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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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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Game Preview: D-Backs @ Sox GM2

Davis (2-3, 3.65) vs. Masterson (4-1, 3.00)
Game 2 of 3 7:05 @ Fenway Park

Boston will look to get back on the winning track at Fenway Park when rookie Justin Masterson puts his undefeated home record on the line against inspirational Arizona lefty Doug Davis.

Like Sox starter Jon Lester, Davis has come back from battling cancer to continue his career in the major leagues. Diagnosed with a thyroid condition earlier this year, the 32-year-old veteran spent six weeks on the DL receiving treatments before returning to action in late May.

In his first four starts since his return he was up and down, allowing one and three earned runs in a couple of starts and then five and six earned in the other two.

Since then he has been lights out in his last two starts, allowing just 9 hits and 1 run with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings of work, yet he doesn't have a win to show for it.

But the fact that he has come back from the Big C and continued to be a productive member of a pennant contending team is a big enough win in itself.

Masterson, meanwhile, will try to continue to prove that he belongs on the big club for the foreseeable future when he makes his seventh start of the season tonight.

After dropping his first decision in Cincinnati a week and a half ago the 23-year-old bounced back with a solid showing in Philadelphia last Wednesday to earn the first road victory of his career.

In four starts at Fenway Masterson in 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA and a .169 BAA, and the kid has yet to allow more than four earned runs in any start this season.

Just the fact that he's made everyone forget about Clay Buchholz, who only threw a no hitter last September, is an accomplishment worth noting.

If the Sox are to break this mini-schneid at home, losing 3 of the last 4 games, it will need to get its offense going. In the four games since returning home the Sox have scored just 13 runs, and only a walk-off homer by Kevin Youkilis separates them from sitting at 0-4 on this home stand.

Speaking of Youk, according to the Globe he is scratched tonight following his run in with an errant Mike Lowell toss during between inning warmups last night that resulted in a nasty shiner below his right eye. He will visit a specialist and then it will be decided when he will return to action.

With or without Youk's hot bat, Boston needs to score some runs off Davis and get this game in the win column. The Diamondbacks had been in a horrible slump, are terrible on the road, having just been swept in Minnesota, and have fewer impact players than the no-name Cardinals.

No excuses, boys. Bring this one home tonight.

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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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Road woes continue as Masterson loses first game

Reds 3, Sox 1
WP: Harang (3-9)
LP: Masterson (3-1)
SV: Cordero (13)
HRs: BOS-None; CIN-Dunn (17), Bruce (4)

RECAP:
Aaron Harang turned in his best performance of the season and Cincy used the solid pitching and a pair of longballs to send Boston to its 21st road loss, third worst in the majors, in its first trip to Cincinnati since the 1975 World Series.

SUPERSTAR: Harang 7IP, 4H, 1ER, 0BB, 7K, 118P
Leave it to the Sox to bring out the best in a guy who hadn't won in a month and who had allowed 16 earned runs in his last three starts. Tonight Harang was an ace again, tossing five 1-2-3 innings and befuddling the Boston batters all night.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: J.D. Drew 0-4, 3K
The league's hottest hitter bottomed-out big time tonight, flying out once and striking out three times, once with the tying run on base in the 9th inning, to snap his hitting streak at 11 games.

Talk about coming down hard.

RECAP:
Thankfully, with the contest taking place in an NL park with NL rules, this game was quick and concise.

So this recap will be, too.

The road weary-ers continued their apocalyptic run away from Fenway, dropping another contest outside of the friendly confines, this time to a team that was 4-28 this season when scoring three runs or fewer coming into this game.

So much for that stat.

Boston played like a team that had forgot how to win, how to hit, or how to play baseball with passion in a game that had all the energy of a Yanni concert.

Coming off an exciting 9-game homestand in which the Sox averaged almost 6 runs per game and leading the AL in most offensive categories, all the blistering Boston bats could muster was one run on a double and four singles against a mediocre Reds team.

Shit the American League leaders in on base percentage and walks didn't even manage a base on balls in this one.

The worse part is Cincy only mustered four base hits, struck out 11 times, and STILL won the game.

Oy!

The loss certainly can't be blamed on starter Justin Masterson, although he was the unfortunate beneficiary of the sudden power outage. He picked up his first major league loss in his first road start despite his excellent effort (6.2IP, 4H, 3ER, 3BB, 9K, 2HR, 98P.)

