Boston's longball barrage buries B-more

Sox 9, Orioles 2
WP: Lester (5-3)
LP: Guthrie (3-7)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Lowell (10), Drew (10), Youk (10); BAL-None

*Note: sorry I was late posting this but after I started it I watched the Celtics game, and after witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the NBA playoffs I was in no condition to blog about baseball! GO CELTS!

SUMMARY:
A trio of 10th home runs sent the Orioles out of Beantown on a sour note as Boston used a pair of two-run shots, from Youk and J.D. Drew, a grand slam by Mike Lowell and a solid start by Jon Lester to defeat the O's and take 2 of 3 in the series.

#1 STUNNER: Drew 2-4, 2R, 2BI, BB, 2B, HR
The torrid streak continues as Drew reached base three more times and smacked another two extra base hits, including his 6th homer in his last 11 games. He is now batting .500 in June (18-36) and is creeping up on Milton Bradley for the league lead in on base percentage.

This is the J.D. Drew the Sox expected to see when they laid out $70 mil for him a year and a half ago.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Dennis Sarfate 1IP, 1H, 2ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR
Starter Jeremy Guthrie didn't pitch well, but he left with a deficit of just 5-1. Chad Bradford chipped in with 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief, but then Sarfate let the game get away when he surrendered Youk's two-run homer in the seventh.

RECAP:
Whadda ya know, the game started at six and was over by nine!

Plus the Sox won and there were no fisticuffs or blown saves.

Now that's what I call a sweet win.

Boston dispatched the pesky Birds with a decisive seven-run victory that gave the Sox five wins in their last seven games against Baltimore, a team they (thankfully) won't see again until after the All Star break.

Like the game yesterday the Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but this time instead of the Boston bullpen suddenly letting Baltimore creep back in the game the Boston batters kept adding to the lead to make sure there would be no Bird comeback or blown save tonight.

The Sox got on the board in the second inning against O's starter Jeremy Guthrie (4.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, K, HR, 107P) when Youk singled sharply to center with one out, moved to second on a groundout by Coco Crisp and came around to score on a single underneath the glove of first baseman Oscar Salazar for a 1-0 Sox lead.

The funny thing about that play is that normally Kevin Millar would have been over there and might have made the play, but he had to come out of the game after fouling a ball off his knee in the top of the second.

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you, Kevin.

The game stayed at 1-0 for a few innings as Guthrie continued to struggle, but caught a few breaks like when Youk got tagged out at home in the fourth and Kevin Cash, playing in place of Tek who has strep throat, couldn't capitalize with two men in scoring position

Jon Lester, meanwhile, was mowing through the Baltimore lineup, showing no ill effects of having his start pushed back a day due to his Raysbrawl suspension.

Lester (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 3K, 101P) retired 13 of the first 17 Baltimore batters
before running into his only trouble of the night in the sixth inning. But by then the Sox lead had grown to 5-0, and it was another case of deja vu that brought them to that point.

Jacoby Ellsbury (1-5, R) started the fifth inning off with a single to right, then one out later moved to third base on a double to the base of the Wall by white-hot J.D. Drew. And then O's manager Dave Trembley did something that he can't really be blamed for, but it came back to bite him in the nads anyway:

he intentionally walked Manny Ramirez to get to Mike Lowell.

Granted most managers would make the same decision in his situation, what with Manny being a member of the 500 homer club and one of the most feared right handed hitters of all time, but sometimes playing the percentages doesn't always work out.

Just ask Jimmy Gobble.

On My 22nd at Fenway the Royals reliever was also instructed to walk Manny to load the bases and pitch to Lowell, and Lowell responded by taking him over the Monster for what wound up being the game-winning grand slam in an 11-8 Boston win.

Fast forward to tonight and it was deja vu all over again as Lowell (1-4, R, 4BI) took an 0-1 offering from Guthrie and golfed it over the Monster for a back-breaking granny, and from there it was all over but the piling on.

As I said Lester did hit a rough patch when he surrendered three doubles in the sixth inning to cut the Sox lead to 5-2, but when Audrey Huff (2-4, BI) inexplicably failed to score from second on a two-out single by Ramon Hernandez that would have sliced the Boston lead to two runs, the game was all but over.

The Sox put this one away against a pair of Baltimore relievers when Youk (2-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB) drove the first pitch he saw from Dennis Sarfate over the wall for a two run homer after Manny had walked again, and in the 8th Drew added to his incredible June numbers and put a cap on this game and series when he blasted a two-run shot off Jamie Walker for the final margin of 9-2.

So a lot of things went right for Boston and the Nation tonight. Drew continued to make people forget Papi has been out of the lineup. Youk showed signs of coming out of his month-long slump. Boston blasted three homers for the first time in a couple of weeks. Jon Lester looked great after an unexpected extra day of rest.

And the game ended in less than three hours, allowing all of us to catch a miraculous Celtics comeback to take a 3-1 Finals lead over the hated Fakers.

A good night at the old ballyard indeed.

NOTES:
-Going Streakin': Manny had his 15 game hitting streak stopped with his pair of walks, while Drew extended his to 11 games; he has now hit safely in every game since Ortiz went on the DL

-Lugo-no: the Sox shortstop committed his league-leading 13th error on a routine grounder in the 8th inning. Is he a remake of Rentanerror or what?


RECORD: 42-27
AL EAST: Up 2.5 gms
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri @ CIN 7:10 Masterson vs. Harang

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Game Preview: Orioles @ Sox GM3

Guthrie (3-6, 3.40) vs. Lester (4-3, 3.50)
Game 3 of 3 6:05PM @ Fenway

The Sox will bid adieu to the Birds for a month after this evening's game at Fenway, and the way these last few games have gone it's not a moment too soon.

