Okajima hoping for trade

With Rich Hill out Hideki Okajima would rather not be called up and instead be traded.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry Oki, but the jig is up. You're stuck here or Japan. If anyone wanted you, you would have been gone by now. You have 0 value at all and are just terrible. I have been trying to defend you, I just can't.

Sit down and shut up.

Athletics 5, Red Sox 0

Well John Lackey registered his first good start of the season. Not so surprising considering his record in Oakland and against AL West teams. Oakland also has a poor offense. It's just a shame that the Sox' batters and bullpen had to let such a fine start go to waste.

Is it me, or are 90% of starting pitchers lefthanded these days? It seems like every day the Sox are facing a southpaw. And therefore half the lineup is either on the bench or ineffective.

The Sox managed a mere 5 hits, all of them singles. They were 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position. We've seen them hit against Toronto's stable of forgettable pitchers, but against good arms, they're really struggling. When Lowrie and Pedroia aren't getting 3 hits a game, there's little chance for any scoring.

I don't understand why Lackey was lifted after only 93 pitches through 6 innings. Was it to save his confidence? Take him out of a game while he's doing well, instead of risking a confidence crushing collapse? I hope not. He was cruising. And the Sox' bullpen sucks. Wheeler did well, but then Okajima put the game out of reach.

The bullpen is still my biggest concern. All five starters have given at least one impressive performance. Except Buchholz, and he'll likely cut through Oakland's lineup this afternoon. And hitters like Youkilis and Crawford will assuredly raise their averages well over .200. But this bullpen... who knows? They might be this terrible for the duration of the season.

Buchholz faces Gio Gonzalez at 3:30 Eastern. Gio is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA. And yes, he's a lefty.

-The Commodore

Reyes Makes Team, Okajima/Aceves To Minors

"Hideki Okajima will start the season in Triple-A along with fellow reliever Alfredo Aceves, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein announced Monday. Epstein divulged the team's final roster moves in preparation for Friday's season opener at Texas. The assignments of Okajima and Aceves to Pawtucket makes room in the Boston bullpen for left-hander Dennys Reyes and righty Matt Albers. Reyes and Albers are on major league contracts (after the Sox purchased Reyes' contract Saturday) and do not have options (WEEI)."

I guess that means Wakefield won the long reliever spot, which I think is kind of bullshit. Aceves is the better pitcher at this point, and Wakefield will be nothing but a mop up pitcher. Okajima I am not surprised has been sent down, he has struggled this spring, and I am not sure we will ever see him in the majors again. All in all the Sox have been playing terrible lately, and I really hope their pitching can get it going once the games actually mean something.

Red Sox 13 Rockies 11

Ugly game, but a win is a win. All the credit can go to Dustin Pedroia and his 3 HRs. Dice-K started the game, and he had a normal Dice-K line (5 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks), but he also added an RBI single in the 4th.

This game should've been a blowout for the Sox, but their bullpen was just horrible. Delcarmen and Okajima combined to go 2/3 of an inning surrendering 6 runs. That is completely unacceptable. Then going into the 9th, up by two, Boston once again turned to Papelbon who promptly blew his 2nd save in as many nights. The Sox were lucky that Pedroia is on fire going 5-5 with 3 HRs and 5 RBIs.

There is going to be a lot of concern about Papelbon after this game. I am still not overly worried, but this bullpen in general needs to get a lot better, and Boston might have to start considering making a move to bring in another arm.

Anyways, Papelbon was able to calm down in his 2nd inning of work for a 1-2-3 10th inning. With the win the Red Sox are still 2 games behind the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East.

Red Sox Take 2 of 3 from Baltimore

It's hard to be upset after winning any series. It's hard to be upset when the Sox have won 4 of 6, and 6 of 8, especially considering how awful they were to start the season. But more needs to be done. This is a good Red Sox team, just not good enough. And while Tampa Bay has fallen to earth, the Sox need to soar if they want to make the playoffs.

They need to do better than splitting 4 at home against the Royals. And they need to properly finish a potential sweep in Fenway South, a.k.a. Camdem Yards.

