TROT WINS IT FOR SOX

The Sox faced up to their first test from Texas with a solid 4-3 win. Papelon shockingly gave up an inherited runner for his first Blown Save, but was able to pitch 1.1 innings without giving up another run in order to record his first win of the season.

Wakefield had yet another quality start with 7 inning, 2 earned run outing. Hansen was used in the 8th and didn't pitch all that well, but he did wind up with a Hold.

The Man of the Game is Trot Nixon who went 4 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle. He hit his 12th double and 6th homer of the season. He knocked in 3, all with 2 outs. He also scored a run.

Big doubleheader tomorrow.

SOX TAKE ONE BACK FROM YANKS

After an embarrassing loss, then a tough loss, then a rainout, the Sox put on an impressive demonstration of baseball in the Bronx last night. They went up 1-0, then fell behind 3-1. In the 6th, they put together a 3 run rally to take the lead.

Manny walked to lead off the inning, then Nixon singled. Varitek singled in Nixon. Lowell was brushed by a pitch to load the bases. Proctor replaced Wright, then Youkilis hit a fly all to center field that was deep enough to score Nixon from 3rd. Gonzalez came up with a big double just past the glove of a diving A-Rod to give the Sox a 4-3 lead that wouldn't go away.

In the 7th, the Sox had an even bigger inning. Ortiz led off with a double, and then Manny was intentionally walked. Nixon flew out, then Varitek stepped to the plate and knocked the ball out of the park for his 6th homer of the year. Coco Crisp added two more runs with a 2 out single to give the Sox the 9-3 lead that wound up being the final score of the game.

Schilling pitched very nicely to pick up win number 9 of the season. All three of his runs came off of solo shots which is good and bad. It is bad because he made three bad pitches to give up those homers, but it is good that there was nobody on base so he wasn't making too many mistakes. He only gave up 4 hits, only 1 wasn't a homer. He also didn't walk any so the Yankees never really had threat for a big inning. Schilling held the Yankees 2 thru 5 hitters to a combined 0 for 12.

Schilling possibly could have gone the full 9, throwing only 96 pitches thru 8. However, we had a 6 run lead, and it was also a good opportunity to give Papelbon some work.

The Man of the Game is Jason Varitek who went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI. He had an RBI single in the 6th, and a 3 run homer in the 7th. He also scored a run in each inning.

The Sox now return to the Fens for a brief 4 game, 3 day homestand against the AL West leading Rangers.

Vicente Padilla, formerly of the Phillies, takes on Tim Wakefield tonight. In Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader, Jon Lester will make his Major League debut up against John Rheinecker. In the night cap, Josh Beckett will take on John "Way Back" Wasdin in his first start of the year. In Sunday's game, Clement goes against Kevin Millwood. We should be able to take 3 of 4 in this series. Hopefully Beckett and Clement will pitch as well as they're capable of.

AL ALL-STAR VOTING
The AL All-Star team still resembles a Yankee-Red Sox game with nothing but Yanks and Sox starting except for at one position.

Ortiz has a healthy 200,000 vote lead over Giambi at first base. Loretta remains 36,000 behind Robinson Cano at 2nd. A-Rod has a 414,000 vote lead over Lowell. Tejada is 240,000 behind Derek Jeter at short-stop. Sox fans have given Alex Gonzalez 173,000 votes that should have gone to Tejada or Jeter. Varitek hs a 50,000 vote lead over Ivan Rodriguez to catch the midsummer classic. In the outfield, Vladimir Guerrero leads with Manny and Damon behind him. Ichiro is in 4th more than 100,000 votes behind Damon. The All-Star game is shaping up to be an AL East dominated game.

The World Cup starts today with Germany taking on Costa Rica, and Poland facing Ecuador. If you're interested, I'm a member of a soccer blog, so check it out.

Relegators

SOX LOOKING FOR ANOTHER SUCCESFUL DRAFT

Guys like Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Abe Alvarez, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, and Hanley Ramirez all came from Red Sox drafts. The Sox have actually been able to draft and develop some good players over the past few years which had been a major problem with the organization in years past.

