I realized something this week… it’s the end of May and I haven’t been to Hadlock Field for a Sea Dogs game since Opening Day. I feel shame. To try and make up for lacking as a fan, I thought I’d give you all a little update on what’s going on up here in Portland.

We’re almost two months into the 2012 season and the Sea Dogs aren’t looking so hot. At 22-31, they’re second to last place in the Eastern League standings and a steep 9.5 games out of first place. It’s starting to look like they might have a repeat of last season where they finished 59-83.

When I sat down with EVP/GM Geoff Iacuessa in late March, his 2012 roster had yet to be named and wasn’t expected until early April. He knew he would probably be losing half his roster.

 

“It’s usually about half, maybe a little more than half the guys that were here last year, that finished up here will return,” Geoff said. “But you just never know. It’s tough to know year to year what happens at spring training. Sometimes guys do well and get up, and sometimes guys that weren’t on the radar for Portland have really good springs and start here.”

Before the interview, I had decided on my top two Sea Dogs prospects for 2012 — right fielder Bryce Brentz and right handed pitcher Anthony Ranaudo. Geoff agreed with me saying he was excited to see them in Portland. The two players couldn’t have had more different seasons to date.

On one hand, Bryce Brentz has been solid in the Sea Dogs line up. Coming off a strong stint in single A in 2011, he’s continued to be a consistent force in Portland. He’s currently batting .306 with six home runs and a team-leading 57 hits. Brentz has also gone 5 for 5 twice this season. Pretty impressive… Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross better watch their backs!

And then there’s Anthony Ranaudo who’s had a rough start to his career in AA. He began the season in extended spring training with a mild groin injury and didn’t pitch in Portland until May 15th. The 6’7″ righty has not been good. Ranaudo has started three games and is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in 14.2 innings. He’s allowed 12 earned runs on nine hits — three of those hits were home runs. And it doesn’t help when you have more walks (13) than strike outs (10). Appears Mr. Ranaudo has some work to do in Portland.

The Red Sox have been big on player development in recent years and it would only make sense that when the big club is suffering from so many injuries, it creates a domino effect down through the farm system as each level struggles to field a competitive team. All I know is that no matter what the Sea Dogs record is, it’s always a blast and I need to get my sorry ass to another game soon!

The Boston Red Sox won again last night, pushing themselves to two games over .500 with a 6-4 win over the Detroit Tigers.  The offense was the star last night.  David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks each hit a two-run home run in the juggernaut fourth inning, and Kevin Youkilis continued his “I’m going to get traded soon” tour with his own solo jack over the Monster to lead off the eighth.

Jon Lester was ok.  Another start, another middling result – four runs on ten hits in 6.2 innings – and another no-decision.  Can we just make Felix Doubront pitch every day instead?

Center fielder Marlon Byrd was the defensive star – he made a ridiculous diving catch to retire Gerald Laird on a soft pop to center, ending the Detroit eighth.  Adrian Gonzalez, not so much – the first baseman who is playing right field missed a sliding catch of his own.  He made up for it with a torrid day at the plate, hitting two ground-rule doubles.

Here’s a link to the heavy-hitting box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston finishes up its homestand tonight against Detroit, before heading to Toronto.  Josh Beckett (4-4, 4.15 ERA) takes the hill against Max Scherzer (4-3, 5.67 ERA).

OK.  Now that we’ve recapped the game, can we talk about the more interesting things that happened yesterday?

Abductor muscle (Gray's Anatomy, c/o wikipedia.com)

First, Dustin Pedroia’s thumb.  It turns out that he tore the abductor muscle in his right thumb a few weeks ago, and that’s what’s keeping him out of the lineup now.  Google tells me that your abductor muscle is the muscle in the palm of your hand, going from your thumb to your wrist (the thick part of your palm).  It controls pretty much all of your ability to move your thumb.  So, tearing it doesn’t sound like a wonderful plan.