The Orioles are awful. Normally taking 2 of 3 on the road is satisfactory, even against a below average team. But the Orioles are below below average. They're 6 games out of 29th in MLB. They're what Baylor is to the Big XII in football. It's unfortunate to even go into extra innings with them.

Okajima and Ramirez were supposed to be the chewy center of the Sox bullpen. Papelbon was to close, Bard as the #1 set-up guy. Then Okajima and Ramirez filling in the gaps. They've been dreadful this year. 2 blown saves already, 2 losses, a 5.30 ERA, and a 1.77 WHIP. Manny Delcarmen's been decent this year, but he also participated in Sunday afternoon's loss.

It's not a cakewalk to win when you only score 3 runs, but it should happen. Especially when your team is allegedly constructed for "run prevention."

The Red Sox are still tied for 3rd with Toronto, and it's partially because of leaked games like this one, and the two against KC. Consider this: the Sox would be 1.5 out of 1st if they'd swept the Royals and the O's OR A's. That would also give them the second best record in all of baseball.

The Sox are good, but there are plenty of good teams this year. 4.5 games separate the best and 10th best records in MLB. The Sox need to gorge on wretched teams like Baltimore, though, in order to lift themselves above the fray.

The Sox have another feasting opportunity as they start a series in Cleveland tonight. The Indians are 21-34. Matsuzaka faces Carmona.

-The Commodore

Red Sox 2 Yankees 5

Well at least we can say that this is over. The Sox had 6 important games in a row against the Rays and Yankees, and what do they do? Drop all 6 of course. Right now the Sox look like a ship with holes in it. One day it's the hitting, then next the bullpen, and even if you get both of those going the starting pitching blows up in your face.

Last night the Sox once again had trouble scoring runs. The Sox had not scored in 31 innings. That was finally broken when V-Mart went deep to put the Sox up 2-1. Lester was amazing last night, but it was the bullpen that did them in. Bard came in for the 8th inning and let up 2 bombs to Teixeira and Damon (back-to-back). So, the Sox took him out and put in old reliable Okajima, but he wasn't much better letting up 2 runs on a single by Nick Swisher, who is becoming quickly one of my least favorite players in the MLB.

Like I said before Boston looks like a sinking ship. They get some good starts out of their pitchers and they are wasting it. The only way this is going to be turned around is if players like Bay and Ortiz wake the fuck up, because right now the Sox are looking like a team of guys who can't get past 1st base.

With the loss the Sox are now 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East, and are tied with the Rangers for the Wild Card spot.

Mariners 4 Red Sox 8

It was a bad series for the Red Sox, but at least it ended on a good note. After losing 2 close games to the Mariners over the weekend the Sox were finally able to pull one out. Pedroia and Ortiz started it off in the very first inning, as both of them took Morrow deep. The Mariners would not go down easy coming back in the 4th and 5th innings to take a 4-1 lead. Lester pitched well for the Sox. he let up 4 runs over 6 2/3 innings, but 3 of those runs were unearned.

Boston continued its HR parade in the 6th when Ellsbury took Morrow deep to tie the game at 4. It looked like it was going to be a nail biter, until the 7th inning when Seattle's bullpen cost them the game. Batista relieved Morrow, who had is longest outing of the season going 6 innings. Batista quickly lost control of this game. Ortiz had an RBI double, which was followed by Lowe walking in a run. Then Kotsay broke the game open with a single scoring 2 runs. This was all capped off with a run scored on a pass ball.

Masterson and Okajima finished up the game for Lester pitching 2 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Boston has to be happy that Ortiz is turning his season around in a big way, but Bay really needs to get himself going, as Boston has moved him to 5th in the batting order with his recent struggles.

With the win the Sox are still only 1 game up on the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East.

Red Sox 10 Orioles 11

Ugh do I have to write about this game?

