Is Middlebrooks waving bye-bye? (Photo by Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

I love booming thunderstorms brought on by the heat and humidity — mostly because it usually means the end of the humidity. I don’t live in Boston, but I do live a couple hours north, and let’s just say, my old dog was shaking in his fur for a good part of yesterday afternoon and evening with all the crazy weather. He’s not a fan. Of thunderstorms, that is. He is a Red Sox fan. Just don’t tell my Yankee-loving husband.

But I digress…

The Red Sox probably wished it just kept on raining last night after their 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. It was tough to see after the last three games agains the Marlins where the offense kicked ass. Jair Jurrjens (how do you even pronounce that?) allowed that high-flying Sox line up just one run on three hits in 7.2 innings. Boo-hiss… the winning streak is over. And oh, hello again basement. Don’t get too comfortable with the company, Blue Jays. We don’t plan to be here for long.

I can’t decide if I think Jon Lester had a crappy game or an ok game. On the one hand, he did only give up three runs which would have given him a win any other night this past week. But he allowed 10 hits. Geez. That’s not good.

Click here for the un-Red-Sox-offense-like box, courtesy of the Sox. Franklin Morales takes the hill for his second start of the season against the Braves tonight at 7:15pm. He’ll try for his first win in a starting role.

On the Kevin Youkilis front, according to an ESPN Boston article, Bobby Valentine has told Youk that he should expect to play a smaller role with the team. Like Becca said yesterday, you can’t expect (Gold Glove first baseman) Adrian Gonzalez to spend too much more time in right field, and how the hell do you sit a kid like Will Middlebrooks. Since being promoted to Boston, he has played 38 games — he’s batting .316 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs. In the month of June, Youk is hitting just .174 with no home runs and 10 strike outs. What would you do?