideki Okajima entered the game it was like a black cloud enveloped the stadium.

Toting a deceiving 0.72 ERA into the game, which belied the fact that Oki has been allowing inherited runners to score at an alarming rate this season, the lefty immediately proceeded to load the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles to right field, and everyone in the nation knew there was no where to go but down from here.

Sure enough Millah (1-3, 2BI) hit a booming sac fly that nearly left the yard to tie the game at three, but after a grounder by Luke Scott got Melvin Mora nailed at the plate thanks to a heads-up play by Youk, it looked as if Oki might escape the inning with the game tied.

Ah, not quite.

Okajima, who couldn't find the plate at all (13 of his 24 pitches were balls and he was behind every batter), then walked .218 hitting catcher Ramon Hernandez to load the bases, and then on a 3-1 count Adam Jones, still yet to prove his worth after coming over in the Erik Bedard trade, made himself a Camden hero by booming a ball high off the centerfield wall to clear the bases, ending Oki's night and the game as well.

Boston actually had a chance to tie the game off closer George Sherrill, who walked Lugo and Youk with two outs, giving Manny a chance at capping a truly memorable weekend with a game-tying home run, but although Ramirez gave the ball a ride to right field once again the ball fell short of the seats and Baltimore had salvaged one game of the series.

But like I said a game is not as important in the grand scheme of things when one of the key pieces to the championship contender is on the shelf indefinitely. Combine that somber fact with the loss of number one starter Dice K and the first place Rays coming to Fenway tomorrow, and what was a bright and sunny weekend took a dark turn on a Monday night in Baltimore.

Like Ron Burgundy said, things really got out of hand fast.

RECORD: 35-25
AL EAST: 1 1/2 GB
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Tue vs. TB @ Fenway 7:05 Masterson vs. Garza

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Manny homers again as Colon goes to 3-0

Sox 9, Orioles 4
WP: Colon (3-0)
LP: Burres (4-5)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Ramirez (11), Lowell (7), Drew (5); BAL-Scott (7)

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox hit three homers for the second straight game, including #501 by Manny Ramirez, and Bartolo Colon picked up another win as Boston beat Baltimore for the third straight game.

SUPERSTAR: Ramirez 3-5, 2R, 3BI, 2B, HR
How do you follow a milestone game? By slamming three hits and three ribs and taking the first step towards the next historic homer, that's how.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Burres 4IP, 12H, 7ER, 1BB, 2K, 2HR
The Sox batters treated Burres like their own personal pinata, notching a dozen hits off the slumping starter in just four innings. Yikes.

RECAP:
No Papi? No problem.

The Boston batters more than made up for the loss of their leading slugger, who missed the game with a hand injury suffered in the 9th inning of last night's win, by clubbing 16 base hits, five for extra bases, and suddenly the team that couldn't win on the road has won three straight away from Fenway.

So far in the series Boston has scored 20 runs and rapped 35 hits including 6 homers and stole 10 bases in taking all three games, a decided difference from the start of the trip in which the Sox lost five of six games in Oakland and Seattle by averaging just over 2 runs and 5 hits per game.

And don't look now but the man behind the resurgence is none other than ManRam, who added to his historic home run total today and is batting .333 (11-33) with 6 runs, 3 homers and 10 RBI on the trip so far.

With production like that who needs Ortiz, right?

Kidding, kidding.

But the best part of this offensive resurgence is that it hasn't been a one Man show - so far in B'More everyone has been getting into the act.

Like Jacoby Ellsbury, who came into this series in a 1-16 skid but has gone 7-15 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and seven stolen bases in three games here.

Or Jason Varitek, who came in with no hits in his previous 18 at bats but has four base knocks in his last 9 ABs in the Nation-friendly confines of Camden Yards.

And maybe that's part of the explanation - there's so many Red Sox jerseys and hats dotting the stands and such loud cheering for the "road" team every time the Sox do something good in this series that maybe the guys feel like they're playing in Fenway.

If that's the case let me say thanks Orioles fans, for being such front-running dickwads that you've turned what was once one of the best home fields in the majors into a virtual vacation destination for Red Sox Nation.

The Sox jumped out to an early lead in this one when Mike Lowell led off the second inning with a double, Tek singled him over to third, and JD Drew, who missed the last two games with vertigo (seriously, what ailment has this guy not had?) skied a sac fly to left to put Boston up 1-0.