Of course, the Red Sox are being a little indecisive about what they’re going to do about Pedroia’s sudden inability to move his thumb in any direction.  But, everyone agrees that he can’t hit right now.  The Boston Herald reports that Pedroia is trying out a thumb brace to see if he can play through the injury, but it will be a few days before anything becomes clear.  We all know that Pedroia is gritty, gutty, dusty, etc., and that he hates to sit out games – so, putting him on the disabled list is something the Red Sox appear to want to do only reluctantly.  But, because of Boston’s reluctance to put Pedroia on the DL, the Sox can’t make any roster moves to help out the sudden dearth of middle infield players.  When asked by reporters, manager Bobby Valentine said that “we’re going to let some higher beings make that decision. God hasn’t returned the phone call yet, but I’ve been promised he will.”  I’m sure that God will get right on that, Bobby.

Tito in a towel (c/o deadspin.com)

Second, Terry Francona’s towel.  Deadspin came out with this nugget yesterday.  It looks like Francona – ex-Red Sox manager and soon to be ex-husband – has been sending some pretty salacious texts and emails to some guy Rob’s girlfriend.  And Rob’s girlfriend has been sending a few pretty salacious texts and emails back.  Tito’s 53 years old, and the girlfriend is, it sounds like, in her early 30s.  The two met recently through their mutual connections to the University of Arizona (she lives in Tuscon, Francona played there).

I mean, what can we say about this?  It’s a little sketchy, since Terry’s 20 years older than her, and she has a boyfriend.  We’ve also built Tito up to be this angel on a white horse lately, and that’s just not the case.  But, people are just human, and public personas often don’t match up to private lives.  This twist is interesting, but ultimately just talk and gossip.

Big Papi still on fire (Photo by Keith Allison c/o Flickr.com)

It’s been a long time since the Red Sox have seen the plus side of .500. Actually, they haven’t been over .500 since last season. That’s just scary. But last night, they beat the Detroit Tigers and the best pitcher in baseball, Justin Verlander, 6-3 to get to this point. MV-what? Despite routinely throwing pitches in the high 90′s, Verlander didn’t look much like the best pitcher in baseball. Or maybe the Red Sox hitters are just that good?

The Sox line up jumped on Verlander early scoring one in the second when David Ortiz doubled to left field. After Kevin Youkilis struck out, Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled to left moving Ortiz to third. Mike Aviles grounded to second base in what surely would be a double play but Aviles’ hustle down the line paid off. He beat the throw to first and Ortiz scored the game’s first run.

In the fourth inning, the Red Sox loaded the bases on singles by Kevin Youkilis, Mike Aviles and Scott Podsednik. With two outs, rookie Daniel Nava came to the plate. Verlander pummeled Nava with fastballs hitting 98, 99 mph. Nava managed to work the count full and then fought off a 100 mph fastball and punched it into left field. With the runners already on the move, Nava cleared the bases with a double and put the Sox up for good 4-0.

After the game, Nava told reporters what he did in order to have success hitting against Verlander.

“The first at-bat I had I was really trying to pick the ball up, was having a hard time picking the ball up, so from that point — I had that 3-1 pitch that I swung through — and I needed to shorten my swing up,” said Nava, who’s trying out as the Sox’s leadoff hitter. “Fortunately, I got a pitch to do that with and I had guys on base. Just keep it simple. I think I got out of my approach a little on 3-1 because it was a hitter’s count. I just tried to calm myself down and keep it simple.”

But they weren’t done scoring yet. David Ortiz had an RBI double in the fifth and a solo home run in the seventh, his 11th of the season, to cap off his night going 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Daniel Bard was solid in his outing. He went 5.1 innings, scattering four hits and giving up two earned runs – both solo home runs – while striking out four. Rich Hill, Scott Atchison, Andrew Miller and Vicente Padilla handled the next 2.2 innings giving up just one more run. Alfredo Aceves (why does typing his name always make me hungry?) came in for his 12th save in the ninth. After blowing a save last week, it was nice to see him come in and get #12.

Click here for the box score that put the Red Sox one game over .500 and just 3.5 back of first place!! The Sox and Tigers go again tonight with Jon Lester (3-4, 4.72 ERA) looking to get back on the winning track against youngster Drew Smyly (2-1, 3.14 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10pm.

Deja vu all over again, right?  The Red Sox ended Memorial Day weekend by gutting out a 7-4 win over the Detroit Tigers to get back to .500… for the sixth time this season.  Felix Doubront – who, surprisingly, is quickly becoming Boston’s most reliable starter – picked up the win with a four-hit, two-run lockdown over six innings.  Alfredo Aceves (why was he in the game in a non-save situation?) gave up a two-run home run to Jhonny Peralta with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but quickly struck out the next batter to secure the Red Sox win.

