So the Red Sox continue their losing ways. (Serenity now! *raises fist*) After dropping their last eight games of the 2012 season, they lose their first official Grapefruit League game to those pesky Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3. Close, but no cigar.

Picture perfect day. (Photo by: Krista Nordgren)

I know it shouldn’t matter. It’s spring training. There are names on the line up card that a lot of us have never heard before. But it would’ve been nice…confidence boosting even… for a W in the first meeting with a division rival. I guess that was too much to ask. I’m going to try extra hard not to ask too much this season.

Spring training games are hard for me to watch on television. It snowed most of the day here in Maine yesterday and seeing all those people, hanging out in sunny Fort Meyers, FL really pissed me off. A friend of mine was there too… torturing me with texts about how amazing the park is, how they have dispensers of sunscreen in the bathrooms, how her kid got tossed a ball, and again how amazing the park is. Kill me now.

Trying to recap a spring training game is a lot like herding kittens, so I’ll give you some highlights.

• John Lackey started his first game since 2011. He pitched just one inning of work throwing 20 pitches—10 for strikes. He loaded the bases with a hit, a walk, a strikeout and a hit batsman but got out of the inning giving up just one run. Not bad for the newly slimmed-down right-hander. I’m rooting for him to have a good year.
• Jose Iglesias smashed a two-run, game-tying home run over the Green Monster (south) in the seventh. For a guy who’s been struggling to prove he’s ready for the big leagues with his bat, this home run has to do wonders for his confidence. Maybe that off-season time spent with Dustin Pedroia is paying off!

This afternoon, the Red Sox travel to Jupiter (the town, not the planet) to play the Cardinals. Jon Lester will make the start. For more riveting detail on yesterday’s contest, click here — courtesy of the Sox. All is right in the world… baseball is back.

The Boston Red Sox went through some major changes over the last year. Some good, some bad and some just… meh. They unloaded some dead weight — Josh Beckett and his bad attitude, Carl Crawford and his bad contract and Adrian Gonzalez and his bad luck (as collateral damage.) Needless to say, the 2013 Opening Day line up is going to look a lot different from 2012 with only four players returning for the starting nine.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF: He will most likely bat lead off as his did last year. That’s only if he doesn’t sprain his earlobe in spring training or catch a hangnail during warmups.
2. Shane Victorino, RF: Newly signed Victorino makes the most sense for the #2 spot. Dustin Pedroia held this spot last year, but with the addition of the speedy “flyin’ Hawaiian,” he may be better suited further down in the order.
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B: He’s proved himself to be an offensive asset and has surprising power for a guy of his stature. He has a career .303 batting average with a .830 OPS. Last year, the #3 spot belonged to the departed Adrian Gonzalez.
4. David Ortiz, DH: Big Papi will once again commandeer the clean up spot. Let’s just hope that achilles can hold up and David can pick up where he left off last season before he went down with the bum heel.
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B: The position stays the same, just the personel has changed. Middlebrooks takes over full time at the hot corner after the somewhat rancorous departure of Kevin Youkilis.
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C: Salty takes over the #6 spot from Ryan Sweeney who was allowed to go to free agency following an unspectacular year.
7. First Base?: With the Mike Napoli deal in limbo, could Mauro Gomez start the season at first base? Or will they continue to search for a more seasoned first baseman if the Napoli contract crumbles. If Napoli does end up in Boston, I imagine he’ll bat a little higher up in the order — probably 5th. In 2012, the recently departed Cody Ross held this spot in the line up.
8. Left Field?: Do the Sox see Jonny Gomes starting the season guarding the Green Monster? Or Ryan Kalish? This one baffles me. Salty batted #8 to start last season.
9. Stephen Drew, SS: Drew replaces last year’s shortstop Mike Aviles at the end of the order. Needless to say, my excitement level for this position is very low. I’m begging this guy to prove me wrong.

Well, 2013 should be an interesting year. There were some big holes to fill over the off season in this line up and I’m not feeling too confident that the new acquisitions are going to get them where they need to be. I’m not sure I can handle a “rebuilding year” so someone needs to do something really sparkly or that’s exactly what we’re going to get.

I don’t think anyone really had any written-in-stone prediction about what Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was going to do this offseason, except: something.  There’s no way Cherington could have just let things lie the way they were left when the season ended.