After trouncing the O's in the first three games of a four-gamer at Camden two weeks ago Boston lost the next two meetings before eeking out a win last night in a game that was a lot closer than it should have been.

The problem with these pesky avians is that a bunch of their hitters have been thriving on Red Sox pitching this season, as Hideki Okijim'a struggles have proven.

Here are some of the numbers for Baltimore batters vs. Boston pitchers this season:

-Luke Scott .462 (12-26), 2 2Bs, 3HRs, 7R, 6BI the 3rd year player acquired from Houston in the Miguel Tejada deal has been the ringleader of the Baltimore Birds of Boston Destruction as he has simply torched Boston pitching all season long; almost a 1/3rd of his 10 homers have come against the Sox

-Audrey Huff .424 (14-33) 3 2Bs, HR, 6R, 4BI the former DRay has had a lot of experience hitting Boston pitching, but never has the surly DH capped them at a .400 clip. His 2-run single off Oki the other night was the back breaker in the come-from-behind win

-Nick Markakis .364 (12-33), 5 2Bs no surprise here as the solid right fielder has hit Boston at a .300 clip for his young career, and though he doesn't have the power numbers against them he still manages to get on base vs. Boston. A lot.

-Adam Jones .303, 3 2Bs, 5BI although he's only hitting .252 overall the second-year center fielder has been having a field day against Boston; his 3-run double off (who else?) Oki won a game for the O's back in late May

This list of Boston bashers doesn't even include Kevin Millar, who's only batting .200 vs. his old mates but has 6 runs batted in and 5 runs scored against them, or Jay Payton, another ex-Sox who's hitting .294 and has driven in 8 runs in only 17 at bats against his old team this season.

Talk about the Boston stranglers.

The task of stopping these maniacs will fall on the shoulders of Jon Lester. Fresh off serving his (unwarranted) five game suspension for his role in the Raysbrawl, whatever his role may have been, Lester should be rested and ready to put brushbacks and beanballs behind him and concentrate on winning games again.

Since tossing his no hitter on May 19th Lester has one win, one loss and one ND on his record and though he hasn't pitched poorly he hasn't been close to unhittable, allowing 22 hits and 7 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings of work.

His mound opponent will be the unlucky righty Jeremy Guthrie. Despite being 10th in the league in ERA Guthrie has often fallen victim to a pitcher's worst nightmare - poor run support.

In half of Guthrie's 14 starts the O's hitters have scored three runs or less including his recent three-game losing streak in which they scored 0, 1 and 2 runs for him.

Since that streak he is 1-0 with one ND, which came in Baltimore's 6-3 win over Boston when Jones hit his game winning double off Oki. For the season Guthrie is 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA against the Sox, striking out a dozen batters while walking only two in 12 1/3 innings.

As long as J.D. Drew, who has a 10 game hitting streak in which he's batting .500 (16-32) with 5 homers and 13 RBI, and Manny Ramirez, who owns a 15-game streak and has homered in 4 of his last 5 games against Baltimore, keep bashing like they have been the Sox should be alright in this one.

But it's up to Lester to calm the Baltimore bats and help the Sox win the series before they head out on a six game interleague road trip beginning in Cincy tomorrow.

Not an easy task they way these guys have been hitting Boston pitching, especially with the game set to start at six o'clock again.

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Sox bounce back but nearly blow win vs. O's

Sox 6, Orioles 3
WP: Colon (4-1)
LP: Olson (5-2)
SV: Papelbon (19)
HRs: BOS- Tek (7), Lowell (9); BAL-Scott (10)

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox pounced on Baltimore starter Garrett Olson for five runs in the first inning and Bartolo Colon made it stand up as he bounced back from his only loss of the season. But the Boston bully made us sweat it out as the tying run came to the plate in the ninth inning before Papelbon closed it down.

#1 STUNNER: Colon 6IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 7K, HR, 93P
After the debacle of his last start, in which he gave up six runs and made a pair of costly errors in an 8-0 loss, it was nice to see the big fella rebound with a solid performance like this.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Olson 5.1IP, 7H, 6ER, 3BB, 0K, 2HR, 98P
The surprise ace of the O's staff got his team off to a horrible start with that putrid first inning, and even though he settled down after that the damage was too much for his club to overcome.

RECAP:
See, I knew if the game didn't start at 6:00 the results would be better.

Boston readjusted nicely to the regular starting time by pounding O's starter Garret Olson for five runs on three hits, two walks a stolen base and an error in the first inning and they never looked back despite some nail biting moments in the 9th when Mike Timlin turned a comfy 6-1 into a shaky 6-3 margin with the tying run at the plate.

But when you have one of the best closers in the game at the ready it was almost anti climatic when Paps came on and calmly got the final out, as if he was saying "sorry, Mike, you had your chance and blew it, now let the big dog take this one home."

Notice Hideki Okajima wasn't anywhere near the field in this one.

With last night's and tomorrow's games starting an hour earlier presumably to accommodate Celtics fans the Sox took full advantage of the usual seven o' clock start after Bartolo Colon tossed a 1-2-3 top of the first.

Jacoby Ellsbury wasted no time starting things off when he singled to center on Olson's third pitch of the game, and after Dustin Pedroia popped out quicker than you can say "watch him go" Ellsy was on third base when Olson's errant pickoff throw on his steal attempt wound up in rightfield.

That miscue meant an easy RBI situation for the league's hottest hitter in June, J.D. Drew, and the rightfielder didn't disappoint as he roped a double down the rightfield line to score Ellsbury with ease for the first run of the game.