Baltimore got the run right back in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double by Luke Scott, a sacrifice and RBI single by Adam Jones off Bartolo Colon (6IP, 7H, 4ER, 2BB, 5K, HR), but Boston wasted no time bouncing back when they roughed up Brian Burres in the third.

Dustin Pedroia started the uprising with a leadoff single to center and after Youk (2-5, 2R) followed with a single that sent Pedroia to third, Manny sliced a double to left to score the Little Big Man and give the Sox a 2-1 lead.

Lowell (2-4, 2R, 2BI, 2B, HR) then launched a sac fly to score Youk and after Tek drilled a liner that Audrey Huff caught at third, Drew dropped a single into right to plate Ramirez for the third run of the inning and a 4-1 Boston advantage.

After Colon retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame, the floodgates opened in the fourth inning, and it was very another extremely memorable occurrence.

Ellsbury (3-5, BI, SB, CS) got the party started with a bunt base hit to open the inning, and then Pedroia, who homered last night, drove a ball to deep center field that Jones snagged at the wall.

But the next two hits would not be caught.

Ramirez, still giddy from the hysteria surrounding his historic homer last night, took a 1-0 pitch from Burres and carved it the opposite way and into the seats for home run #501, and two pitches later Lowell jacked one the other way into the left field seats, giving the Sox back-to-back jacks in consecutive games and if not for Jones' catch we could've had a rare back-to-back-to-back moment to cherish.

Instead we had to settle for the regular B2B version. Oh well.

Staked to a 7-1 lead Colon got a little sloppy when he surrendered a 2-run shot to Scott with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, and after Boston tacked on a couple more runs on a homer by Drew (2-3, R, 3BI) and single by Ellsbury in the 7th he started to tire when he hit Freddie Bynum and walked Brian Roberts to start the bottom of the inning.

On came Javier Lopez, who ruined the recent impressive string by the bullpen when he
surrendered an RBI single to original idiot Kevin Millah, but by then the game was all but over and it was time to start thinking about wrapping up the roadie tomorrow and heading back home to play the first place Rays in the old ballpark on Yawkey Way on Tuesday.

Then again with a home-away-from-home field advantage like the Sox enjoy here, who needs to go home?

RECORD: 35-24
AL EAST: 1GB
STREAK: W3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Mon @ BAL 7:05 Wakefield vs. Guthrie

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Sox lose Dice K, Lugo, Tito and the game on a walk-off hit

Seattle 4, Sox 3
WP: Putz (2-2)
LP: Timlin (2-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Manny (9); SEA-None

SUMMARY:
In what turned out to be an ugly, costly game in the Pacific Northwest Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka had to leave the game with an undisclosed injury, Julio Lugo and Terry Francona got tossed for arguing a check swing, and Mike Timlin gave the game away when he allowed two hits and a walk in the 9th inning, handing the Ms their first win in the last 8 games.

SUPERSTAR: Manny Ramirez 1-3, R, 3BI, HR, A
The game wouldn't had come down to a walk off situation had ManRam not knocked his 499th career homerun over the right field wall in the 6th, tying the game a three and prolonging the agony for the Nation. He also contributed an outfield assist, which at the time staved off late game misery as well.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Timlin 2/3 IP, 2H, 1ER, BB, L
It's time to give Tired Arm his walking papers, a la Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez and Bryan Corey before him, because as soon as he entered the game you knew it was over.

RECAP:
Repeat after me: "I friggin stayed up til 1:10 in the morning for that!"

Now say it again.

What's that, you turned it off before the agonizing 9th?

Lucky bastard.

Because for those of us who did stick around til the bitter end it was a long, sour night of baseball, filled with insults, injuries, ejections and frustration as Boston lost for the fourth time in five games and saw its road record drop to an anemic 11-18.

For some perspective that mark is worse than teams such as Texas and Milwaukee and equals that of Kansas City, which has an aggregate record of 21-30.

I'm too tired right now to do a complete recap, so I'm gonna give you the lazy blogger version:

-Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up three runs in four innings before leaving the game with what appeared to be a side or back strain prior to the 5th

-Julio Lugo got the hook from third base umpire Angel Hernandez after apparently arguing a check swing non-call on Raul Ibanez in the 5th, and after a heated on field exchange Francona joined his shortstop in the clubhouse

-Manny Ramirez tied the game in the 6th after an error by SS Yunieski Betancourt and a walk to David Ortiz; it was his 499th career home run and first in 12 games

-after scoreless efforts from David Aardsma, Manny Delcarmen (!) and Hideki Okajima, acting manager Brad Mills went with Timlin over Papelbon in the 9th. Timlin proceeded to allow a leadoff single to someone named Wladimir Balentien, and after a pair of ground outs, he intentionally walked Ichiro before allowing the game-losing single to Jose Lopez.

