Apologies for the lack of posts the past few days – we’re having technical difficulties that have kept us from keeping Fenway Fatales breathlessly updated.

But, what an update we have: the Red Sox maybe, sort of, kind of appear to almost be… getting on a roll?  They lit up the fireworks for a 15-5 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and then pulled out a hard-fought 6-5 win over Miami last night.

With the two wins, the Sox finally pulled out of last place (like I said last time – take THAT, Toronto Blue Jays!), and over .500 again.  Hopefully, this time it will last.

David Ortiz has made some news the last few days – first, with a grand slam on Wednesday night, the 396th home run of Papi’s career.  The Sox hit four home runs that night, chasing Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco in just 3 1/3 innings.  Off the field, Ortiz caused an even bigger explosion, when he went off on the Boston media and its strange obsession with why one of the most talented and highly-paid teams in baseball has trouble staying above .500 (funny, that):

It seems every day there is something new about players. People need to leave us alone and let us play ball. It’s becoming the [expletive] hole it used to be.  Look around, bro. Playing here used to be so much fun. Now every day it’s something new not related with baseball. People need to leave us alone, man. Play ball and do what we know how to do.

Ortiz was responding to an ESPN report that described an absolutely toxic atmosphere, and relayed that a lot of staff was already shipping their resumes to other organizations.  I understand Ortiz’s frustration, but still: the media SHOULD be questioning why the Sox are mired in such a prolonged slump this year.  It’s not fair to expect the media to sit back and applaud the good, while not asking about the bad.  Part of the deal of playing in Boston is that the fan base here is very involved and very invested – the media needs to answer questions for the fans, and Ortiz getting annoyed at that doesn’t make him look any better.

The other big news the last few days: it looks like Kevin Youkilis is on his way out of Boston.  The aging corner infielder is clearly being Wally Pipped by the young, dynamic, impressive third baseman Will Middlebrooks, and there’s no way Adrian Gonzalez and his contract are going to play right field for too long.  No substantiated rumors have crossed my Twitter feed yet, but here’s a question: what do the Red Sox need, and what can the Red Sox realistically expect to get for Youkilis?  I say, trade him for two legit pitching prospects and (maybe) a bench player, and call it a day.

Currently, the Red Sox are supposed to be opening up a series against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway.  But, I can tell you with utmost confidence that the game won’t start anytime soon – it’s currently raining in Boston, one of those booming thunderstorms that always follows a three-day heat wave.

It’s so refreshing to see a Red Sox starting pitcher take the mound, throw strikes, not make faces at the home plate umpire, not buy into his own hype, and just quietly and calmly gut out a win for a team that really needs them.  Thank you, Franklin Morales, for being the most admirable starting pitcher in the bunch.  Morales, who took over the injured Josh Beckett’s slot for a spot start last night, pitched five innings.  His 80 pitches were the most he’s thrown since he was a starter for the Colorado Rockies in 2009.  He gave up two runs, four hits, and struck out nine without walking a single batter.

On Morales’s effort, the Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 7-4, taking two of three in the interleague series.  The Sox are (gasp!) BACK AT .500.  They’ve won two straight, and they’ll take a day off today (one of Josh Beckett’s 18 days off, I presume?) before returning to Fenway to host the Miami Marlins.

The game started off strong for the Sox.  Scott Podsednik led off with a single, and then scored on Dustin Pedroia’s double to left center field.  A Kevin Youkilis sac fly and a David Ortiz single scored Pedroia to give the Sox an early 2-0 lead.

The Cubs scored one run in the bottom of the first.  Things settled down until the bottom of the third inning, when Chicago scored its second run on a Starlin Castro “double” to shallow right field that Pedroia and right fielder Darnell MacDonald couldn’t sort out before it bounced off Pedroia’s glove.  Two things: first, very very hometown scoring there – if that’s a legitimate double, then I’m Bryce Harper; and second, Terry Francona, who was calling the game for ESPN, instantly jumped to Pedroia’s defense and heaped all the blame on MacDonald.  Personally, I saw Pedroia call for the ball and then let it bounce off his glove.  We all know how much Tito loves Pedroia, his cribbage buddy.  But, if Tito wants to be a neutral ESPN analyst, he should start by being neutral.

Anyway.  Ortiz made things right the next inning, when he hit a monster home run to center field to put the Red Sox ahead again, but his efforts were thwarted by yet another defensive miscue involving Pedroia.  Pedroia and Mike Aviles Aviles met at second base to handle a force out from a tap-back to pitcher Matt Albers.  Aviles cut in front of Pedroia, dropped the ball and picked up the error, and the Cubs evened the score again.  This one was clearly Aviles’s fault, but it’s kind of weird that Pedroia was involved in both defensive communication issues this game.  Is he not calling for the ball or something?  I find it hard to believe that both Aviles and MacDonald would just ignore Pedroia calling for the ball.

It seems like all was forgiven though, as the Red Sox put up three runs in the top of the seventh inning to grab the lead for good.  MacDonald doubled, pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled, Ryan Kalish – who made his return from the minor leagues yesterday – singled, Will Middlebrooks hit a sac fly to center field, and Daniel Nava dropped a bunt.

Good win for the Red Sox all around.  Except for the Curse of Dustin Pedroia, it looks like things were rolling, at least for one night.  Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston returns to Fenway from its 4-2 road trip on Tuesday, when it welcomes the Miami Marlins.  Clay Buchholz (7-2, 5.38 ERA) will try to repeat his last great start against Miami.  He’s up against Mark Buehrle (5-7, 3.41 ERA), who picked up his first loss in ten interleague games against the Red Sox last week.

