Royals @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox offense didn't show up last night, but I can't see that being the case again tonight. The Royals send youngster Danny Duffy to the hill. This will be his first start against Boston, but is coming off one of his strongest starts when he went 7 innings allowing 2 runs against the White Sox.

The Red Sox counter with Andrew Miller, which could be good news for Boston as they are 5-1 in games in which Miller has started. One thing he needs to do though is cut down on his walks. Last time out he let up 6 walks in 5 2/3 innings, which is a big reason why his start was cut short. If he can do that I could see him going deep into this game.

Boston should win this game, and I think last night was just a hiccup, it happens from time to time and the Red Sox were due for a slow game after how hot they have been.

Youk will not be playing tonight, as he recovers from a tight hamstring suffered in the 8th inning of last night's game.

Red Sox win 7-3
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

Buchholz Progressing

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz, on the disabled list since mid-June due to a muscle strain in his lower back, threw 30 pitches off a bullpen mound -- his first session off a mound since the end of June in Philadelphia -- and proclaimed the session to represent a significant marker in his progress back to the rotation. Buchholz threw a "short box" session, in which the catcher sits in front of home plate, and suggested that he got through the session with only minor soreness that he was quickly able to manage.

"This is I think the biggest step in the right direction so far in this process," said Buchholz. "There was still a little soreness coming off after I threw. Sat down for about 10 minutes, did a couple stretches and it felt better (WEEI)."

As well as the Red Sox are playing they are going to need Buchholz if they are going to have any chance of winning it all. Beckett and Lester can get them so far, but in the playoffs having a 3rd good pitcher is huge. I have to admit this update does not make me overly optimistic. Why is he still having soreness? I mean he only threw 30 pitches, and he is still feeling soreness in his back. That can't be a good sign. What happens when he pitches in a game and pushes it? Or if he is in a game and it's raining and it tightens? Sorry, but this doesn't sound good and I am starting to get worried. I hope the Sox are right and this is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't sound all that good to me.

3 Royals, 1 Sox, Marco Scutaro Blows

When can we cut Marco Scutaro. He's one of the worst players in baseball and he costed the Sox another game. He was asked to do a simple task which is bunt the ball. Instead he got a single and tried stretching it to a double and got thrown out. He is a veteran player, not paying attention to signs is inexcusable. This was in the 12th inning too, thanks Marco.

On a positive note, Jon Lester looked pretty good. He went 5.1 innings, let up 7 hits, 1 er and 6ks. We desperately need him back and in good shape going forward as our pitching staff is a mash unit.

Shitty loss, cut Scutaro.

Royals @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox have won 9 in a row at Fenway Park, and are lightning it up against these terrible teams. Yet another one heads to Fenway, and this time it's the Royals. The Royals started off the year well, but have gone back to their sucking ways and are once again in last place.

To make matters worse for the Royals Jon Lester is back and he has crushed the them in his career going 4-1 with a 1.22 ERA. Meanwhile, the Sox go against Kyle Davies who has been especially bad on the road this season, posting a 9.35 ERA, even though he is 2-0 against Boston in his career.

The Sox have won 17 of 20 games in July. That's just silly, and they are going to pound this team tonight. Look for Ellsbury to have another huge night tonight as he has a .462 BA with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs in the last 7 days, and let's be honest Davies is only going to help those numbers.

Red Sox win 10-2
Player of the Game: Ellsbury
Game starts at 7:10pm

Ellsbury For MVP?

DP's hatred for one Jacoby Ellsbury must be fading at this point, as this guy proves game after game that he is the best center fielder in all of baseball. Beyond that he might even end up with the MVP by the end of the season.

Sure, his steals are a little down from where they usually are (on pace for 46), but he is making up for it in every other way. He is having a career year batting (.320), on base percentage (.376), homeruns (16, on pace for 26), RBIs (58 on pace for 95). Not to mention he is pretty damn good in the field.

I don't think he will win it because Adrian Gonzalez is on the team and I think in the end he will end up winning it, but Jacoby is cementing himself as the best leadoff hitter in the AL, and the best center fielder in the game. Good thing we held on to this guy.