The 24-year-old held the potent Cincy lineup in check for the most part and absolutely confounded rookie shortstop Paul Janish, who fanned three times against him, but Masterson was burned by a quartet of hard hit balls that ended up spoiling his night.

The Reds wasted no time jumping on the kid right away when fellow phenom, center- fielder Jay Bruce, slammed a 1-2 pitch over the rightfield wall leading off the bottom of the first to give Cincy a quick 1-0 lead.

But after Harang had retired the first nine batters, Boston answered back in the fourth when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double and two outs later Manny Ramirez (1-3, BI) sliced a single to deep right to drive in Ellsy and tie the game at one.

Who knew at the time that would be it as far as scoring for the Beantown boys?

Cincy, meanwhile, countered quickly, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on a laser home run by Adam Dunn (1-2, R, BI, BB) that took about two seconds to get out and was only about eight feet off the ground, and the next on back-to-back doubles by Edwin Encarnacion and rookie sensation Joey Votto.

So it was 3-1 and all the scoring was done.

The worst part of it was Boston couldn't even come close to mounting a rally until it was almost too late, and when they did their best RBI guy was out of the lineup and sitting on the bench in crunch time.

The only hit the Sox got off Harang after the fourth was a single by fomer Cincy hero Sean Casey, who received a huge ovation in his first game back in the Queen City since leaving as a free agent three years ago.

Ironically it was Casey's 1500th career hit, so it was nice to see the Mayor reach a milestone in a place that means so much to him.

The next Boston hit came when Dustin Pedroia led off the 9th inning with a sharp single to right off closer Francisco Cordero, and with Drew and Manny's spot due up it looked like a game-saving rally could be underway.

But Drew struck out for the third time on the night and Manny was removed from the game after batting in the seventh inning due to his bad hammy, so instead Coco Crsip got the chance to tie the game.

Two outs later the game was over and Boston had its 21st road loss, and now it faces the daunting prospect of countering hard-throwing young ace Edinson Volquez with soft-tossing old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on national television tomorrow.

Didn't I tell you this would be quick and concise?

NOTES:
-Sick Tek: the strep throat that struck Jason Varitek two nights ago kept him out of the lineup again tonight. He was replaced by Kevin cash, who will of course catch Wake tomorrow, giving Tek and extra day of rest

RECORD: 42-28
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Sat @ CIN 3:55 FOX Wakefield vs. Volquez

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Sox win again as Masterson remains undefeated

Sox 2, Seattle 1
WP: Masterson (3-0)
LP: Green (1-2)
SV: Papelbon (18)
HRs: BOS-Drew (8); SEA-None

SUMMARY:
JD Drew remained hot at the plate, homering for the second straight game and extending his hitting streak to 8 games, and Justin Masterson continued to pitch like a seasoned vet rather than a real rookie as the Sox took the series from Seattle despite netting just five base hits.

#1 STUNNER: Drew 1-3, 1R, 2BI, HR
Not only is the right fielder blazing with the bat, homering for the fourth time in the last eight games, but he is providing spectacular defense in the field, too, as his highlight reel catch of a Richie Sexon blast in the second inning proved.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Sean Green 2.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
The league leader in appearances came on in relief of starter Erik Bedard an had just one mission to accomplish: keep the score tied. Instead he allowed a homer to Drew on his 5th pitch which turned out to be the difference in the game.

RECAP:
At the rate these guys are going who needs Ellsbury, Papi and Dice-K?

I know I've joked about this before but it's starting to appear to be true because no matter what lineup combo or starting pitcher Francona runs out there the Sox still have an excellent chance to win every time out.

Especially with Manny, Drew and Masterson as hot as the suddenly summer-like Boston weather.

Drew extended his torrid hitting streak to eight games, in which he's batting an even .500 (15-30) with 6 walks, 4 homers and 12 RBI, while Manny's 6th inning single prolonged his streak to 13 games, raising his average from .280 to .302 in that time.

And Masterson, as corny and cliched and overused as this phrase is, has truly been masterful as he has yet to lose in his young career and continues to astound and impress everyone in baseball every time he takes the mound.

Think the Stankees wish they had someone like this coming up from their farm system to bail them out?

But as well as the 23-year-old Jamaican born phenom has been he still hasn't even secured a spot in this tough-to-crack Red Sox rotation.

