What were those uniforms the Rays were wearing?

Evidently these were the uniforms of the minor league Tampa Tarpons.
I thought they were honoring the University of Texas for some reason.

But forget THOSE unis...

Tampa's opponent, the unstoppable Buck Showalter led Orioles, broke out their all Orange uniforms.

Arguably one of the worst top and bottom uniform ever, they did get one thing REALLY right.

The Smiling Bird was back.

They looked like ORIOLES again with the smiling bird.

Come on Buck... as I wrote before the smiling bird is critical for the Orioles to be relevant again.

You've got the birds winning again. Now let's get the bird on the cap to relax!

Was tonight an ALCS preview? TBS is hoping not

The Rangers are playing the Rays at the Trop and game one of the series was a Cy Young match up of David Price versus Cliff Lee. The game itself was a thriller with the Rays coming back from behind and recapturing a portion of the AL East lead (and be tied for the best record in baseball.)

Both teams are filled with young exciting All Stars playing a brand of baseball that should be emulated across the land. And both are winning big despite financial constraints (the Rays and their microscopic payroll and the Rangers with bankruptcy and changing ownership.)

It could be a playoff preview, especially if the Rays capture the AL East crown, and a best of seven series between these teams (each in search of their first ever World Series title) would be filled with tension.

And it would the match up of TBS' nightmares.

Baseball has a hard enough time getting a national audience... with this series they will stuggle to get a LOCAL audience. The Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth area would probably be wondering why the coverage of Cowboys practice has been preempted and 13 years and a pennant later, people in Tampa Bay still seem unaware that there is a baseball team in St. Pete.

If baseball had any promotions savvy they would be able to make these teams seem exciting and the antidote to big market teams bullying smaller markets.

Then again, people CLAIM they don't want to see the Yankees play a big market team in the World Series... then the Yankees vs the Phillies gets higher ratings than when smaller budget teams like the White Sox, Astros, Tigers, Cardinals or Rays are in the series.

Baseball will never be football in popularity, but why can't they at least make their product SEEN more? Football can turn a Super Bowl between New Orleans and Indianapolis into a national event.

You'd think that a series that features Evan Longoria, David Price, Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton, Elvis Andrus, Cliff Lee and Vladimir Guerrero would at least catch some people's attention.

Maybe when Bud Selig steps down, someone who can MARKET a sport can take over.

(That's right, I had to find a way to blame Selig.)

We'll take the ugly wins

Oh the Red Sox bullpen WANTED to make this interesting. Oh they tried to let Tampa back in this one... but I can't call it a dodged bullet. Even when they brought in Papelbon, I never thought this game was in real danger of going in the L column.

It's a big one.

With all the injuries on this squad, they have to hold their own until everyone is done mending.
Win one of the next two games and we've got a series win against a top team with a depleted staff.

The thing that was most startling about this win was reading the box score. Lackey is 9-3? Doesn't it feel like he's been mediocre this year? And yet he'll wind up a 15-17 game winner by the time the year is done.

Go figure.
I'll take the W.

Attention! In coming wounded Red Sox!

I've never been so depressed after seeing the Red Sox win 3 out of 4 games on the road against tough opponents.

Our disabled list has too many players that were on my "We can't survive without them" list.

Josh Beckett... Jacoby Ellsbury... Mike Lowell... Jeremy Hermida... Victor Martinez... Dustin Pedroia...

And that's NOT including Clay Buchholz who were are all holding our collective breaths isn't too hurt.

Yeah, it was fun to beat up the National League. But guess what? The Red Sox went 16-2 against the National League in 2006 and looked like a locomotive.

Then the injuries piled up... and they missed the playoffs.

The Rays are coming in, and they are going through their OWN issues. This has become as must win series for the Red Sox. They need to hold the Rays back and keep pace in the Wild Card, which they still lead.

But everyone else on the Sox had better stay healthy. Any more injuries and they might have to resort to Meatball Surgery to fix the team!

44 game season

118 games into the season and the first and 21st biggest payrolls have reached a standstill.

The Yankees and Rays are dead even... and chances are both teams are making the post season. (It will take an effort worthy of the 2007 Rockies for the Red Sox to be a factor again.)