Well lets get the epic collapse out of the game. The Sox were up 10-1 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. Then the best bullpen in baseball fell apart letting up 5 runs in the 7th and 5 more in the 8th to complete the biggest comeback in Baltimore Orioles history. Honestly it was the worst thing to watch in the world. Masterson let up 5 runs, and I was like "Ok, just not his night". Then Delcarmen comes in and get a couple outs, but also a hit. Then Okajima, who has been a stud for the Sox over the past couple of seasons and he lets up 4 runs. Saito? Yup he lets up a run, and it is all capped off when Nick Markakis hit a two-run double Papelbon. Ok, got it? Because I really don't want to get into it anymore. My overall feeling is that it was a rain delay and the Sox bullpen just had "one of those games".

Now lets get to some of the positive stuff. Smoltz looked good he pitched 4 innings letting up 3 hits 1 run with 2 Ks. He only pitched a little over 50 pitches last night and would have easily gone 6-7 innings if the rain didn't fuck everything up. The other good news is that the Sox offense finally starting putting runs up on the board. Pedroia and Youk both had a couple RBIs. Ortiz continues his resurgence with a couple hits. Pedroia just looks like a completely different player when he is batting in the #2 spot. I don't think we will see him moved from there ever again.

So, in the end it was a shitty game, but I wouldn't be over concerned. The bullpen has been great all year, and maybe this was just their "bad game". Unless we see more evidence that there is going to be problems I wouldn't read too much into this...

Red Sox 11 Nationals 3

Sox are so much better then the Nationals that it is hard to watch. Boston's bats exploded last night. Ellsbury went 4-4 with 3 RBIs, and Jason Bay continued his MVP like season going 4-6 with 3 RBIs including his 19th HR of the year as Boston walked all over the Nationals.

Penny wasn't great going 5 2/3 innings letting up 3 runs, but once he left the game the Sox bullpen shut the Nationals down. That's also when the Boston bats started heating up. It was 4-3 going into the 8th inning, but Boston put the game out of reach with a 6 run inning. Even with all the scoring the story of the game was Boston's bullpen once again being amazing. Delcarmen (who got the win), Okajima, Saito, and Bard combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings. You can really see the difference between a good team and a bad one when you see what their bullpen can do. The Nationals got a good start from Lannan, but the second he left the game the Sox crushed their bullpen.

With the win Boston is now 5 games over the Yankees and Jays for 1st place in the AL East.

Yankees 5 Red Sox 6

7-0

That is the Red Sox record against the Yankees this year. The Yankees Achilles heal all season has been their pitching, and last night was no different. Wang went as long as Burnett did the game before (2 2/3 innings), and let me tell you it was ugly. Wang had 0 control of any of his pitches, as he let up 3 BB 4 hits resulting in 4 ER. Wang's ERA is now 14.34...WOW.

Wakefield did not dominate this game, but he did exactly what the Red Sox needed which is about 6 inning, because the Sox bullpen is so good that they can really control the game from there. Boston's bullpen did stubble a little bit last night when Ramirez was touched up for 2 runs, but Okajima and Papelbon were able to shut down the Yankees, and put the Sox in first place.

Sox scored right out of the gate on an RBI single by Jason Bay-State, the Yankees answered with a HR by Posada. From that point on the Sox ripped apart Wang on 2 RBI doubles by Kottaras, and Pedroia. Then Lowell and Youk went deep, and the Sox basically had this one in the bag. Ramirez made it interesting in the 7th when he let up two bombs, but he was due for a tough outing, so I am really not worried about that.

Sox will try to make 8 wins against the Yankees tonight when Brad Penny goes against CC.

Daily Red Sox Spring Training Update

Pirates 3 Red Sox 2

- Lester turned in a strong first spring training outing, allowing two hits in two innings. He threw 30 pitches, 19 for strikes. Interesting note was that Lester featured a lot of changeups. We heard that they are doing this to save is arm, because he pitched so many innings last season. It may also be a nice additions to Lester's arsenal of pitches. He only threw about 3-4 changeups a game last year, but with all this work may choose to use that pitch a lot more. If he does look for this strikeout totals to go up this season.

- Saito looked great in his first outing, going 1 innings with 2 Ks, while allowing only 1 hit. The Sox were really impressed with how much movement his pitches have. The only worry with him is going to be his health, but so far so good.