Manny Ramirez, the next hottest hitter on the team, managed to move Drew (1-3, R, BI, BB) to third with a groundout, and the extra base proved beneficial when Olson threw a wild pitch on ball four to Mike Lowell and Drew scampered home for a 2-0 lead.

Olson lost it from there as he surrendered another walk, this time to Kevin Youkilis after he had Youk 0-2, and then Captain Tek (1-4, R, 3BI) made him pay for his sloppiness when he blasted a towering shot over the Monster and out of the park for a back-breaking three-run homer that apparently landed on the windshield of a car in the parking lot across the street, according to the NESN cameras.

Staked to a 5-0 lead Colon went about his business, allowing a base hit here and there but never seeming worried or out of sorts like he was in his last start.

A single and a double were negated by a double play in the second inning, and although Sox killer (it's official now) Luke Scott (2-4, R, BI, 2B, HR) touched him for a solo shot to lead off the fourth, Colon responded by retiring six of the last eight batters he faced before exiting the game after six quality innings.

Despite the early success off Olson Boston could only muster one more run against the rookie southpaw, a solo shot by Lowell (1-2, 2R, BI, 2BB) to lead off the sixth, and so it was up to the bullpen to hold the five-run lead.

(gulp)

David Aardsma was first out of the pen and the hard-throwing righty, who's only pitched twice so far this month, fared pretty well, surrendering a two-out double to Adam Jones (1-4) before getting Freddie Bynum to strike out to end the inning.

After Boston blew a great chance to pad the lead when they loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the inning, it was Javier Lopez' turn to stifle the comeback-prone Oriole's bats in the eighth.

The lefty, who has allowed just one run in his last 12 appearances, allowed a one-out walk to fellow Sox killer Nick Markakis (1-3, BB), but a 6-4-3 double play by Melvin Mora quickly squelched that potential threat.

And then came the ninth.

With Okajima all but banished from pitching against Baltimore and the game not in a save situation, Francona called upon Tired Arm Timlin to get the last three outs and nail down the win.

Timlin's pitched less than Aardsma this month, ever since he allowed a hit and two walks in the 12th inning of Boston's 5-2 win on May 30th at Camden. So this was a chance at a little redemption for the old timer.

Instead he did his best Oki v. Baltimore imitation and had to leave the game with egg on his face.

The first batter of the ninth, last night's hero Audrey Huff, belted a double to deep right, and suddenly everyone watching had a sick feeling of where this one was heading.

Two pitches later Baltimore's Sox Killer #3, Kevin Millar, scraped a double off the wall to score Huff and the Sox sizable lead was sliced to 6-2 with a runner in scoring position and nobody out.

(GULP!)

Timlin did manage to retire Scott, who is now batting .455 against the Sox in '08, as Millar moved to third, and then a lineout by Ramon Hernandez seemed to get Timlin off the hook.

But Pedroia put his pitcher right back on the hook when for the second time in two games he booted an easy out in the ninth inning on a grounder by Jones, and as Millar crossed the plate the score was cow 6-3 Boston and everyone in the Nation was reaching for the antacids in anticipation of what was gonna happen next.

What happened next was recent callup Oscar Salazar, a former member of the Detoit Tigers who's spent the better part of the last six years in the Mexican league, slapped a single into left, and with the tying run coming to the plate Timlin could've walked off the mound right then, knowing it was time for the close to save the day.

It took five pitches for Paps to get Brian Roberts (0-5) to ground out weakly to Youk, and just like that another crisis was averted and Boston finally had a win against Baltimore after dropping the last two decisions to them by a combined score of 16-9.

The good news is the Rays lost this afternoon so the Sox gained a game in the standings and now lead the east by two games.

The bad news?

Tomorrow's starting time is six o' clock.

NOTES:
-Manny's on a roll: even though he didn't hit a homer, something he's done in four of his last five games against the O's, Manny did manage to extend his hitting streak to 15 games with his infield single in the third inning. It's the longest streak by a Bosox batter so far this season

-Colon 150: the win was career victory #150 for Bartolo Colon, who appeared to be on a fast track to 200+ wins before injuries derailed his promising career. The Sox got a scare when Colon was briefly injured when a liner by Markakis caromed off his wrist in the top of the fourth, but he shook it off and remained in the game, and pitched very well at that.

RECORD: 41-27
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Thu vs. BAL 6:05 Guthrie vs. Lester

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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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Game Preview: Orioles @ Sox GM1

Daniel Cabrera (5-2, 3.98; 1-0, 3.21 vs. BOS in '08)
vs. Josh Beckett (6-4, 4.07; 0-1, 5.40 vs. BAL in '08)
Gm 1 of 3 6:05 @ Fenway Park

Tonight (or should I say 'this evening? thanks, Celtics!) these two AL East foes will renew their "rivalry" as the two staff aces will face off again for the second time in less than two weeks.

In that outing on May 30th in Baltimore both starters pitched well, with Beckett (6IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 10K) barely having the better performance over a surprisingly solid Cabrera (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 2K), but the outcome wasn't decided until long after the starters had exited the ballgame.

Stellar lengthy outings by both bullpens were wasted when Baltimore's defense crumbled in the 13th inning as they committed three costly errors, leading to three unearned runs and a 5-2 Boston victory.

This time hopefully the game will end a lot sooner so the nation can watch the Celtics go up 3-0 on the L.A. Fakers in the NBA Finals; in other words no extra innings or benches-clearing brawls allowed.

After a rough stretch where Beckett allowed 30 hits including 7 homers and 16 earned runs over 27 2/3 innings, the near Cy Young winning form of 2007 has returned. Over his last three starts Becks has surrendered just 18 hits (2 homers) and 5 earned runs over 19 innings, walking just 3 batters while striking out 24, although he's just 1-1 with an ND to show for his efforts.