And while any suspense to whether or not they will be playing in October, there is concern this year to actually WIN the Division.

Unlike say 2003* and 2004 or 2008 when the ALCS was a match up of AL East teams that steamrolled through the competition, there is a truly formidable obstacle in the way of the ALCS:

The Texas Rangers and Cliff Lee on the road in Arlington for Games 1 and 5.

You want to face him? Granted, both the Yankees and Rays won games recently started by Lee... but how many times do you think you can pull THAT off?

So the two teams are going to play 44 and whomever has the best record will face the White Sox at home. No push over team, to be sure... but homefield advantage and avoiding Cliff Lee is the key.

And so far, guess what?
EVERYTHING is pointing Tampa's way.
They have a slight edge on head to head match up (6-5 over the Yankees) and if they finished tied, then the team with the best head to head match up will be the Division Champ (thus why the Yankees were the Division Champs in 2005 while tied with the Red Sox.)

They play 7 more times against each other.

The Rays have an edge in pitching edge. While they have experienced injuries, they have been able to stick in minor league stud Jeremy Hellickson into their rotation and Soriano has made the bullpen solid.

The Yankees have Sabathia, but Burnett is inconsistent, Vazquez is mediocre, Hughes is up and down and Pettitte is hurt. And oh yeah, no reliever not named Rivera can be trusted.

And schedule wise, Tampa finishes the season against Seattle, Kansas City and Baltimore while the Yankees finish against Toronto and Red Sox teams who would LOVE to knock the Yankees out of the Division Lead.

I wish it were a 3 team race, but 6 games back in the loss column with 7 weeks to play is a bit much to ask for.


*Yes I know the A's nearly beat the Red Sox in 2003... but they didn't, so there.

The 2010 Boston Red Sox... based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

There was a moment in the laboriously titled movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire where I just threw my hands in the air and couldn't believe everything the filmmakers were putting this poor girl through.

She was beaten, abused, tormented, neglected and every unthinkable offense that a parent could do to their child was done to her.

And then towards the end of the movie as she was starting to find hope in her life, she finds out she has HIV.

I sat back when I was watching it and said "REALLY? She hasn't gone through enough. This poor fictitious character needs THAT now?"

I know I am going to offend someone when I say this, but I had a similar reaction when I saw Kevin Youkilis go down to injury last night.

REALLY? We need to lose YOUK now?

The disabled list has Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Manny DelCarmen, Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek and pretty soon Kevin Youkilis?

And to top things off they lose a pair of one run games to the Rays?

REALLY?
It won't be long before Gabourey Sidibe is pitching for the Sox.

Let's update the tally

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 25

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 - 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)
May 29 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Zack Greinke holds the Sox to one run, but they make it stick)

June 1 - 9-4 win against Oakland. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 4-0 hole but Victor Martinez goes 5-5 and the Sox score 9 runs late.)
June 2 - 6-4 win against Oakland. (Dice-K puts the Sox in a 3-0 hole before they come to bat, but come back thanks to Papi's homer.)

June 8 - 3-2 win at Cleveland. (With Papelbon unavailable, Okajima, Ramirez and Bard hang on to make a winner out of Wakefield.)

June 19 - 5-4 win against the Dodgers. (Sox make 4 errors, blow a late lead and let Manny homer, but they win it in the bottom of the 9th on a Pedroia single.)
June 20 - 2-0 win against the Dodgers. (Dodgers blow an early bases loaded scoring opportunity and allow Buchholz to settle down for the win.)

June 24 - 13-11 win in Colorado. (The bullpen lets up 9 runs in 5 innings, but Pedroia homers 3 times including with 2 outs in the 10th to win a wild and stupid game.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in San Francisco. (An injury running the bases takes Buchholz out in the second, but the bullpen and Mike Cameron's bat and glove win the game.)
July 2 - 3-2 win against the Orioles. (Wakefield gets the win and J.D. Drew homers twice, but it is Nava's 2 out 8th inning bloop that landed between three fielders that breaks the tie.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 24

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 - 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi's bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)
May 27 - 4-3 loss to Kansas City. (Dice-K walks the go ahead run in and lets another score on a wild pitch as the Royals no name bullpen shut down the Hot Sox.)
May 28 - 12-5 loss to Kansas City. (Sox blow a 3-0 first inning lead to be blown out in Fenway.)
June 3 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox lose a slugfest where two Boston runners are thrown out at home.)