Now, at the close of the Winter Meetings, we’re starting to see some answers, and maybe a glimpse of how Cherington plans on managing the Sox roster during his time at the helm of this shaky, leaky, but still storied and serviceable ship.

So far, what we’ve seen: Cherington will sign decent, capable, solid players, but none of them will knock your socks off, get you Really Excited, or wake Red Sox Nation up from its hibernation full of Patriots games and Rondo suspensions.

Jonny Gomes, for example.  Cherington signed Gomes to a two-year, $20 million dollar deal just before Thanksgiving.  Red Sox fans probably know Gomes best from his early-career tenure with Tampa Bay.  The 32-year old corner outfielder’s since spent time in the National League, before he played with Oakland last season.  He’s… decent.  Fine.  He has a mid-.200 batting average, he gets around the bases, and he plays good defense.  He has some power, but he’s not the guy you expect to move runners.

Personality-wise, Gomes kind of strikes me as a poor man’s Dustin Pedroia: Wikipedia describes him as having hustle, playing aggressively, and of being that intangible baseball quality of “gritty.”  He holds the Tampa Bay record of being hit by pitches, which he set when Josh Beckett (who else, really?) plunked him back in 2007.  He’s also been right in the middle of two fights that stick out in my mind: the spring training brawl with New York’s Shelley Duncan in 2008, and the Coco Crisp-led melee on the mound during a Tampa-Boston series in June, 2008.

Mike Napoli – I’ve always kind of liked Mike Napoli.  It’s true – I think I liked him because he always seemed to come up with the big hit late in the game, he always seems to beat out the tag on a crucial play at the plate, and he just seems like a guy who will leave it all on the field, every day.  He’s agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with the Sox, where he’s expected to play first base (but, the fact that he’s also a veteran catcher who could dust off his mitt and get behind the plate in a pinch should get Ryan Lavarnway thinking about where he’s going to be traded to).

Napoli’s a solid American League guy.  His entire major league career’s been in Anaheim and Texas, and he’s been a key part of those clubs.  He’ll probably be good for 30 home runs and 80 RBI, which will give a nice boost to the Red Sox lineup.

Shane Victorino – the Flyin’ Hawaiian, according to his Twitter (@ShaneVictorino).  The outfielder also signed a three-year, $39 million deal.  You know this guy.  He’s been all over the league, and he’s always contributed.  The All-Star probably hit his peak in 2008, when he and the Phillies charged through the postseason to win the World Series.  But, he’s still a power, and it will be fun to see him play in Fenway.  I saw him on an episode of that show with Kate Gosselin and her eight children (Kate and Eight?), where he met all the children and was absolutely charming with them.  I suspect he’ll be one of those “clubhouse guys” that we all know Boston has had a dearth of lately.

Victorino has a 162-game, .275 batting average.  He’ll probably get on base a lot, hit with power when it counts, and be a quick fan favorite.

So, those three sound fun.  Unfortunately, none of those three happen to be starting pitchers.  Are the Sox planning on doing anything about the complete disaster that was the 2012 pitching staff?  Like, seriously?  Starting pitching is going to be the key – Gomes, Napoli and Victorino are good additions, but they won’t be able to keep baseballs from flying over their heads and into the stands at Fenway.

I mean…

Granted, the Red Sox didn’t exactly put their best lineup on the field yesterday.  Dustin Pedroia sat out with what was later reported to be a fractured finger (he won’t go on the DL, since there’s only two games left), and Jacoby Ellsbury also didn’t make an appearance.  I’m not making excuses for the Red Sox, but let’s be honest: when Ryan Lavarnway (currently batting somewhere in the .160s) is your fifth hitter, and three-hitter Cody Ross is the biggest threat in your batting order, you’ve gone off the reservation somehow.

Regardless of whether the Sox were either flopping around in the bottom of the fishing boat, or just giving their exciting up-and-comers a chance to play, last night’s game against the Yankees was the most one-sided rivalry game I’ve seen in a long time.  Clay Buchholz imploded in the second inning, giving up eight runs in a nine-run frame that decided the game early and sent a disinterested fan base packing for yet another depressing night.

Robinson Cano started the second-inning barrage off for New York, launching a solo home run to center field.  Buchholz got Mark Teixeria to strike out, but the unflappable Nick Swisher glanced a double off of center field with one out.  Curtis Granderson scored Swisher by hitting a home run of his own, and then Russell Martin promptly hit another home run, making the score 4-0.

