NOW THATS HOW IT'S DONE

There's something about winning 5-2 that is great. 5-2 wins mean good pitching, timely hitting, solid defense, and a good bullpen. The Red Sox had all of those working last night. The Sox were also able to reclaim first place as the Yankees lost 2-1 to the Rangers.

Arroyo had a solid start. In the 7th he looked vulnerable but didn't blow it. Timlin pitched around a couple of infield singles that were quai-Errors and was able to hand the ball over to Schilling. Curt got his first Save in 375 appearances and 13 years.

The Sox were able to emerge from their offensive slump and put a decent number on the board. The Sox 5 RBI were divided between 5 different players.

The Man of the Game is Mike Timlin whose pitching line shouldv'e looked like: IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 Ks. He pitched around some poor fielding plays, made up for that 1 hit he allowed by picking the guy off, and had 2 big strikeouts in what was a 1 run game.

SOX MAKE SOME CHANGES
The Red Sox designated Allan Embree for assignment. He will probably be traded for something very little in return or he will be outrightly released.

The Red Sox also made a pair of trades yesterday. They reaqcuired Adam Hyzdu who was traded to San Diego for Blaine Neal. They got Hyzdu for P Scott Cassidey. They also got Kansas City Royals seocnd baseman Tony Graffanino for P Juan Cedeno and OF Chip ambres.

Hyzdu could be a decent backup outfielder at least until Kapler can come off the DL. He is making just above the MLB minimum. We didn't have to give up that much to get him.

The acquisition of Graffanino is the death knell of Mark Bellhorn being the full-time second baseman. I'm sure he'll still have some playing time, but with Cora and Graffanino, I doubt he'll have more than 100 ABs for the rest of the season. This could be good for him as he won't get overexposed and will probably play against pitchers he has faired well against.

Graffanino is your typical journeyman 2nd baseman. He's played for Atlanta, Tampa, the White Sox, and the Royals. He's a carrer .263 hitter with some speed. He doesn't walk much but he doesn't strike out much. He has little to no power.

The Red Sox are in the running for AJ Burnett. But so is everyone else. Florida also wants teams to take on Mike Lowell's hefty salary. I think if we got Lowell though, his hitting might improve.

There are also rumors that the Red Sox might trade Bill Mueller to Twins lefty releiver JC Romero. This would not be a bad deal considering how good Romero is (2.21 ERA) and our ability to fill 3rd base with Youkilis or maybe Lowell.

YANKEES BACK IN FIRST CUZ WE SUCK

The way the Red Sox played these last two games against the Yankees, they seriously need to reconsider their professions. Arroyo should continue in his music career along with Wakefield. Damon could be a backup dancer. Kevin Millar could be a toll booth operator on the Mass Pike (no offense to toll booth workers), Youkilis could work at McDonalds but never get a chance to do anything, Francona could be a little league coach making sure every kid felt special no matter how bad they are, and Clement could bitch and moan about not being named employee of the month and then only go to work for 2 hours.

The Red Sox got to Randy Johnson about as much as you're going to get to him. They couldn't get to him enough though. And they couldn't get to the bullpen at all. Gordon (wouldn't he look good in a Sox uniform right about now) and Rivera combined for 1.2 no hit innings. Meanwhile, Clement was just terrible. The bullpen did well to keep the Sox in the game but the comeback fell short.

Saturday's Man of the Game is Alex Rodriguez who went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 Runs scored with a big 2 run Homer.

The Bitch-Goat:
Clement: 0.7 - 2.2 IP, 6 ER
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 5
Renteria: 0.1 - 1 for 5, 4 K, 3 LOB
Varitek: 0.1 - 0 for 3, K, 2 LOB

Sunday was simply inexcusable. One run off Al Leiter? Alex Cora batting with the bases loaded? Three homers allowed by Wakefield? Where was Olerud in the 9th? On the bench. Where was Youkilis? Pawtucket. Where was Kapler? On the DL. And by the way, to everyone celebrating the loss of Mark Bellhorn to the DL, Alex Cora is not a replacement. He is not an every day player on this team. Bellhorn isn't exactly the best hitter on the team, but he does his job. He'll hit around .240-260, with an OBP of .350+ which is better than Renteria or Millar. He has more HRs than Millar. He is a solid defensive first baseman and is very good at turning the double play. Youkilis should be playing 2nd or 3rd with Mueller at 2nd until Bellhorn returns or Pedroia/Hanley Ramirez are ready to come up. When Youkilis plays consistently, he hits well. He works the count even better than Bellhorn. Last season Youk batted .260 with 7 HRs in just over 200 ABs. His OBP was .367. He had 35 RBI. We're probably going to need him to play every day next year so why not give him some consistent playing time? Because Francona is against playing kids over veterans even if they only have 4 HRs, are leading the league in strikeouts, or are batting below .200 this season.

