You know, I take a few weeks off from following the Red Sox to give birth to the cutest little girl in the world, and I come back and things in the nation are… basically exactly the same.  Minus a few superstars, that is (I heard the rumors of the Beckett/Gonzalez/Crawford trade while I was in recovery and, let’s just say, didn’t have my wits about me, and I thought I was hallucinating).  But at the end of the day, the trade didn’t do much to change the timbre of the 2012 Red Sox, and we’re still looking at a seemingly endless vortex of doom: ineffective pitching, lackluster offense, a dearth of motivation, and as of today, a 21-game gap in the standings and the prospect of a long winter ahead.

Last night, for example:  Aaron Cook gives up six runs in the first inning, the Red Sox muster up only one hit and one run (both by Scott Podsednik, and both probably more a circumstance of Orioles miscues than of any actual baseball fortitude), and the Sox slip into another night of oblivion.

Podsednik’s bunt single was the only Red Sox hit of the night, the first time the Sox had mustered only one hit in a nine-inning game since 2009.  Pouring lemon juice in the wound, Cook got smacked around for six runs in just over one inning.  A two-out Baltimore grand slam in the bottom of the first sealed the deal on this game, and the only real question was how badly the Sox would lose (the answer?  9-1).

Here’s the box score for last night’s game, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston steps up again tonight in Baltimore, when Felix Doubront (11-9, 4.91 ERA) takes on Steve Johnson (4-0, 1.62).

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.

I never would’ve believed it had I not seen it myself this afternoon. Daisuke Matsuzake, coming off his second stay on the DL this season, pitched an absolute gem this afternoon to beat the Royals 5-1 in the final game of their current homestand. Someone pinch me.

Dice K pitched seven complete innings — he gave up just one unearned run on five hits while striking out six. This is his first win since May 8th… of 2011. Maybe his plan is to put on a show for the remaining month plus of his time with the Red Sox — you know, so he can get a good contract from some other sucker.

Whatever. The Red Sox won. At this point, I don’t care how they get it done.

The offense continues to come through with the hits. They pounded out 54 total over the four-game series with the Royals. Scott Podsednik, Jacoby Ellsbury and Cody Ross all had two hits each today. Ellsbury hit his second home run of the season and Ross also had three RBIs.

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The team hits the road tonight for a West Coast swing where they’ll play the Angels, Athletics and Mariners over the next nine days. No offense West Coast, but I really hate those 10pm games.

In other news, David Ortiz has been placed back on the 15-day DL after re-injuring his achilles in Friday night’s game. A few questions come to mind — will Ortiz play again this season or will they shut him down now that the post season is well out of reach? And have we seen Big Papi play in his final game as a member of the Red Sox? This makes me sad…

Also, you may have heard that Alfredo Aceves was suspended over the weekend by the Red Sox for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Turns out that the Sox have a rule about suspended players traveling with the team and now Aceves will be forced to take a later flight to meet the team out west because of this suspension. He better be careful… looks like Mr. Ben Cherington isn’t going to be taking any shit from anyone on this team and Alfredo could find himself on a plane to another market if he’s not careful!

This game deserves another appearance by the gutter ball. (Photo by: Marcus McCurdy c/o Flickr.com)

What is it with this season? I don’t ever remember the Red Sox giving up so many substantial leads. Or maybe I’ve just chosen not to remember… that is a very strong possibility too. But two six run leads in three days — that is just unacceptable!

After having to sit through that 14-13 torturous loss on Thursday night, I was not interested in seeing a meltdown like that again any time soon. I guess the Red Sox didn’t get that memo.

Aaron Cook started in place of the originally scheduled and recently departed Josh Beckett. And he really stepped up to the plate. Cook gave up three runs in the first inning, but that was it for his six innings outing. After six, the Red Sox had a comfortable 9-3 lead. Or was it…?

The Sox offense was on fire scoring four in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth. First baseman Mauro Gomez had a breakout game going 4-6 with three RBI and launching his first Major League home run. Every starter had at least one hit as the Sox pounded out 20 total hits. In my opinion nine runs on 20 hits should win a game every time. I guess they didn’t get that memo either.

Andrew Miller came in to relieve Cook in the top of the seventh. With two outs and one man on, Miller proceeded to walk the next two men to load the bases, then gave up a single up the middle to score two. The lead is now 9-5 and Miller’s night is over quickly.