“Every outing I’m learning more how to approach the hitters, and today, I think I was more focused on throwing the ball for strikes and getting the hitters out quickly,” Doubront told reporters. “I was throwing the ball where I wanted and my offspeed pitch was working pretty good.”

Scott Atchison, meanwhile, quietly put together two scoreless innings between Doubront and Aceves.  He’s thrown 29 innings this year, and only allowed three runs for a miniscule 0.93 ERA.  He’s only allowed one home run and six walks.  Where would the Red Sox bullpen be without him?  He’s the only middle reliever that I’m confident can get the outs when he gets the call.

The Red Sox also had a good day offensively.  Ryan Sweeney announced his return from the disabled list with three hits.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit another home run.  And, Mike Aviles had two hits, one of them a controversial one.  In the bottom of the second, and with Sweeney on second base, it looked to everyone in the stands and to everyone watching on television like Aviles struck out when Detroit catcher Gerald Laird snagged a foul tip.  But, first base umpire Tim Welke ruled that Laird had dropped the ball.  Aviles, with new life, responded by hitting an RBI single to center, scoring Sweeney and extending the inning.  Daniel Nava scored Aviles on a double, and Dustin Pedroia got lucky on an infield single that bounced off Prince Fielder’s glove and scored Nava.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland and third base coach Gene Lamont both told the umpiring crew what they thought of the foul tip call after the second inning ended, and both were ejected from the game for their efforts.

Pedroia, by the way, appears to have jammed his thumb.  He left the game after making a diving stop in the fifth inning.  Because of the Memorial Day holiday, he wasn’t able to get an MRI yesterday, but is expected to get one today.

Here’s a link to the box score, care of the Red Sox.

The Red Sox continue their homestand tonight, when Daniel Bard (4-5, 4.69 ERA) takes on Justin Verlander (5-2, 2.15 ERA) for a 7:10 start.  I’ll be at Fenway and I have to work tomorrow, so let’s hope that the threatened humidity-breaking thunderstorms stay away until later tonight.

Damn. The Red Sox really needed a win today and I had a real good feeling about this game despite the fact that Clay Buccholz was starting. Coming off the high of last night’s walk-off win, I just figured the momentum was with the home team. I figured wrong.

Buccholz actually looked pretty good today. He seemed to make it through all seven innings of his outing without having a confidence meltdown. He gave up eight hits but just two earned runs while striking out six. It’s the best I’ve seen him pitch all season. It’s a shame he didn’t get the win.

The Rays got the scoring started, plating one in the fourth on a Matt Joyce double, a Red Sox throwing error and a Ben Zobrist ground out. And one in the seventh on a Sean Rodriguez double and a Will (Busta?) Rhymes single.

The Sox came alive in the bottom of the seventh. David Ortiz led off with a walk and Kevin Youkilis singled. During Youk’s at bat, NESN announcer Jerry Remy said he had a feeling that someone was going to hit a home run in that inning. As if on cue, Adrian Gonzalez hit the second offering from Jeremy Hellickson just over the Green Monster, very close to the foul pole for a three-run shot. Red Sox up 3-2.

Franklin Morales and Vicente Padilla combined for a scoreless top of the eighth. And then the Sox line up threatened to expand their lead in the bottom of that inning when they loaded up the bags for Adrian Gonzalez. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the hero for a second straight inning and grounded out sharply to the short stop to end the threat.

So you think it’s in the bag, right? Alfredo Aceves comes in for the save and he’s been pretty lights out lately. Today, not so much. He looked flat and uncomfortable. Aceves walked the first batter he faced and struggled with Luke Scott before getting him to pop out. Sean Rodriguez then hit a 93 mph fastball over the Monster to go ahead. Rays up 4-3.

Mr. Crooked Hat himself, Fernando Rodney came in for another shot at save #16 and set the Sox down rather quickly in order to secure the save. (I really hate that crooked hat.)