And there you have it in a nutshell. It was an awful night and a depressing finish against an awful team the Sox should have beaten. And with that I'm gonna finish my 7 olive martini and hit the hay.

More in the A.M.

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Buchholz battered again as Twins take 3 of 4 from Sox

Minnesota 7, Sox 3
WP: Hernandez (6-1)
LP: Buchholz (2-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Manny (8); MIN-None

SUMMARY:
Despite scoring three in the first inning, two on Manny Ramirez' 498th career home run, and outhitting the Twins for the fourth straight game Minnesota managed to take three of four games from Boston, thanks to a horrendous outing by Clay Buchholz and another clutch hit from Craig Monroe.

SUPERSTAR: Monroe 1-2, R, 2BI, 2B
With the Twins leading but just one slim run (4-3) in the 5th and Boston primed to mount another comeback Monroe sliced a Buchholz offering down the left field line for a two-run double that opened the game up, and Minny never looked back.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Buchholz 4.1IP, 8H, 7ER, 5BB, 4K
For the second game in a row the rookie got shelled like Chuckles the Clown when he dressed as Peter Peanut, walking the leadoff batter in three of the five innings he started and generally pitching like he wants an express trip back to Pawtucket.

RECAP:
Let me start off by saying I missed the first few innings of this game because I was at my son's last Little League game of the season;, we were eliminated in the final game of the Top Team tournament, 10-1.

And then I got home and watched the rest of this stinker plus the Celts stumble on the road again to even their series with the Cavs.

Guess you could say I hit the 'shitty sports night' trifecta.

But as bad as mine and the Celts night was, neither of our miseries can compare to the pain Clay Buchholz must be feeling right now after he posted his second consecutive lousy start tonight at the Homerdome.

And to think he didn't even allow a home run.

When you combine the numbers from young Clay's last start against the Tigers a week ago with the stats he put up tonight, the results are hideous enough to merit a warning to hide the women and children before reviewing them:

-8 1/3IP, 18 hits, 12 earned runs, 6 walks, 10 Ks

In case you don't have a stats converter handy those figures add up to a 13.01 ERA and a WHIP of 2.89, numbers that are closer to Julian Tavarez than a guy who pitched a no hitter at the end of last season.

And we all know where Julian is now (wait, do we?)

Not to say that Buchholz is bound for a trip back to the minors, but let's face it with the Sox apparently clearing space on the roster for a possible promotion for Bartolo Colon, someone on the starting staff is going to have to pay the price, and it ain't gonna be Beckett, Dice-K or Wake.

That leaves Buchholz and Jon Lester ticketed for a potential "seasoning" trip back to the PawSox with neither of the youngsters pitching very well of late, and since Buchholz has the least amount of major league experience it could very well be the lanky righty who draws the shortest straw

Tonight he was staked to a quick 3-0 lead courtesy of David Ortiz RBI single followed by an opposite field bomb by Manny Ramirez, the slugger's 498th of his career and 8th of the season, but he wasted no time in coughing that lead right up and then some.

Minny got two back in the bottom of the inning on three consecutive singles and another error by JD Drew, his second in a week, and then the Twins took the lead for good in the 4th on a pair of walks, a pair of singles and an RBI groundout by Delmon Young. Only an inning ending double play prevented the damage from being any worse, but as it turned out it was about to get worse anyway.

While ageless Twins starter Livan Hernandez (6IP, 10H, 3ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR) escaped a number of jams, Buchholz couldn't get out of any of his self-induced tough spots and Minny was able to add to its lead in the bottom of the 5th.

Last night's hero, Craig Monroe, ripped a double down the third base line and into the left field corner, scoring Joe Mauer, who had walked to open the inning, and Michael Cuddyer, and when Young (2-4, 2BI) followed with an RBI single up the middle, Buchholz night was over.

And with the score 7-3 Twins, so was the game.

The next three innings were rather uneventful (or perhaps it was because I was watching the Cs/Cavs on the main screen with this clunker relegated to the PIP window), but Boston did manage to attempt another 9th inning comeback when Alex Cora (2-4) and Dustin Pedroia got on base with one out, providing the Nation with some hope with the big boppers ready to step up and work their magic.

