Alfredo Aceves Blows The Save, Red Sox Choke Away Series To Rays At Fenway

I'll keep this short and not so sweet since I didn't see one pitch live (I was at Gillette enjoying the NCAA men's lacrosse Division 2 and 3 finals) but I still checked my phone like a madman to see that the Rays beat the Red Sox 4-3 this afternoon at Fenway Park to take the series 2-1.



Boston (23-24, 10-3 home) looked poised to finally get over the .500 hump but for the fifth time this stupid season, they couldn't get it done as they fell to Tampa Bay (29-19, 12-12 away), a much better team. If you think about it, this would have been a Rays sweep if not for Salty's walk-off homer last night.



Staked to a 3-2 lead to start the ninth, Alfredo Aceves (0-2) blew the save after converting his last nine in a row. Mighty (.241 average) Sean Rodriguez (5th of the season) took him deep with a three-run no doubter over the Monster.



That wasted two very rare things for Boston: 1) a quality start for Clay Buchholz (7 innings, 2 earned runs, 8 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk) and 2) a clutch three-run homer (4th of the season, 1st opposite field!) by Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh when the Red Sox trailed 2-0. Of course, this being A-Gon, he had a chance to add an insurance run in the eighth but couldn't do it. Lefty Jake McGee (2-1) was summoned with the bases loaded and he got Gonzalez to ground out. I guess two clutch hits in the same contest is way too much to ask from him.



Jeremy Hellickson pitched well for Tampa Bay though not as stellar as Buchholz (best start of 2012, not that it was a long list). He went 7.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.



The Rays scratched out a pair of runs on Ben Zobrist's ground out in the fourth and Will Rhymes' (3 hits) RBI single that scored Rodriguez in the seventh.



The Detroit Tigers (23-24) come to Fenway for a four-game series starting tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) on Memorial Day. Two bad teams, America, woo! The Tigers looked like world beaters in the opening series of the 2012 season when they swept the Red Sox in Motown but as you can tell by their third-place standing in the crappy AL Central, they have been a disappointment since then.



Felix Doubront (4-2) faces Doug Fister (0-2) tomorrow, Daniel Bard (4-5) gets MLB's best pitcher-Justin Verlander (5-2) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (3-4) takes on rookie Drew Smyly (2-1) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) while Josh Beckett (4-4) and Max Scherzer (4-3) wrap it up on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., NESN).



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Salty's 1st Career Walk-Off HR Gives Boston A Thrilling 3-2 Win Vs. Tampa Bay

I guess all we can surmise from tonight's final result is that the Boston Red Sox flourish the most when the pressure is not on them, namely in terms of viewing audiences.



Like most, I wasn't watching it live; I actually first noticed it on my stattracker for Yahoo fantasy baseball (on my laptop) and then Twitter but it counts just the same as the Red Sox (23-23, 10-12 home) beat the Rays (28-19, 11-12 away) 3-2 on a walk-off (1st of his career) two-run homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.



It was the 10th comeback win for the Red Sox this season, a good sign that they might not be as average as their record suggests.



The pinch-hit bomb to right center (his 8th of the season) put Boston back at .500 (for the fourth time this season) while also causing the first blown save of the season for Rays closer Fernando Rodney (2-1), who had 15 saves in a row to start 2012.



It was a pitcher's duel as Josh Beckett and David Price both performed very well even though neither factored into the final decision. Price went seven innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Beckett also went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. He had 15 swinging strikes which has to be a season high.



As always, the only thing you can count on this season for Boston is their bullpen and tonight was no exception. Andrew Miller threw a clean eighth with a strikeout then Rich Hill (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and ended up getting the win.



The Red Sox broke the deadlock in the sixth on Will Middlebrooks's (2 hits) RBI single. The Rays scored both of their runs in the seventh on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Luke Scott.



Boston gets its fourth chance (5th if you count Opening Day) to go over .500 tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Clay Buchholz (4-2) takes on Jeremy Hellickson (4-1). It would be a shock if Buchholz is the one to get them there since he's been a complete mess basically all season despite somehow notching four fraudulent wins.



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The Rays (Minus Luke Scott & B.J. Upton) Are Way Too Easy To Root For

Yes friends, Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial start of summer) is here but the Boston Red Sox still haven't gotten over the .500 mark in the 2012 season.