- The Sox hitting has not been good so far in spring training (Ortiz/Drew/Tek have not recorded a hit), but the lone bright spot has been the play of Jeff Bailey, who has been hitting the cover off the ball. He added another RBI in this game, and a lot of people didn't notice that Bailey is the reigning International League Most Valuable Player. Too bad there is really no spot for him on the team.

- Okajima looked good in his 1 inning of work. He threw a scoreless inning, with no hits and 1 K. So far the Sox look like their bullpen is going to be nasty this year.

The Sox are playing Tampa Bay today at 1:05pm on NESN.

Red Sox Offseason Preview: Relief Pitchers

JUSTIN MASTERSON
Just another young guy that the Red Sox have control of for a long time. Masterson is signed through 2014 for cheap money. He was a stud for the Sox this year, but I don't think that he will be a starter next year. They projected him, as he was coming up through the minors, to be a reliever, and I think that will be the Sox greatest concern going into next season. Masterson really improved that bullpen a lot at the end of the season. Imagine what he can do with another year under his belt.

JAVIER LOPEZ
Lopez is eligible for arbitration this offseason, and I think the Sox will bring him back next year. It is tough to get lefty relief pitching, and he can be very affective when used correctly. Hopefully the Sox will have a deeper bullpen next year, so they won't be forced to use him for more then one batter.

MANNY DELCARMEN
The Sox have Delcarmen under control through 2012. I have to say of all the players this year, I was most disappointed with Delcarmen. I really thought this was going to be his breakout year. He could still do it, but I am beginning to lose faith that he is going to be anything more then a average to below average reliever.

HIDEKI OKAJIMA
Okajima is signed through next season, and the Sox have to be happy to have this guy still on the team. He struggled for a good part of the season, but really turned it on at the end, and I think he will still be a great setup man next season (especially if it is a combo of Okajima and Masterson).

MIKE TIMLIN
Had a great career, but it is time to retire. He just had nothing left, and by the end of the season he was a 1 pitch pitcher. I'll miss him, but he should have retired a year ago.

JONATHAN PAPELBON
Paps is under the Red Sox control till 2011. One of (if not the) best closer in baseball, had another great year for the Red Sox. There are rumors that he may have injured himself at the end of last season, but I expect him to be fine. Still, the Sox need to find a way to use him less, and try to keep him to one inning (or not pitch him on back-to-back days). We have seen him have to be shut down if he is over used.

Offseason Previews done:
Starting Pitchers
Relief Pitchers

Click here to see the rest:
Click Here

-BMack

Red Sox Put Away Angels

I was at Fenway for this game last night, and even though it was really cold out, the fans were pumped and there was trust in Lester that he would get the job done. I don't think anyone would have predicted the real hero in this game though.

Lester and Lackey pitched fantastic. Neither pitcher let up a run through the first 4 innings, as the game seemed to be just flying by. There was a feeling in the crowd that this game was going to be decided last in the game. Boston strikes first with 2 runs in the 5th as Ellsbury grounded out with men at 1st and 3rd, scoring a run. Then FINALLY little Dusty got his first hit of the series as he ripped a double to left scoring Varitek.

Lester just kept cruising and ended up pitching 7 scoreless innings allowing only 4 hits while striking out 4. Through 7 innings Lester had pitched 109 pitches, and a lot of people think that he should have come out for the 8th. Hind sight is 20/20, but it certainly seems like that would have been a good idea, as the Angels tied the game in the top of the 8th. Okajima didn't look bad as he was getting the 1st two outs of the inning, but then he walked Teixeira. Francona showed a complete lack of faith in Oki, and immediately pulled him for Masterson. Masterson came in and walked Vlad, then the ball got away from Tek and Teixeira and Vlad got into scoring position. Masterson still couldn't settle down as Hunter tied the game with a two run single.

The 9th had plenty of drama as the Angels had a man in scoring position with only 1 out. Aybar tied to bunt the run home, but missed as Willits tried to get a running start. Tek quickly chased him back to the 3rd, and got the tag on him for the 2nd out. There is a lot of questions over this, as after Tek applied the tag he fell to the ground and dropped the ball. Apparently by MLB rules it still counts as an out. Masterson was able to get the final out of the inning, and the stage was set.

