The Red Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 last night in a real nail-biter. After winning their last five games (beating some not-so-great teams) with each starter tossing a beauty, we wondered what would happen when faced with a team that actually has a good record. Over the next couple of weeks, they’ll play the Rays and the Orioles — currently tied for first atop the AL East. Ok, I never thought I’d type those words this year, but it’s the facts. This will be the test.

In part one of this test last night, the Sox failed. It wasn’t a complete bomb — Clay Buchholz, despite taking the L, only gave up two runs. A big improvement over his first several starts and in any normal game where the offense tees off on the opposing pitcher, that would be good enough for a win. It wasn’t. Buchholz was one-upped by Jeremy Hellickson, who improved to 4 and 0, stymieing the Red Sox line up.

What really annoys me is that the Rays scored their first run on a balk. A balk! I’ve seen more balks called on the Red Sox so far this season than I did in all of 2011. What’s up with that? Are the umpires just being more critical of the pick off moves? Or are they making this crap up? I’ve been doing a lot of head shaking over this.

The Sox were just… meh… at the plate. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Aviles both had two hits, but others struggled. Adrian Gonzalez took another 0-fer and struck out twice, and the recently struggling Will Middlebrooks struck out three times. I think I’m most worried about Gonzalez. You would expect him to struggle in his first season with the Sox, in a new park, a new league… but not after he has one season under his belt. I can’t figure this one out.

The only real excitement came in the 8th inning when Franklin Morales hit Will Rhymes in the forearm. The trainers checked him out and he made his way to first. It was obvious to others on the field that Rhymes was not feeling too steady on his feet and as he started to leave the field, he passed out in the arms of the first base coach. Fainted actually. Turns out he’s ok and probably a bit embarrassed.

Click on over to the box score for a not-so-exciting read, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tonight, they finish up their quick two-game series with the Rays with Felix Doubront taking the hill. First pitch is at 7:10pm.

The front end of the Boston Red Sox rotation stepped up these last few days.  Jon Lester pitched a complete game, one-run masterpiece on Monday night.  And, the much-maligned Josh Beckett toughed it out to finish off the two-game series against the Seattle Mariners yesterday.

Fenway Park, May 15, 2012 (Amanda Laws)

So, now what? Seattle’s not a great team, and the upcoming swing the Sox have scheduled will bring some stronger teams into the mix. But, it seems as if things are starting to finally shake Boston’s way. When your starters can turn in quality starts, that’s a good thing for the rotation, the bullpen, and the psyche of the hitters, who don’t have to constantly feel like they have to score just to stay in the game.

Stay tuned, Sox fans – this next turn through the rotation should tell us a lot about what this team’s really got in it.

Stacy and I both left town this weekend to spend time with family, and look what happens: the second we have our collective back turned, the Red Sox put together a three-game winning streak.  The Clay Buchholz/Felix Doubront/Daniel Bard end of the rotation distracted the increasingly-incensed fan base from last week’s Josh Beckett fiasco.  And, the offense finally showed up to play at the same time as the starters and the bullpen.

Even Wally spent some time with Mom today. (Red Sox, c/o twitter.com)

Have the Sox turned a corner?  Three wins in a row is great, but we’ve seen this kind of streak before from Boston, earlier this season.  I hate to say it, but I think Lester and Beckett have to keep the good juju going against the Mariners in their next two starts, or else we might start to hear the same rumblings all over again.  Everything’s gravy when your back three can put together a good weekend; but you need your front two to lead to really get through a 162-game slog.

Tomorrow night, Jon Lester takes the hill for the opening game against the Seattle Mariners.  I have tickets to the game, and my scorebook at the ready.  I’m looking forward to a great night at Fenway – let’s hope Lester delivers and the Red Sox continue their winning ways!

“My off day is my off day.” That is how Josh Beckett answered the press’s questions when asked about the reports of his golf outing last week. Really? It’s crap like this that makes me want to punch him in his smug face. You just pitched a pitiful 2.1 innings of some of the suckiest pitching I’ve seen, and you show absolutely no remorse about missing a start and playing golf in the same week. F you, dude, F you.

So, once again, the Red Sox lose. This time to the Cleveland Indians 8-3. That makes it eight of the last nine… ten of the last twelve. And it appears that Cleveland just squirted grease all over that ever growing staircase up from the AL East basement. Derek Lowe (yes, old friend and 38 year old Derek Lowe) pitched a gem, giving up just two runs to this supposed powerful Red Sox offense in a six-inning outing.

On the other hand, Josh Beckett sucks.

Josh Beckett gave up seven runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings.

Josh Beckett is now #52 of 53 AL East pitchers. Ahead of only his caddy (and teammate), Clay Buccholz.

Josh Beckett is an insufferable, self-important, unfeeling, heartless douche who is going to, single-handed, keep this team from ever succeeding this season.