But a vet like him knows that as long as he keeps the ball in the yard and men off the bases, the Boston offense will eventually score enough runs early to get him a win.

Cabrera has long been an enigma for Baltimore management and fans, but this season the former wild child has turned into a more controlled man. Gone is the hairtrigger temper and erratic outings filled with as many walks as strikes, in is an even- keeled pitcher who has walked 2 batters or less in 7 of his 12 starts this season.

Still the lanky righty has not fared well in his career against Boston, posting a 2-9 record with a 6.82 ERA against the Sox in 13 starts including 0-3, 8.41 at Fenway.

Boston should get the services of Jacoby Ellsbury back tonight, and the speedsters presence plus the blazing bats of Manny Ramirez and JD Drew should combine to give Beckett all the support he'll need to get the win and start the series off right.

And if they can get it over with by 9:00PM EST, that would be much appreciated as well.

GO SOX & GO CELTS!

BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

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Series Preview: Orioles @ Sox

Baltimore Orioles (31-31)

AL East: 7 GB (t-3rd)
Streak: L1
Last 10: 5-5

Season Series: Tied 3-3

3 Game series at Fenway Park
Game 1 Tuesday *6:05
Cabrera (5-2, 3.98) vs. Beckett (6-4, 4.07)
Game 2 Wednesday 7:05
Olson (5-1, 3.86) vs. Colon (3-1, 3.91)
Game 3 Thursday *6:05
Guthrie (3-6, 3.40) vs. Lester (4-3, 3.50)
* note early start times due to NBA Finals

PREVIEW:
After a much-needed off day yesterday it's time for the Sox to play ball again. Too bad it's another series against the hard-to-get-excited-about Baltimore Orioles.

For the third time in less than a month Boston will play a series against the O's, a team with no stars, no cachet, and for what seems like the 20th straight season no chance of making the playoffs.

While the Sox will add this three game set to the two-gamer they played on May 13-14 in Baltimore and the four game wraparound series at the beginning of this month, Boston has still yet to play other AL clubs like the Chicago White Sox and have only played the Indians, Angles and Twins once.

In other words, let's mix it up schedule makers; the Nation gets tired of seeing the same teams every other week.

I guess that's what interleague play is for, huh?

Anyway, since they have to play them again they might as well go and sweep the series, which they very nearly did in that memorable four game set a week and a half ago.

In that series Boston took the first three games by a combined score of 20-9 including a 13 inning win in which Baltimore committed 3 errors in the final frame, and Manny Ramirez hit his 500th (and 501st & 502nd) home run before Baltimore saved face with a 6-4 victory in the finale when Hideki Okajima melted down like Three Mile Island.

The series was also memorable because it was the last time we saw David Ortiz in action. Big Papi injured his left wrist in the game on Saturday night, the same night his partner in bashing hit his historic 500th homer. After MRIs and examinations, Ortiz was diagnosed with a torn tendon sheath and placed on the DL with a tentative timetable of a month set for his recovery time.

Since then Boston has been on an unlikely roll, winning five of its last six games despite the loss of Ortiz and for the last three games Jacoby Ellsbury, mainly because guys like Manny and JD Drew have been hotter than Indiana Jones franchise.

Drew has hit safely in his last 8 games, batting .518 (14-27) with 8 extra base hits and 10 RBIs while Manny has a 13-game streak going in which he's hitting .380 (19-50) with 6 homers and an incredible 19 RBI.

Those streaks have not only helped carry the club in Papi's absence but placed the sluggers in the Top 10 of most of the offensive categories in the AL:

Drew: 5th in AVG (.318), 2nd in OBP (.417), 4th in OPS (.926), 9th in runs (41)
Manny: 3rd in HR (14), 4th in RBI (47), 5th in OPS (.938), 5th in SLG% (.552), 3rd in XBH (29), 3rd in TB (127)

Boston will need that production to continue to make up for the loss of Ortiz and to offset the severe slumps of guys like Dustin Pedroia (4-37), Coco Crisp (7-41) and Kevin Youkilis (10-49).

Luckily they get to play the bad news O's at home this time, and with Ellsbury due back tonight and three solid starters on the mound, a sweep is definitely in their grasp before heading to Cincy for the start of interleague play tomorrow.

And thankfully we can say say by bye to B'More for another month.

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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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Game Preview: Sox @ Orioles GM4

Wakefield (3-4, 4.70) vs. Guthrie (2-6, 3.64)
GM 4 of 4 7:05 @ Camden Yards

The fourth and final game of this wraparound weekend series gets underway shortly at Camden with the Sox looking to sweep and the O's hoping to salvage one game and a bit of dignity following three horribly played games.

Two notes here:

1.) I absolutely hate these 4 game series that continue into Monday. Why? Because the start of the work week should coincide with the start of a new series (if it's not an off day). Continuing something from the weekend when everyone else has switched gears from weekend to weekday mode just doesn't feel right.

2.) The Orioles have looked like a little League team this weekend. Six physical errors have been compounded by numerous mental miscues, base running blunders, hit batters and general shoddy baseball fundamentals to add up to three straight miserable losses.

Perhaps that's why the Globe's Nick Carfado reported that the team was taking extra infield practice, spring training-like, before the game this afternoon.

That being said the results have been extremely positive for Boston. Coming in to this series the team had been in an offensive slump and had fallen to an anemic 11-19 on the road.

Three games later almost everyone on the club is hitting the ball well (save for Coco Crisp who is in the midst of an 0-21 skid), and even the loss of Big Papi didn't slow the team down yesterday.