Alas reliever Jessie Crain retired Ortiz and Ramirez (2-4, r, 2BI) on one pitch apiece, and just like that the good vibes from the Sox recent winning stretch were erased in a disappointing weekend series in the moribund Minnesota Metrodome.

There was some good news on the night: the Rays knocked off the Stanks, 7-1, in St. Pete.

Oh but that's also bad news, too, since its the Rays who are nipping at the heels of our Sox, not the hapless Stankees, so we can't even take solace in the fact that the Stanks got spanked anymore.

Making what was already a depressing night in my sports world a lot more unenjoyable.

NOTES:
-Lugo still ill: with the effects of his head knocking still lingering, Lugo again got the night off in favor of Alex Cora, who had a couple of hits and 5 in the series. Anyone sense a similarity to the Pedroia situation of a year ago?

-The Mayor returns: after missing 15 games with a hip injury Sean Casey returned to the lineup and recorded a hit and made a couple of nice plays in the field as well. He spelled Kevin Youkilis, who got a rare day off despite having hit 6 homers in his last 10 games

-Manny 500: with his first inning bomb Manny got to within two homers of the (once) magic 500 milestone. It was just Manny's 2nd homer in the last 20 games.

-Huh?: Boston lost 3 of 4 in the series despite outhitting the Twins 51-39, including 16-8 in extra base hits

RECORD: 24-17
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm on TB
STREAK: L2
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Tue @ BAL 705 Beckett vs. Guthrie

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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 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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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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Mannny mauls Mussina as Sox defeat Stanks

Sox 4, New York 3
WP: Beckett (1-1)
LP: Beckett (1-2)
SV: Papelbon (4)
HRs: BOS-Manny (2)

SUMMARY:
Manny Ramirez nearly single-handedly defeated his hometown team with a pair of extra base hits and 3 runs batted in, and Jonathan Papelbon weathered a 2+ hour rain delay to strike out Alex Rodriguez with the game on the line as Boston took Game 2 of the series.

Superstar: Manny 2-4, 2R, 3BI
His towering solo shot in the 4th, which hit 3/4 of the way up the Volvo sign atop the Monster, may have been the more memorable blast of the day, but it was his 2out, 2-run double that put the Sox ahead to stay in the 6th that was his more important hit of the afternoon.

The Biggest Loser: David Ortiz 0-4, K, GIDP
Papi's slump has now reached epic proportions (3-44, .070), and it was downright sad to see him ground into a double play on a check swing with two on and nobody out in the first inning.

RECAP:
The first Sox victory over New York in 2008 may have been a long time in the making, but it was well worth the wait.

Well, that's easy for me to say, I was only watching it on TV.

New York had two runners on base with two outs in the 8th, down 4-3, and Tito had just made the call to the pen to bring his closer in to relieve Hideki Okajima and face Alex Rodriguez with the game on the line.

Unfortunately that's right when Mother Nature decided to intervene in what had been a thrilling installment of the Rivalry, and just as Paps was about to take the mound the drizzling skies opened up, the umps called for the tarp, and the game would be halted for over two hours.

No problem for me, as I finished the yard work I had abandoned, cooked a few steaks on the grill, took a shower and watched the end of the third round of the Masters.

The downpour wasn't as enjoyable for the brave souls who chose to stick it out at Fenway to see the game to its conclusion, but at least when play finally resumed 2 hours and 11 minutes later, Paps made those who stuck it out got their money's worth.

When play resumed A-Rod was at the plate with a chance to at least tie the game or put New York in front with a base hit. But Paps would have none of that. He quickly made mincemeat of Rodriguez, needing just three pitches to strike the reigning MVP out, and Papelbon punctuated the moment with his signature primal scream/first pump/crazy glare/ hop-step as he bounced off the field.

It was the moment everyone who braved the delay had been waiting for, and as I said before it was worth the wait.

The game leading up to that point had been just as good, before Mother Nature cast her untimely spell on those of us who had been waiting for a BOS/NY game that didn't involve a New York pitcher completely shutting the Sox offense down.

Instead Josh Beckett (6.2IP, 5H, 3ER, 1BB, 5K) bounced back from a rough first outing with a solid second showing, limiting the Stanks to just four singles and a double over 6+ innings before giving way to Manny Delcarmen after allowing New York to close to 4-3 in the 7th.