Josh Beckett needs to go. He needs to take his bucket ‘o fried chicken and his six pack of Corona and hit the road.

You know what else needs to happen? Someone needs to grow a set in this clubhouse and speak up. And I don’t mean Bobby Valentine. I realize there aren’t many veterans left on this team — at least those who can speak with some authority. But Dustin Pedroia or David Ortiz (I don’t care if it is a contract year) needs to speak up. Someone needs to go all Wally Backman on this clubhouse and it needs to happen soon.

Nah, I’m not angry or anything like that.

Click here for the rage-inducing box, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tonight, aforementioned caddy to the ass ace, Clay Buccholz takes the hill tonight against the Indians. Hopefully, he can stop the bleeding. Hopefully, he doesn’t give up yet another five earned runs.

Happy Friday!

Carl Beane (wbur.org, c/o flickr.com)

The Boston Red Sox lost twice yesterday.

First, the Red Sox lost Carl Beane, the “Voice of Fenway Park” – otherwise known as the Fenway Park PA announcer who always gave me chills when he said certain players’ names.  ”David… Or-tiz.”  ”Kevin… Youk-ilis.”  The way he announced the Red Sox lineup made me think they were a group of Supermen, that they could do anything.  We will miss his deep voice, the way it echoed around Fenway, and the sense of grandeur he could lend to the appearance of any bullpen pitcher or pinch hitter.

The Boston Globe reports on the car accident that took his life.  At 59 years old, Beane had a heart attack while driving in Sturbridge, Mass., and his car crossed the double yellow line, drove off the road, and hit a tree and a wall.  There were no other passengers in the car, and no other reported injuries.  The Globe article has reactions from Red Sox personnel, including an anecdote from NESN play by play guy Don Orsillo, who reveals that Beane thought the two of them had the coolest jobs in New England.  I can’t disagree with that.  WEEI’s Mike Petraglia offers a more personal portrait of Beane, and recalls a veteran fatherly figure who knew the ins and outs of Boston’s minefield of a sports scene, and was always willing to lend a hand to those coming up behind him.

After the sad news of Beane’s death, the Red Sox’s second loss yesterday – a 4-3 loss to the Royals, Boston’s eighth loss in ten games – takes a back seat.  It was a frustrating loss, punctuated by poor outfield defense and a boiling-over Bobby Valentine, who had two outbursts.  Valentine blew up at the home plate umpire when, as Marlon Byrd pulled back from a bunt, the ball appeared to hit him in the hand but was ruled foul.  Valentine had more to say about the call after the game – but this is a family blog, so we can’t repeat a lot of it.

Byrd and Cody Ross also each muffed catches in the outfield, which didn’t help Jon Lester’s outing: he was only able to go five innings in the loss.  Lester allowed six hits, four of which were doubles.  Another Red Sox game, another non-quality start.  It seems like Lester didn’t really have much of substance to say after the game, either, telling the Globe:

“It [stinks].  Hell, nobody in this clubhouse came to this team, whether they were a free agent or got called up from this team or whatever, expecting to lose. Everybody in this clubhouse wants to win, everybody tries . . . We’re just not doing it, plain and simple.  It’s a cliché and it [stinks] to hear, but we need to keep showing up and keep grinding.’’

Lester also acknowledged that he threw too many pitches, 108, to Royals hitting.  The Sox did all their scoring in the third inning, when Adrian Gonzalez (finally) hit a three-run double to right field on a 3-2 pitch.

Here’s a link to the uninspiring box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  The team comes home to Fenway tonight (if it stops raining) to take on the Cleveland Indians.  Josh Beckett (2-3, 4.45 ERA) is scheduled to take on familiar faces Derek Lowe (4-1, 2.39 ERA) (and Johnny Damon) in a 7:10 start.

It’s no secret that the Red Sox pitching staff is an absolute mess through the first month plus of this season. We thought we would get a group of guys hell bent on making good after the chicken and beer escapades of 2011. We were wrong.

This afternoon, a Boston Globe report stated:

According to a report by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Hardy, Red Sox righthander Josh Beckett played golf in the area last Thursday afternoon, two days before he was scheduled to miss a start against the Orioles because of stiffness in his latissimus muscle.

And this was AFTER he decided to miss the next start after his LAST start. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you use that muscle to swing a *bleep* *bleep* golf club? According to the lovely diagram, it appears that this muscle would definitely be used in golf…unless he was playing miniature golf. (That windmill can be such a bitch.)

I can’t… even… deal.

Evidently, neither can Bobby Valentine.

“I don’t know that I’m aware of it,” Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said of the golf report during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Big Show today. “I’m aware of the story being out there… No, I haven’t gotten to Josh about that yet and I’m trying to sort out my feelings. Golf is as much a part of the pitching culture as a curve ball, I know that for sure.”