The Man of the Game Sunday is Jorge Posada ho went 1 for 3 with a 2 run shot and a walk.

The Bitch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.5 - 9 IP, 5 ER
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 2, GIDP, took a perfect 2-0 pitch right down the middle
Nixon: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Damon: 0.1 - 1 for 5, 2 LOB, 1 pitch out in the 9th
Bellhorn: 0.1 - 0 for 2, K
Mueller: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 2 LOB

Monday's loss is just as inexcusable. In the 1st inning, the Red Sox had a pair of bases loaded situations and got 1 run out of it. Then Kazmir was allowed to cruise the rest of the game. Then the Tampa Bay bullpen went 3 innings allowing only a walk.

Miller pitched about as well as you'd expect form a #5 pitcher. He pitched well enough to keep the Sox in the game. The bullpen did very well. Embree, Bradford, Myers, Timlin, and Schilling combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing only 2 hits and striking out 3. The Red Sox had 3 singles. They were able to get on base because of the walk, but getting on base is only half of scoring runs. Getting big hits is the other half.

The Man of the Game is Carl Crawford who went 2 for 4 with a double. He stole 2 bases.

The Bitch-Goat:
Miller: 0.1 - 5.2 IP, 3 ER
Damon: 0.2 - 0 for 5, K, 2 LOB
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 K
Ramirez: 0.2 - 0 for 3, K, GIDP
Varitek: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 LOB
Nixon: 0.2 - 0 for 3, K, 4 LOB
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 4, K

The Red Sox fell back down to 2nd place when the Yankees beat the Rangers 11-10. Since coming back from Philadelphia and a 6-0 road trip, the Sox are 6-12 winning only one series over that stretch. We deserve to be in 2nd place and 3rd soon unless we turn it around.

SOX REBOUND FROM DISSAPOINTING LOSS

Nothing like a 17-1 victory over New York to make you cheer up after a dissapointing 8-6 loss in the ninth the night before. Second time we've beaten New York 17-1. This was a game we should have won though. With Wang, New York's best pitcher lately, having shoulder trouble, New York was forced to give the ball to a guy with a 9.10 ERA coming into that game. The Sox did make that ERA go up though. It is at 54.00 now. The only Sox that didn't get a hit were Olerud, Mirabelli, and Bellhorn. Olerud and Mirabelli were replacements and Bellhorn walked twice.

The Man of the Game is Johnny Damon who went 3 for 4 with a walk. He was 3 for 3 with that walk in his first four plate appearances. He extended his career high hit streak to 27 which ties him with DiMaggio. Domenic DiMaggio for the 5th longest hit streak in Red Sox history. To put in perspective how impressive Domenic's brother's streak was, Damon needs to get a hit tomorrow to be halfway there.

Little known fact: During Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak in 1941, he had a batting average of .409. In the same stretch, Ted Williams batted .412. Despite batting .406 that year, Williams lost the MVP to DiMaggio partially due to several vindictive Boston sports writers (Dan Shaughnessey's of the 1940s) leaving him off their ballots.

Thursday's loss was dissapointing. Arroyo was dissapointing, Timlin once again dissapointed with runners on base, and Embree was left in too long perhaps. The pitching was once again the cause of the Red Sox defeat. Granted, the Sox bats could have added onto their lead more, but they shouldn't have to score 17 runs every night in order to be sure of victory. Come October, this pitching staff will cause my cigarette consumption to increase dramatically so buy stock in Phillip Morriss.