June 6 - 4-3 loss in Baltimore. (Sox rally to tie the game in the 9th only to lose it on a small ball rally in the 11th.)

June 10 - 8-7 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow an early 5-0 lead and then after rallying in the 9th to take the lead coughed it up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th)
June 13 - 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. (Sox 9th inning rally comes up short)

June 22 - 2-1 loss in Colorado. (The Sox waste a solid Lester start and twice leave the bases loaded.)
June 23 - 8-6 loss in Colorado. (The Sox batter Ubaldo Jimenez around but Papelbon lets up 2 homers in the 9th to lose it.)
June 25 - 5-4 loss in San Francisco. (The Sox strand 11 runners in the last 4 innings wasting a solid Wakefield performance.)
July 5 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox spoil a 5-1 lead and 2 homers by Eric Patterson when Dice-K and the bullpen couldn't hold down the Rays.)
July 6 - 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox bats go dead and Kevin Youkilis goes down to injury.)


All the way down to +1.

The Red Sox have to turn to Tim Wakefield... who are the Rays throwing?
Ahhh. Cy Young front runner David Price.

REALLY?

The Rays have a no hitter... the Mets and Padres don't. Odd isn't it?

Off the top of my head I can think of a bunch of pitchers who at one point in their careers played for the Mets who also threw a no hitter.

Without looking it up I can list Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Doc Gooden, David Cone, Hideo Nomo, Al Leiter and Mike Scott all threw no hitters and I am sure I am missing one or two.

None of them pitched a no hitter in a Mets uniform.
Despite a great tradition of dominating pitchers and consistently playing in a pitchers Ballpark (whether it be Shea or CitiField) the Mets have oddly never had a no hitter.

And with several Cy Young winners to their teams checkered history, the Padres also have never had a no hitter. Like the Mets they have always played in a pitchers park... yet could never even slap together a combined no hitter.

The Rockies have.
The Diamondbacks have a few.
So do the Marlins.

The expansion team Mariners, Blue Jays, Astros, Rangers, Angels, Expos, Royals and Brewers all have no no hitters on their docket.

And with Matt Garza, so do the Rays.

Only the Mets and Padres stand alone.

I would say the safe money is on the Padres to throw a no hitter next. They are having a charmed season... and the term "no hits" will be often used to describe a Mets game this year, but they would be referring to New York's offense.

And now it's third place time

Dan Aykroyd has a line in Trading Places that he says to Eddie Murphy before they go to the commodity exchange.

He says "One minute you are up half a million in soy beans and the next BOOM your kids don't go to college and they have repossessed your Bentley. You with me?"

Well that is the AL East in the first half of the 2010 season.

One minute the Red Sox are tied for the most wins in all of baseball and have a 5-1 lead in Tropicana Field and the next BOOM they've lost and are sitting in third place with Beckett, Buchholz, Pedroia, Martinez, Varitek and Ellsbury on the disabled list.

The Sox can't afford to lose many games head to head with the Rays and Yankees... lest we forget 2005 when the Sox and Yankees both qualified for the playoffs and finished tied, and the Yankees got the Division Title because of the 10-9 head to head record.

We need to start putting teams away and get over the hump.

Until then, it is time to update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 25

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 - 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)
May 29 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Zack Greinke holds the Sox to one run, but they make it stick)

June 1 - 9-4 win against Oakland. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 4-0 hole but Victor Martinez goes 5-5 and the Sox score 9 runs late.)
June 2 - 6-4 win against Oakland. (Dice-K puts the Sox in a 3-0 hole before they come to bat, but come back thanks to Papi's homer.)

June 8 - 3-2 win at Cleveland. (With Papelbon unavailable, Okajima, Ramirez and Bard hang on to make a winner out of Wakefield.)

June 19 - 5-4 win against the Dodgers. (Sox make 4 errors, blow a late lead and let Manny homer, but they win it in the bottom of the 9th on a Pedroia single.)
June 20 - 2-0 win against the Dodgers. (Dodgers blow an early bases loaded scoring opportunity and allow Buchholz to settle down for the win.)