With Dice-K due back soon and Buchholz too experienced to leave in the minors for very long, Masterson, who still has plenty of options and minor league seasoning left, would appear to be the odd man out.

Unless he keeps pitching like this. Then there's no way they can keep him at Pawtucket, age and experience level non withstanding.

For the third time in four career starts Masterson (6IP, 3H, 1ER, 3BB, 4K, 88P) allowed just 1 earned run. He went at least six innings for the fourth straight time, and has yet to throw more than 95 pitches in any of his starts.

His ERA is 2.59, his WHIP is 1.07 and batters are hitting less than .200 off of him.

Like I said, gonna be hard to send this kid back down with numbers like that.

Today he got touched for a run early, but the situation could have been a lot worse if not for a superb catch by J.D. Drew. After walking the first two batters of the second inning, slumping Richie Sexson sliced a screaming liner to right center field that looked like it was going to go for a sure bases-clearing double.

But out of nowhere Drew raced over and snared the sinking liner with an awesome over-the-shoulder catch, saving two runs, and even though one runner advanced and came home on a groundout the potential for a big inning for Seattle was snuffed out with that catch.

That was the entire offense on the day as Boston held the M's to a mere three base hits, and once the Sox tied the game in the third you got the feeling that it was just a matter of time before they took control of this one.

Boston finally got to Bedard (5IP, 2H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K, 99P), who had handcuffed them last month in Seattle, in the third when they tied the game on only one base hit.

Coco Crisp started the rally with a one out single to right, then Bedard walked Brandon Moss and Dustin Pedroia to set up a bases loaded, tow out situation for Drew, and the slugger came through with an RBI once again, although this time he didn't get a hit but got hit with a Bedard pitch, tying the game at one.

After both teams traded a couple of scoreless innings Mariner manager John McLaren for some reason removed Bedard after the fifth, despite the fact that he had only allowed the one run and three hits, and Drew immediately jumped at the opportunity to face a new pitcher.

Sean Green came in as the leader in appearances in the American League with 32 and had only allowed one home run all season, April 24th against the Orioles.

Until today.

Green jumped ahead of Drew 0-2 before the rightfielder took a ball and fouled one off, then he blasted a bomb to the black seats in centerfield for his 8th home run and second in two days, and with the score 2-1 it was up to the Sox bullpen to bring the series win home.

Craig Hansen came in to relieve Masterson to start the seventh and after surrendering a leadoff walk the rejuvenated righty, who hasn't allowed an earned run in his last six appearances, set the next three Mariners down in order, the last two by strikeout.

Hideki Okajima, who has also settled down since his meltdown in Baltimore, tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, and then Jonathan Papelbon, who was victimized for an unearned run thanks to a rare Kevin Youkilis error yesterday, needed all of five pitches to dispatch what was left of the Mariners in the 9th for his 17th save and close out the win.

Tomorrow the Sox will enjoy a rare off day at home before taking on the O's on Tuesday, and if all goes well Jacoby Ellsbury should be back for that game, with Matsuzaka and Buchholz soon to follow him back to the big club.

If there's room for those guys.

RECORD: 40-26
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 8-2
UP NEXT: Mon-Off; Tue vs. BAL @ Fenway 7:05

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Game Preview: Mariners @ Sox GM3

Bedard (4-4, 4.47) vs. Masterson (2-0, 1.95)
Game 3 of 3 1:35 @ Fenway

The rubber game of this series features an enticing pitching matchup, with Seattle's big bucks off-season acquisition Erik Bedard going up against the new kid on the Boston pitching block, Justin Masterson.

For the first time in his young career Masterson did not get sent right back to the minors following his last start. Instead, with Daisuke Matsuzaka still on the mend and Clay Buchholz working on his mechanics in Pawtucket, Masterson was allowed to stick around with the big club after his second career victory last Tuesday, a six inning, four earned run performance against the Rays on Tuesday.

You have to think the experience of palling around with the big boys would only help the 23-year-old's development, although with all the shenanigans that have gone on this week I'm not sure this was the best time to have him hanging around.

Oh well, just like our kids he's gotta learn about the real world someday.

His mound opponent Bedard finally lived up to his offseason hype as the savior of the M's staff in his last outing; unfortunately his breakout performance came against the Sox.