I think bringing Curt into a 6-6 game against the New York Yankees with Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield coming up was a questionable decision. To go from the Syracuse Sky Chiefs in games that are meaningless to the New York Yankees and a very meaningful game is quite a step up. It was a nice moment when he walked in but beyond that, the 9th inning truly sucked. However, I don't see what other option Francona had apart from allowing Timlin to continue. And it looks like Rivera is back to being Rivera. That's not good for anyone but New York.

We made Mussina work early and got to him for a few, but then he settled down and kept his pitch count manageable.

The Man of the Game Thursday is Gary Steroid who went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a homerun. He also walked. He scored twice and knocked in two. He didn't swing and miss at any fans during the game.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Embree: 0.1 - 0.2 IP, ER
Timlin: 0.1 - Inherited runner scored
Arroyo: 0.4 - 5.2 IP, 4 ER, forced Francona to go to pen early
Schilling: 0.3 - IP, 2 ER
Bellhorn: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 K, 4 LOB (I miss Youkilis!!!)

Big matchup on Saturday as Matt Clement takes on Randy Johnson. Hopefully the Sox will continue Johnson's struggles.

DAVID WELLS SUSPENSION
Did anyone else not see this "contact" between Wells and the ump? Cuz I didn't. Did anyone else think the second base umpire had no right to toss Wells for arguing balls and strikes? I didn't. Did anyone else think Wells was unjustified with his anger at the second base umpire? I didn't. Did anyone else think six games was a good suspension and deserved to be handed down to Wells for a phantom bump on an umpire that was being confrontational? I didn't.

Weird twist of fate: Could Schilling pitch the game that Wells misses? That'd be weird considering Foulke going to the DL opened up a slot in the bullpen for Curt.

AL EAST BEATS NATIONAL LEAGUE

Of the American League's 32 ABs, 17 were taken by AL East players. Of the AL's 11 hits, 7 were by AL East players. Of the 3 walks AL hitters had, 2 were by AL East players. Of the 7 runs the AL scored, 5 were scored by AL East players. Of the 7 RBI the AL had, 3 were by AL East players. Two of the biggest plays in the game were the double plays turned by Tejada and Roberts with Teixeira at first. AL East pitchers only went 2 innings in total, but one was Mariano Rivera who got the Save.

The American League is the better League this year and has been for nearly a decade. The AL won their 8th of 9 All-Star Games. The other one was the infamous tie. The AL went 136-116 (.540) in interleague play and deserve home field advantage in the World Series.

Speaking of home field advantage. Could Joe Buck and Tim McCarver please shut the F--- up about how home field advantage helped the Red Sox last year? I just don't see how it did. The Sox went 2-0 at Fenway and then 2-0 at Busch. If anything, they were more dominant at Busch than Fenway. The first game, there was actually doubt that the Sox would win. The next three games, there was no doubt at all. The Red Sox won the World Series because they dominated the Cardinals. They would have dominated them in Boston, St. Louis, New York, Tokyo, Mars, anywhere. It is just impossible for the Yankee loving Tim McCarver and the Cardinal loving Joe Buck to admit that the Red Sox were the best team last year and absolutely DOMINATED the Cardinals.

Should the All-Star game determine home field advantage? I'm going to say yes. Why? Because home field advantage doesn't matter. If you can't win on the road, you don't deserve to win. It's as simple as that. Plus, the All-Star game is now managed and played like a real game. The managers are typically managing contending teams so they want to win the game. The ratings are higher for thse games that count. That means more money and prestige for Major League Baseball. The other solutions don't make much sense. The random back and forth between AL and NL is fine but why not have something non-arbitrary to determine it? The team with the best record getting it doesn't make sense because teams play 144 of 162 games within their own league. That's about 90%. The Cardinals might get 110 wins this year in the NL because there aren't too many good teams. The White Sox, on the other hand, might get about 100 or 105 because there are alot of good teams in the AL. There is no good way to compare NL teams and AL teams.

R-LO SHUTS DOWN SOX...AGAIN

What is it about this guy that we can't figure out? He's gone 8 innings in all but 1 of his 4 starts this year against us. He's an average pitcher for Pedro's Sake! 43-36 for his career with an ERA of 4.48.

I agree with resting Millar and Bellhorn for this game given their lackluster performances against Lopez in the past, but I think Youkilis should have been in the lineup to replace one of them.

