Solid starts help Sox turn corner

Following that 13-12 softball game in Toronto on Monday night, Boston put the finishing touches on a three game sweep of the Blue Jays with a pair of well-played, close victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, running its current win streak to 7-2. 

And although the final two games were tight nailbiters, one thing set them apart from most of the other white-knuckle wins in this streak: good pitching.

After combining for 25 runs and 34 hits in the opener, the two teams managed 24 hits and just 5 runs over the final two contests. The main reason for that abrupt turnaround? The starters.

First Clay Buchholz tosed an 8-inning, 7-hit gem in Tuesday’s 2-1 thriller, a clutch effort that was much-needed after Tito had exhausted nearly the entire bullpen the previous night. Then Wednesday, antsy Sox fans were finally treated to the real Jon Lester in Boston’s 2-0 series sweeper, as the lefty held Toronto to one hit in seven innings, walked a pair and struck out 11 befuddled Blue Jays, slicing his ERA from 6.23 to 4.71 in the process.

This must mean the old adage is true: good pitching beats good hitting every time, especially when the teams are tuckered out from circling the bases like roaches on Red Bull the day before.

It’s a win streak! (Isn’t it? It is, right?)

Ever since Tampa Bay eviscerated the Sox in that four game beatdown a week ago, Boston has run off a tidy 5-2 winning streak that has them a mere 5 1/2 games behind the Devil Rays (yes, I am calling them by their birth names – they’ve earned it).

So tell me, why does this little run have all the feel of a summer blockbuster that has had 3D effects added in post production?

I mean it looks alright on paper, but watching it makes you feel a little bit queasy and definitely like you’ve been cheated.

Yes, I’m talking to you, Clash of the Titans.

PawSox callups combine to end Sox skid

On Tuesday morning, Darnell McDonald and Josh Reddick were members of the minor league Pawtucket Red Sox, hoping for that call to the bigs that could kick-start their major league careers.

By late Tuesday night, both outfielders not only were in uniform for the parent club, they were instrumental parts of a come-from-behind 7-6 victory that stopped Boston’s five game slide.

Reddick, playing for injured center fielder Mike Cameron, dropped a 2-RBI double behind Texas left fielder Josh Hamilton in the sixth inning that cut the Sox deficit to 6-4.

But it was McDonald, a 31-year-old playing his 13th season of organized ball subbing for Jacoby Ellsbury, who made the biggest splash of the evening.

Pinch hitting for Reddick in the 8th, McDonald delivered a two run homer that tied the game, then added a Wall-scraping, bases loaded walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th that resulted in him being mobbed by his new teammates in the infield.

Talk about making a good first impression.

Injuries piling up along with losses

Riding a five game losing skid and scuffling worse than a scolded adolescent, the reeling Red Sox got a double dose of bad news today before they could even think about facing the Texas Rangers tonight.

Starting outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron were both placed on the disabled list with significant abdominal injuries that could force them to miss more than the requisite 15 days a DL stint will require.

PawSox outfielders Darnell McDonald and Josh Reddick will be called up to replace them on the roster.

Talk about adding injuries to insults.

2010 Sox: New philosophy + shoddy play = lots of Ls

Yes it’s true my good fan(s), I’m back. Following a lengthy hiatus inspired by the horrendous ending to the 2009 season, I finally decided to get back to blogging about our beloved, bloody Bosox.

I know, I know, hold your applause please…(cue crickets).

So, two weeks into the 2010 season I know you’re dying to hear my expert assessment regarding the new & improved edition of the Olde Towne team, right? 

Well after exhaustive research which included three interminable contests against the Stankees, embarassing losses to the Royals and Twins and a mindnumbing four game sweep at the hands of the Rays, I’ve concluded that this 2010 version of the Sox is basically the same exact model as the 2009 version, only with less excitement and lower playoff expectations.

I know, I know, you waited seven months for that.  My bad.

Sox clinch playoff spot while piling up ‘L’s

Is it right to celebrate winning the American League Wild Card when your team seems incapable of beating a Little League club?

Better question may be, is it wrong to celebrate your team clinching a playoff spot when said team resembles a Little League club?

The Red Sox and its Nation were faced with this tough question over the last couple of days, as Boston didn’t just back into its sixth postseason berth in the past seven years, it used a back up beeper, rear view camera and flag-waving guides to gain entrance to MLB’s big dance.