I hear there was some kind of important basketball game taking place yesterday?  Some team from Boston was trying to win its seventh game or something?  Some guy named LeBron wore fake eyeglasses?  I don’t know…

In all seriousness, it’s pretty clear that baseball was overshadowed by the Boston Celtics’ run for the Eastern Conference championship last night in a win-or-go-home game seven in Miami.  And, the Celtics went home.  Boston was buzzing all day yesterday in anticipation, and even though we might have seen the end of Boston’s big three, there’s no denying that Rajan Rondo’s made his mark as a postseason gamer.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (firebrandal, c/o flickr.com)

Anyway.  There was, in fact, a Red Sox game yesterday also.  Daisuke Matsuzaka took the mound at Fenway one year to the day after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  Matsuzaka stepped in to replace struggling starter Daniel Bard.  Bard was sent down to AAA Pawtucket after a disastrous start last week that showcased his sudden inability to get batters out, or even maintain the strike zone.

Shockingly – shockingly! – the Red Sox lost again yesterday, dipping below .500 (on June 9th, guys – that’s kind of late in the season for a so-called contender to be playing .500 baseball).  They lost to the Washington Nationals, 4-2.

Here’s the thing about Daisuke: he didn’t pitch terribly.  In fact, one could easily argue that he had a decent-to-good return debut for the Red Sox, going five innings and striking out eight while allowing four runs.  Matsuzaka’s always had a lot of hype around him: who else remembers when NESN literally tracked the live flight path of his airplane when he was flying to Boston when they signed him?  Tangent, I remember that because I happened to be innocently eating dinner at the Boston Beer Works near Fenway when I was picked to be the “(wo)man on the street interview” by some Japanese media.  My contribution didn’t make it onto tv, as far as I know, quite possibly because I had a belly full of cheeseburger and a brain full of Fenway Pale Ale at the time – but I digress.

Anyway, the thing about Daisuke is that the hype hurts him sometimes.  He’s obviously had a pretty rocky road here in Boston, and a lot of that’s due to the hype that preceded him, not to mention the contract that accompanied him.  We’ve always expected ace performances from a pitcher that’s just not an ace.  Which is fine in a vacuum: if any other pitcher came back from Tommy John surgery to take the mound a year later and give their team a chance to win a game from the fifth spot in the rotation, he’d be congratulated, welcomed back with open arms.

With Matsuzaka, though, it seems like people always want a bit more.  Do I think Daisuke’s earned his contract?  Not by a long shot.  Do I think that he can replace Bard and be a serviceable fifth starter for this iteration of the Red Sox?  Definitely.  The problem, though, is this: the Red Sox don’t need a serviceable fifth starter.  The Red Sox need better pitching overall.  Boston cannot rely on an inexplicably shaky Jon Lester, a volatile Josh Beckett, an unreliable Clay Buchholz, a green Felix Doubront, and an untested Matsuzaka if they expect to compete in the AL East, or the postseason.

For the Boston offense, Jarrod Saltalamacchia continued his recent hot streak, knocking in Boston’s only two runs with a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning off the Washington bullpen.  Besides that, nothing doing – Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez pitched a gem, allowing two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. The Red Sox were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, which given the power in this lineup, is JUST a little disheartening.

Just some bookkeeping here: Marlon Byrd was designated for assignment to make room for Matsuzaka.

Here’s a link to the weak box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Jon Lester (3-4, 4.64 ERA – not very ace-like) takes the mound against Jordan Zimmerman (3-5, 2.82 ERA) in today’s 1:35 matinee.  The Red Sox will try to avoid a sweep at home before heading to Miami to face the retooled Miami Marlins.

Felix Doubront. Photo from SBNation.

Ok so this spring is waaaaaaay different from last spring. The Red Sox are actually winning. Hopefully those winning ways will carry into the regular season and they won’t have the same dismal April they did in 2011. Oh please don’t like them repeat last year’s hideous opening week.

On Tuesday, the Sox hosted the newly named Miami Marlins at jetBlue Park where they won 5-3 in 10 innings. Josh Beckett took the hill and gave up a run on one hit in four innings. He walked two and beaned two batters. Cody Ross continued with his hot bat and Pedro Ciriaco belted a two-run homer in the 10th for the walk off win after new Sox closer, Andrew Bailey struggled a bit in his outing.

Ozzie Guillen was ejected in the 6th after arguing over a foul ball. Come again? Ozzie was ejected? Ozzie? I don’t believe such a thing. Bobby Valentine gave him a nice send-off wave as he headed off the field. Too bad Ozzie didn’t see this — we could’ve been in for some more of his antics.

On Wednesday, the Red Sox traveled to Tampa for their first spring meeting with the Yankees. I wasn’t sure I tuned in to the right game since it was over in less than three hours. That never happens. The game turned out to be a real nail-biting pitcher’s duel with the Sox coming out on top 1-0. Felix Doubront, who spent most of last season with Pawtucket, made a strong bid for the 5th starter position with an impressive four inning outing. He gave up two hits, no runs and struck out three before handing the ball over to Michael Bowden (who struck out the side, btw) in the 5th.

Pedro Ciriaco was the hero once again, smashing a triple that was misplayed by the Yankees right fielder, Zoilo Almonte. Ciriaco scored on an error when the throw home overshot the catcher. Of course, if you weren’t staring directly at the television, you would never have known what happened since those YES Network dubs were discussing their favorite recipes or some crap like that rather than paying attention to what was going on with the game. I hate when the Sox aren’t on NESN… I miss my Don and Jerry terribly.

I’m not sure if I should mention the fact that the Sox are 7-2 so far in Grapefruit League play. Meh, what the hell. I’m saying it.

After a night off tonight, the BoSox will host those pesky St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday at 2:35pm. Supposedly Alfredo Aceves is slated to start but the last time I said he was going to start, he didn’t. So who knows…your guess is as good as mine.