Undaunted, Buchholz announced himself with authority by walking Eric Chavez and Derek Jeter, and loaded the bases via an Ichiro Suzuki single.  Alex Rodriguez sacrificed Chavez home for the second out, before Cano used his second at-bat of the inning to double home Jeter and Suzuki.

With the score 7-0 with two outs, Bobby Valentine had finally seen enough.  Alfredo Aceves replaced Buchholz.  Aceves faced Teixeira first, and Teixeira (of course) hit the Yankees’ fourth home run of the inning, scoring Cano and leaving the score at 9-0.  Swisher followed up with another double, but Aceves finally got Granderson to ground out to first to end the inning.

The Sox didn’t really get any kind of offensive rally going.  They scored a couple of baserunners here and there, care a well-executed Jarrod Saltalamacchia sac fly and a Daniel Nava home run; but there was really nothing happening at all at the plate.

With the win, coupled with Baltimore’s loss to Tampa, the Yankees took sole possession of first place with two games to play.  The Red Sox’ best-case scenario now is to play spoiler for either the Yankees or the Orioles, as both teams continue to battle for the division title.  That’s literally about all that Red Sox fans can look forward to – an exciting game 162 that means nothing for the Sox, but could potentially affect another team’s postseason. Blah.

Here’ a link to last night’s box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Tonight’s game 161 pits Jon Lester (9-14, 4.94 ERA) against David Phelps (4-4, 3.34 ERA).  Phelps replaces the beleaguered Ivan Nova in a start that will probably decide Phelps’ prominence on the Yankees’ postseason roster.

You could almost hear it over the television… pfffft-pfffft-pffffffffffffft… as the Red Sox completed the home portion of the 2012 season with yet another loss. This time, 4-2 at the hands of the still battling Tampa Bay Rays. They ended up finishing with a ghastly record of 34-47 at Fenway, the worst since 1965, and surely not the best way to celebrate the park’s 100th birthday.

Jon Lester flirted with a no hitter, breezing through the first four innings. But, as has been the case all year, it was just not meant to be. He quickly lost the no-no and the lead with back-to-back homers in the fifth by Carlos Pena (a two-run shot) and Ben Francisco. I have to think that if this were any other season, giving up four runs wouldn’t be such a tough hill to climb for the Sox. They would battle back and take games like this with ease.

The line up that struggled to eek out just two runs on four hits last night is a line up very different from the line up that opened this 2012 season. Only three players from Opening Day were present — Dustin Pedroia, Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. And unfortunately, some of those big bats, whether they’re on the DL or have been shipped off to another team, have been significantly missed over the past few months.

I’m convinced this season is cursed. Maybe it’s the curse of Tito, who sits at home with his trifecta of voodoo dolls that eerily resemble John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino. Or maybe it’s the curse of Bobby Valentine, who most likely actually is a voodoo doll controlled by some unknown devious force hell bent on ruining my beloved Sox. Whatever it is that made this team suck, I truly hope it is exorcised in the off-season. And by exorcised, I mean firing Bobby V.

In other news, some good news actually, Jason Varitek has been named Special Assistant to General Manager, Ben Cherington.

“Jason was one of the most respected players of his era and will be a key voice as we move forward,” general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “He will be involved in a number of areas, including Major League personnel decisions, evaluations, and mentorship and instruction of young players. We are fortunate to have him in this role.”

This is the first step in putting the heart back in this team… when Varitek retired, I’m convinced he took the team spirit with him. I have every confidence this move will greatly benefit the front office and give them a better understanding of the inner workings of the club house. Could they possibly be grooming Tek to be skipper some day? I sure hope so.

I’m not going to lie… I’ve been rooting for the Orioles the past two games. I don’t remember ever doing that but since I have nothing to live root for this season, I’ll try and give the O’s a boost. The Red Sox nearly foiled the O’s extra-inning win streak yesterday, but I just knew if a team was going to end that streak this year, it most certainly was NOT going to be this Sox team.

The game on Friday night was a trip on the train to Dullsville. Jon Lester pitched just so-so, allowing four earned runs on eight hits over seven innings. Not horrible. Not fantastic. Just… meh. The offense was a bit sluggish scoring just two runs on eight hits and only scoring two of the seven runners who made it into scoring position. In the end, the O’s beat the Sox 4-2 in a brisk (for the Red Sox) three hour game. The yawn-inducing box score can be found here, courtesy of the Sox.