They've had three chances (four if you count Opening Day) to get over that but they haven't done such a simple task that most mediocre baseball teams can do in their sleep. It's very possible that it might be June before it happens (if ever). Let that fully sink in and wash over you.



Tonight at Fenway Park, Tampa Bay (28-18, 11-11 away) opened up a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning before settling for a 7-4 victory in the series opener against Boston (22-23, 9-12 home).



Jon Lester's (3-4) outing was bad enough but this couldn't mercifully end without that wonderfully pointless exercise that's unique to baseball: intentionally hitting a guy with a pitch than both dugouts and bullpens emptying but absolutely nothing of consequence happening. The particulars of this event were Red Sox reliever Franklin Morales drilling Rays redneck racist Luke Scott on the hip in the ninth. It was all payback for drama earlier in the game (Burke Badenhop hitting Dustin Pedroia in the 6th). Things like that give me an ice cream headache. Nobody can be as sensitive as baseball players and the mock outrage when utterly predictable stuff like that occurs is equally pathetic. Who cares, as long as it's not hitting guys in the head.



Moving on, Lester was rocked. He lasted but four innings, allowing seven earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He served up three homers in less than two innings, always a winning formula.



Rays rookie Alex Cobb (2-0) got the win and it's good to see Tampa Bay finally developing some young pitchers. They haven't had enough of those in recent years that have found any success. Cobb went five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks.



This shouldn't even have been competitive but as they've done all season, the Red Sox bullpen stubbornly kept them in it. Scott Atchison threw three scoreless innings while Matt Albers and Morales followed him with scoreless frames of their own. Combined they allowed only two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. Maybe Bobby V should think about reversing roles and having them start the game since Boston's starters clearly couldn't be less consistent.



Kevin Youkilis gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single. Matt Joyce (9th of the season) put the Rays in front for good with a grand slam in the third inning. Elliott Johnson (3rd of the season) and new Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Carlos Pena (7th of the season) hit back-to-back homers in the fourth with Johnson's coming with Chris Gimenez on base too.



Boston mounted its ill-fated rally in the fifth as Adrian Gonzalez hit an RBI double off the Monster to cut it to 7-2. Marlon Byrd had an RBI single in the sixth and Mike Aviles hit a sacrifice fly but Jake McGee was able to get David Ortiz to fly out to right (with two runners on) to end the frame.



Tampa Bay's bullpen was even more impressive (considering they had a lead) as McGee got four outs, Joel Peralta earned the hold with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 eighth and Fernando Rodney had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his 15th save of the season. I bet you didn't know that Rodney's ERA is 0.38. Really.



I don't know what kind of deal with the devil Joe Maddon made but it's insane when you sit back and realize what he's getting out of things like Pena leading off, Red Sox castoff Drew Sutton (2 for 3 with a walk) and Rodney as a lights out closer. If everything seemingly works for the Rays (in the regular season at least before their lack of offense kills them in the postseason), nothing is ever right for the Red Sox, who take one step forward and two steps back every week.



With Celtics-Sixers Game 7 on tap tomorrow night (8 p.m., ABC) and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat on the line, I'm pretty sure about five people will watch all of the Red Sox-Rays game tomorrow (7:15 p.m., Fox). Four of them will be old folks that fall asleep in the third inning with the TV on. That's probably best since Josh Beckett (4-4) faces David Price (6-3).



I can already smell a Rays sweep this weekend while everyone is more tuned into parties, barbecues and the beach.



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Red Sox Clinch Series With Orioles Thanks To Some Unlikely Power

The beauty of baseball and what keeps us tuning in despite a regular season that's way too long (162 games) and tedious is the chance to see something crazy that you'll surely never witness again.



This afternoon was one of those type of contests as the Red Sox (22-22, 13-11 away) beat the Orioles (28-17, 13-11 home) 6-5 at Camden Yards.



The win clinched the series for Boston (2-1) while also keeping them hot (10-3 in their last 13 games). Best of all, they completed their absurd 20 games in 20 days stretch (11-9) and eight-game road trip (5-3) in good shape. This is the third time that the Red Sox have reached .500 this season, hopefully now they'll take the next step and get over it-something they haven't done yet.



I'm very confident that Daniel Nava (2 hits), Kelly Shoppach (2 hits) and Scott Podsednik (2 hits, 2 runs) will never all hit home runs in the same game again but that's exactly what they did today. Boston needed all those longballs since Daniel Bard (4-5) didn't give them anything more than an average start. In 5.1 innings, Bard allowed two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and four walks. As always, I ask: why isn't he in the bullpen? He's not nearly the same guy when he starts, he's lost his velocity and he can't put any batters away.