After a B-squad of D-listers got clubbed 12-0 by Roy Halladay and the Jays last night at Fenway, the Sox have now lost six straight games, had their top two starting pitchers suffer (minor?) injuries, and have surrendered a mind-boggling 17 home runs in the last six games.

That, my friends, is not just backing in, that’s Serena Williams level backing the ass up.

 But hey, “at least they’re in”, right? No matter that the Yanks and Angels have much stronger teams and have been playing solid baseball down the stretch. As long as you get in, you got a chance to win it all.

Unfortunately, the way Boston is wrapping up this bizarre season, that chance may be the equivalent of Kim Kardassian fitting into a pair of size ‘S’ booty shorts.

Let’s end the regular season already

Football is in full swing, both college and pro. Bruins training cap has already begun, and the Cs will unveil their great Rasheed Wallace experiment a few weeks from now.

But with the Pats surprisingly swooning, the Bs dumping quality players, and the Celts sorting out AARP benefits, Beantown still needs its Sox to provide a boost at this time of year.

Which is why we need this interminable regular season to come to a close and get to the thrill-a-minute postseason already.

The Sox, whose recent hot streak (won 10 of 11, 13-6 in September before last night) had catapulted them to a large Wild Card lead (7 games) and to within striking distance of the top spot in the East, have appeared to be clicking on all cylinders at just the right time – the home stretch of a long season.

And then the wheels fell off the postseason express last night in Kansas City, reminding all of us that 162 game schedule is at least a dozen games too long.

Sox sweep puts final nail in Rays coffin

Mick Jagger once sung “I can’t get no satisfaction…cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try…”

The 2009 Boston Red Sox obviously didn’t take those lyrics literally, because they kept trying and trying and trying to vanquish the disappointing demons of losing to the Rays in 2008, and Sunday afternoon at Fenway they attained a considerable level of satisfaction.

Boston swept the lifeless Rays right out of the 2009 postseason picture, winning both ends of a doubleheader after earning a rain-shortened victory on Saturday,  and in the process swept some of the bitter memories of 2008 right out the door with them.

The pathetic Rays, who have lost 11 straight games and were outscored 16-2 in this  soggy series, are technically still alive in the Wild Card race. But at 12 1/2 games back with 19 left to play, it would take an act of God to allow them to sniff playoff glory again.

Can I get a “hell yeah!”?

Whiny Rays looking to play spoilers

One year ago at this time, the Rays were in the midst of beating the BoSox like Chris Brown en route to winning the American League title, and in the process becoming the toast of the baseball world.

One year later, as their World Series hangover season winds down in a cloud of horrible losses and lame excuses, they have to settle for trying to rain on Boston’s 2009 post season plans in order to motivate themselves as they play out the string.

Check out these sad comments about what beating the Sox this weekend would mean to members of the Tampa Bay ballclub, most of whom will not be around next season after the Rays conduct a Marlins-esque housecleaning this winter:

“Nothing better than that,” closer J.P. Howell said. “That would feel very good. That would turn something, you don’t want to say ugly, but a little disappointing into kind of disappointing.

“There would be something in there for us. A little piece of pie for us — something sweet.”

Or there’s this beauty. from supposed ace James Shields:

“They’d pretty high (on the list) I would imagine. They’re in our division, and we don’t really want anybody else in our division besides us to go to the playoffs.”

AWWWWW, someone get a fucking hanky for these moping clowns.

And please, let the Sox pummel them into oblivion this weekend.

Beckett bomb keeps Rays playoff hopes alive

Last night, the Red Sox had a chance to put Tampa Bay’s 2009 playoffs plans in serious jeopardy, as a Boston win would have left the Rays seven games out of the Wild Card lead with exactly 30 games left to play.

With ace Josh Beckett on the hill, momentum from the previous night’s satisfying 8-4 win still fresh in their minds, and an apathetic Tropicana Field crowd failing to provide the energetic juice it gave the hometown team last September, a Sox victory looked like a forgone conclusion.

 But despite an absense of clanking cowbells and an abundance of Sox scoring oppportunities, Beckett and the Boston bullpen failed miserably when it came time to put the final nail in the Rays coffin.

Josh continued his recent confounding streak by allowing five runs (four earned) and seven hits (including two more homers) in six innings, and after Boston clawed back to tie the game at five, Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen handed the game to Tampa Bay when they allowed three runs in the eighth inning of a 8-5 Rays win.

That makes tonight’s rubber match a must win for both teams, and since I’m heading to the game, Boston better take this series, or things could get ugly.