Saturday’s game offered a bit more excitement which I was glad for since I had some family making the trek down to Fenway. The Sox and O’s seesawed back and forth in this one, each team answering the other’s scoring until the sixth inning. I’ll take the blame for the go ahead runs in the sixth — I happened to text my cousin (who was there) and may have made mention that at least the Red Sox weren’t losing. And then boom… the O’s go ahead by three. Ooops.

But then, in the bottom of the seventh, the Sox mounted a comeback. Scott Podsednik doubled, Pedro Ciriaco followed with a walk and Dustin Pedroia singled to load the bases with no outs. Cody Ross and Ryan Lavarnway both grounded out but each drove in a run to bring the Sox within one. Not the most exciting way to get the runs home but it works.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Sox tied up the game on back-to-back two-out doubles by Daniel Nava and Scott Podsednik. And the bullpen even looked to be in the mood to pitch too — Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon pitched scoreless eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh innings.

And then there was Alfredo Aceves. I wonder what happened to Alfredo sauce. He pitched pretty well early in the season. I mean he does have 25 saves this season. But something changed. Maybe it was triggered by his run-in with Bobby Valentine in August that has turned his arm to crap. Whatever it was, he now sucks and like Dice K, he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near that pitcher’s mound. I’m sure when the O’s saw Aceves take the mound, the all nodded their heads because they knew that extra-inning win streak was not in danger.

When all was said and done, Aceves gave up three runs on three hits in the top of the 12th inning giving the O’s a 9-6 win and keeping the streak in tact. There’s four hours and fourteen minutes I’ll never get back. Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Sox.

The Sox and O’s finish up the series today — this season can’t be over soon enough. Really. Felix Doubront takes the hill against Chris Tillman. With a win today, the Sox will officially have a better September record than they did in 2011. Sad, I know.

Congratulations, PawSox!!

After a dismal series with the Yankees where the Red Sox lost two of the three games, putting their September record at paltry 2-9 as of Thursday, I was just desperate for some good news. Anything that will make me smile and think the season isn’t a total loss… even though it really is…

Good News Nugget #1:
Thursday night, while the Boston Red Sox were doing their usual sucking, the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox were busy winning the International Leagues’ Championship, taking home the Governor’s Cup for the first time since 1984. With all the player movement between AA, AAA and the Show this season, it’s a wonder the PawSox could put together a team cohesive enough to pull this off. But they did… somehow.

I’ll give credit to team manager, Arnie Beyeler, for keeping this team on track. This is Arnie’s sixth season managing in the Red Sox organization. He spent four season in Portland and this is his second year with Pawtucket. Maybe it’s time for Arnie to get called up to the Show as well… seriously, he can’t be any worse than Bobby Valentine.

Good News Nugget #2:
Congratulations to the Pedroia family on the birth of their second son Thursday morning. The look on Dustin’s face during Wednesday night’s game when Bobby V. took him out of the game telling him his wife went into labor was priceless. He looked scared to death. Mother and baby are doing just fine and Pedroia is expected to rejoin the team this weekend in Toronto.

Good News Nugget #3:
Holy crap, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays last night, 8-5 to snap a six-game losing streak against the Jays. They scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie on singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Cody Ross, followed by a two-run triple by Mauro Gomez. Ryan Lavarnway finished off the scoring with a sac fly and Andrew Bailey came in for the save.

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Jays meet again this afternoon with Clay Buchholz still searching for his first win since August 16th.

Good News Nugget #4:
Ok… this made me laugh because as it turns out, Josh Beckett can’t even pretend to hustle with his new team. In the game Thursday night between the Dodgers and Cardinals, Beckett singled to right field, but basically jogged to first base and ended up getting thrown out by right fielder, Carlos Beltran. Embarrassing… Click here to watch it and giggle!

Hey… the good news has been hard to come by this season so I’m clinging to anything that shows life in this organization. As pissed as I am at them right now, I’m still rooting for them to be successful in the future. Without Bobby Valentine.

Happy Birthday, Jacoby Ellsbury! (c/o Keith Allson, via flickr)

If you play golf, you know this: you could have the crappiest day ever on the course, spraying shots left and right into the woods, topping the ball, etc… but then you hit that one shot that is as close to perfect as you’re capable of, and that’s the one that keeps you coming back for more.