Manny Ramirez got the scoring started with a mammoth solo shot in the 4th off Mike Mussina (5.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 0BB, 1K, HR), a ball that would have sailed over Lansdowne if not for the billboard blocking its trajectory.

But New York took the lead two innings later by stringing together a couple of hits mixed in with a sac bunt, a sac fly and a wild pitch, and it started to look like Boston was going to lose another tough one to the boys from the Bronx.

Except another boy from the Bronx would have none of that.

Ramirez, who always does his best hitting against his hometown club, came up with two outs and Jacoby Ellsbury at third and Dustin Pedroia at second and did what his partner in crime Ortiz couldn't do before him- drive in the big runs in a key situation.

Manny laced a double the opposite way to the triangle in right center, easily plating both runners and eliciting a huge ovation from the crowd as he stood on the second base bag and soaked it all in like a victorious politician.

That's the version of Manny being Manny we all love.

The rest, as they say, is history. Beckett came out after New York sliced the deficit to one, and Manny Delcarmen recorded his biggest out of 08 when he struck out Jose Molina with the tying run on second to end the 7th.

After the dramatic, rain-lengthened 8th, Papelbon returned for the 9th and quickly dispatched the three Stankee hitters, striking out Giambi and Posada before getting Robinson Cano to ground out to end it, and a mere five hours after the game started it was over, and the Sox had a big win heading into the series finale tomorrow night on ESPN.

Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates in that one or it could be another long night.

RECORD: 6-6
AL EAST: 1.5 GB
STREAK: W-1
UP NEXT: Sun vs NY 8PM, ESPN Hughes vs. Matsuzaka

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Manny, Moss power Sox to Opening Day victory

Boston 6, Oakland 5 (10 inns)
WP: Okajima (1-0)
LP: Street (0-1)
SV: Papelbon (1)
HRs: Bos- Moss (1); Oak: Ellis (1), Hannahan (1)

Superstar(s) of the Game: Manny & Moss 4-9, 2R, 2 2Bs, HR, 6BI
Ramirez knocked in 4 of the 6 Sox runs with a pair of two-run doubles, including the game winners in the 10th, and Brandon Moss, a late fill in for J.D. Drew, knocked in the other two with an RBI single in the 6th and the game-tying solo shot in the 9th, his 1st career home run.

The Biggest Loser: Huston Street 1.2IP, 3H 3ER, BB, 2K, HR, BS, L
The stellar young As closer blew the save when he allowed Moss' shot in the 9th, then got torched for 2 more runs on 2 hits and a walk in the 10th to take the loss. No sushi for you!

RECAP:
At times it wasn't pretty.

Other times it was downright terrific.

All of the time it was damn early.

But either way you look at it the end result was Boston stole a victory in the Land of the Rising Sun in a game that began just after sunrise on the East Coast, squeaking out an extra-inning win over a bunch of relatively unknown baby As after a shaky performance by starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and reliever Kyle Snyder.

Matsuzaka (5IP, 2H, 2ER, 5BB, 6K, HR, HBP), making his first start in his homeland since defecting to Boston prior to last season, pitched 5 innings of topsy-turvy ball, allowing 2 runs on 60 pitches through the first two innings before settling down and holding the As at bay, allowing his teammates a chance to climb back in it with their potent offense.

Except that offense was being stymied by the bend-but-don't-break attack of Joe Blanton (5.2IP, 7H, 3ER, BB, 3K), who despite getting into mini-jams in each of the first 3 innings inning held the Sox scoreless through the first five of this early bird special.

The game began with Dustin Pedroia ripping a single up the middle at just after 6:10 EST this morning (7:00PM tonight Japan time) and ended when Jonathan Papelbon got Kurt Suzuki to ground out to Youk just before 10:00 Eastern, and in between the game featured a little bit of everything, including helmeted waitresses in the stands, geisha girls dancing on the field before the game, Hub-centric tunes like "Shipping off to Boston" and "Sweet Caroline" playing on the LOUDspeakers, and raucous ovations for Boston's two Japanese imports, Dice-K and Hideki Okajima.

Too bad once the game actually got started the hospitality and goodwill Boston had been receiving throughout the entire trip came to a sudden and screeching halt.

First came the news that J.D. Drew, who had homered in each of the two prior exhibition games vs. Japanese League teams over here, was a game-time scratch due to a back spasm of some sort, forcing the green Moss (sorry) into the starting lineup just 3 minutes prior to game time.