The Man of the Game is Rodrigo Lopez who went 8, allowing 1 run off 3 hits. He struck out 6.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wakefield: 0.2 - 7 IP, 4 ER
Damon: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Renteria: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 K
Ortiz: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Ramirez: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Olerud: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 2
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 3

Basically everyone in the starting lineup except Nixon, who hit a homerun.

This series was a huge dissapointment. The Orioles were struggling coming into this. They had lost a rain-shortened 2 game series. Before that, they had lost 3 of 4 to the Indians. They were on a 2-11 slide coming into this series. They were fading from the divisional picture. Then we hand them a game by "resting" everyone for that tough flight to the All-Star Game in Detroit and lose on Thursday. Friday we win but on Saturday we're embarrassed and on Sunday, we're shut down by an average pitcher. Simply unacceptable.

The Red Sox are 2 games ahead of the Orioles now. Only 2.5 ahead of New York Had we taken 3 of 4, we would be six games ahead of Baltimore. We'd be 4.5 ahead of the Yankees. Had we swept Baltimore, which we could have given how poorly they had been playing, we would be ahead of the Yankees by 5.5 and ahead of the O's by 8 games.

The Red Sox need to come out of the gate strong in the 2nd half. They start out with an absolutely HUGE 4 game series with New York at Fenway Park. They can't lose that series. Then there's a 3 game set with the D-Rays that we should sweep. Then the Sox fly to Chicago to play 4 against the team with the best record in baseball: the Chicago White Sox. A 3 game series in Tampa is followed by a series with the Wild Card leading Twins.

The rest of July is not going to be easy. We need to beat the Yankees in order to maintain our position in the division. We need to beat up on the D-Rays. We can't just split 3-3 with them or win 4 of 6. We need to win at least 5 and it'd be nice to win all 6. We need to prove ourselves against the White Sox. We need to beat the Twins, a potential Wild Card competitor if we can't hold onto the division.

I really wish Clement wasn't going to the All-Star game. I wish he had to cry and pout. Nothing against him, but of all the things in the world to be upset over, going to some exhibition game in Detroit just doesn't seem like a huge deal. Hopefully he won't pitch much because I think we should start him out of the gate to begin the 2nd half.

I think we should go:
1. Clement
2. Wakefield
3. Arroyo
4. Wells
5. Miller

If the Sox take advantage of off-days, they can put a starting pitcher in the bullpen for about a week.

SIMPLY PATHETIC PERFORMANCES

Lack of defense, lack of hitting, lack of pitching. The oppositte for the Orioles. Not much analysis needed for Boston's 9-1 loss Saturday against the previously struggling Orioles.

The Man of the Game for Thursday's joke is Melvin Mora who went 2 for 3 with a solo HR.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wells: 0.2 - 5 IP, 3 ER
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 Ks
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 2, 2 Ks
Millar: 0.1 - 0 for 2, 2 Ks, 3 LOB
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 Ks, 3 LOB
Francona: 0.4 - Terrible lineup, resting Damon, Tek, Manny, and Renteria on the same day

The Man of the Game for Friday's win is Bronson Arroyo who went 7.2 innings allowing 2 runs. I know Damon went 4 for 5 with a walk, but 2 of those hits were bloops. Arroyo had a very solid outing against a fierce offense.

The Man of the Game for Saturday's loss is Miguel Tejada who went 5 for 5 with a pair of doubles. He had an RBI and scored twice.

The B-G shall be divided thusly:
Miller: 0.2 - 6 IP, 4 ER
Halama: 0.3 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Cassidy: 0.2 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Millar: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 LOB
Bellhorn: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, 4 K

When are we going to release Millar? If it isn't today, I will be pissed.

JV RED SOX LET ONE GO

Kevin Millar may lead the team in one stat: fewest days off. How come he plays yet Manny, Tek, Damon, and Renteria all sit? Inexcusable lineup from Francona.

What the hell was Trot Nixon thinking when he got picked off from 1st base? Bob Lobell is right, if Manny had done that, he'd get toasted. But people in this town have a Trot Nixon fetish and totally excuse anything stupid that he does.

CLUBHOUSE FALLING APART?
There's a few stories and rumors that have been circulating recently. They all seem to point towards a fair amount of dissension in the Red Sox clubhouse. We all knew Payton was unhappy, and that situation has been dealt with. We all know Foulke was pissed at anyone not praising his tremendous 4 blown saves but now he's had surgery and will hopefully be back to form in 6 weeks. But now, we have Damon being the Assistant Manager. We have Millar complaining about, of all things, playing time. And then we have Clement pissed about not making the All-Star team.