That exact thing happened to me in a golf tournament today. It was a scramble format which really is the only way I’ll ever to be able to play 18 entire holes without wanting to beat myself over the head with my five iron. On the final hole, I hit a seven iron from just over 100 yards out and landed it within about three feet of the hole. I had the honor to tap that putt in for a birdie and I left the course flying high despite all my lousy shots. “I’ll be back,” I whispered as I left…

It’s a shame I didn’t feel the same way about the Red Sox and their semi-spectacular 4-3 walk-off win over the Yankees last night. I mean it’s a glimmer of hope, right? That maybe they could go on some kind of run and win a bunch of games in these final days of the season? Yeah, right. I know that’s just some short circuit in my brain that has forgotten about the 12 games before last night.

When I woke up and saw the Sox won, my first thought was big deal, who cares. My second thought was to immediately check to see if the Orioles won. At this point in such a pathetic season, my concern isn’t if the Red Sox won… it’s if the Yankees lost. Sorry… I’m bitter. And I think I’ve said before that misery loves company so the Yankees need to falter down the stretch so my husband can join my post season pity party.

As for the actual game, I have to give props to Jacoby Ellsbury. The birthday boy celebrated the big 29 by going 4-for-5 with two RBI including the game winning single in the bottom of the ninth. I’m sure it’s nice to win on your birthday — makes celebrating seem less weird. Dustin Pedroia also had a fine night — going 3-for-4 also with two RBI.

Click here for the birthday bash box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The two teams are back at it as I type with Aaron Cook trying for a repeat winning performance. So far… it’s not looking so good.

Pardon me if I don’t do cartwheels and backflips over the Red Sox 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners last night. I kind of think it was a fluke. Plus, I’ve officially stopped caring. Now I’m on to bigger and better things… like pulling for the Orioles and Rays to overtake the Yankees and knock them out of the playoffs. Yes, I’m bitter. Plus, misery loves company and I don’t really need a gloating husband for the month of October.

So like I said, the Red Sox actually won a game last night to end their current skid at seven games. I have faith they’ll start a new skid tonight though. Or maybe… just maybe this was the first game of a 26-game winning streak that will close out the season on a high note, with some dignity still in tact. Or not. Most likely not.

Jon Lester looked good, scattering three runs on nine hits over six innings. The way the team has been playing lately, that’s usually the recipe for a loss. But not last night. After falling behind 3-0 early in the game, surprisingly the offense didn’t just lay down and die.

The Sox scored four runs in the sixth inning. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury both singled to open the inning. Cody Ross hit his 20th home run of the season to tie the game at three. After the next two batters recorded outs, Ryan Lavarnway hit his first home run of the season (with the Sox, that is) that turned out to be the winning run.

The bullpen held the Mariners scoreless over the next three innings and Andrew Bailey recorded his second save of the season. Alfredo who?

See? Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Mariners meet again tonight for the final game of this long, very painful and very unsuccessful road trip. Aaron Cook takes on Kevin Millwood tonight in hopes that September treats him a bit better than August did, when he went 1-4 with a 6.46 ERA.

Right now we could use nine of him. (Photo by: Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

I thought that maybe, just maybe, the Red Sox would do the complete opposite this September of what they did a year ago. I was wrong. The Sox lost their seventh straight game to the Seattle Mariners 4-1 this afternoon. The offense failed yet again to put a significant number of runs on the board. One run just ain’t going to do it, boys.

Clay Buchholz had a fantastic outing… if you forget the fourth inning ever happened. He struck out eight in seven innings. It was that one inning that completely screwed him. The Mariners plated four and that’s all she wrote. The two errors didn’t help matters much either.

I have nothing to say about the Sox offense except that they, yet again, failed to even show up for today’s game. What the hell? Over this recent skid, they’ve scored a measly 16 runs in the seven games. Do the math… that averages out to roughly 2.3 runs per game. *shakes head* Click here to witness the gross lack of scoring, courtesy of the Red Sox.

The only member of the Red Sox line up that seems to be doing well amidst this losing streak is Dustin Pedroia. He is currently riding a 14-game hit streak, the longest in the Majors, and is hitting .386 during this steak. He also got his 1,000th hit during today’s game.

Jon Lester is called upon to try and stop the bleeding in tomorrow’s game. Generally Lester has not been good in a pinch this year, but he has won three of his last four starts so I sort of have hope. That’s a lie… I have no hope. My hope has left the building. Whatever.