Jake Arrieta (2-5) wasn't good either for the O's. He went 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks.



The Red Sox had 13 hits, including two from Kevin Youkilis (run, walk) and Will Middlebrooks (RBI). The Orioles were limited to seven, basically by three players Xavier Avery (2 hits, run), Adam Jones (2 hits) and Nick Johnson (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 runs), who hit not one but two home runs. I said it was a strange day, right?



Alfredo Aceves had his third straight perfect outing as he got four outs for his 11th save of the season.



Baltimore went up 1-0 in the first on Chris Davis's sacrifice fly. Boston tied it on Podsednik's double play ball in the second. Johnson (3rd of the season) hit a solo shot in the second. Middlebrooks tied it with an RBI double in the third although Youk was easily gunned down at the plate to end the inning on the same play.



Nava (2nd of the season) and Shoppach (2nd of the season) both went deep in the sixth, Shoppach's was a two-run blast. Johnson answered with his second home run, in the sixth, but Podsednik made it 6-4 with a solo homer in the eighth-his first since Sept. 2010 with the Dodgers.



The Orioles threatened in the eighth and pulled a run back on Wilson Betemit's sacrifice fly (that would have been more if not for a great diving catch by Che-Hsuan Lin in right field) but Aceves struck out Johnson to end the frame.



After a much needed day off tomorrow, the Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays for three games this weekend then the Detroit Tigers for four games at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay (27-18, 2nd place AL East) has already played Boston six times with the Red Sox going 4-2 so far.



Jon Lester (3-3) faces rookie Alex Cobb (1-0) on Friday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Josh Beckett (4-4) gets David Price (6-3) on Saturday night (7:15 p.m., FOX) and Clay Buchholz (4-2) opposes Jeremy Hellickson (4-1) on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN).



It's Memorial Day weekend in a few days so it's about time that the Red Sox get over the hump and don't look back to their pitiful start to 2012.



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The Red Sox Might Never Go Over .500 This Entire Season

Remember the good old days when the Baltimore Orioles were a complete joke? The Boston Red Sox could always count on two things: 1) Camden Yards was Fenway South and 2) they beat up on the O's every year like it was going out of style.



I keep waiting for Baltimore (28-16, 13-10 home) to come back to Earth in 2012 but they continue to play very well as they beat Boston (21-22, 12-11 away) 4-1 tonight at Camden Yards. The crowd might not be showing up yet (don't ask me why) but the Orioles are looking like a legit contender in the AL East this season.



With the win, Baltimore improved to 4-1 against Boston this season while also kicking the Red Sox back under .500 (this is the latest it's taken them to get over that mark since 1996). They have already had two chances to reach that mediocre level but Boston cannot even do that right so far in this forgettable campaign. To make matters worse, the Yankees won tonight so the Red Sox are back in sole possession of fifth-place in the AL East.



After a nightmare 2011, young Orioles lefty Brian Matusz (4-4) appears to have found his game once again. He went 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with a career high nine strikeouts and one walk. He turned it over to the lights out Baltimore bullpen which completed the task in style.



Darren O'Day struck out the two batters he faced in the seventh, Pedro Strop struck out one in a scoreless eighth for the hold and Jim Johnson got a 1-2-3 ninth for his MLB-leading 16th save of the season (on 8 pitches!).



Felix Doubront (4-2) pitched very well but it wasn't enough since he received barely any run support. In six innings, he allowed two earned runs on four hits with a career high nine strikeouts and two walks. His only mistake was a two-run homer to Scott Tolleson (1st of the season) in the second inning.



Boston managed only two hits, one was a solo homer by Kevin Youkilis (remember him?) in the fourth inning, his third of the season. Wilson Betemit put it away with a two-run shot off former Oriole Matt Albers in the eighth.



The Red Sox will try to win the series tomorrow afternoon (12:35 p.m., NESN) as Daniel Bard (3-5) faces Jake Arrieta (2-4). It's the culmination of a 20 games in 20 days stretch and an eight-game road trip. Before Boston hops on the plane, it would help them greatly if they show up for tomorrow's game. I'm sure they're dead tired and sick of being on the road but another win in Baltimore would be fantastic.