“Again, I don’t know the specifics of the situation,” Valentine said. “I don’t know if he was out at a charity match, just putting, or if he was whaling away and felt that might have loosened things up. I have no idea what the situation actually is, so it’s hard for me to comment on it. … If that was the case [that he played golf, drove the ball], I would say that was less than the best thing to do on that day off.”

This pitching staff is going to hell in a souped-up, hemi-powered handbasket. If you ask me, the Red Sox will be damn lucky to still be able to see the AL East race by the All Star break. And if they don’t get their act together, it’s going to be a lonely season in the cold, dank basement. *slow head shake*

Well, not really. Even though you like to say you live and die with the Red Sox, that’s not really the case, is it?

But I’m not going to lie, when Will Middlebrooks left the game in the 2nd inning with what is being called “a tight left hamstring”, I sort of had a minor heart attack. Seems he’s the only bright spot in the line up these days. Also seems he’s a bit of a wuss. Throw some Ben-Gay on that thing and get your butt back out there. Looks like it’s not too serious and he’s hoping to be back in the line up tonight.

So the Red Sox lost to the Royals 6-4. When I fell asleep it was 4-3 Sox and I was furious when I awoke to my ESPN alert telling me they lost. WTF? They’ve now lost seven of their last nine games. Luckily both Baltimore and Tampa Bay lost so the deficit is still 6.5 games. Still, it’s going to be a pretty steep climb trying to chase down the rest of what is turning out to be an extremely good AL East this year.

I can’t be bothered to talk about the offense because there really wasn’t any. The Red Sox scattered four runs on nine hits in a lackluster performance. Dustin Pedroia had two RBI and Adrian Gonzalez had two hits. *yawn* Boring. I almost wish I had been watching Josh Hamilton put on a freaking clinic against the Orioles last night – WOW! He only went 5 for 5 with four home runs, eight RBI and 18 total bases.

Daniel Bard was just ok. I’m tired of using those two letters to describe this pitching staff but really, that’s the best any of them have been so far this season. Just ok. Despite his complete meltdown in the 2nd inning where he had two balks (one of which was responsible for KC’s first run) and a wild pitch, he pitched pretty efficiently. Going into the top of the 8th inning, Bard had thrown just 86 pitches.

I’m sure Bobby Valentine was thinking his bullpen is getting some much-needed rest, right? Wrong. Bard started the 8th and walked the first two batters, obviously tiring late in the game. Matt Albers came in with two runners on and promptly gave up a three-run home run to Billy Butler. Game over. Bard takes the loss.

After the game, Bard told the Boston Globe:

“There is a fatigue that sets in. It’s about learning how to pitch with that little bit of fatigue,” Bard said. “It’s not my arm; my arm felt great. It’s your whole body, your legs, your lower back, everything.

“You’ve got to learn how to pitch in those conditions. That’s kind of where I’m at right now, trying to learn how to finish games and get through that 100, 110 pitches strong all the way through the end.”

*sigh* Am I the only one that thinks this pitching staff lacks heart? There’s no drive, no spark, no competitiveness we’ve seen in past seasons. Are they all pissed there’s no more beer and chicken in the clubhouse? If that’s the case, get over it and do your job!

Here’s the link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. It’s a quick read. Tonight, the Red Sox will try to take the rubber game behind Jon Lester. First pitch is at 8:10 EST.

The Red Sox won last night!

Boston beat the Kansas City Royals, 11-5 at Kauffman Stadium.  Felix Doubront picked up the win to move to 2-1 on the season.  The Sox aren’t out of the woods by any means: they’re still in the AL East basemant at 12-16, 6.5 games behind Baltimore and Tampa Bay.  But last night’s game was a well-executed, textbook example of what this team’s capable of.

Doubront went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits.  Vicente Padilla took the ball from there, and held the Royals scoreless as he steamed through the rest of the game and picked up the save.  Neat, clean, no drama from the bullpen – I’ll take it.

Meanwhile, the offense finally opened up a little bit.  Rising favorite Will Middlebrooks hit two home runs to lead the Red Sox lineup.  He hit a three-run shot to right field in the first inning, and then hit a two-run bomb to left field in the eighth inning.  He also hit a double in the third inning to round out his day.

Dustin Pedroia went 2 for three with a double, a home run of his own, and three walks.  David Ortiz had a 3 for 4 day with a home run and two intentional walks.

And, as if proving a point, Kelly Shoppach notched his first career triple.

The Sox came out early, scoring four runs in the first inning largely off of Middlebrooks’ first home run.  The Royals brought the deficit to one before the Sox opened up again in the fourth, logging two more runs.  A four-run eighth locked up the game for Boston.

Middlebrooks, of course, adopted an aw-shucks tone when talking to the Boston Globe about his day.  I think he’s seen Bull Durham a couple of times:

“Just trying to carry over what I started in Pawtucket earlier this year. I’m happy with it. Individual results, I wasn’t really looking for that initially. I wanted to come here and do whatever I could to help the team win games.’’