On May 28th in Seattle the hard throwing lefty pitched seven innings of 2-hit, 8-strikeout shutout ball, proving to the Seattle fans and ballclub that he was worth the enormous financial and psychical package the Mariners gave up in acquiring him from Baltimore in the offseason.

The question for them is, can he do it again?

In his next outing following that gem Bedard surrendered 5 runs (4 earned) and seven hits with three walks and one strikeout in 3 1/3 innings in a 5-4 loss to the Angels, looking more like Julian Tavarez than a staff centerpeice.

He was booed off the Safeco mound after that wretched performance, so maybe a start away from home is exactly what he needs.

Let's hope not.

The real question about today's game is what kind of lineup configuration is Tito "the Juggler" Francona going to come out with today. With so many regulars out or nursing injuries, we could almost create a game show out of this new daily routine.

"Who's gonna leadoff for the Bosox" or "Are you stronger at the top or bottom of the lineup" could be a couple of contenders.

As always we'll just have to wait and see.

As long as whomever's out there puts some runs on the board and keeps Masterson's winning streak intact, it's all good.

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Home boys: Sox K.O. Rays for 11th straight home win

Sox 7, Rays 4
WP: Masterson (2-0)
LP: Garza (4-2)
SV: Papelbon (17)
HRs: BOS-Lowell (8), Drew (6); TB-Iwamura (4), Pena (11)

SUMMARY:
The two teams atop the AL East waged a back-and-forth battle for six innings before Boston finally pulled away with a four-run sixth. Justin Masterson pitched well enough to earn the win as Mike Lowell, JD Drew and Coco Crisp provided the big hits necessary to help the Sox climb within a half game of the Rays.

SUPERSTAR: Drew 2-3, 2R, BI, BB, 2B, HR
Not only did the rundown rightfielder contribute mightily at the plate, he also made two spectacular catches in the field to prevent runs and keep the score close.

Imagine what he could do if played every day - he might just make this list more than once a season.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Garza 5.1IP, 6H, 7R, 5ER, 2BB, 3K, 2HR, 96P
Not only did the randy righty implode on the mound when he allowed four runs in the sixth inning, he exploded as well by cursing at himself & others, slamming the resin bag down and generally acting like a Little Leaguer with a hair trigger during the fatal frame.

RECAP:
So far the season series with the Rays has been a microcosm of the Sox season as a whole.

They win at home, they lose on the road.

Boston ran its record against the Rays in '08 to 4-3 with the win tonight, and yup, you guessed it, all four wins have come at Fenway while the three L's came at the fabulous, soon to be extinct Trop.

By winning its 11th consecutive home game Boston moved to an ML-best 22-5 at Fenway and while the three wins in Baltimore made its road record a bit more respectable, 14-20 is not exactly a mark that makes you start printing playoff tickets.

Regardless of the venue the win tonight was huge for the Sox on many levels:

-Justin Masterson, despite allowing a homer on his first pitch of the night, hung in for the win in what was the least impressive of his three major league starts to date

-the Sox slugged two key homers and had four extra base hits out of their seven in their first game at home since David Ortiz was placed on the DL

-both Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen had solid outings in setting up Jonathan Papelbon for the save

-Boston is now one beautiful effort by Josh Beckett away from reclaiming first place in the East for the first time since May 25th

If that isn't enough to ensure huge ratings for tomorrow night's clash of the titans on ESPN I don't know what will.

As i said this game was worthy of two clubs battling for first place as the Rays and Sox took turns trading leads before Boston finally grabbed the last lead of the night in the sixth.

It all started when Masterson (6IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, 5K, 2HR, 91P) allowed a leadoff home run to pesky Akinori Iwamura on the first pitch of the game, a ball that barely cleared the Monster in left but was ruled a homer without the benefit of replay.

When the rookie hit Carlos Pena with a pitch two batters later, it didn't take a genius to realize this wasn't the same masterful Masterson we had seen in his two previous outings.

Luckily for Boston Matt Garza, who had been rock solid lately in allowing just 2 runs and 8 hits in 15.1 innings while posting two straight wins, was as shaky as the rookie, and when Manny Ramirez led off the second with a single and Mike Lowell blasted a 2-run shot over the Wall, you got the feeling it was gonna be one of those nights.