Click here for the extremely frustrating box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. Up next, the Sox square off against the Detroit Tigers for an afternoon Memorial Day game. First pitch is at 1:35pm. Felix Doubront (4-2, 3.96 ERA) tries to get back to his winning ways after his last disappointing start against Doug Fister (0-2, 1.84 ERA.)

Friday night, the Enforcer. Last night, the ninth inning Hero! (photo by Keith Allison, c/o flickr.com)

Last night was one of those Red Sox games that leaves you breathless — a real pitcher’s duel that ends in dramatic fashion. My hero of Friday night’s loss, Salty the Enforcer, was again the hero with a pinch hit, walk-off dinger in the ninth to give the Sox a 3-2 win over those dreaded Rays.

The Rays’ pitcher, David Price, managed to keep the Red Sox bats quite through the first five innings. In the bottom of the sixth, they finally broke the scoreless tie scoring one run to take a slim lead late in the game.

Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a walk and David Ortiz followed with a single, moving Pedroia to second. Adrian Gonzalez smacked a single to BJ Upton in center field who threw a BB to home cutting down Pedy trying to score from second. Will Middlebrooks then shot one up the middle that deflected off the second baseman and allowed Ortiz to score the first run of the game.

On the pitching side for the Sox, Josh Beckett pitched another beauty. He went seven innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out five. He pitched six innings of one-hit, shutout ball and seemed to be rolling right along. But in the top of the seventh, the Rays took advantage of a tiring Beckett and managed to plate two runs on a combination three singles and heads up base running. Rays up 2-1.

With one chance left for some do or die heroics, the Red Sox had a tough road ahead of them in the bottom of the ninth. The Rays sent in their closer Fernando Rodney who was going for his 16th save in 16 attempts. (Does it annoy anyone else that he wears he hat crooked, because in incenses me! Seriously…shouldn’t there be rule against that?)

Daniel Nava lead off the ninth with an eight-pitch walk. Pinch hitter Nick Punto came in and laid down a successful sacrifice moving Nava up to second. Jarrod Saltalamacchia came in to pinch hit for Marlon Byrd, who had been 0 for 3 with two strike outs, and hit the second pitch he saw from Rodney over the center field fence for his first career walk-off homerun. This happened to also be the first walk-off win for the Red Sox this season.

Needless to say Fenway Park went completely mental and Salty was mobbed at home plate as is the custom with the Red Sox for walk-off wins. He emerged from the pile missing his shirt which was ripped from his body by an exuberant Big Papi. Salty told reporters after the game:

“Well, obviously tonight was awesome. I met the shredder for the first time,” Saltalamacchia said.

The shredder is what the Red Sox call the mob of players who jump all over the walk-off hero.

“Well, the shredder got me good,” Saltalamacchia said. “It got my shirt and my necklace. He got it all tonight. That’s a great feeling.”

Click here for the heart-stopping box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Rays will finish up the series today at 1:35pm with Clay Buccholz (4-2, 7.84 ERA) facing off against Jeremy Hellickson (4-1, 2.73 ERA).

Salty, The Enforcer (photo by Keith Allison, c/o flickr.com)

After a strong showing in Baltimore, taking two of three games from the first place Orioles, the Red Sox received a rude welcome home to Fenway as the Tampa Bay Rays beat them 7-4. Oh how I miss the days of the Sox and Yankees battling for the top spot in the AL East while the rest of the division just…well…sucked.

Jon Lester was not sharp in his four-inning outing last night. He struggled, giving up seven earned runs on six hits — three of which were home runs. Walks hurt Lester and the Sox last night. He walked two in the third inning and those two scored when Matt Joyce hit his grand slam.

The bullpen was once again strong. Scott Atchison, Matt Albers and Franklin Morales held the Rays scoreless through the remaining five innings, but not without some controversy.

The Red Sox offense was stymied by the Rays’ pitching staff managing to scrap out four runs on just four hits. No one had more than one hit. *blerg*

Blood between these two teams has been bad this season, mostly sparked by Luke Scott’s not-so-complimentary comments earlier this season directed at Fenway Park and the Sox fans. The Wolverine-wanna-be had a pretty quiet night offensively, going 0 for 4 and striking out twice, but he still manages to get under your skin.