Pedroia then promptly sparked what appeared to be an early rally for the away team with his solid single to center and after Youk's fielder's choice got him into scoring position it was up to the big boys to get the early run in. Except Papi (0-4,BB, R) popped out to third on the first pitch he saw and Ramirez fouled out to right 4 pitches later, and suddenly it was time for Matsuzaka to make his Tokyo Dome re-debut.

Unfortunately what followed was a lesson of how not to pitch when you are being welcomed back to the place your career began as Dice-K looked like a Little Leaguer on the hill for the biggest game of his life. Matsuzaka got Travis Buck to ground out on the first pitch he threw, then proceeded to serve up a gopher ball to Mark Ellis two pitches later to give Oakland an early (literally) 1-0 lead.

It didn't get much better from there as Dice walked unknown Daric Barton, hit Jack w/ a 'K' Cust on the foot on a 2-2 count, then after wild pitching the runners over, loaded the bases on another free pass to the feeble Emil Brown. Only a slow roller to the mound by plummeting Bobby Crosby that plated one and a strikeout (on a 3-2 count) to Jack Hannahan, who was replacing the injured Eric Chavez, prevented the A's from blowing the game open before the first Sapporo of the evening was downed.

The 2nd inning brought more of the same as Boston wasted a leadoff single by Mike Lowell only to see Matsuzaka get himself in another predicament thanks to his inability to throw a breaking ball for a strike, resulting in a bases-loaded situation courtesy of two walks and a single by Suzuki in the bottom of the frame.

This time only a strikeout of Kust prevented an As uprising as Matsuzaka escaped the inning unscathed to keep the deficit at 2-0, but by this time it looked as though Dice would be gone from the game before the last wisps of darkness faded from the morning sky here in the States.

Things settled won from there, with the teams trading 1-2-3 innings for a bit until the Sox finally broke through against Blanton in the top of the 6th.

Pedroia (2-4) began the uprising with a ringing double off the wall in right center that was misplayed by Buck, and after Youk drew a 4-pitch walk, Papi had another chance to do some damage and slice into the As lead. But he fouled out to third.

Luckily Manny brought his hitting shoes in the first game of his contract year -is it any wonder why he's so focused & prepared this early in the season?- as he laced the first pitch he saw from Blanton down the third base line and deep into the corner for a 2-run double that tied the score and brought the fans from both nations (of course RSN was well represented for this ultimate roadie) to their feet for the first time since the beginning of the game.

After Lowell fanned, Mos began his rise to cult status and started the murmurs of "play him instead of the oft-injured Drew" when he ripped 1B to RF to score Manny, and the Sox had the lead at 3-2 and a potential win for Matsuzaka, who gutted it out despite his early struggles and deserved a W here.

Too bad Kyle Snyder didn't follow the script, as he allowed a single to Crosby and a homer to Hannahan 5 pitches into the bottom of the 6th, and now Boston would have to play catch up again.

The next few innings featured a parade of relievers, including a couple of familiar faces on the Oakland side in Lenny DiNardo and old friend Keith the Burger King Foulke, who threw a 1-2-3 8th that included a whiff of Manny to end the frame, and then the Sox were down to their final at bats.

Thankfully Huston Street was willing to play the role of goodwill ambassador today.

Moss spanked Street's 1-out, 2-2 offering into the stands in right for a game-tying solo shot that sent the crowd into a frenzy, and even though he retired the next two batters, you could sense the momentum had definitely shifted to the home-away-from home team.

Sure enough after Oki, who received a louder greeting from the fans than fellow countryman Matsuzaka, set the As down in the bottom of the 9th, Boston quickly went to work on ending this thing in the 10th when Lugo reached on an infield single to lead off, and then after an intentional walk to Papi, Ramirez roped a double high off the right field wall that scored both runners and effectively sent the fans home happy.

Sure Papelbon struggled in the bottom of the 10th, letting in a run on three hits, but by that time everyone was either too spent to worry about it or had already left for work assuming that Boston had lost in regulation.

But on this day (night? morning?) the Sox would prove to be just as resilient as they were 5 months ago, when no deficit was too large and no game was unimportant enough to brush aside.

Especially one where the psyche of two nations was resting on their shoulders.

Hey, whadda ya say we all do it again tomorrow morning?

See ya at 6:00.

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