J.D. Drew was the first one up for the Sox, and looked to be the guy that could be the hero of the game. Instead, Drew struck out looking on a 2-2 pitch. Jason Bay came up and ripped the ball to right field, it went into the stand, and Bay went to 2nd on the ground rule double. Kotsay got good wood on the ball, but it was right at Teixeira, who is one hell of a defense first baseman. Lowire came up with 2 outs and a man on 2nd. Schields threw a curve ball to Lowrie, and Lowrie was able to get enough on it to get it past a driving Howie Kendrick. Bay came flying around third, the throw was too late, and the Boston Red Sox will now face the Rays in the ALCS starting Friday. Lowrie is the youngest Red Sox player of all time to hit a walk off in the playoffs. Never would have thought in the beginning of the season that Jed Lowrie would be the hero to send the Sox into the next round of the playoffs.

-BMack

Sox Sweep Indians With 6-1 Win

The Red Sox are still have a chance for the AL East crown, since Tampa Bay lost to the Tigers earlier today. Boston looked great tonight as Lester carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning. He fished with a very strong outing of 6 innings allowing only 2 hits 1 runs with 4 Ks to get his 16th win of the year. He didn't need to go deep into this game, as the Sox offense got off to a very fast starting scoring 5 runs in the first two innings. Then in the 7th Youk made his MVP case with a solos HR (btw I still think Pedroia has it locked up).

Even Boston's bullpen looked great, because even when Lester left the game, the Sox held the Indians scoreless for the rest of them. Masterson, Okajima, and Papelbon each worked an hitless inning. I think Boston was showing the setup that they will be using in the playoffs (in terms of their bullpen). I really like those 3 guys, and I know a lot of people are really down on Okajima, but he has looked really good lately. The only sour note for the Sox was that J.D. Drew didn't play, no word yet on if his back acted up, but I was expecting him to play at least a couple innings tonight.

-BMack

Red Sox Clintch At Least A Tie For AL Wild Card With 3-0 Win Over Jays

Well we know at least the Sox will be playing 1 extra game after the regular season. Basically the Sox are in, but if they were to lose the rest of their game, and the Twins won all of theirs, the Sox and Twins would play a one game playoff.

Boston won today win outstanding pitching, and one long ball by Big Papi. Dice-K got his 18th victory of the year by having one his best outings of the season. He went 7 scoreless innings allowing only 2 hits 2 walks while striking out 6. This is exactly what I wanted to see from Dice-K near the end of the season. There is just a huge difference on what Boston looks like when they get 7 innings from their starting pitchers. After Dice-K left, Okajima and Papelbon (who got his 40th save) finished up the game going a combined 2 innings allowing only 1 hit with no runs. Hopefully this is what the Sox will get out of Okajima in the playoffs.

The Sox didn't score a lot of runs today, but they didn't need to with the pitching they were getting. Little Dusty reported for duty by hitting a sacrifice fly in the first scoring Ellsbury. Later in the game Ortiz iced it with a 2 run HR in the 3rd. It is great to see Ortiz playing so well, because the Sox are really going to need him playing at his best going into the playoffs.

-BMack

Beckett Gets Smoked, Jays Win 15-4

Josh Beckett pitched his worst game in a Red Sox uniform, as the Jays dismantled the Sox on their way to a 15-4 victory. Beckett went 2 1/3 innings allowing 8 runs on 8 hits. If that wasn't bad enough the Sox bullpen also looked like shit allowing 7 more runs, 3 off of Okijima. The Sox seem to have a lot of holes on their team. J.D. Drew hurt his back today, Okijima can't get anyone out (neither can Timlin or Delcarmen), their rotation just doesn't look as good when Wakefield isn't in it, and well Varitek should just be brought out back of Fenway and shot. The good news? Big Papi is starting to hit, and Youk/Pedrioa are on fire.