In the top of the ninth, Morales relieved Albers and got Carlos Pena to ground out, and then struck out BJ Upton. And up came Luke Scott. Morales threw the first pitch inside…so far inside that it was behind Scott. Four pitches later, Morales plunked him on the leg with a 97 mph fastball. Ouch. I don’t think Fake Wolverine thought that was very nice. Although MLB.com’s Ian Browne did report that it was not on purpose.

“You know what? I tried to go with my fastball in and I missed and I don’t know, I wasn’t trying to do it on purpose,” Morales said. “I tried to go in with him and I missed the pitch.”

Instead of heading to first, Scott, bat in hand, headed towards the mound. Jarrod Saltalamacchia intercepted him and redirected him away from his pitcher. This sort of thing always gives me a new respect for catchers. Salty’s pretty tall and with all that equipment on, looks a tad bit menacing. Personally, I was waiting for a Varitek-like cuff to the side of the head, but Salty was pretty calm.

Well, then all hell broke loose. The benches cleared, the bullpens emptied and there was the typical shoving and jawing that usually happens during a baseball “fight”, but no punches (or slaps) were thrown. Surprisingly, the coaches from each team seemed to be the most heated participants of the melee. No ejections were handed out but this should make the rest of the weekend veeeeery interesting.

If you feel the need to be tortured by the box score, click on over to here, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tonight’s game features Josh Beckett facing off against David Price. First pitch is at 7:15pm. Wonder which Beckett will show up tonight… I hope it’s not the one I hate.

Well, the Red Sox stint at .500 was short-lived as they lost to the Orioles 4-1 last night in a classic pitcher’s duel. Felix Doubront was sharp holding the first place O’s to just four hits and two runs over six innings. He struck out a season-high nine batters and whiffed Robert Andino and Adam Jones both three times.

Unfortunately, O’s pitcher Brian Matusz was even better, holding the usually high-powered Sox offense to just two hits while striking out 12.

Kevin Youkilis was back in the line up, playing first base while Adrian Gonzalez moved out to right field to help a injury-riddled outfield. He hit a home run in the fourth inning to account for the lone Sox run. Gonzalez had the other hit. *yawn*

Now that Youk is back, you have to wonder what going to happen. It would be silly to send Will Middlebrooks back to Pawtucket after he’s done so well in the bigs. But you can’t ask Adrian Gonzalez to continue to patrol right field — especially in Fenway Park. That corner will eat him alive. So what? Speculation is that the Sox are trying to get Youk some quality at bats to show he doesn’t suck and hopefully trade him. They really could use some more help in the outfield…

Speaking of the outfield, Ryan Sweeney was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion. And Cody Ross was officially put on the 15-day DL but hopes he won’t be out the 6-8 weeks originally predicted. So right now the four top outfielders are sidelined: Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney. Three of the four will most likely not see any playing time until July. Darnell McDonald, Ryan Kalish and Jason Repko are also out. The Sox called up Scott Podsednik from Pawtucket to fill some shoes. June could be very interesting…

Take a gander at the very slim box score courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and O’s finish up the series playing the rubber match this afternoon at 12:35pm. Daniel Bard (3-5, 4.85 ERA) will take on Jake Arrieta (2-4, 4.72 ERA). This game will be a good test for Bard and his ability to bounce back after a tough outing against the Phillies.

On May 21, 2012, this version of the Boston Red Sox finally caught up with the rest of the AL East.  The Sox brought their winning percentage back to .500 following an 8-6 drubbing of the first-place Baltimore Orioles.  Currently, the Sox are tied with the Yankees for fourth place in the division.  It’s not where anyone thought or hoped they’d be, but all signs point to the tide turning.

“It’s definitely not a goal,” Bobby Valentine told reporters.  “But it’s better than being under .500.”

The AL East, May 21, 2012 (c/o mlb.com)

Another point: what’s going on with the Yankees?  They’re 3-7 over their last ten, have lost their last three, and seem to be sliding downhill just as quickly as the Red Sox – who have won eight of their last ten, and their last three – are pushing uphill.  Is it bad starting pitching?  Is it an inability to hit with runners on?  Is it something else?  Nobody expected the Yankees to be riding the basement with a quarter of the season gone.

