SOX BEAT LA/OC/CALIFORNIA/ANAHEIM

This was a good win for the Sox but I think we got somewhat lucky with Guerrero being on the DL and Escobar still recovering from injuries. Escobar dominated for 6 innings. The Sox were able to get to the bullpen, but had a bit of a scare in the 9th inning. The good news about the 9th inning was the the Angels didn't really hit the balls all that hard. A basehit, an infield single, a grounder to left field and then Foulke was still able to get the strikeout. Wells looked good for most of the game except for the 5th inning. He settled back down after that though and if it hadn't been for the way Myers matched up with the Angels in the 8th, he probably would have at least started the inning.

Wells can be a decent 4 or 5 starter with this club. He can give us innings and keep the team in the game. He won't go out every 5 days and throw gems, but that's the job of a 1 pitcher, not a 4 or 5 guy.

Johnny Damon had a better game than the 1 for 5 suggests. He hit the ball directly to Erstad twice and would have had more RBI and hits if it weren't for this. He has been a big catalyst to this team's offense. The offseason may be interesting with Damon but until then, I'm just gonna enjoy watching him produce.

Mike Myers has been a great role-player with this club. The Sox have lacked a good situational lefty in the past few years and have paid for this fact.

It was good to see Millar start the big rally in the 7th and it was good to see the bottom of the order contribute to the offense.

A few random things. Wells became the 60th player to reach 2,000 career strikeouts. Trot Nixon stole his first base since July of 2003. Including the playoffs, this was the 10th straight Fenway win against the Angels. I really liked the ovation welcoming Orlando Cabrera back to Boston.

The Man of the Game is Kelvim Escobar who went 6 innings allowing only an unearned run off 3 hits. He struck out 8. If he wasn't still on the recovery path from some injuries, he would have gone at least 7.

YANKEES AND O'S STRUGGLING
The Yankees were on a tear this time last week. After starting off poorly and falling to 4th place, and even losing 3 of 4 to Tampa, they began to win. What no-one on SportsCenter or Baseball Tonight ever mentioned was the quality of the teams they were playing. New York took 2 of 3 from Oakland, swept Seattle, swept Oakland, and then took 2 of 3 from the Mariners. They took 2 of 3 from a good team they've always dominated in the New York Mets but then Boston came to town. The Yankees beat the then struggling Red Sox 6-3. The next day they lost 17-1, then lost 7-2. They then got swept by the Kansas City Royals, the worst team in baseball. It was only the 3rd time the Yankees have EVER been swept by the team with the worst record in baseball. As I type this, they have just lost 6-3 to the Twins. Steinbrenner is getting pissed and when he gets pissed, he does something big and stupid like sign Jose Conseco or fire a manager.

The Orioles are also struggling. They lost to Detroit tonight and have lost to the Tigers the last 4 times they've played them. I don't think they're going to last. Their pitchers are good only against us. The Lopez injury will catch up to them. Sosa isn't really doing that much. Roberts is an unkown. This team has little experience of playoff contention baseball. Alot of the players, the pitchers especially, have little experience of scoreboard watching and how to win those tight games in September.

ORTIZ SENDS BALTIMORE PACKING

An infield single by Bellhorn, a bunt single by Renteria, than the oppositte from David Ortiz. A 400+ footer to straight away center to split the 4 game series with Baltimore and send 35,000 fans home happy.

The Man of the Game is David Ortiz who only went 1 for 4, but he knocked in 4 runs and won the game.

The Sox needed this win bad. If Ortiz misses that 3-2 pitch, Foulke loses confidence, the team falls back to 5 behind Baltimore and has to rebound as LA/Anaheim/California comes into play a 3 game series.

Wells goes against former Blue Jay Kelvim Escoba tomorrow night. Colon faces Arroyo on the game of the week on Saturday afternoon. Wade Miller goes against TBA Sunday afternoon. This series will be a good test against a tough team that we don't usually see. Fortunately, Vlad Guerrero is on the DL.