With the results of Ortiz' MRI not expected for a while it's safe to say they will have to make due without their top slugger for at least a few games, but with Manny back to being Manny and the rest of the offense clicking, the loss shouldn't affect the team tonight.

Now if they can just get another spectacular outing from Tim Wakefield, they will be in perfect position for a sweep.

Last time out Wake tossed an absolute gem, going eight innings while allowing just five hits and a run in that heartbreaking 1-0 loss in Seattle last Wednesday.

That outing came on the heels of three straight poor efforts in which Wake surrendered 21 hits and 17 earned runs over 13 innings. So even with the performance in Seattle the knuckleballer is just 1-4 in his last 6 starts and needs to get back on the winning track ASAP.

His mound opponent tonight will be the unlucky Jeremy Guthrie. I say unlucky because despite allowing three runs or less in 9 of his last 10 starts the righty is just 2-5 in those starts thanks to the horrid Oriole offense.

For example in his last 3 starts he has allowed just 15 hits and 5 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings, yet he's 0-3 in those games even though his ERA is just 2.17.

See, unlucky.

As long as he remains that way the Sox will be poised for the sweep before heading into the big home series with the Rays tomorrow.

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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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Game Preview: Sox @ Orioles GM3

Colon (2-0, 2.25) vs. Burres (4-4, 4.15)
Game 3 of 4 1:35 @ Camden Yards

Just as the excitement of Manny Ramirez joining the 500 home run club starts to subside the Sox are hit with more depressing injury news as David Ortiz will miss today's game and possibly more due to a wrist injury he incurred while swinging the bat in the 9th inning last night.

An X-ray after the game proved negative but the wrist is sore and Papi says he will need to have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.

So we can add his name to those of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz as key members of the club who are currently injured.

On the bright side Boston goes for its third win in a row today when Bart Colon goes for his third consecutive win since being called up a couple of weeks ago from Pawtucket.

In his first two starts with the Sox he has gone from decent (5IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 4K) in his first start to superb in his last one (7IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K), flashing a 95 mph fastball while hitting his spots and limiting any potential damaging innings.

Which means he's about due for a letdown.

His mound opponent on the afternoon is the struggling lefthander Brian Burres. In his last outing Burres was tagged for 8 runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Stanks in a game Baltimore came back to win, 10-9 in extra innings.

Before that start Burres had been pitching well, allowing 3 runs and 10 hits over 14 1/3 innings in his previous two starts, and in 8 appearances against Boston he has surrendered 14 hits and 5 runs with 9 walks and 9 Ks in 14 2/3 innings.

Hopefully the euphoria over Ramirez' milestone will carry over to today's contest and the Sox can overcome the loss of Ortiz and the probable letdown of Colon to take Game 3 of this series.

Maybe they'll steal six more bases and Baltimore will make six more errors.

NOTES:
-Bailey to start: with Ortiz sitting out and Manny most likely spent from celebrating #500 last night Jeff Bailey will get the nod and make his first ML start since last July this afternoon. Bailey will play left while Manny slides to DH

-Tito out again: Terry Francona will miss another game as he attends his daughter's high school graduation today. Brad Mills will take the helm for the third time against the O's and 5th time this season.

-Bradford bitter about 500: Baltimore reliever Chad Bradford wasn't too concerned with his historic homer he allowed to Ramirez, basically blowing it off as another bad pitch that got hit out of the park and not something that will consume him. Yeah, right. Not until he hears "the man who surrendered Manny Ramirez' 500th homer" for about the 5,000th time

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500th clubbed: Manny's milestone powers Sox to win

Sox 6, Orioles 3
WP: Aardsma (2-1)
LP: Cormier (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (16)
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (4), Ortiz (13), Ramirez (10); BAL-Roberts (4)

Bye bye baseball, hello Hall of Fame

SUMMARY:
Manny Ramirez became the 24th member of the 500 home run club when he belted an opposite field blast in the seventh inning off Chad Bradford, and Boston used a trio of homers to defeat the error prone Orioles for the second night in a row.

SUPERSTAR: Ramirez 1-5, R, RBI, HR
He only got one hit, but that one hit ensured his ticket to Cooperstown. So it was a pretty big one.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Bradford 1/3IP, 1H, 1R, 1HR
The sidearmer was brought in for one reason - to get Manny out. Instead Manny put it out, and in the process put Bradford's name in the record book, forever to be known as "the man who surrendered Manny Ramirez' 500th home run."

RECAP:
One day after celebrating his 36th birthday Manny Ramirez got the present he'd been waiting all year for - a free trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

When Ramirez carved his 500th career home run to right field in the seventh inning of tonight's win over Baltimore, he capped a season long vigil that began with a bang but had been reduced to a nerve-racking whisper. He began the year with six homers in his first 17 games, but then he went more than 10 games without a homer twice before hitting two in the past four games to finally reach the magic mark.

"I'm just happy everything's done for now," Ramirez said. "I can go be myself and have fun."

Like he ever had a problem doing that, 500 lb monkey hanging off his dreads or no.

The homer was the icing on the cake of what has been an enjoyable couple of days in the Inner Harbor for the Bosox.

After snapping a 1-5 skid with a hard fought and satisfying 13-inning win early Saturday morning that featured key contributions from nearly every member of the bullpen, tonight they fought back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 before pulling away late, thanks to Manny's milestone and some sloppy play by the bumbling Birds.

Wonder what Sunday has in store?

The night started off on a bad note when Jon Lester (5IP, 7H, 3ER, 3BB, 4K, HR, 103P) allowed a pair of runs in the second inning on a walk, a passed ball and a pair of RBI singles by Jay Payton and Adam Jones, but Boston got those two runs right back when Pedroia and Papi hit back-to-back jacks off O's starter Garrett Olson (5IP, 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 3K, 2HR, 89P) in the top of the third.