Another Weekend, Another Red Sox Sweep

Wakefield can give up 7 runs and John Lackey can pitch and yet the Sox dominate another weekend. It also didn't matter that we were facing arguably the best pitcher in the league in Felix Hernandez and rookie phenom Michael Pineda, the Red Sox offense carried them once again. They scored 22 runs in the passed 3 games against Seattle and Josh Reddick has been a major part of that.

Speaking of Josh Reddick, JD Drew was just put on the DL today and that could mean the end of his free falling career. Reddick has been unbelievable, his stat line is:

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	KO	BA
32	95	22	34	7	3	4	19	1	10	17	.358

I like him going forward over making a move, unless it's for a huge name.

Next up, Kansas City

Beltran Too Pricey For Sox

I don't get the hub bub surrounding The Mole. He's good, and people are crowning him the best offensive trading peace on the market, but I just don't think there is much difference between him and Josh Reddick. Reddick has been playing out of his mind recently and will eventually slow down. But Beltran won't be that much of a factor to get us over the hump.

The Mets are asking for one of our elite prospects for Beltran. Which probably means Inglesies, Kalish, Reddick, Lavernwhatever or Raunado, so I agree with the Red Sox for bowing out of the sweepstakes.

Plus like I have been saying, I don't want that Mole on my team.

....this is a stupid fucking post, I hate Carlos Beltran and his mole is gross.

4 Sox, 0 Orioles

Andrew Miller won the game, if you took awak the 6 walks he had a great stat line, but he finished with 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 6 walks, and striking out 3. Albers, Bard and Papelbon combined for 3 1/3 innings of hit-less relief. This is the most amount of walks a Red Sox pitcher has allowed since....... Matt Clement(remember that guy? He was an All Star for us).

Jacoby Ellsbury provided half of the scoring for the Sox, by hitting 2 solo home runs in his 2-for-4 day. Ells is now 3rd on the Sox with 15 Homers, he's turning into a modern day Rickey Henderson. So much for Gonzo's slump as he burst out of it going 4-5 from the DH spot. I like that move from Terry, he surprisingly did something right. Carl Crawford had another good game, going 2-for-3, with a double and a stolen base.

Another win against the lowly Orioles

Sox vs Orioles Preview

Starting Pitchers

Boston: Miller (3-1, 5.68 ERA)

Baltimore: Arrieta (9-6, 5.10 ERA)

How I see it going down:
Last night was a tough loss, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time. Tonight the Sox send out Andrew Miller who hasn't been that impressive recently. His ERA has skyrocketed and the guy that everyone has been fawning over hasn't worked out that great. However, the Orioles suck and Jake Arrieta sucks, so that means the Sox will win.

Adrian hasn't been playing great since the break and a serving of Jake Arrieta will be the medicine he needs. I guarantee A Gon will hit a homer during the first AB he sees.

Winning Pitcher: Miller
Tommy Award: A Gon
Score: Sox 7-2

6 Orioles, 2 Sox

Well you can't win them all.

My boy Jeremy Guthrie shut down the Sox as he went 7, scattering 8 hits and giving up 2 runs and improved his unfair record to 4-13.

Kyle Weiland didn't have a bad outing either, it was much improved from his last start, he went 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.

And right when I'm about to proclaim Alfredo Aceves was the best middle reliever I have ever seen and Theo's best move this offseason... Boom. Give up a 2 run jack to Derek Lee and a solo hr to Mark Reynolds in the 8th.

Salty has been cruising as he hit another HR, and Gonzo has gotten off to a slow start from the all star break going 2 for 21.

Sox vs Orioles Preview

Starting Pitchers

Boston: Weiland (0-0, 13.50 ERA)

Baltimore: Guthrie (3-13, 4.45 ERA)

How I see it going down:
Kyle Weiland can't worse than he was last game out. I am seeing him actually having a quality start this game. He has some good stuff and good movement on the ball, so with a major league game under his belt already he puts it together. Also, Weiland was accused of intentionally hitting Vladimir Guerrero who is now on the DL, so if any game were to break out in a bean ball war, this would be it.

Jeremy Guthrie is one of my favorite players, he's a good player on an awful awful team and has been for years now. If you remember back a few years ago the come back on mothers day, Jeremy Guthrie was the dominant pitcher before the Sox came back on the O's pen. So I'm going to say he keeps the Sox at bay by yielding only 4 runs in 6 innings.