Mark Melancon replaced Miller and promptly gave up a ground rule double and a single and the Royals scored two more runs. The lead is now a slim 9-7 and Melancon’s night is over even quicker.

Craig Breslow relieved Melancon in an attempt to stop the bleeding but couldn’t get it under control. He gave up a triple that scored yet another two runs and now the game is tied. Breslow manages to get out of the inning but the damage has been done. I want to throw up.

The Red Sox had their best chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th when Pedro Ciriaco lead the inning off with a single and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Scott Podsednik sacrificed Ciriaco to third and Dustin Pedroia was intentionally walked. With one out, Jacoby Ellsbury had the chance to be the hero but could manage just a ground ball to second base and Ciriaco was gunned down at the plate. That’s as close as they would get to scoring.

In the top of the twelfth, Junichi Tazawa gave up a two out double and a single for the Royals’ go ahead run. And that’s all she wrote. The Sox are once again unable to come back as they fizzle out in their final at bat. Click here for the disastrous box score, courtesy of the losing team.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say I’m probably not the only one who thinks this constant losing crap is getting really old. It just gets harder and harder to actually take this team seriously. This afternoon Felix Doubront is back on the mound after a knee injury has kept him benched since August 9th. And he hasn’t won a game since July 18th. I’m not optimistic.

For once a Red Sox win is not the biggest news in town. Although it should be big news since it’s not a commonly occurring event these days. In the midst of the trade rumors swirling about Boston last night, the Red Sox finally managed to stop their current four-game skid and beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 behind another good pitching performance by Jon Lester.

You would’ve thought, especially considering their history this season, that those pesky trade rumors would have sent this team into a spiral of despair. But no… it seemed to do just the opposite.

The Red Sox took the quick lead in the first on singles by Pedro Ciriaco and Jacoby Ellsbury. After Dustin Pedroia moved the runners to second and third on a soft ground out, David Ortiz, in his first at bat since he injured his achilles on July 17th, laced a line drive single up the middle to score Ciriaco and Ellsbury.

After going down 3-2, the Sox came back in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead back for good. Mauro Gomez walked to open the inning. Mike Aviles singled to right and Scott Podseknik sacrificed the runners to second and third. Ciriaco followed with a double to left scoring both Gomez and Aviles.

Jon Lester looked good in his seven plus innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out six. He left after three pitches in the top of the eighth with a left hamstring cramp — hopefully, it’s nothing serious. Lester didn’t appear too concerned about it when talking to reporters after the game.

“I’m fine, it just cramped up on me,” Lester said. “I’d been kind of battling with it a little bit since the fifth inning. It got a little worse as the game went on.”

Vicente Padilla, Andrew Miller and Andrew Bailey held the Royals scoreless and secured Lester’s eighth win of the season, and third straight. Bailey, who had originally been acquired to fill the departed Jonathan Papelbon’s closer role, got his first save of the season.

Click here for the winning box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. These two teams go at it again tonight and your guess is as good as mine as to who’ll be on the mound for the Sox. Josh Beckett was scheduled to pitch but since he’s been traded… it’ll be a surprise!

*blink blink* Did that really happen last night? Honestly, if I hadn’t been there to witness the carnage first hand, I never would’ve believed it. I almost think it was worse to experience it in person. I felt… violated.

To properly recap this game would take more pages than you’re probably willing to read so I’m going to make it simple. Basically every inning but the fourth had some action. Some of the action made me feel incredibly happy and some of the action made me want to jump onto the field and stab every member of the team — starting with those who did NOT attend Johnny Pesky’s funeral (yes, I’m still hung up on that and I’m sure I will be fore the rest of the season… at least.)

First Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score one.
SCORE: 1-0 Sox

Second Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Franklin Morales seems to have his stuff. Red Sox score five capped by a three-run dinger by Dustin Pedroia! OH MA GAHD! *happy dance*
SCORE: 6-0 Sox

Third Inning:
Angels score eight runs. Yes, eight. A lot of bad shit happened. The Angels sent 13 men to the plate. Morales forgot how to pitch, he walked in runs. There was a fielding error, a lot of hits and a stolen base. Clayton Mortensen replaced Morales. He sucked too. Junichi Tazawa replaced Mortensen and finally got them out of the inning. It was bad. The whole inning was such a blur to me since I couldn’t see the field too well through my angry eyes. Red Sox failed to score.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fourth Inning:
No scoring. Holy crap.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fifth Inning:
Mark Melancon replaced Tazawa, holds Angels scoreless. Red Sox score one run.
SCORE: 8-7 Angels

Sixth Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Red Sox score two on a Mike Aviles home run and a couple of doubles by Pedro Ciriaco (who went 4-6) and Jacoby Ellsbury (who went 3-6).
SCORE: 9-8 Sox

Seventh Inning:
Andrew Bailey replaced Melancon. Angels score one on a Mike Trout RBI single to tie it up. Red Sox fail to score.
SCORE: 9-9

Eighth Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score two runs on four singles by Scott Podsednik, Ciriaco, Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (who went 4-6).
SCORE: 11-9 Sox

Ninth Inning:
Alfredo Aceves came in for the save…and blew it. Vernon Wells hit a questionable homer but no one bothered to wake Bobby Valentine up to challenge it. The other two runs came on three singles, a walk and an error. Red Sox came back with one of their own on a Cody Ross homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it back up.
SCORE: 12-12

Tenth Inning:
Aceves came back out. WTF? And he immediately gave up a go ahead home run to Kendrys Morales. Craig Breslow replaced Aceves and the Angels score another on a single and a double by Vernon Wells. Red Sox come back with one in the bottom of the inning, but it’s a too little, too late.
FINAL SCORE: 14-13 Angels

Between the two teams, this game saw a total of 27 runs, 38 hits, 21 strike outs and five home runs. The game lasted a painful 4 hours and 34 minutes. Here’s the link to another frustrating night of Red Sox baseball. The KC Royals come in tonight at 7:10pm for the first game of a four-game series. Jon Lester tries to win his third straight as he takes on Bruce Chen.

Here’s a (not so) fun fact: The Sox broke a 170 game streak last night. This is the FIRST TIME since May of 1970 they lost a game after scoring 13 runs. (Stat courtesy of Gordon Edes’ Twitter feed.) Just goes to show you what kind of season this has been. And now add into the mix the bad mojo of not attending Johnny Pesky’s funeral as a united team and they’ll be lucky if they don’t just vanish from the standings all together. That’s sort of what I’m hoping happens.

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.

Dice K (c/o Keith Allison, Flickr.com)

I’d bet ten bucks Mr. Theo Epstein has quite a big smile on his face after his Cubs blanked the Red Sox this afternoon 3-0 at Wrigley Field. Actually, if I were more of a gambler, I’d probably bet a thousand, but I’m cheap. Going into this series, I’ll admit I was maybe a bit too confident. Coming off a two-game win streak, I thought maybe…just maybe…they could continue with the strong pitching and hot bats. I was wrong.

Daisuke Matsuzaka made his second start of the season and things were looking bad when he walked the bases loaded in the first. He then gave up a two-run double and that’s really all the Cubbies needed. Overall, Dice K pitched a pretty ok game after the first. He went six innings and gave up three runs on four hits (and three walks — those walks’ll kill ya.)

The problem was that Cubs’ pitcher Ryan Dempster was outstanding, blanking the Sox on just four singles. Scott Podsednik was really the only batter who had any success getting two of those four hits. And Dempster helped himself at the plate going 2 for 2 with a triple and a run scored.

The highlight of the game for me was a great play in the seventh inning when Scott Atchison came in to relieve Dice K. Tony Campana attempted a bunt for a base hit and while David Ortiz charged to field the ball, Scott Atchison sprinted to first base. Ortiz led him perfectly to the bag with a perfect toss. He just beat the head first slide of Campana. But yeah, other than that, the highlights were pretty nonexistent.

On another note: on the latest episode of “As the Injuries Turn,” Josh Beckett has been scratched from Sunday’s start with shoulder inflamation. Are we sure it’s not head inflamation from thinking so highly of himself? Whatever is inflamed, Franklin Morales has been slated to take Beckett’s start. After his scoreless 4.1 inning performance in early June in relief of Daniel Bard, I have great confidence in his ability too give us some quality innings.

Click here for the pretty uninspiring box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. Jon Lester takes the hill tomorrow night for a prime time, nationally televised game. Really? Two last place teams?

Oh well… go Sox.

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.