The Sox missed a golden opportunity to add to the lead in the third when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a walk, stole second (of course) for his league leading 28th theft, and Dustin Pedroia was hit by a pitch to set up a first and second, no outs situation.

But Youk skied to shallow left and ManRam (1-4, 2R) bounced into a double play, and that threat was gone by the wayside.

Like last night's game in Baltimore the Rays made the Sox pay for the failure immediately after when BJ Upton and Pena hit back-to-back booming doubles to start the third to tie the game at two, and if it wasn't for the glove of JD Drew it could have been a lot worse.

On the next pitch following Pena's ground rule double to the right field seats Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria launched a deep, slicing drive to the same corner, but Drew hopped on his horse and tracked the ball down near the wall for an inning-saving out, and Masterson retired the next two batters to escape the inning with the game tied.

As so often is the case in baseball Drew contributed a great offensive play in the next inning when he turned on the first pitch he saw from Garza and deposited it deep into the right field seats to give Boston a 3-2 lead.

You're serve, Tampa Bay.

Neither team scored in the fifth but the Rays returned the serve in the top of the sixth when Upton (2-5, 2R) singled through the infield to right and Pena followed with a towering blast that nearly brought rain and ended up in the bullpen to give Tampa Bay the lead back at 4-3.

The the game, and Garza, fell apart in the bottom of the sixth as the Sox would not only return the serve but slam it down the Rays throats, making sure there would be no more see-sawing for the rest of the night.

It all stated to unravel when Garza hit Youk in the forearm on an 0-1 count, and as the pitcher cursed and called his catcher to the mound you could see something was wrong with the fiery youngster.

If he was mad at himself after that mistake he must have been furious when his former Twins teammate, shortstop Jason Bartlett, booted a grounder by Ramirez, and after Lowell fouled out, Garza walked Drew on a couple of close pitches to load the bases, and it felt like all hell was about to break loose.

It did.

Captain Tek hit a sharp single up the middle to score Youk and tie the game (again) at four, and then Coco Crisp, who just ended a horrific 0-23 slump last night, stepped in with a chance to break the game open.

(*Side note - actual exchange between my son and I at this point: Drew: "Oh great, Coco's up!?" Dad-" he just broke a long slump last night, he's due for a big hit")

Like I actually know what i'm talking about Crisp proceeded to carve a 1-0 pitch from Garza down the leftfield line for a 2-run double, and just like that the game was all but over.

Ellsbury added a sac fly off Grant Balfour as Garza was shredding something in the dugout to give us the final margin of 7-4, and after that it was up to the Sox pen to bring the win home.

Amazingly they did just that. Manny D tossed a scoreless, hitless seventh, and after Javier lefty Lopez walked one and allowed a hit to his two batters, Hansen came on and retired Carl Crawford, Gabe Gross and Bartlett to send the game to the closer.

Papelbon wasted no time in setting the side down in order in the 9th, needing just 12 pitches to record two Ks and a groundout, and when Upton went down swinging to end the game Boston was one step closer to reclaiming first place and had its first game in the win column since Big Papi went on the DL.

If only they could play every game at home, life would be so much easier.


RECORD: 36-25
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Wed vs. TB 705 ESPN Jackson vs. Beckett

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This time Masterson gets the win

Sox 2, Kansas City 1
WP: Masterson (1-0)
LP: Meche (3-6)
SV: Papelbon (13)
HRs: None

SUMMARY:
It was almost a case of deja vu for Justin Masterson when the bullpen nearly blew his brilliant performance tonight. But Jonathan Papelbon came on to get the last four outs of the game, including the final out of the 8th with the bases loaded, to secure the kid's first major league victory.

SUPERSTAR: Masterson 6.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K, 91P
I know he's only made two starts, but the numbers he's put up so far - plus the composure and maturity he's displayed - have got Sox fans salivating over the thought of him, Lester and Buchholz anchoring the Boston rotation for years to come.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Jose Guillen 0-4, 3K
One day after Lester stopped his 10 game hitting streak, Masterson further doused Guillen's hot bat by striking him out twice looking, and in the 8th Hideki Okajima fanned the AL Player of the Week with the tying run on third base.

RECAP:
The suspense of whether Justin Masterson would toss a no hitter was dispatched with quickly when the third batter of the game, Alex Gordon, blooped a double just inside the left field foul line for Kansas City's first hit in 9 2/3 innings.