Winning Pitcher: Kyle Weiland (7 innings, 2 runs, 4 ks)
Tommy Award: Adrian Gonzo
Sox win 4-2

15 Sox, 10 Rays

If anyone asks, Yes, It's as fun as it looks to be a Red Sox fan.

While some pussy pitcher from Philly is asking to be taken out of the game because it's too hot, the Sox are scoring 8 runs in the 8th inning to put the dagger into the lowly Orioles.

Well actually pick it up in the 8th when the score was tied at 7 (My Wakefield prediction was a little off as he got blown up for 7 runs, 3 earned). Pedroia kicked off the party in the 8th by knocking in the 1st 2 runs of the inning, not only going 2-5 for the day but extending his hit streak to 16.

Everyone in the line up produced, except for JD Drew who had another hitless game, but that's expected at this point. Carl Crawford in his day back went 2-5 with an RBI and there were no signs of the leg bothering him. The Sox went 7-17 with runners in scoring position, had 16 hits and 2 solo shots from Salty and Josh Reddick.

Another great win.

Red Sox vs Orioles Preview

Starting Pitchers

Boston: Wakefield (5-3, 4.74 ERA)

Baltimore: Bergesen (1-6, 5.65 ERA)

How I see it playing out:
Since the Sox are cruising and the Orioles blow donkey balls it's pretty clear that the Red Sox will win this one. I know we have the Tim Wakefield factor in this and he could give up some runs, however, we luck out as his counterpart Brad Bergesen sucks and may be the worst SP behind John Lackey.

The key to this game is to go far. The Bullpen was used a lot last night and we really need them to get a night off, so hopefully can pull one of his 8 IP, 7 hit, 2 er, 4 K games out of his ass.

Also, this is the first game that Carl Crawford is back. Many people are saying that he has been a failure so far, and although his early season struggles he was starting to put it together before the injury. I like Carl and think he has a monster 2nd half.

All of this is in wake of the beanball fest that took place a week and a half ago. Papi will be out the next 3 games for his suspension and that's a good thing. With Papi out there is no real reason for the Orioles to peg anyone, even though Youk could get hit as he always seems to get pegged.

Unlike BMack I refuse to be reasonable when it comes to picking the score and will never have the hometown team lose.

Winning pitcher: The Wake
Tommy Award: Carl Crawford
Score: 8- 2 Sox

There Is No Way The Sox Don't Run Away With The Division

I mean there is no way that the Sox don't dominate the shit out of the 2nd half and leave everybody looking up to them. We have a 57-36 record as of right now, we are a couple games up on the Yanks and the Orioles, Mariners, Royals and White Sox round off this month. I mean we probably will have the division and the AL title clinched by the end of this month.

Jon Lester is going to be back and ready to go, Josh Beckett looks World Series ready, the offense is ridiculous and only going to get better with Crawford back. There is no way this can go wrong.

The only thing people have a right to be a little scared about is Clay Buchholz and his back. I have a feeling he may not come back this year, I don't know why, but something tells me he isn't.

The Yankees aren't going to catch up because their pitching staff is in worse shape than ours, CC is good and then after that everyone is a question mark. Also it's just a matter of time Curtis Granderson gets caught with the juice.

So that leaves the Rays and Blue Jays...... nope.

End of story, Sox are winning the series and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Fuck It, Trade For Jose Reyes

I'm reading it would take Jose Inglesis, Felix Doubront, Josh Reddick and Ryan Lavarnway (Sox catcher of the future) for a deal involving Jose Reyes. None of those guys I'm sold on. And even if we can trade for him in hopes that we re sign him in the offseason you do it.

The pessimists would say, he'd leave in the offseason to free agency, we would have to pay another 100+ million dollar deal, he's injury prone, we would have 3 leadoff hitters (Ellsbury and Crawford would be the other 2) blah, blah, blah, if there is a chance you could get arguably the best SS in the league you jump at it.

I don't care if all of those guys turn into future all-stars, winning a title this year is worth it 100 percent. I know this could be a pipe dream, but if this is what it takes takes, Theo push the button.