The Sox scored eight runs last night, even without Cody Ross.  Word is, Ross will be out six to eight weeks with a fracture in his foot.  Every starter had a hit – including outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin, who notched his first career hit.  David Ortiz launched a home run in the sixth that still hasn’t hit the ground to overcome another shaky Clay Buchholz start.

The real story of this game, though, and of the past week’s renaissance, is the Red Sox bullpen.  The same bullpen that lost its closer the day before the regular season started, had to send its next-most-touted arm to Pawtucket, and couldn’t seem to keep runners from scoring, has recently become a massive strength for Boston.  Andrew Miller stranded two runners in the sixth inning and followed up with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.  Rich Hill stumbled and allowed a run in the eighth, but Vicente Padilla stranded two crucial baserunners to end the Baltimore scoring threat.  And, Alfredo Aceves found his tenth save of the year in the ninth inning.

The bullpen has a 1.59 ERA since April 23, and finally, those results are starting to show up in the standings. Also?  Boston’s disabled list is a great team.  That the Sox are winning games without several of their biggest names is a good sign for when those big names actually take the field again.

Here’ a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Tonight, the Sox toe up against the Orioles again at Camden Yards.  Felix Doubront (4-1, 4.09 ERA) takes the hill against Brian Matusz (3-4, 5.36 ERA).

Josh Beckett (c/o Keith Allison, flickr.com)

The Red Sox beat the Phillies yesterday 5-1 to take the rubber game in vintage performance by Josh Beckett. And I finally get to write about a W!! This is Beckett’s second straight strong outing since I publicly declared my hatred for him. Was it something I said, Josh? Whatever it is, I’m happy he seems to back to form, but I still don’t like his attitude.

Beckett pitched 7.2 innings allowing one earned run on seven hits while striking out five. After his collapse against Cleveland, he’s won two straight handily and has managed to get himself out 52nd place among the 53 starting pitchers in the American League. He’s now #36. I think there’s hope for him yet. He thinks he’s doing pretty good too according to the Boston Globe…

“I felt like I’ve had some other good starts this year,’’ said Beckett, who has recorded six quality starts in eight appearances. “You guys don’t see that. But I feel like I have.’’

Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves finished out the rest of the game allowing no additional runs. Padilla has been great when coming in with runners on base. He’s yet to allow an inherited runner score. Aceves pitched a quick 1-2-3 ninth in a non-save situation.

The offense continues to tear it up. Mike Aviles had two hits and lead off the game with a home run for the second straight day. I think Bobby V. has found his lead off man. Let’s not mess with a good thing. Aviles has been on a rampage going 10 for his last 25. The only guy hotter in this line up is Jarrod Saltalamacchia who is 11 for his last 23. Salty smashed a three-run home run off of Cliff Lee in the third inning, capping off the scoring for the Sox.

Early in the season, I had mixed feelings about the guy with the longest name in major league baseball. Salty started off sluggish and I was afraid we were going to get another one of those catchers who couldn’t hit himself out of a paper bag. Right now, that’s not the case. He’s shown some toughness too. After suffering an ear laceration on Friday night and getting 12 stitches, Salty was back in there catching for Lester Saturday night, and then in again for a day game to catch Beckett’s gem. And all the while, still continuing to smash the ball. Nice going Salty.

Let’s just talk about David Ortiz real quick. He may have been quiet at the plate yesterday afternoon but he was throwing some serious leather around at first base. Everyone likes to joke about his ability since he only plays the field a few times over the course of the season, and I don’t know if it’s his new slimmed down physique, but color me impressed. He snagged a couple of line drives and made a diving stop on a grounder headed for right field, although Beckett was slow to get to the bag and the speedy Shane Victorino was safe. So all in all, the Ortiz at first, Adrian Gonzalez in right field thing seemed to work out just fine.

You know what I really loved about the last two games? Not having to see the arm-pumping of that new Phillies closer, What’s his name? Cinco Ocho?

Click on over here for all the kick-ass goodness of yesterday’s box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox hopped a train for Baltimore following yesterday’s game for a big three-game series at Camden Yards (who is also celebrating a big birthday this year — 20 years!) Clay Buccholz will take the hill tonight trying to continue the winning ways and hopefully do some work on that 7.77 ERA (yikes). First pitch is at 7:05pm.