It was the fourth time this year Boston has hit back to back home runs, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

Unfortunately Lester gave the lead right back when Baltimore's version of Pedroia, Brian Roberts, hit his fourth homer of the season into the left field bleachers to give the Birds a 3-2 lead.

But once again Boston came right back, this time off reliever Lance 'don't call me Rheal' Cormier. Cormier retired Manny on two pitches but then hit Mike Lowell two pitches later, balked him to second two pitches after that, and after allowing an infield single to Kevin Youkilis, gave up the game-tying hit when Cap'n Tek (3-4, RBI) slammed a single to left.

With the game all square again it was time for the historic heroics.

David Aardsma, one of the few pen men who didn't contribute to last night's victory, relieved Lester and threw a 1-2-3 sixth and then Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole three bases for the second consecutive game (!), led off the seventh with a blistering triple to deep right center, and it was just a matter of time before the Sox brought him home.

Sure enough one out later Ortiz (1-3, R, 2BI) greeted reliever Jamie Walker with a towering sac fly to left that scored Ellsbury with ease, and then O's manager Dave Trembley made his second mistake of the inning when he brought in Chad Bradford to face Ramirez.

The sidewinding vet had spent 2005 with the Sox, so you know he knew all about Manny's tendencies. Like how he loves to swing at the first pitch if he thinks he knows what's coming.

He did, and he pounced on the pitch and drove it deep into the right field seats for the history-making blast, and with arms raised and in full pose mode Manny became a member of a special if not exactly rare group of sluggers who have reached the once exclusive 500 homer club.

The Sox tacked on another run in the 8th when Youk got hit by a pitch, moved to third on a single by tek and scored on a double play grounder by Coco Crsip, and after Okajima tossed a scoreless frame in the bottom of the 8th, Papelbon caused a few nervous moments when he allowed a hit an a walk in the 9th before a base running blunder by the Birds led to a game-ending double play and another road win.

But the fact that Boston won back to back road games for the first time since May 5th & 6th at Detroit, or that they stole 9 bases in two games, or that Baltimore made 6 errors in the two losses and generally played like a Little League team both nights, none of those things mattered.

This night belonged to Manny.

You can call him maddening and you can call him mercurial, you can call him child-like and you can call him Manny being Manny.

But one thing you have to call him is one of the most impressive and feared hitters of all time, and five years after he hangs up his 'do rag for good you'll be able to call him a Hall Of Famer.

Congrats Manny, and happy belated birthday.

RECORD: 34-24
AL EAST: 1GB
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Sun @ BAL 1:35 Colon vs. Burres

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Lucky 13: Sox beat Baltimore in extra innings

Sox 5, Orioles 2 (13 inn)
WP: Timlin (3-3)
LP: Bradford (2-2)
SV: Papelbon (15)
HRs: BOS-None; BAL-Huff (9)

SUMMARY:
After Boston and Baltimore played to a 2-2 tie in regulation, the teams traded chances in extra innings until Melvin Mora's critical error in the 13th paved the way for Mike Lowell's game winning hit.

SUPERSTAR: Lowell 3-5, R, 2B, 2BI
He knocked in the second run of the game with a sac fly way back in the first inning, then drove home a more important one when he laced a single down the left field line to score Manny from second base with the game winner in the 13th.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Mora 0-6, 3K, 2E
Is it possible to have a worse game than this? I think not.

RECAP:
The Red Sox finally got a win on the road, and they got it the old fashioned way - they earned it.

After a scintillating start from Josh Beckett (6IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 10K, 118P) resulted in a tie ballgame after six innings, it appeared as if the shaky Sox pen would surely hand the game to the Orioles eventually.

But something funny happened on the way to a complete bullpen meltdown - six Sox relievers combined to shut the O's down for seven innings, leaving the Boston batters with plenty of chances to pull out this much needed road win.

Which they did. Eventually.

And thus on the same day Daisuke Matsuzaka went on the disabled list, Manny Ramirez turned 36 years old and the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987, the Red Sox staged another comeback victory over the pesky Orioles thanks to some solid pitching and shoddy defense.

Did I mention the Sox also stole a team record six bases?

Talk about a memorable day in Beantown sports history.

When the game began it looked like it would be a potentially easy win for Boston.

They scored four minutes and five pitches into the contest, when Jacoby Ellsbury (3-7, R, 2 2B) led off with a double, Dustin Pedroia sacrificed him to third and David Ortiz brought him home with a single. They tacked on another run when Manny doubled Ortiz to third and Lowell drove in Papi with a sac fly, and less than 10 minutes into the game it was 2-0 Boston with Beckett yet to pitch.

Who knew it would be over 4 1/2 hours before the sox would score again.

With Matsuzaka on the DL Boston needs Beckett to be the Beckett of last year, and for the most part this evening he was, save for a couple of lapses that let Baltimore right back in the game.

One of those laspes came in the second, although the run Baltimore scored wans't all Beckett's fault.

He did allow back-to-back singles by Kevin Millah and Luke Scott to set up a 1st & 3rd, one out situation, but it was a terrible throw by Jason Varitek that sailed into center field as Scott tried to steal second that let the first Oriole run score.

The tying run was all Beckett's fault, though, when he served up a leadoff homer to Audrey Huff in the 4th inning to tie the game at two. It was Beckett's 11th homer allowed this season, putting him on pace for a 2006-like 33 for the season.

Yikes.

