I think WordPress is a Marlins fan. I’ve been trying for 36 hours to write a post about the Red Sox pitching magic over the Marlins the past two games and WordPress hasn’t allowed me to get in. Therefore, I deduce they all must be Miami lovers. It’s quite a coincidence that after the series is over, I magically get in to post… right? But I digress…

I feel like I should be more excited about the progress of this team over the past two games in Miami. The pitching has been stellar and the offense (at least last night) really stepped up to the plate. Literally. So why these feelings of distaste and loathing for a team I’ve loved so much for my whole life?

You can’t blame the current state of the team entirely on injuries. Sure, Jacoby Ellsbury probably would’ve made some big contributions, but you can’t rely on him. He’s proved to us over the past few years that you don’t want to put all your eggs in his basket. He’s fragile. And you honestly can’t tell me (at least with a straight face) that Carl Crawford and/or John Lackey would’ve made a lick of difference either. If anything, I think this team is better without Lackey’s seemingly bad attitude and Crawford’s low self-esteem.

They youngsters that have come up from the minors to fill those injury-plagued positions have been nothing short of amazing. So really, who is chomping at the bit to get these guys back? Not me. A few of the veteran pick-ups — more specifically Ryan Sweeney and Scott Podsednik — have been outstanding. David Ortiz is having one of his best seasons in forever. Jarrod Saltalamacchia has turned his season around and is a force to be reckoned with at the plate.

Then it dawned on me the other day. This 2012 Red Sox team lacks heart and that makes me sad. I have a sneaking suspicion that when Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek retired this past off-season, they took the heart with them. We need to get it back! For the love of baseball, will someone please cowboy up and get this team excited. Where’s Kevin Millar when you need him?

Tuesday night, Clay Buccholz stymied the Miami Marlins bats, beating them 2-1 and improving to 7-2 on the season. In seven innings, he scattered five hits and allowed just one earned run while striking out nine Marlins batters. Remember all that bad stuff I said about him earlier in the season? Yeah, just kidding. Sort of. He’s been nothing short of lights out in June. Buccholz is 3-0 this month and has lasted an average of eight innings per outing, has struck out 22 total and allowed just three runs over those three games. Color me impressed. Click here for said “lights out” box score courtesy of the Red Sox.

Wednesday night, it was Felix Doubront’s turn to try and one-up Buccholz. Felix had a no hitter through nearly six innings, finishing his seven-inning outing surrendering just three hits and two runs and striking out nine. He’s now 7-3 on the season. The offense came through and scored more runs in this game than they had in the previous three games combined. The one through four hitters (Podsednik, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and Ortiz) combined to go 9 for 17 scoring six runs and knocking in seven. Not to mention, the Sox scored six runs in the eighth to really put the game out of reach. Click here for the hit parade box score courtesy of the Red Sox.

The Sox get a night off tonight before making the trip to the windy city to see old friend Theo Epstein’s Cubs (who, by the way, have the worst record in all of major league baseball.) Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 7.20) takes the mound on Friday for a matinee game, trying to get his first win in a very long time.

The Boston Red Sox failed to complete the four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers last night losing 7-3. That’s the bad news. The sort of good news is that Josh Beckett had a much better outing against the Tigers than he did in early April when he gave up five home runs in 4.2 innings. Last night, he pitched seven mediocre innings, allowing four runs on a season high 10 hits, walked one and struck out just one.

Normally this Sox offense could support an outing like Josh had last night but it just didn’t happen. Bats were pretty quiet. With the exception of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He continues to smash the ball and went 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI single. In his last 16 games, he’s compiled some pretty impressive numbers for a guy who was not even close to batting his weight in mid-April. He’s had six home runs, 14 RBI and four doubles while batting .373 in that stretch.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite make up for his two throwing errors on stolen base attempts — both of which led to runs in the fifth and ninth innings. The run scored on the error in the fifth was ultimately the winning run for the Tigers. Kind of like he’s being punished for the walk-off win last weekend. Which is just stupid. But I digress…

The bullpen wasn’t much better. Franklin Morales gave up a home run in the seventh and Rich Hill gave up two more runs in the ninth to put the Tigers up 7-3 and make a bottom of the ninth comeback just that much more difficult.