The only question left after that was 'would the lanky kid from Jamaica earn his first major league victory?'

Despite a few queasy moments after he was lifted from the game and a nerve-wracking 8th inning that saw Hideki Okajima load the bases, the answer, thankfully, turned out to be 'yes'.

For the second time in less than a month Masterson got the call to come down from Portland and fill in for a Sox starter, and for the second time he did so brilliantly, limiting another major league ballclub to a few hits and what should have been no runs (thanks, Delcarmen), prompting GMs around the league to turn off their cell phones to avoid the calls from angry owners screaming "why the fuck can't we cultivate young hurlers like that?!"

Yes, this means you, Cashman.

The way the Boston batters had been crushing the ball lately no one even thought this game would be close enough for a reliever to blow.

But the Sox could barely dent the impenetrable force that is Gil Meche (7IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, 8K) tonight, managing just a pair of runs off the expensive Royals starter even though the 2007 free agent signee had allowed 12 hits and 8 earned runs in his last 12 innings pitched.

All the runs for Boston came in the second inning as Meche loaded the bases with one out on consecutive singles by Youk and JD Drew and a walk to Jason Varitek. A sac fly by Julio Lugo scored Youk, and a ground rule double by Coco Crisp plated only Drew, and the Sox had to settle for two when Pedroia flied out to end the inning.

Luckily for Boston Masterson was just as impressive as he was when he started against the Angels on April 24th. In that game he gave up just two hits and one run in 6 innings, but didn't get the win as the trio of Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima combined to blow a 3-1 lead en route to a 7-5 LA win.

Like I said earlier, it was almost deja vu all over again for the kid tonight.

He wasn't quite dominant in this one, as the Royals had men on base in 6 of the 7 innings he started, but he did work his way out of potential jams, sometimes with a little help from his fielders.

In the third inning he allowed a two out walk to Mark Grudzielanek and then a single to center to Alex Gordon (3-4), but Gordon inexplicably got greedy and tried to stretch it into a double. He quickly jammed on the brakes and tried to get back to first, but a perfect relay from Coco to Pedroia to Youk nailed Gordon as he slid past the bag.

By the 7th Masterson had made the 2-0 lead hold up, but when he walked Mark Teahan to lead off the inning, who then moved to second on a groundout, Tito pulled the youngster before things got out of hand.

And just like last time, the same trio of relievers almost destroyed the game again.

Lopez did manage to retire the one man he was brought in to face, striking out Ross Gload looking, but then in came Manny D., and there went the shutout and nearly the game.

Delcarmen, who officially makes the Nation cringe every time he enters a game now, has allowed at least one baserunner in 16 of his 20 appearances so far this season and is sporting a god awful (for a reliever) 1.56 WHIP, immediately allowed a single to John 'don't call me Joe' Buck to slice the lead in half, 2-1, and it was only by the grace of the baseball gods that he got the immortal Alberto Collaspo to strike out to end the inning.

Unfortunately Francona's choice for the 8th inning didn't fare much better.

Okajima, who hadn't pitched in six days due to a wrist injury, worked his way into a bases loaded jam in the 8th thanks to a double and a pair of walks (in all fairness to him he should have had a couple of those balls called strikes, but hey, what can you do), and it was only his striking out of Jose Guillen that saved the game from swinging in the Royals favor.

After walking Teahan to load the bases with two out, Francona had seen enough and brought in his horse Papelbon to put an end to this nonsense and hopefully preserve the win for the kid.

Four outs (and three strikeouts) later Paps had done just that, and for the second straight night a young Sox hurler walked off the mound at Fenway with a huge confidence-boosting win under his belt and the promise of a long, bright future as a big league pitcher ahead of him.

Oh, and for his efforts Masterson was sent down to Pawtucket after the game.

Welcome to the Show, kid.

RECORD: 29-19
AL EAST: Up 1.5gms
STREAK: W5
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Wed vs. KC 705 Tomko vs. Colon

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Game Preview: Royals at Sox GM2

Meche (3-5, 5.98) vs. Masterson (0-0, 1.50)
Game 2 of 4 705 @ Fenway Park

So how does a team top a no hitter thrown the night before?

How about two in a row?!

That might be a lot to ask from young righthander Justin Masterson, who will make just his second career major league start tonight against the Roayls, but maybe not. After all the kid did pitch a 2-hit, 1-run 6 inning gem versus the Angels in his major league debut a month ago.