While erratic Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 2K) settled down after the first inning to hold the Sox scoreless through seven, Beckett also settled down a bit and even struck out four straight Oriole batters from the 5th into the 6th innings.

Then things got crazy as Becks walked three straight batters to load the bases with two outs, and you got the feeling you were witnessing some kind of Jekyll/Hyde performance from the former ace.

But Beckett got Adan Jones to strike out to end the threat, and at 118 pitches thrown it was the end of the night for him.

As a lump formed in the Nation's throat over the prospect of the bullpen being responsible for a tie ballgame, the pen men banded together and did something they hadn't been able to do all year - string together multiple shutout innings.

First Hideki Okajima (2IP, 1H, 1K), then Manny Delcarmen (1IP, 1H, 1BB, 1K), then Javier Lopez (1/3IP, 1H) held the Orioles scoreless through the 10th inning, and even Craig Hansen (1.2IPP, 1BB, 2K) and Mike Timlin (1IP, 1H, 2BB, 1K) managed to escape their innings unscathed, although Tired Arm had to work his way out of a bases loaded jam in the 12th.

Following that tightrope act Boston finally cracked the equally impressive corps of Baltimore relievers, but it would take some truly sloppy defense to get this game over with.

Jamie Walker came on to relieve Fat Matt Albers, who did an impressive job (3IP, 1H, 1BB, 2K) for Oriole manager Dave Trembley, and things immediately went downhill from there.

First catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped a foul pop off the bat of Ortiz (2-6, 2B, R, BI) for an error, and although Walker retired Papi anyway the gaffe set the tone for what was to follow.

The costly mistake came two pitches later, when Melvin Mora airmailed a routine grounder by Manny over Millar's head at first, enabling Ramirez to trot to second and opening the floodgates for Boston.

Three pitches later Lowell ripped a single to left that scored the birthday boy Ramirez easily with the go-ahead run, and after an infield hit by Youk, reliever Dennis Sarfate was greeted with a double steal and then a 2-run error by shortstop Freddie Bynum, who threw a mile wide of first on a routine grounder by Coco Crisp to make the score 5-2, effectively ending the long night right there.

Jonathan Papelbon, who hadn't pitched in a few days, tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the 13th, thanks to a terrific barehanded play by Lowell on a high hopper by Jones, and after he fanned Brian Roberts looking to end the game, he let out his patented primal scene that signalled the end of a long, but satisfying, night in Baltimore.

Now the question is does Jon Lester have it in him to throw another no hitter tomorrow, because the chances that this bullpen can throw another three-four scoreless frames are slim and none.

RECORD: 33-24
AL EAST: 1 GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Sat @ BAL 7:05 Lester vs. Olson

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Series Preview: Sox at Baltimore

Baltimore Orioles (26-26)
AL EAST: 5 GB
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 3-7
BA: .247 (13th in AL)
RS: 218 (11)
HRs: 52 (6)
ERA: 4.13 (8)
RA: 228 (8)
SV: 18 (2)

Season Series: O's lead, 2-0

4 game series at Camden Yards
Game 1 Friday 7:05
Beckett (5-4, 4.43) vs. Cabrera (5-1, 3.70)
Game 2 Saturday 7:05
Lester (3-3, 3.55) vs. Olson (4-1, 4.09)
Game 3 Sunday 1:35
Colon (2-0, 2.25) vs. Burres (4-4, 4.15)
Game 4 Monday 7:05
Wakefield (3-4, 4.70) vs. Guthrie (2-6, 3.64)

Key Orioles:
- OF Nick Markakis .251/9HR/24BI/28R/33BB/.367OBP although the talented young right fielder isn't hitting for average he is leading the team in homers and on base percentage and is third in the AL in walks. Plus he's a very good fielder.

- LF Luke Scott .247/6HR/19RBI/16R/11 2B one of the players acquired in the Miggy Tejada trade, Scott has come on of late, banging 5 of his homers and knocking in 11 runs in May. Plus he's not an egomaniac addicted to PEDs, so I'd say it's worked out for the Birds

- RP George Sherrill 1-1/3.57ERA/17SV/1.19WHIP Mr Wide Brim has been a savior since coming over from Seattle in the Eric Bedard trade, posting the second most saves in the league and providing stability to what was once a shaky pen

PREVIEW:
As the Sox get ready to take on the Orioles this weekend suddenly there are more questions than answers surrounding this once rock solid club.

-Is Daisuke Matsuzaka going to miss one start, many starts or no starts?

-Can the Sox make it to the trading deadline within shouting distance of first place with a bullpen that is leakier than R. Kelly?

-When the hell is Manny gonna hit #500 and get back to his *normal self (*I use that term loosely)

-If the team does make the playoffs, will they be the MLB equivalent of the cross- town Celtics, unbeatable at home but unwatchable on the road?

These are the burning questions currently racing through the minds of everyone in the Nation as Boston opens its four game set against the fourth place Orioles in a wraparound series at Camden Yards tonight.

Don't expect me to provide the answers as I'm just as perplexed about this team than anyone else. I mean how does a club that is one of the best offensive teams in the majors fail so miserably on the road like this one has?

Entering tonight's game Boston is a stunning 21-5 at Fenway and a staggering 11-19 away from home, a disparity unmatched by any other team in the league. The Cubs would be the closest to this type of differential, with a 23-8 home mark and 11-13 road record, but that doesn't come close to Boston's bipolar home/road swing.

With the word on Dice-Ks shoulder yet to come from the front office, Boston will need last year's ace, Josh Beckett, to start performing like the near Cy Young winner he was last year.

At this time a year ago Beckett, not Matsuzaka, was the one with a perfect record, positing an identical 8-0 mark through May 29th en route to a 20 win season. This year, after being derailed by a back problem early on, Beckett has struggled with his command at times, although he has shown signs of coming around in his last two starts.