The Red Sox finished May 15-14 — just a little better than the 11-11 April. This has to be a good sign that they’re moving in the right direction. Bring on June! Even Scott Podsednik thinks so, as he told reporters after the game.

“We lost tonight, but we’re playing good baseball,” said outfielder Scott Podsednik. “I think there’s something to be taken from this homestand. I think we’ve created some momentum. I think all the new faces are getting comfortable with one another, so hopefully we can build on the positives that happened here at home, get out on the road and play good baseball to win a series in Toronto.”

Click here for the uninspiring box score, courtesy of the Sox. Tonight, they begin a three game series in Toronto with Clay Buccholz (4-2, 7.19) taking on Henderson Alvarez (3-4, 3.56) who has a career 0.75 ERA against the Sox in 12 innings. Here’s to hoping that changes tonight! First pitch is at 7:07pm.

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.)

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.

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.

“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!

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.

Before I delve into recapping last night’s game, I just want to throw out a big Get Well Soon to Jerry Remy who has been noticeable absent from the broadcast booth these past few games. Not that Don Orsillo doesn’t do a fabulous job, and the replacements (Nick Cafardo, Peter Abraham and Peter Gammons) have done fine providing lots of great stats and info, but I miss Jerry. It makes me nervous when he’s out — I hate the thought of him missing the majority of the season like he did a few years ago. Those were dark days… So come back soon, Remdawg!

Ok… let’s get down to business. The Red Sox beat the Oakland A’s last night 11-6, once again unleashing an offensive onslaught that bailed out some less than impressive pitching. Mike Aviles, Darnell McDonald and David Ortiz all bashed home runs (Ortiz hit two) to power the team to the win and back to .500. The Sox had two big innings – the second and the fifth.

I bet Big Papi feels like he's batting with a tennis racket!

Ortiz lead off the second inning with a solo home run. After Kelly Shoppach struck out, McDonald hit a double to right field. Marlon Byrd, Aviles and Pedroia all had singles and Adrian Gonzalez reached on a throwing error. In the end, the Sox pushed four runs over the plate in the second, and took the lead for good at 4-1. Ortiz and Aviles both homered in the fifth to finish off the scoring and giving the Red Sox a commanding 11-1 lead. Safe, right?

Well, that’s where Clay Buccholz comes in. Through the first six innings, he looked… not bad. He allowed one run on four hits while striking out five and walking three. Not horrible. But then the seventh inning rolled around and the wheels fell off the bus in a hurry. I can’t stomach reliving the mess that ensued so I’m just going to giving you the results — he gave up five runs to bring the A’s to within striking distance. Are you kidding me? According to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, Monday night Clay Buchholz became the first Red Sox pitcher to give up five or more earned runs in five consecutive starts in 72 years. Not a good stat to be known for and his ERA is now at 8.69.

Junichi Tazawa and Vicente Padilla finished off the seventh without further damage. Scott Atchison and Franklin Morales combined for a scoreless eight and Alredo Aceves closed out the ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced. This entire pitching staff baffles me.

Here’s the link to the box, courtesy of the Red Sox. Felix Doubront takes on the A’s tonight, going for his second win. First pitch is at 7:10pm. Here’s hoping May kicks off a little better than April did!

In other news…

On Sunday, the Red Sox six-game winning streak came to an end in the final game of their series with the Chicago White Sox. The bats never got going enough to get Josh Beckett the run support he needed and they lost 4-1. It was a tough loss for Beckett, but again, it’s not like he’s pitching lights out either… Here’s the link to the box for this game, courtesy of the Red Sox.

Also, today is the deadline for the Red Sox to make a decision on what to do with Aaron Cook who, after five games with AAA Pawtucket, is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA. If they don’t promote him to the big leagues, he could opt-out of his contract and go elsewhere. At this point in the season, the Red Sox can’t afford to lose a promising arm and could be used in the bullpen or as a spot starter when needed.