As the Globe points out, Middlebrooks has been doing a lot to help the team lately.  He’s 8 for 21 with three doubles, three home runs, and nine RBI since being called up to fill Wally Pipp Kevin Youkilis’s spot while Youk spends time on the DL with a back injury.

Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  The Sox take on Kansas City again at 8:10 eastern time tonight.  Daniel Bard (2-3, 4.38 ERA) expects to start against Kansas City’s Danny Duffy (2-2, 3.57 ERA).

Red Sox Loss = Pie Chart

Six hours and seven minutes. That’s how long it took the Red Sox to lose to the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon/evening in 17 innings. I’m not even sure where to start. I actually have the urge to just end this post right here and post a picture of one of my dogs. That’s how painful this game was. Their losing streak is at five games and they managed to only win one game on this most recent homestand. Shit is looking bleak, yo.

Clay Buccholz just flat out stinks this year. He, yet again, gave up five earned runs in this game which means he has now given up five earned runs in six consecutive starts. Really, Clay? I’m sure this is some kind of record and not the good kind. The bullpen, on the other hand, was outstanding. The combination of Andrew Miller (just back from the DL), Matt Albers, Vicente Padilla, Alfredo Aceves, Franklin Morales, Rich Hill and Scott Atchison managed to pitch 12.1 scoreless innings.

But this game went 17 innings and outlasted the bullpen. Darnell McDonald (yes, that Darnell McDonald who sometimes plays left field) came in to pitch the 17th. Darnell hasn’t pitched since August of 2011. Darnell gave up a three-run homerun to Adam Jones. Darnell took the loss. I’m confused. Didn’t they still have one pitcher left in the bullpen? I could’ve sworn there was a lonely Clayton Mortensen left sitting there. Or did I imagine that?

The offensive highlight of today’s game goes to young Will Middlebrooks. I love this kid and today, he didn’t disappoint. Will hit his first major league homerun today — a grand slam to tie the game at five. I’ll even forgive his base running blunder. Other than Ryan Sweeney’s four hits, there wasn’t really anything else to get excited about. And just when we though maybe Adrian Gonzalez was back on track, he went 0 for 8 with two strike outs. The second strike out happened to come in the bottom of the 17th against Chris Davis (not a member of their pitching staff) with two men on and no outs. Oh and Cody Ross struck out five times.

I have nothing else to say. This game drained me. See for yourself — click here for the box, courtesy of the Red Sox.

Next up — a three game series in Kansas City. Felix Doubront will toe the rubber on Monday to try and stop the bleeding. First pitch is at 8:10 EST. Here’s hoping he has a good outing, I think this bullpen is toast just about now and could really use a break. I could use a break too.

The Red Sox dropped their fourth in a row yesterday, losing to the Baltimore Orioles 8-2.  I would call them the “lowly” Baltimore Orioles, except they’re currently ahead of the Red Sox in the standings (as are the Rays, the Jays, and the Yankees).

The story of this game was a fairly gruesome injury to Red Sox starter Aaron Cook.  Making his first start after being called up from Pawtucket, the sinkerballer pitched well at the outset.

Then, with Chris Davis on third in the second inning, Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia couldn’t handle a pitch, and the passed ball scooted back towards the backstop.  Cook ran up to cover home, and slid into home to make the tag just as Davis slid into home to score.  Bodies collided and legs – and feet wearing metal spikes – sliced past each other.

Davis was safe, giving the Orioles the lead, but that wasn’t even the worst of it.  As Cook stood up, Saltalamacchia nudged him.  “At first I didn’t think it was that bad,’’ Cook told the Globe, “but then Salty was like, ‘You might want to take a look at that. I see blood coming down your pants.’ ’’

Cook had been spiked by Davis, and according to Cook, his knee had been “filleted” open.  I saw the video of this, and it was nasty.  It did really look like someone had started carving up a piece of meat and then left halfway through.

“I basically could see the whole inside of his leg,’’ Saltalamacchia said. “It was pretty nasty . . . tendons, ligaments, whatever, all that stuff.’’

Gross.

Cook went to the clubhouse to get 11 stitches, and then actually came back to try to keep pitching (personally, I would have called it a day at that point, but I’m kind of a wimp with having my knee splayed open in front of 30,000 people).  It didn’t go well.  We won’t go through the entire melodrama here, but the Orioles scored seven runs in the third inning before Cook was relieved.

On the offensive side (because the pitching wasn’t offensive enough – zing!), the Red Sox only scored two runs, both coming in the seventh inning.  Not enough, guys.  Not enough.

Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  The team takes on the Orioles again at Fenway today.  Clay Buchholz gets the start as the Sox try to avoid a sweep.