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Red Sox Reach The .500 Mark For First Time Since April 30

As usual, with Clay Buchholz on the mound this season, it was all hands on deck for the Red Sox bullpen (1.59 ERA since April 23). They were the key to the game as Boston (21-21, 12-10 away) won its series opener at Balitmore's (27-16, 12-10 home) 8-6 this evening at Camden Yards.



The win was the ninth in the last 11 games for Boston and they reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 30. More importantly, their good stretch of play has allowed them to climb out of the AL East basement since now they're tied with the Yankees in fourth-place. Finally, this was also good for their psyche since the Orioles swept them at Fenway two weeks ago.



Buchholz ran into serious trouble in the third as he allowed four runs then and another in the fourth. He lasted 5.1 innings, giving up five earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks. On his 27th birthday, Andrew Miller (1-0) picked up the win after he was the first reliever for Boston. He recorded five outs with no hits and two strikeouts. I am shocked, he's been a totally different guy this season since he was called up.



Rich Hill allowed a run but Vicente Padilla bailed him out by getting the last two outs of the eighth. Alfredo Aceves locked up his 10th save with a 1-2-3 ninth. He's really settled into his new role as the closer after a terrible start.



To his good fortune, Buchholz was matched up with Tommy Hunter again (they faced each other at Fenway in the previous series). Boston had no trouble roughing up Hunter who went six innings but allowed five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.



The Red Sox' already severely undermanned outfield suffered a further blow this afternoon when word came out that Cody Ross is likely to miss 6-8 weeks after breaking a bone in his foot. Ryan Sweeney is out with a concussion and could be put on the seven-day DL. Kevin Youkilis is expected to return to the team tomorrow which means that Will Middlebrooks will stay around too, the issue will be how to get their bats along with Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz all in the same lineups.



Che-Hsuan Lin started for the first time in his MLB career, in right field, and he registered his first hit along with his first run.



Middlebrooks (3 hits, run, RBI) has done more than enough to prove he belongs but he had another big night just in case. Boston had 14 hits (every starter had at least one hit) as a team with Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Mike Aviles (2 hits, run, RBI) and Daniel Nava (2 hits, run, RBI) all collecting multiple hits in the win.



Chris Davis (2 hits), last seen closing out the Red Sox in that absurd 17-inning win at Fenway, was the only Oriole to have more than one hit.



Aviles' RBI single in the third made it 1-0 Boston and Pedroia followed with a sacrifice fly.



Buchholz completely lost his command in the third as Baltimore scored its four runs on a walk, infield single, walk and a double play ball. Davis's (6th of the season) solo homer in the fourth gave the O's a 5-2 lead.



Ortiz got the rally started in the sixth with an absolute blast (442 feet) to right, a solo shot that was his 10th of the season. Nava added a run on a sacrifice fly and Middlebrooks tied it at five when he scored on Hunter's balk.



Boston put two more runs on the board in the seventh, thanks to Adrian Gonzalez's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Middlebrooks.



Matt Wieters had an RBI single in the eighth but Hill got Davis to ground out with two runners on. Padilla forced Betemit to fly out to shallow left and he struck out Nick Johnson to end the threat. Padilla has surprisingly become a very reliable set-up man for the Red Sox, he's stranded all 15 inherited he's faced this season.



A pair of young lefties meet tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) as Felix Doubront (4-1) faces Brian Matusz (3-4) in the middle game of this three-game series that could shake up the AL East.



UPDATE 5/22: Ross went on the DL and Scott Podsednick was called up from Pawtucket to take his spot in the outfield. Sweeney went to the seven-day DL for his concussion, Youkilis was activated and Dice-K was moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.



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The Beat Goes On: Red Sox Clinch Another Series Win In Philadelphia

Even though they're in different leagues, the Red Sox and Phillies play basically every season during interleague play and Boston hadn't lost a series at Citizens Bank Park since 2003.



This season was no different as the Red Sox (20-21, 11-10 away) clinched the series (2-1) this afternoon with a 5-1 win over the Phillies (21-21, 10-11), who are really missing Ryan Howard and Chase Utley's big bats in their ravaged lineup.



Boston has won eight of their last 10 games so perhaps, now is the time they finally start putting things together and beating quality opponents. This series was nice but truthfully, Philadephia has been just as mediocre as Boston so I don't read too much into the final result.