The Sox drafted a high school outfielder by the name of Jason Place in the first round. The word is he has power, speed, and arm strength. He batted .544 his senior year and is a very highly touted proepect.

With compensatory picks for the loss of Johnny Damon to free agency, the Sox drafted pitcher Daniel Bard out of UNC. He's got talent with a 97 MPH fastball, but according to scouting reports, he has struggled with command, control, and consistency.

With the 40th pick, the Sox drafted another pitcher, this one out of Wichita State. Kristofer Johnson is coming off of Tommy John surgery, but he still has three viable pitches, which is a nice thing for a draftee to have.

With the 1,443rd pick, the Sox drafted Josh Papelbon out of North Florida. Josh is Jonathan's younger brother and is the all-time Saves leader at the University of Texas. Josh Papelbon was used as a reliever exclusively and will probably be seen this year in Low-A Lowell for the Spinners.

SOX LOSE 2-1, AND IT WAS CLOSER THAN THAT

When these two teams get together, sometimes it is a blowout one way or the other. But a good number of times, it is a closely fought display of great baseball. Last night was a demonstration of the quality of play both the Red Sox and Yankees are capable of.

What more could we have asked from David Pauley in only his 2nd MLB start? He went 6.2 innings for us and kept some of the fiercest and most steroid aided lineups in baseball to only 2 earned runs. But it wasn't enough. The Sox were able to muster only 1 run, despite having 10 baserunners.

The Sox wore down Wang early, forcing him to throw nearly 50 pitches in the first 2 innings, then they allowed him to settle and cruise. Ortiz hit a solo shot in the 3rd and the Red Sox had a little something going when Manny followed it up with a sharp single. Nixon nailed a ball, but he lined it right to the glove of Andy Phillips who then stepped on first for an inning ending double play.

The Sox went down in order in the 4th, in the 5th they had another baserunner erased by the double play, in the 6th Manny was thrown out trying to extend a single into a double, in the 7th the Sox had 2 on and 1 out, but Cora lined out and Crisp grounded out. In the 8th, Manny hit a fly ball that travelled about 400 feet to left center, but Melkey Cabrera snagged it just as it crossed over the outfield wall to keep the Yankees lead at 1. In the 9th, the Sox went down in order to Rivera. Pitiful offensive performance apart from two long fly balls.

Pauley pitched great. He allowed a game tying solo homerun in the 5th, and pitched into the 7th inning. He loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before being removed for Rudy Seanez. Rudy walked Giambi to force home what would be the winning run. Pauley will get his first MLB loss, but he deserved a better fate.

The Man of the Game is Chieng Meng Wang who escaped danger and allowed only 1 run over 7 innings.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Pauley: 0.2 - 6.2 IP, 2 ER
Seanez: 0.1 - 1.1 IP, inherited runner scored
Cora: 0.2 - 0 for 3, 4 LOB
Nixon: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 3 LOB, LIDP
Varitek: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Crisp: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 4 LOB
Loretta: 0.1 - 1 for 4, LOB, GIDP

The Sox fall to 1.5 games behind the Yankees, and need to win both remaining games in order to recapture 1st place. This will be the first time all season that the Red Sox will be out of 1st place longer than 2 days. We're also only a game and a half ahead of Toronto in 3rd. We're slipping. We need to win the last 2 games just to go .500 on the rod trip. The schedule doesn't get any easier with the 1st place Rangers coming to Fenway this weekend for 4, including a doubleheader on Saturday.

Curt Schilling against Jaret Wright tonight. I think we'll win.

SOX CRUSHED IN THE BRONX

Beckett had his worst game of the season, allowing 8 runs in 1.1 innings. Van Buren came in and allowed 5 more and the game was mercifully over. The Sox put up 5 against Mussina, which is good considering how good he's pitched this season, but it was nowhere near enough.