June 24 - 13-11 win in Colorado. (The bullpen lets up 9 runs in 5 innings, but Pedroia homers 3 times including with 2 outs in the 10th to win a wild and stupid game.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in San Francisco. (An injury running the bases takes Buchholz out in the second, but the bullpen and Mike Cameron's bat and glove win the game.)
July 2 - 3-2 win against the Orioles. (Wakefield gets the win and J.D. Drew homers twice, but it is Nava's 2 out 8th inning bloop that landed between three fielders that breaks the tie.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 23

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 - 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi's bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)
May 27 - 4-3 loss to Kansas City. (Dice-K walks the go ahead run in and lets another score on a wild pitch as the Royals no name bullpen shut down the Hot Sox.)
May 28 - 12-5 loss to Kansas City. (Sox blow a 3-0 first inning lead to be blown out in Fenway.)
June 3 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox lose a slugfest where two Boston runners are thrown out at home.)

June 6 - 4-3 loss in Baltimore. (Sox rally to tie the game in the 9th only to lose it on a small ball rally in the 11th.)

June 10 - 8-7 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow an early 5-0 lead and then after rallying in the 9th to take the lead coughed it up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th)
June 13 - 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. (Sox 9th inning rally comes up short)

June 22 - 2-1 loss in Colorado. (The Sox waste a solid Lester start and twice leave the bases loaded.)
June 23 - 8-6 loss in Colorado. (The Sox batter Ubaldo Jimenez around but Papelbon lets up 2 homers in the 9th to lose it.)
June 25 - 5-4 loss in San Francisco. (The Sox strand 11 runners in the last 4 innings wasting a solid Wakefield performance.)
July 5 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox spoil a 5-1 lead and 2 homers by Eric Patterson when Dice-K and the bullpen couldn't hold down the Rays.)


Down to +2

Maybe the Red Sox should remember Eddie Murphy's line right after Aykroyd's speech.
"We got to kill those Mother Fu--ers.... We got to kill them."

Let's look on the bright side for tonight's game

Sure a lot of things SUCKED about tonight for the Red Sox.

Yeah, they got swept by the Rays.
Yeah, they have lost 4 in a row.
Yeah, they fell just short in a come from behind effort.
Yeah, Tim Wakefield got rocked.
Yeah, David Price looked like he is solidifying his Cy Young candidacy.
Yeah, we had to have stupid Matt Garza shut the Sox down.
Yeah, the Sox fell to 18-20 against the AL East.
Yeah, it is feeling more and more like 2006 with the injuries and the Sox fading away.

But hey! Nobody got hurt!

Let's update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 25

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 - 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)
May 29 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Zack Greinke holds the Sox to one run, but they make it stick)

June 1 - 9-4 win against Oakland. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 4-0 hole but Victor Martinez goes 5-5 and the Sox score 9 runs late.)
June 2 - 6-4 win against Oakland. (Dice-K puts the Sox in a 3-0 hole before they come to bat, but come back thanks to Papi's homer.)

June 8 - 3-2 win at Cleveland. (With Papelbon unavailable, Okajima, Ramirez and Bard hang on to make a winner out of Wakefield.)

June 19 - 5-4 win against the Dodgers. (Sox make 4 errors, blow a late lead and let Manny homer, but they win it in the bottom of the 9th on a Pedroia single.)
June 20 - 2-0 win against the Dodgers. (Dodgers blow an early bases loaded scoring opportunity and allow Buchholz to settle down for the win.)

June 24 - 13-11 win in Colorado. (The bullpen lets up 9 runs in 5 innings, but Pedroia homers 3 times including with 2 outs in the 10th to win a wild and stupid game.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in San Francisco. (An injury running the bases takes Buchholz out in the second, but the bullpen and Mike Cameron's bat and glove win the game.)
July 2 - 3-2 win against the Orioles. (Wakefield gets the win and J.D. Drew homers twice, but it is Nava's 2 out 8th inning bloop that landed between three fielders that breaks the tie.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 25

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 - 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi's bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)
May 27 - 4-3 loss to Kansas City. (Dice-K walks the go ahead run in and lets another score on a wild pitch as the Royals no name bullpen shut down the Hot Sox.)
May 28 - 12-5 loss to Kansas City. (Sox blow a 3-0 first inning lead to be blown out in Fenway.)
June 3 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox lose a slugfest where two Boston runners are thrown out at home.)