SOX BEGIN JUNE AS IF IT WERE MAY

If Schilling came back today, there is no doubt that I'd move Wakefield out to the pen. He's been too inconsistent and he can be a good releiver.

Sidney Ponson has an ERA of 5.11. Somehow, our offense, which is one of the best in baseball, was unable to get more than 3 unearned runs off of him.

Kevin Millar had his 5th error which is absolutely pathetic for a first baseman. There are 2 first basemen who have more errors than Millar. Carlos Delgado, and Scott Hatteburg. Delgado is batting .313 with 10 HRs though. Hatteburg is at .277 and is a converted catcher. Millar, on the other hand, is an unimpressive .247 with 2 homeruns, 1 of which was totally meaningless.

Kevin Millar does not deserve the playing time he is getting. Olerud and Youkilis should be getting more time at first-base. Thankfully Ortiz will be playing when the team goes to NL parks. I also think Bellhorn should be getting more days off especially against strikeout pitchers. Youkilis has been taking groundballs at 2nd and Mueller can move from 3rd to 2nd. Either Youk or Olerud should be in the lineup everyday. This won't happen though because Francona loves his players. He particularly loves his bad ones like Millar.

The Man of the Game for Wednesday's loss is Miguel Tejada who went 4 for 5 with 3 runs and an RBI. He had three doubles and a homer.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wakefield: 0.7 - 5.2 IP, 7 ER
Mantei: 0.1 - IP, 2 ER
Renteria: 0.2 - 0 for 5, 6 LOB

Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek are leading at their positions in All-Star balloting. Us Boston fans are proving how stupid we are though because Millar is 2nd in All-Star votes at 1st base.

SOX SLEEP THRU 4 INNINGS, WAKE UP IN 5TH

Johnny Damon has a tendency to run into the wall for no good reason. To make the play he was trying to make, running into the wall was required. He nearly amde the play, too. From the Green Monster I could see that the ball was going to be trouble once it was hit. Then I saw Damon running towards the triangle where he had made a homerun saving catch earlier. This time he nearly made a spectacular play catching the ball in his glove before it got knocked out by the wall.

The game itself was a great one to go to. The Red Sox struggled through 4 innings, getting no hit by Daniel Cabrera. Miller seemes to be ready to lose it in the first few innings. In the 3rd, he gave up that 415 foot triple to Gibbons, then a wall ball double to Fasano. He was then able to keep the ball in the infield to prevent anymore scoring.

Thing seemed bleak. Ramirez was given the day off and wasn't put into the game when Damon got hurt. This meant that the lineup was Olerud-Renteria-Ortiz-Nixon-Tek-Millar-Mueller-Payton-Bellhorn. The lineup loses some of its ferocity when Damon and Manny aren't in it.

The defensive adjustments caused by Damon's injury worked out though. Olerud made a fine double play at first, Payton's arm was able to hold a runner on third base after a fly out, and Millar barely had to move in left field.

Finally in the 5th they broke out of the no-hitter. Mueller led off with a walk, Payton hit a double play ball but hussled to be safe at first. Bellhorn got the first Boston hit with a single up the middle. Olerud doubled, scoring Payton. Renteria singled, scoring Bellhorn. Ortiz singled, scoring Olerud. Nixon hit a weak grounder that scored Renteria. Varitek then struck out to end the inning but the Sox had a lead they would not relinquish.

The Man of the Game is Wade Miller who settled down very nicely to go 7 strong innings allowing only the 1 earned run. He could be very important as a #3 or 4 starter to this team and considering that we got him for barely anything, he's been a pretty solid pickup.

O'S HIT

For some reason, Arroyo has struggled since his suspension. For some reason, we can't beat Baltimore. For some reason, we can't hit Rodrigo Lopez.