But I think it's safe to say that the back-to-back no-no feat will not be duplicated tonight. Instead we in the Nation will settle for another strong performance by the lanky 23-year old Jamaican-born Masterson, and another impressive showing by the sizzling Boston offense.

The team has been averaging over 6 runs per game in May and has a five game and currently a four game winning streak to show for it. Never mind the mini slump when it lost 5 of 6 in Minny and Baltimore, because this offense is clicking on all cylinders right now and shows no signs of slowing down, especially against tonight's Royals starter, mediocre Gil Meche.

You remember Meche don't you? No.

He's the former Seattle Mariner starter who parlayed a 55-44 career record into a 5 year, $55 million contract from KC before the 2007 season, a deal that had baseball experts shaking their heads and middling pitching prospects salivating at the thought of getting paid big bucks for accomplishing basically nothing in the major leagues.

A year and change later Meche is 12-18 for Kansas City with a 4.12 ERA and he has as many victories this year as rookie Luke Hochevar and reliever Leo Nunez.

Nice investment, KC.

Here's to the Sox batters pummelling the ish out of Meche, and Masterson duplicating the feats of fellow phenoms Buchhoz and Lester.

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Sox Drawer: Masterson & Colon set to start in KC series

Not to get too far ahead of myself but the Sox will send two potential rotation saviors to the hill against the Royals this week.

Don't you feel better knowing this guy ^ is going to start for Boston on Wednesday?

Due to the rain out Friday night and Clay Buchholz nursing a fingernail injury on the DL, Boston is in need of a couple of starters this week.

And who better to take the ball than phenom-in-training Justin Masterson, who pitched brilliantly in his MLB debut against the Angels a few weeks ago, and the once laughable offseason acquisition Bartolo Colon, who could be the pickup of the year if he pitches anywhere close to his Cy Young form.

According to the Globe Masterson will start Tuesday, taking Buchholz spot on the rotation, and Colon will make his 08 debut Wednesday night, thus preventing Boston from having to use one of its regular starters on short rest.

Like I said I know it's tough to get too amped up about a 23-year-old kid with six innings of major league experience under his belt, and an aging, overweight former ace who may pitch his last game in the majors should he shit the bed on Wednesday.

But the thing makes me excited is despite the early woes that have plagued the majority of the pitching staff the team has option available, cheap ones at that, to plug in until the other problems get straightened out.

With Colon it's a low risk/high reward situation that could pay huge dividends. Do I believe that the hefty righty is going to dominate lineups and become a top of the rotation stater again? Not quite. But if he can be a serviceable #4-5 with his experience and veteran leadership, that will certainly be an improvement over Julian Tavarez and the unstable Buchholz.

And if he doesn't pan out Boston will cut him loose quicker than Mariah did Nick (what, that didn't happen yet? bullshit!) and will only have wasted about a million on the chance that a former Cy winner could contribute anything to a pennant contending team.

As for Masterson he could be this year's Buchholz (especially since it appears Buchholz won't be) if he parlays these spot starts into a September callup, where he could have the chance to toss a gem in a pennant race, a la Clay's no-no last September.

If he doesn't he's back in the minors till next year, with the tantalizing taste of the MLB experience enough motivation to drive him to make it back.

Bottom line is not matter how bad things have looked for the rotation (except Matsuzaka) and the bully (ditto Paps), it's nice to know that reinforcements are on the horizon to shore up the leaks until the ship is ready to sail smoothly again.

And to think I didn't even mention the inevitable return of Mr. Bloody Sock.

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Masterson's effort wasted by horrid penmenshit

Angels 7, Sox 5
WP: Saunders (4-0)
LP: Delcarmen (0-1)
SV: Rodriguez (9)
HRs: BOS- Ortiz (4); LAA-Napoli (5)

SUMMARY:
A brilliant major league debut by AA starter Justin Masterson went for naught as a quintet of Sox relievers combined to cough up the lead and blow what should have been the kid's 1st big league win.

SUPERSTAR: Masterson 6IP, 2H, 1ER, 4BB, 4K
When a kid from Double A pitches this well against one of the best offensive clubs in the AL, you'd expect a slew of experienced MAJOR LEAGUE relievers to be able to nail down the win for him. Guess not.