This might be understandable if the team was in last place. But they're in first and having these problems?

Damon:
You are not a Major League manager. It is not your place to come out and say shit about your teammate, esepcially a guy like Schilling that has defended everyone from Pedro to Manny to Foulke to Edgar. You're a self-proclaimed idiot, so don't think you have the managerial sense that a manager has.

Millar:
How the hell could you of all people be bitching about playing time? You have 4 homeruns in a power position. You're batting .271. You're slugging .378. You're getting paid $3.5 million. That's about $100,000 for every extra base hit you're on pace to get. Or $50,000 for every RBI you're on pace to get. You play your position terribly, especially compared to your competition, John Olerud. You didn't hit well in the 2003 playoffs or last year's playoffs. You spout off on WEEI about what you bring to the clubhouse. All you bring is a bottle of Jack Daniels and a tissue to whipe your tears with when a superior player is put in the lineup instead of you.

If you want playing time, Kev, you could go to Japan. You should be grateful the Red Sox broke tradition and claimed you. They brought you to a town that loves you, brought you to a great team that won a World Series, and now you're complaining about a guy who is a better hitter and a better fielder taking some time away from you? Grow the F--- up, Kevin! This team can win without you and if you were as great of a clubhouse guy as you claim you are, you'd be happy.

You're lucky to be playing pro ball, to be playing in this town and on this team. If you want playing time, go play for some 3rd place team in front of 17,000 people every night.

Clement:
There are greater tragedies in life than missing an All-Star game. If you expect your manager to choose you over someone else just cuz you've been on his team for half a year, think again. Tito deserves some credit for the way he selected the team, based on the better players, not the cap on the head. You also started off pretty slow to begin the season.

Payton:
This guy was the only player who had a right to beef. He made it clear he wanted to be traded. He never chose to come here. He still performed when he had a chance. And we got something for him. Good luck to Jay Payton.

I FEAR A COLLAPSE
I just have a bad, bad feeling about the next few weeks of baseball. All this clubhouse crap, Schilling having another poor rehab outing and looking as heavy as David Wells. Renteria still not hitting, Millar still getting playing time. Playing Baltimore and New York. Ugh.

RED SOX MAKE MOVES, FRANCONA REVERTS TO SPRING TRAINING MINDSET

With all the news coming out of London today, I didn't do any sports news reading today. I turn on the Red Sox game so I can take a little break from serious stuff and Alex Cora is in the midst of striking out. Then Bill Mueller comes up.

Tito has decided to rest Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, and Edgar Renteria all on the same night. Now, I know Baltimore is struggling. I know the Rangers were assholes and didn't give us a few extra hours to fly to Baltimore by scheduling an afternoon game, and I know they're all beaten and bruised. However, to rest $44 million worth of player including the team Captain, the leadoff hitter, and the team leader in RBI all on the same day is aboslutely ludicrous.

The situation is worsened by the lack of Jay Payton (couldn't we have hung onto him for an extra day?) who was designated for assignment and will either be traded or released in the enxt 10 days. The situation is worsened by the fact that Wells is pitching with his 4.92 ERA. The situation is worsened because we only have 1 or 2 consistent bullpen pitchers to throw the 3 or 4 innings that will be required after Wells goes 5 or 6. The situation is worsened because this is the 2nd place team in our division and we have an opportunity to knock them out of the divisional race, knock them out of getting anyone at the trade deadline.

The Red Sox got Alex Cora, which I think is a good move considering that Ramon Vazquez has contributed nothing. However, to bat him in the leadoff spot against a divisional contender in his first game with a new team might be a bit too much for a backup infielder to handle.

The Red Sox activated Adam Stern and decided that today was the perfect game to try him out.

Francona seems to be giving up on this game before it starts. Yet, he still hasn't put Youkilis in there!!! I hate this BS about playing guys that have "earned" their playing time simply by being around baseball for a longer time.

If the Red Sox win this game, I'll be surprised. I think this series, if it doesn't go well for us, will give the Orioles alot of momentum and positivity going into the All-Star break.