The Man of the Game is Andy Phillips who went 2 for 5 with a 3 run homer.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.9
Van Buren: 0.1

The good news out of New York is that Mike Timlin played catch and reportedly feels fine. He anticipates returning off the DL for the weekend series against Texas back in Fenway.

SOX THAT SHOULD BE ALL-STARS

The early results from All-Star voting are in and in the AL, the Yankees and Red Sox have dominated voting. Here is who I voted for:

C - Jason Varitek - BOS
1B - David Ortiz - BOS
2B - Mark Loretta - BOS
3B - Mike Lowell - BOS
SS - Miguel Tejada - BAL
OF - Manny Ramirez - BOS
OF - Johnny Damon - NYY
OF - Vladimir Guerrero - LAA

The first release of results have every position except one filled by either a Red Sox or a Yankee player. Ortiz is the leader at 1st, Varitek is the leading catcher, Robinson Cano leads Mark Loretta by about 32,000 votes, A-Rod leads Mike Lowell by 300,000 votes, Jeter leads at short-stop (Sox fans, stop voting for Alex Gonzalez! At least vote for Tejada if you don't want to see Jeter in there). The outfield is Manny, Vlad, and Damon. Somehow, Coco Crisp is 9th in voting. Not to be outdone by stupid fans voting for their own players, the Yankees' Hideki Matsui, who is out for a long time, is 7th in outfield voting.

I think Manny, Tek, and Ortiz should be shoe ins for the All-Star Game. I also think Lowell and Loretta deserve to be there if they're not starters. Schilling should also get a nod, as should Mike Timlin who has 11 Holds and an ERA of 1.40. Papelbon should, without a doubt, go. He has 20 Saves in 20 opportunities, has an ERA of 0.32. Papelon's ERA is the lowest in the league among pitchers with 5 or more appearances as well as the lowest among those with 5 or more innings pitched. So, that's 8 Sox representatives sent to Pittsburgh. Of course, a few of them will get screwed, probably Loretta and Timlin. Oh well.

SOX TAKE TWO IN MOTOWN

This series was a great test of the Boston Red Sox, and I think proved, somewhat, that we are a legitimate team. We've beaten up on the D-Rays and Orioles, struggled against the Blue Jays, and were 16-16 against teams that weren't from Baltimore or Tampa Bay. Granted, we didn't sweep, and we didn't dominate, but we won a tough series on the road against an unfamiliar first place team. We also managed to score runs against a good pitching staff. We also managed to hit homeruns in the biggest ballpark in the AL.

Friday night, Schilling pitched great and was lifted from the burden of what would have been a tough 2-1 loss by Kevin Youkilis, who is demonstrating he can hit in any spot in the order. He hit his 6th homer of the season in the 9th with 2 outs. Of course, with Jonathan "Fatality" Papelbon and a 3-2 lead, the game was over.

The Man of the Game for Friday's 3-2 win is Curt Schilling who went 7 innings, allowed 2 earned runs, and struck out 8 Tigers.

On Saturday, the bats weren't as supportive. Wakefield has been one of our best and most consistent pitchers this season, but his 4-7 record doesn't really reflect that. The Sox only managed to score 2 runs, and the bullpen allowed 3 runs in 1 inning after Wake left the game.

The Sox only had 7 baserunners in the 6-2 loss on Saturday. Only 3 Sox batters recorded hits.

The Man of the Game is Jeremey Bonderman who went 7.2 allowing 2 earned runs off 4 hits and struck out 6.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.2 - 7 IP, 3 ER
Delcarmen: 0.1 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Tavarez: 0.1 - 0.1 IP, ER, HR
Crisp: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Loretta: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Lowell: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 4 LOB
Youkilis: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 3 K

The Sox rebounded and took the rubber game impressively with an 8-3 victory. The Sox knocked out 4 homers and Clement pitched solidly in the series winning victory.

Manny is on a tear lately. In April, he had 4 homeruns. He had 9 in May and has already got 1 in June. His average at the end of April was .276, but he's raised it to .297 since then. He slugged .714 in May compared with .448 in April. He's heating up along with the weather.