THE BIGGEST LOSER(s): Boston bullpen 3IP, 7H, 6R, 5BB, 3K
Javier Lopez got the ball rolling when he allowed the only two batters he faced reach base in the 7th, and then Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, David Aardsma and Julian Tavarez followed suit as none of them could keep the Angels off the basepaths or the scoreboard.

RECAP:
Welcome to the major leagues, Justin Masterson.

You've heard about The Show from your fellow draftees who've already made the big club, sniffed what it's like to face veteran hitters in the spring, and hoped and prayed one day you would get your chance to shine on the major league level.

And when you finally do get your chance, and you shine brighter than most 23-year-old AA hurlers have in the past, a bunch of major league relievers rain on your parade by fumbling away what should have been the first win of your career.

That's the part of baseball that you don't envision when your preparing for this moment as a kid in your backyard.

Today's matinee at Fenway went from odd to awful in the span of about 15 minutes as the Angels took the third and final game of the series in a game that swung so abruptly from one side to another you'd have sworn the playing field was populated by politicians and not ballplayers.

Masterson, starting in place of Jon Lester, who started in place of Daisuke Matsuzaka last night, was simply spectacular in his debut. The rangy righty surrendered 2 hits and made just one mistake, a 1-1 pitch that Mike Napoli hit into the rightfield seats, in 6 innings while making a slew of clutch pitches and nifty plays in the field.

But after throwing 95 pitches and with the Sox leading 3-1, Francona decided it was time to remove the youngster let his experienced pen men steer his victory into the garage.

Unfortunately the band of 'oh, brothers' missed the garage and drove directly into the wall. At full speed.

As I said the game had an odd tone to it from the start. Boston loaded the bases in the 2nd inning with no outs on a bloop base hit by Manny, a walk to Youk and a single by Jed Lowrie, yet they only scored one run, on an RBI groundout by Coco Crisp (2-4, R, 2BI, 2SB).

While Masterson, who was sent back down to Portland after the game, was confounding the Angels batters with his fastball and sinker, Boston scratched out a couple more runs in the 4th off LA starter Joe Saunders (6IP, 7H, 3ER, 3BB, 3K), and there was more oddity involved.

Crisp, who returned to the lineup after missing 8 games with a pulled hammy, hit a wind-swept ground rule double to center to drive in Youk, who had walked again, and then Kevin Cash followed with a wind-swept ground rule double to center of his own to almost the exact same spot to score Coco.

The game also featured two Angels outfielders colliding to drop a pop fly by Manny; Youk crashing into the tarp attempting to catch a foul pop; and passed balls, errors, missed tags and numerous wind-aided plays that combined to turn the contest into Circe de Fenway.

But things were going so well for Boston that not even Napoli's leadoff homer in the 5th could dampen the spirits of the Faithful.

Masterson escaped a potential jam in the 6th when he walked Vlad Guerrero to lead off the inning but then induced Garrett Anderson to ground into a double play, and he finished his afternoon by striking out Torii Hunter on three pitches, exiting the field to a much-deserved standing ovation.

And that's when the good times came to an abrupt halt.

Six straight batters reached base in the 7th off three Sox relievers, the first two off Lopez, the next two off loser Manny Delcarmen, and the last and biggest blow, a liner to center by Gary Matthroids Jr (3-5, 3BI - please check his urine!), off Hideki Okajima that plated two and gave the Angels their first lead of the game at 5-3.

Oki did finally retire three batters in a row in impressive fashion to end the inning, but that only makes you more pissed when you think "why the fuck couldn't he have done that when he first came in?!"

Making matters worse David Aardsma, who has slipped lately after a strong start, gave up a run in the 8th and Tavarez surrendered the 7th Angels run in the 9th, and both runs would prove costly.

That's because David Ortiz slammed a 2-run shot with two outs in the 9th to pull Boston to within two at 7-5, but then K-Rod came in to close it out, and when Manny's deep fly didn't get wind-blown or dropped but was caught by Hunter in center, the Angels had a come-from-behind win of their own.

And a talented kid from the minors got a taste of what it's like to be a major leaguer for a day.

I bet next time he's up he asks to pitch the whole game.

RECORD: 15-9
STREAK: L2
LAST 10: 7-3
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
UP NEXT: Fri at Tampa Bay 705 Wakefield vs Garza

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