Showing what a mess the Phillies offense is, Josh Beckett (4-4) was able to completely dominate them. The Texas Toughguy went 7.2 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. His stuff looked good today with 22 called strikes and 12 swinging strikes.



Before the game I felt this was a layup for Philadelphia with Cliff Lee (0-2) on the mound but I guess it was a classic case of a reverse lock. Lee went seven innings but he was hit hard: he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and a walk.



Mike Aviles (2 hits, 2 RBIs) was the unlikely offensive star of the weekend for the Red Sox, he homered in all three games, including leadoff shots last night and today (first guy to do that for Boston since Harry Hooper in 1913). Adrian Gonzalez had two hits and scored a run while Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit the third longest home run (466 feet) so far in MLB this season.



Aviles' leadoff homer in the first was his eighth of the season. He added an RBI single in the second before Salty's (7th of the season) moonshot to center in the third inning, a three-run jack.



Philly's lone run came in the eighth on Juan Pierre's sacrifice fly. On a day when Beckett was great and Lee was average, it only made sense (in bizarro world) that David Ortiz played very well defensively at first base. Vicente Padilla relieved Beckett and walked Hunter Pence to load the bases but retired Ty Wigginton on a grounder to second.



After getting humbled by the Baltimore Orioles (27-15, first place in the AL East) in a three-game sweep May 4-6 at Fenway, the Red Sox have a chance to exact some revenge as they travel to Camden Yards for a three-game set beginning tomorrow night.



Clay Buchholz (4-2) faces Tommy Hunter (2-2) tomorrow (7:05 p.m., NESN), Felix Doubront (4-1) gets Brian Matusz (3-4) on Tuesday night (7:05 p.m., NESN) and Daniel Bard (3-5) opposes Jake Arrieta (2-4) on Wednesday afternoon (12:35 p.m., NESN).



At 3-2 so far on this eight-game road trip, Boston has extra motivation since they finally get a day off (Beckett will probably shit his camo pants) on Thursday after 20 games in 20 days.



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Red Sox Snap Phillies' 6-Game Win Streak Thanks To 4 Homers

The Red Sox survived some shaky pitching to outlast the Phillies 7-5 tonight at Citizens Bank Park in the middle game of the interleague series.



Jon Lester (3-3) gutted out six innings for Boston (19-21, 10-10 away) which is much more than Joe Blanton (4-4) gave Philadelphia (21-20, 10-10 home). The Red Sox snapped the Phillies' six-game win streak and recovered nicely from Friday night's 6-4 loss.



Lester allowed four earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Blanton has pitched well this season for the Phillies but in my eyes, he's still the same soft-tossing fat toad that used to play in Oakland. In 4.1 innings, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits with four strikeouts.



The ball kept going out of the park at an alarming rate but luckily, Boston hit four of the five home runs-all off Blanton. Three of the four Red Sox bombs were solo shots, something that they need to work on (hitting them with runners on base).



Bobby Valentine mixed and matched his bullpen once again but it worked. Vicente Padilla was charged with a run but Rich Hill got his one out and Alfredo Aceves notched four outs for his ninth save of the season.



Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3 hits, 2 runs) showed no ill-effects from the 12 stitches he received on his left ear Friday night. David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Will Middlebrooks (2 hits) also had multiple hits for Boston.



Philadelphia amassed 15 hits but they were only 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position. John Mayberry Jr. (3 hits, run, walk), Shane Victorino (3 hits, RBI) and Hector Luna (3 hits, run, RBI) all had three hits while Ty Wigginton (2 hits, run) and Freddy Galvis (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run) put up a pair of hits.



Mike Aviles led off the game with his seventh home run of the season. Boston added a pair of runs in the second inning. Victorino got the Phillies on the board in the third with an RBI double before Salty (6th of the season) and Middlebrooks (5th of the season) hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth.



Luna had an RBI single in the fourth and Galvis (3rd of the season) hit his second homer in as many nights, a two-run shot that cut it to 5-4.



Ortiz's (9th of the season) two-run homer in the fifth were the insurance runs the Red Sox needed as the Phillies scored once more in the eighth on Jimmy Rollins's infield single.



Josh Beckett (3-4) faces Cliff Lee (0-1) tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) in the series finale. I'd be shocked if Lee doesn't pick up his first win of the 2012 season; there's no chance Beckett doesn't allow at least two or three homers.



UPDATE 5/20: The Red Sox recalled outfielder Che-Hsaun Lin and optioned first baseman Mauro Gomez to Pawtucket.