1 Sox, 0 Rays

Thank God for Dustin Pedroia because I did not want to stay up any longer to be honest. It was 16 innings, 5 hours long and once Papelbon closed the door in the 16th, I could finally go to sleep.

This game shouldn't have gone this long to begin with, 1st the Tampa Bay relievers walked 10 batters, and in the 9th A Gon popped out in a clutch situation and in 10th he grounded out to the shift.

Josh Reddick made a stellar catch in the 10th robbing Justin Ruggiano that certainly would have been an extra base hit.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann both looked great, giving up a combined 3 hits over 8 innings apiece. It's good to see Beckett is over that devastating "knee injury".

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

Thank God that All-Star break is over. I really couldn't care less about the HR Derby, who did and didn't show, or the All-Star game itself, so I am ready for the 2nd half to get going. Tonight be get Andrew Miller against David Price.

Tampa Bay has taken three of the first five games with Boston, one of them coming when David Price won 3-2 at Fenway after allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings. Price is one of the best left handers in baseball, but is having a little bit of a down year by his standards. He is only 8-7 on the year and has an ERA of 3.70. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I guess we are just spoiled of what he can do.

Miller hasn't lost as a member of the Red Sox. He is 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA, and has been a very nice surprise especially with all the injuries the Sox have had to deal with. The one thing I would like to see from Miller is him getting deeper into games. So far this season he has yet to make it past the 6 innings marker. That can come in time though.

Boston has won six of the last nine meetings in Tampa. Even though they are going against an ace tonight I think Boston will win, as they seem to play up when the chips are stacked against them.

Red Sox win 5-4
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

Good Question

If the Red Sox had one 2 year 25 million dollar contract to give out, who would you give it to, Papelbon or Ortiz.

I'm really torn up by this because these are 2 positions I think you can get someone off the street and they can do. Ortiz obviously has had a huge resurgence this year after having some OK years the passed couple of them, and Papelbon has the numbers, but if you watch the Sox nothing really instills confidence.

I'm not really ready to say that Daniel Bard is the future closer, because I don't think he can handle it. Last year he was a disaster when it came to closing situations and Papelbon has converted 20 of 21 saves this year. If it's not broke, why fix it.

With Ortiz he is obviously older, he could bat .230 next year and no one would really be surprised, but he does have hero status here in Boston. I really do think he is a great influence on this team in the locker room. However, he is a hell of a hitter, has worked on hitting leftys and is no longer a HR or bust guy.

At the end of the day I will stick with a strong bullpen and lock up Papelbon because it's pretty much a game over once you get to the 8th when it goes Bard/ Papelbon. I hate to see Ortiz go, but I think he can be easily replaced if need be.

Ortiz Says He Wants 2 Year Deal

Well this really shouldn't shock anyone, but Ortiz came out and stated that he is looking for a 2 year deal from the Red Sox...

You know what? I’ve been in this organization for nine years. My numbers ain’t that bad, you know what I’m saying?” said Ortiz. “I don’t think I need to open any more eyes than I have already. If you haven’t seen me, you ain’t.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve got more in the tank, I’ve got more than that. I’m just going to turn 36,” Ortiz said. “What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen to me from now through the next two, three years?”

A year back I wasn't so sure what to do with Ortiz. I thought most likely the best option was to let him ride out his contract and then let him go, but he has been so good that I think he deserves a 2 year deal. He has changed his body shape, and looks a lot skinner. I think this has helped out a ton, and it can only help those terrible knees he has now that there is less weight on them. I am fine with Ortiz getting something like a 2 year $20 million dollar deal, and I hope he gets done ASAP.

MLB HR Derby

Well tonight's is the HR Derby. Here is who will be in it...

NL:
Prince Fielder, MIL
Matt Holliday, STL
Matt Kemp, LAD
Rickie Weeks, MIL

AL:
Jose Bautista, TOR
Robinson Cano, NYY
Adrian Gonzalez, BOS
David Ortiz, BOS

I think the 3 favorites have to be Bautista, Fielder, and Ortiz. I'm taking Ortiz tonight. He has the perfect swing for this kind of event and has done it before. I also think the AL is going to be way better then the NL (when aren't they), because the only one on that side that I think will make some noise is Fielder. Anyways, event starts at 8pm and should be fun with 2 Red Sox hitting.