The Man of the Game is obviously Rodrigo Lopez. He pitched 8 innings allowing 6 hits, an unearned run, and 2 walks. He owns us for some reason.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Arroyo: 0.7 - 2.2 IP, 7 ER
Renteria: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Varitek: 0.1 - 0 for 3

Cabrera vs. Miller tommorow night. The Sox need to win this one and the next one.

WELLS THERE YOU HAVE IT

David Wells needed to step up big and he did. He started off slowly but recovered and pitched well enough to go the full 9 but apparently Francona didn't think so. Francona also thought that Millar agaist Mussina would be a better matchup than Olerud against Mussina. Thankfully, neither move cost the Sox the game as they crusied to a 7-2 victory.

Is there anyone hotter than Edgar Renteria right now? Another great night for him in the 2 spot. 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored, doing what a #2 hitter should do. Ortiz and Manny also had awsome days which was necesarry because the bottom of the lineup was held hitless.

The Man of the Game has got to be David Wells who went 8.1 innings, allowing only 2 runs off 6 hits and no walks.

The Red Sox go back to Fenway for a key series with the Baltimore Orioles who lead us by 3 games in the division. Arroyo looks to rebound against nemesis Rodrigo Lopez on Monday. Wade Miller takes on Daniel Cabrera Tuesday night (I have Monster tickets!), and Wakefield goes against Ponson on Wednesday.

BUSTING OUT OF IT

The only Red Sox hitter not to reach base, including substitutes, was Kevin Youkilis who went 0 for 2. In total, the Red Sox went 27 for 52. That's .519. Everyone had a pretty good day. Damon went 4 for 7 with 3 runs and an RBI. Renteria had a very nice 3 for 3 with a Grand Slam and 5 RBI. Vazquez replaced Renteria and went 1 for 3. Ortiz went 2 for 4 and walked twice. Ramirez had a great day going 4 for 4. Payton went 1 for 2 with 3 RBI in the place of Ramirez. Nixon went 3 for 6 with a homer. Tek was 2 for 5. Shoppach got hit by a pitch in his only plate appearance. Olerud went 3 for 6 and it wouldv'e been 5 for 6 if he didn't line towards the pitcher twice. Mueller was 2 for 4. Youk was held hitless. Bellhorn was 2 for 6. The Sox scored in every inning but the 3rd, 6th, and 9th.

Not to be lost in all the hitting was Matt Clement's 6 shutout innings. He pitched around some jams to earn his 6th win. He along with Arroyo have been the team's MVPs so far. Clement is the only Sox starter who hasn't struggled.

The Red Sox fans completely took over Yankee Stadium. It was one of the worst home losses the Yankees have ever endured.

The Man of the Game is difficult to pick. So many hitters had a great day and Clement pitched well. It's gotta be Edgar Renteria though. He essentially ended the game with his Grand Slam giving the Sox a 9 run lead. He hit to both fields with authority.

SOX DROP FOUR STRAIGHT, DROP TO FOURTH

Watching the game at my friend's apartment in Cambridge as Sheffield stood at the plate. I bet $1 that he'd hit a homerun. The next pitch wound up in the upper deck.

Allan Embree is a lefthanded fastball pitcher. Gary Sheffield is a right handed fastball hitter. That just doesn't work out. No fastball in the middle of the plate thrown by Allan Embree or anyone else can get by the bat of Gary Sheffield unless Sheffield messes up.

The Man of the Game for Thursday's pathetic 8-1 loss to Toronto is gustavo Chacin who went 6 innings allowing only 1 unearned run.

The Bitch-goat shall be divided thusly:
Miller: 0.7 - 2 IP, 7 ER
Damon: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 4

The Man of the Game for Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Yankees is Derek Jeter who went 2 for 5 with a triple, 2 runs scored and a stolen base.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wakefield: 0.3 - 5 IP, 4 ER
Embree: 0.3 - IP, 2 ER
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Svuem: 0.2 - terrible job coaching 3rd base. killed a rally

The Red Sox will be lucky to avoid a sweep in this series.