With the starting staff in flux the bullpen has been counted on more than ever, yet the group that was one of the best in the league last year has been a major disappointment this season. Three pen men have ERAs over 5.00 (Delcarmen, Hansen & Timlin), three have already been released by the team (Corey, Tavarez and Snyder), and the decent three (Okajima, Aardsma and Papelbon) have all had their struggles as well.

Look no one is asking these guys to be perfect, especially as much as they've been asked to pitch, but it seems like every time Tito has to go to the pen now you just roll your eyes, cross your fingers and pray that the guys he calls on can make it through the game unscathed.

Not exactly a heartwarming feeling for a potential championship club.

Basically Boston needs to take three of four this weekend, both to save its spot in the standings (currently 1 game behind the Rays and four in front of Baltimore) and to salvage a little respectability on the road before the inability to win away from Fenway turns into an albatross of Celtic proportions.

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Sox lose (again) due to crappy starting pitching (again)

Baltimore 6, Sox 5
WP: Guthrie (2-3)
LP: Beckett (4-3)
SV: Sherrill (14)
HRs: BOS-None; BAL-Scott (2)

SUMMARY:
For the second game in a row the Boston offense staked its starting pitcher to a 3-0 lead after their first at bat, and for the second straight game the starter couldn't make that lead hold up as Josh Beckett pitched as horribly as Clay Buchholz did yesterday in Minnesota, leading to Boston's third consecutive defeat.

SUPERSTAR: Luke Scott 3-4, 2R, 3BI, HR
The former Houston prospect had a night to remember against Beckett, cracking three hits off the shoulda been Cy winner including the big blow of the game, a three-run homer in the 3rd that gave the Birds a 5-2 lead.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Beckett 5.2IP, 11H, 5ER, 2BB, 5K, HR
With the rest of the staff struggling of late Boston really needed Beckett to step up tonight and be the ace we all know he can be. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and instead he pitched like the dearly departed Julian Tavarez.

RECAP:
A week ago the Sox were on the verge of running away with the AL East crown.

Tonight they lost that lead and are now looking up at (gulp!) the Tampa Bay Rays in the standings.

That's what happens when you lose five of your last seven games, including four of them by one run, while the Rays continue to bash quality clubs like the Angels and Stankees en route to winning 15 of its last 20 contests.

And so Josh Beckett's meltdown in B'More, where he had been undefeated (4-0) prior to tonight, coupled with Tampa Bay's 2-1 extra inning win over the Stanks in St Pete vaulted the Rays over the Sox and into first place in the East, the latest point in a season the team has ever been atop the standings in a division dominated by Boston and New York for a decade.

Somebody pinch me now and tell me this is all just a bad dream.

Josh Beckett probably wishes tonight's performance was just a bad dream also, because he pitched about as poorly as he has in a Boston uniform. He allowed the second most hits he ever has since joining the Sox in 2006, and he did so in a ballpark he had been dominant in since coming to the AL.

In four career starts at Camden Yards Beckett was a perfect 4-0 with a minuscule 2.05ERA and an astounding 25-0 strikeout to walk ratio in 30.2 innings pitched.

So WTF happened tonight?

As I said the Boston batters were kind enough to hand their starting pitcher another 3-0 lead after 1/2 inning, the three runs coming on an RBI single by Manny Ramirez and back-to-back errors by Audrey Huff and old friend Kevin Millah, who decided to do his best Buckner imitation, being the cutup and Boston fan that he is.

But just like Clay Buchholz the night before, Beckett wasn't able to make the lead stick, and like young Clay he wasted little time in giving the advantage back to the opponent, and then some.

The Birds touched Becks for one run in the 2nd with a two-out rally begun when Luke Scott singled, went to second on an infield hit and came around to score on a sharp single to center by Jay Payton, another (disgruntled) ex-Sox.

In the next inning the 3-1 lead evaporated, again the damage coming with two outs, and to make matters worse Boston lost its starting right fielder, JD Drew, in the inning as well.

Brian Roberts and Freddie Bynum both started the inning with singles to right, but as Drew dove to try and catch Bynum,'s shot, he twisted his wrist and had to be replaced by Jacoby Ellsbury. Add this ailment to the long list of maladies that have sidelined the fragile fielder.

After the hits Beckett whiffed both Huff and Nick Markakis, but then Millar lined an RBI single to left and Scott, acquired in the offseason from the Houston Astros where he hit 18 homers and drove in 64 runs last year, crushed an 0-1 offering from Beckett high and deep into the right field seats for a momentum-swinging 3-run homer, a shot the Sox never recovered from.

Although they tried, the scrappers that they are.

Faced with a 5-3 deficit Boston had numerous opportunities to score off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (6IP, 8H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 7K) and reliever Jim Johnson, but they could only get one run closer before the Orioles closer George Sherrill came in with one out in the 8th and got the final five outs of the game to nail down the win.

The game ended ugly for Boston, which was without manager terry Francona, who will miss the series due to the death of his mother-in-law, when David Ortiz was ejected for arguing a strike three call to start the 9th.

It was that kind of night for Boston - frustrating, aggravating and very unsatisfying, knowing that first place hung in the balance and their top starter couldn't hold a 3-0 lead in a building he was comfortable enough in to call home.

Now the Sox have to figure out a way to win a game before heading home tomorrow evening, or they might find themselves as far down in the standings as the upstart Rays used to be.

RECORD: 24-18
AL EAST: 1/2 GM back of TB
STREAK: L3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Wed @ BAL 305 Lester vs. Cabrera

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