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To Nobody's Surprise, Daniel Bard Sure Is A Mediocre Starting Pitcher

When will the Red Sox give up on the Daniel Bard as a starter experiment? It has been clear since day one that he's nothing more than average in this new role and he's maddeningly inconsistent to top it all off.



Boston (18-21, 9-10 away) spotted Philadelphia (21-19, 10-9 home) a 4-0 lead in the first inning and with Cole Hamels (6-1) on the mound, it's no wonder that the Phillies held on for a 6-4 win in the series and interleague opener tonight at Citizens Bank Park.



It was the sixth straight win for the Phillies and Hamels as well who improved to 4-0 against the Red Sox in five career starts.



Hamels went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and a walk. Bard (3-5) lasted five innings, allowing five earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and five walks.



The Red Sox hit three home runs but unfortunately they were all of the solo variety. The Phillies hit two homers but they also did a better job of hitting with guys on base.



Of course Jonathan Papelbon had to get the easiest save opportunity possible in his first game back against his former club. In pinning down his MLB-leading 12th save of the season, Papelbon faced the murderer's row of Kelly Shoppach, Daniel Nava, Marlon Byrd and Nick Punto. Shoppach singled but Papelbon retired Nava and Byrd before striking out the overmatched Punto (why is he here?) to end it.



There was some controversy in the ninth on Byrd's ground out which seemed to be a bang bang play at first base. He was called out and this caused Bobby Valentine to run out of the dugout and freak out (complete with hopping and the umpire accidentally spitting his gum at him). Bobby received the first ejection of his Red Sox career (that looks destined to be one year or less).



Bard's nightmare first inning included a two-run single by Carlos Ruiz (2 hits, run, stolen base), a sacrifice fly from Ty Wigginton and John Mayberry Jr's RBI double.



Boston chipped away at the 4-0 hole with a solo homer by Mike Aviles (6th of the season) in the third and Nava's sacrifice fly in the fourth.



Hunter Pence (10th of the season) hit a solo home run in the fifth for the Phillies but Cody Ross (2 hits, 2 runs) responded with his own solo blast in the sixth and Adrian Gonzalez broke his month-long homerless drought with a solo home run of his own in the eighth.



Citizens Bank Park is still a Little League Park, aka Wiliamsport, as evidenced by light-hitting Freddy Galvis's (2nd of the season) solo shot in the eighth against Franklin Morales that gave Philly an insurance run.



In addition to the loss, Boston suffered two freak injuries as Jarrod Saltalamacchia was cut on his ear by the baseball when it deflected off Ty Wiggington. Salty had to leave the game in the fifth inning and go to the hospital to check for a concussion. Ross fouled the ball off his foot in the eighth and he had to be replaced. Their status is up in the air for Saturday's game.



Speaking of that contest (7:15 p.m., FOX) Jon Lester (2-3) takes on Joe Blanton (4-3). This is the one pitching matchup in the three-game series that at least on paper favors the Red Sox so they need to find a way to beat Blanton and the Phils.



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Red Sox Salvage A Split In Tampa Bay

A win in mid-May might not mean much in the grand scheme of things but it had to help the Red Sox' shaky confidence that they were able to beat the Rays tonight, 5-3 in the series finale at Tropicana Field.



Boston (18-20, 9-9 away) snapped Tampa Bay's (24-15, 14-4 home) four-game win streak by combining adequate pitching with some timely hitting. What a concept! They also won a close game after losing 2-1 on Wednesday night. It was the Red Sox' sixth win in their last seven contests.



Cody Ross drove in four RBIs in the victory, all with two outs. He was 2 for 4 with a solo homer and also walked. Marlon Byrd hit his first home run as a member of the Red Sox.



Felix Doubront (4-1) had his typical performance: he was good while he was out there but he didn't last particularly long. In 5.2 innings, he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and four walks. As he gets more experience, he'll hopefully realize that strikeouts aren't as important as getting deep into games and saving your bullpen.



Bobby Valentine did his best Tony La Russa impression as he used three relievers in a row to face one specific Rays batter. Ugh, there should be a limit on stuff like that in a baseball game. It doesn't help the fact that all five of Boston's starting pitchers are in the Top 7 in MLB for longest times between pitches. It must have effectively lulled the Rays to sleep though since Rich Hill, Scott Atchison and Andrew Miller all did their jobs-retiring one batter.