The Sox need to find a way to beat the Blue Jays as they play them 10 more times this year. The loss today dropped the Sox to 4 games back of Tampa Bay, and only a game up on the Twins.

-BMack

Yankees 5, Red Sox 4

I wouldn't worry too much about Sunday night's 5-4 extra inning loss to the Yankees. They scored the tying run in the 7th by skipping 3rd base. And Gardner's game winning single was as soft as a teddy bear.

Then again, the Red Sox not only could have won this game, they SHOULD have. They've become a .500 team when leading after 6 innings, and that's not the sign of a good ballclub.

Lopez was brought into the 7th inning to get out of a jam. Last year, we'd see Okajima in this situation, but Francona has justifiably shied away from using Hideki when there are runners on.

The pinch hitting in the top of the 9th confused me. I don't know why you'd take out Lugo and replace him with Varitek. Lugo was 1 for 3 on the day. Varitek had much better numbers against Rivera, but that was the old Jason Varitek, not this new super-slumping incarnation. Right now, the only people who want to see Jason Varitek with a bat in his hands are American League pitchers.

Alex Cora also deserves some blame for the game winning single. There's no way he could have thrown Gardner out at first, but Cora MUST keep that ball in the infield. He got to it, got a glove on it, but failed.

Kevin Youkilis was caught stealing. The Red Sox were 1 for 8 in stolen base attempts this series. I don't know why they refused to give Molina credit and continually tested him.

After going 3-7 on the road trip, the Red Sox finally return home to face the Twins. Minnesota has been playing well lately, but at least the games are in Fenway. Matsuzaka faces Scott baker Monday night.

-The Commodore

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4

The Sox put up 12 hits in their 6-4 victory over the Yankees this afternoon. Josh Beckett was shaky in the 1st, but settled down and pitched 6 solid innings, earning his 8th win of the season. Pedroia and Ellsbury combined to go 5 for 9. Mike Lowell was 2 for 4 with a double, a homer, and 4 RBI. Jason Varitek went 2 for 4, his first multiple hit game since May 31st. The Sox could have easily scored more, but they left 4 men in scoring position, and were caught stealing 3 times.

The one disconcerting aspect of the game was Hideki Okajima's performance in the 7th. He allowed a single and two walks to load the bases. He and Manny Delcarmen worked out of the jam, but Okajima has proven himself to be less than reliable this season. That's probably why he's been used as more of a middle reliever than an 8th inning set-up man.

His ERA is a seemingly solid 3.00, but his other stats tell a completely different story. His 1.47 WHIP is considerably higher than his 0.97 WHIP of 2007. He's blown 6 save opportunities. And inherited runners have been a major problem (12 of 15 have scored).

I think it's safe to say the Red Sox will be in the market for a set-up man at the trade deadline. Hopefully not a French Canadian ex-closer.

Justin Masterson makes his first career start against the Yankees Saturday afternoon. He faces 10-6 Mike Mussina, who will be making his 55th career start against the Red Sox.

-The Commodore

Orioles 6, Red Sox 3

Despite Manny Ramirez's impressive and funny catch, a couple of homers by Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek, and a solid start from Lester; the Red Sox found themselves on the wrong side of a 6-3 score. The inconsistent Sox have now lost 4 in a row, and 5 of their last 6.

Once again, the Orioles did their damage with 2 outs. Lester was pulled after 6, and Javier Lopez got the first 2 men he faced in the 7th. After an infield single, Craig Hansen came in and sucked, giving up a walk and a basehit to load the bases. Then Okajima was brought in. Okajima must hate every other Red Sox pitcher, because he seems to love inflating his teammate's ERAs by allowing inherited runners to score. He gave up the Grand Slam that put Baltimore on top 6-3. Hideki has inherited 11 runners this season, and 8 of them have scored. He only let 4 inherited runners score on him in 2007.

The Sox have a 10-14 record on the road, and an 8-11 record against divisional opponents. This is the third series that an AL East team has swept from the Red Sox.

But the club has a much needed day off, and will begin Interleague Play on Friday. Daisuke Matsuzaka goes against old friend Jeff Suppan of the Brewers.

-The Commodore