June 6 - 4-3 loss in Baltimore. (Sox rally to tie the game in the 9th only to lose it on a small ball rally in the 11th.)

June 10 - 8-7 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow an early 5-0 lead and then after rallying in the 9th to take the lead coughed it up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th)
June 13 - 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. (Sox 9th inning rally comes up short)

June 22 - 2-1 loss in Colorado. (The Sox waste a solid Lester start and twice leave the bases loaded.)
June 23 - 8-6 loss in Colorado. (The Sox batter Ubaldo Jimenez around but Papelbon lets up 2 homers in the 9th to lose it.)
June 25 - 5-4 loss in San Francisco. (The Sox strand 11 runners in the last 4 innings wasting a solid Wakefield performance.)
July 5 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox spoil a 5-1 lead and 2 homers by Eric Patterson when Dice-K and the bullpen couldn't hold down the Rays.)
July 6 - 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox bats go dead and Kevin Youkilis goes down to injury.)
July 7 - 6-4 loss in Tampa Bay. (Matt Garza comes out of the pen, shuts down a late rally as the Rays sweep the Sox.)


BREAK EVEN.

It has come to this... The Sox need to get off the mat, otherwise this tally might be meaningless.

Off to Toronto.

Once again, Daisuke Matsuzaka has only one bad inning

About a month ago, I wrote about how 91% of the innings Daisuke Matsuzaka has pitched have been pretty good.

I wrote about how if you took out 4 1/3 out of his 49 innings pitched, he would be putting up Cy Young caliber numbers.

Last night? More of the same.
He pitched 5 shutout innings last night and let up 3 runs in one inning.

He's 5-3 with a 4.50 ERA over 60 innings. He's let up 31 walks and 50 hits, striking out 50.

Let's take the one bad inning from last night's game and the one bad inning from his previous start along with the other 4 1/3 innings.

That's 6 1/3 innings removed from 60, a little more than 10% of his innings.
In the other roughly 89% of his innings his numbers are:

4 earned runs, 24 hits, 0 homers, 18 walks over 53 2/3 innings.

That is an 0.67 ERA and a WHIP of 0.78.

Yes I know this is an insane exercise... but I am telling you, if Dice-K can avoid that one bad inning, he could be pitching like a bad ass. Or at least someone worth about $9 mil a year.

Someone will say Brandon Morrow's game was a bad one, I'm sure

The Blue Jays Brandon Morrow just completed his against the Blue Jays.

His line was pretty amazing.

9 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 17 strikeouts, a complete game shutout and a complete of a sweep.

And he did it against the second best team in baseball (but evidently the easiest team to no hit in baseball). And it was a pressure packed 1-0 game to boot.

But with all the new ways to measure stats and a pitchers effectiveness, I am sure there is some blogger out there who will write about how bad this game was.

There will be some measurement that I've never heard of that will be flung and me to show that this game was actually a poor start.

"He nearly threw a no hitter!"
"Yeah but did you check his "NOBOGH" percentage?"
"His WHAT?"
"His Number Of Bounces Of Grounders Hit percentage. The more bounces a ground ball takes, the more likely the ball will be picked up. His grounders have a low NOBOGH, which is bad."

Think I am joking? When Edwin Jackson threw his labored no hitter earlier this year (against the Rays) I heard people call in to shows and write on their blogs "Was it even an effect start?"

Um... He threw 9 innings, let up no runs and no hits.

So YES!!!
I don't care how many ways you bend the stats and how much origami you do with the numbers... throwing 9 innings, giving up 0 runs and 0 hits and getting a 1-0 victory IS A GOOD START!

Maybe it isn't a glamorous perfect game, but shouldn't he get CREDIT for working out of tense jams?

So prepare yourself for the craziness.
There will be someone out there shaking their head at any adulation of Morrow's performance.

We'll be looking at the runs, the hits and the results... yet someone will be counting the bounces and saying "Tsk tsk tsk... too many."