Ortiz knocked in his 50th run of the season. He's tied for 2nd in the AL, 2 behind Chicago's Jim Thome, and tied with Cleveland's Travis Hafner.

Both Youkilis and Clement left the game early. Youk was hit by a pitch and the decision to remove him ws aided by the 5 run lead the Sox had amassed, and the fact that Lowell is a better defensive third baseman anyway. Clement was pulled by Jason Varitek early in the 7th inning. The claim after the game is that he was fatigued. This is probably true. Then again, this season the Sox have been sketchy when it comes to injuries. Hopefully there's nothing wrong because with Wells down, and DiNardo down, we can't afford to lose another starting pitcher.

The Man of the Game for the 8-3 victory is Kevin Youkilis who went 2 for 4 with a solo homer, 2 runs scored, and a stolen base.

Now it's back to playing the Yankees again.

We've got Beckett going against Mussina tonight. Then David Pauley up against CM Wang on Tuesday. Schilling faces Wright on Wednesday, and Wakefield goes against Johnson on Thursday. I think we can win 3 of 4, but you never know with these two teams getting together.

We'd better make this series count because we don't face the Yankees again until August 18th. That series is a 5 gamer with a doubleheader to kick it off. That's going to be crazy.

CLEMENS IS A COWARD, APPARENTLY
I wanted Roger Clemens back. I wanted to have another frontline pitcher at the top end of the rotation, especially considering our injury woes at the spot and our lack of depth. However, Roger, in my opinion, was afraid to come to Boston. What if he failed? In Houston, he wouldn't be viewed as a Messiah, coming to resurrect a pitching staff. However, that's how he's be seen in Boston or New York. If he failed, he'd be crucified (figuratively).

Instead of a nearly assured pennant race in the AL East, Clemens decided to stay in Houston, with a team that is below .500, in 3rd place, and 8.5 games out of the untouchable Cardinals. Furthermore, the Astros are 8th in the NL Wild Card picture, 5.5 games behind the Reds.

Houston has a slim chance to make the playoffs, which makes Clemens' decision to stay there a safe one. Whereas Boston and New York expect to make the playoffs, Houston, at this point, doesn't expect to do so. If they do make it, Clemens is the hero. If they don't, Clemens is the hero surrounded by fools and doesn't get blamed for the team's failure.

I think Clemens made his decision to stay in Houston a long time ago. I think he used public appearances to whip up media coverage in the enormous sports medias of Boston and New York. All this press terrified the Astros, who went all out to secure Clemens' services. Houston had already fielded a disappointing team this year, and if they had lost the Clemens sweepstakes, their fan base would become even more frustrated. Clemens and his agent drove up the price by feigning a move to Boston and New York, and Clemens got paid off. He'll make about $12.5 million this season to pitch in about 13 to 15 games.

So the Clemens sweepstakes is over. Roger might try it again next season, but hopefully we won't all be duped again. Now, he might never get his number retired here, and I'm fine with that. Have fun losing in Houston, Roger. Tune in to NESN and YES in September if you want to watch pennant race baseball.

SOX TAKE THEIR TOKEN VICTORY FROM JAYS

The Sox knocked out 4 homers to beat Toronto 8-6 on Wednesday. Minor leaguer David Pauley spot started and pitched about as well as any Sox starter in the series going 4.1 innings allowing 6 earned. The much lamented middle reliever corps performed very well. The bullpen pitched 4.2 scoreless innings, keeping the Sox in the game.

The Sox finally got to Ted Lilly, knocking him out of the game after only 4 innings. We now have an off day before moving on to face the Detroit Tigers. The first place Detroit Tigers. This series will be a test for the Red Sox, who have had the benefit of feasting on the Blue Jays and Devil Rays for a good part of the season.

The Man of the Game is Alex Rios who went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 Runs, and a stolen base. We've got to figure out a way to get this guy out.