Do we need to change his name to Slim Papi? (photo by me)

Was I the only one who got just a little squirmy when the Red Sox took a 10-1 lead in the top of the 5th inning last night? After Saturday’s epic failure to hold the lead against the Yankees, I have to admin, I was a bit gun shy. But luckily they were playing the Minnesota Twins — a team only slightly better than the Red Sox league’s worst ERA, but with a line-up leaving a lot to be desired.

After squeaking out a win on Monday night, the Sox bats came alive Tuesday night as they pounded out 18 hits and 11 runs, beating the (5-13) Twins to extend their winning streak to two! I know, you’re probably wondering why I’m excited about a two-game winning streak. What can I say? It’s been a rough April and any sign of life in this team makes me do a happy dance. And for a starting pitcher to give up just two runs, well that’s a win in my book any day!

Speaking of the starting pitcher, Josh Beckett looked pretty good after his rocky first inning where he threw 37 pitches and walked three — including walking in one of the Twins two runs. He spent a good portion of the latter half of that inning barking at the umpire who appeared to have a strike zone the size of a quarter. Luckily, things settled down and Beckett didn’t walk another batter the rest of the night. He finished his six inning outing with five strikeouts, including striking out the side in the 6th, and scattered five hits for the win to even up his record at 2-2.

The offense was the real story last night. Every starter (with the exception of Monday night’s hero, Cody Ross) had at least one hit. Mike Aviles went 4 for 5 with a home run and two RBI and Ryan Sweeney continued his doubles rampage hitting his league-leading 9th of the season. Adrian Gonzalez went 3 for 3 with two RBI before being lifted for recently called-up pinch hitter Lars Anderson who also had a hit and scored a run. And let’s not forget David Ortiz and his continued abuse on opposing pitching. Big Papi went 2 for 4, increasing his AL leading average to .444 with a home run and three RBI. *cough* contract year *cough*

I’m loving the new slimmed down version of Mr. Ortiz and it’s going to be a fun season to watch this offense if he can keep up this pace. Dare I say .400? As much as I love that Ted Williams was the last guy to bat over .400 in 1941, it’s been 71 freaking years people! Maybe Papi can get his name on that list. (Just for the record, I know this is a total pipe dream and I’m not holding my breath or anything. But hey, a girl can dream, right?) Before last night’s game, he talked to Globe’s Nick Cafardo about his new physique and other stuff.

“I’m having so much fun playing the game again,’’ he said. “I love to be able to do things on the field that I couldn’t do before. I’m running the bases better and harder, hitting lefthanded pitchers and going the other way. Everything I’ve tried to get better with, I’m getting better with.

All in all, it was a satisfying win — one that gives me hope that this season won’t be a complete disaster. Here’s a link to the box, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox will play for the *whispers* sweep tonight as Clay Buccholz takes the hill hopefully improving over his last outing against the Yankees.

Wow. Just wow. Just for the record this is definitely not a good wow, it’s more like a what-the-hell-just-happened wow. So much for warm fuzzy Easter Sunday baseball. This game was a grind. In 11 innings, the Red Sox and Tigers scored 25 runs on 35 hits. And unfortunately for Boston fans, two blown saves in the 9th and 11th innings put the Sox on the losing end once again. I don’t like this.

The good news (if there is any out of this afternoon’s game) — the offense isn’t the problem. The Red Sox scored 12 runs. Normally 12 runs is going to win the game. Every starter except Kelly Shoppach had at least 1 hit and Nick Punto, David Ortiz and Mike Aviles all had three. Adrian Gonzalez hit his first homerun of the season. Offense looks pretty good.

The bad news? What we thought was just a problem with the bullpen seems to have oozed into the starting rotation. Clay Buccholz continued the starter’s struggles giving up 4 runs in the 1st inning and 7 runs in his 4 inning outing. There was a glimmer of hope today when Vicente Padilla relieved Buccholz in the 5th and pitched 4 scoreless innings, giving up just 2 hits.
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