Vicente Padilla pitched an inning and Alfredo Aceves entered with two outs in the eighth and allowed an inherited runner to score but he managed to close the door with a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save of the season.



Tampa Bay rookie Matt Moore (1-4) is going to be a star, despite the fact that he's struggling a bit now while he adjusts to MLB competition. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.



The Red Sox scored a run in the first, second and third innings to open with a 3-0 lead. Ross walked with the bases loaded in the first, Byrd homered to left in the second and Ross (7th of the season) hit his homer to center in the third.



Jeff Keppinger (2 hits) brought the Rays back with an RBI single in the third and Rich Thompson cut it to 3-2 with an RBI single in the fourth. Tampa Bay's shift on Ross completely backfired in the eighth since what would have been an easy ground out to the shortstop turned into a two-run single that scored Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) and David Ortiz.



B.J. Upton greeted Aceves with an RBI single but Boston's closer recovered to get Luke Scott to ground out with runners on second and third to end the eighth.



It's crazy that it's already here but interleague play starts tomorrow across MLB and the Red Sox get a juicy matchup with the Phillies (20-19, 5th in NL East) at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Daniel Bard (3-4) faces Cole Hamels (5-1) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (2-3) gets Joe Blanton (4-3) on Saturday night (7:15 p.m., NESN) and Josh Beckett (3-4) opposes Cliff Lee (0-1) on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN). As always, like a true drug dealer, MLB gives us a taste of the good stuff (interleague play) and then takes three weeks off before firing it up again in a big way with five series in a row during June.



On paper, two of the three games are not good matchups for the Red Sox (Friday and Sunday). Add in the fact that Citizens Bank is a launching pad and Boston really struggled last season in NL parks (no DH) so this will be a tough weekend even though the Phillies' offense has been really poor. Who would have guessed when this series rolled around that both these teams with high expectations would be in fifth-place in their respective loaded divisions?



I was lamenting the other day about how the Red Sox have played so many dogs lately but you won't be hearing me say that for the next month. Check out this insanely difficult stretch for Boston: two in Tampa Bay, three in Philly, three in Baltimore, three vs. Tampa Bay, four vs. Detroit, three at Toronto, three vs. Baltimore, three vs. Washington and three at Miami. The Cubs series which is four weeks away is the next time that the Red Sox play a truly bad team and yes, I know the Tigers (18-20) haven't been so hot lately but they'll almost certainly improve.



Here is the Red Sox 2012 interleague schedule: three at Philly, three vs. Washington, three at Miami, three at Cubs, three vs. Miami, three vs. Atlanta



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Rays Squeak Out Weird Game Over Red Sox, 2-1

There's no other way to say it: tonight's Rays-Red Sox game was just bizarre for many reasons.



Tampa Bay (24-14, 14-3 home) beat Boston (17-20, 8-9 away) 2-1 in the series opener at Tropicana Field. Somehow the game took three hours and 29 minutes, maybe that had something to do with the three balks allowed by Red Sox pitchers (one proved especially costly). Oh and Rays second baseman Will Rhymes fainted and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher in the eighth after getting drilled on the arm by a Franklin Morales pitch.



Predictably, the Red Sox' fraudulent five-game win streak was snapped, along with their stretch of five quality starts in a row from their pitchers. Clay Buchholz (4-2) wasn't bad but he could only last five innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Andrew Miller, Matt Albers, Morales and Scott Atchison teamed up for three scoreless innings of relief.



Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson (4-0) stayed perfect this season, going six innings and allowing one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Jake McGee (7th) and Joel Peralta (8th) had scoreless innings before Fernando Rodney struck out two for his 12th save of the season.



Cody Ross reached on a two-out single in the ninth but Rodney retired Daniel Nava on a grounder to second.



Carlos Pena scored in the second on a balk by Buchholz but Nava tied it up in the fourth with an RBI single that brought home Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The winning run came on Luke Scott's sacrifice fly in the sixth but truthfully, it should be had some sort of assist to Ross. He didn't get a proper read on a routine fly ball to right, which allowed Matt Joyce to tag up and score-something he wouldn't have done if Ross didn't dance before catching it.



Felix Doubront (3-1) faces Matt Moore (1-3) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the abbreviated series finale. A win by the Red Sox would help prove that they can beat a good team on the road. Plus it would give them momentum heading into their first interleague series of the 2012 season-this weekend in Philadelphia.



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