White Sox 5 Red Sox 9

I think Junichi Tazawa time in the majors is just about over. I was at the game last night, and let me tell you the 9 runs he let up don't tell you the whole story of how bad he pitched. The Sox didn't really help him with all the bad fielding, but every out was a laser.

After just 4 innings the Sox were down 9-0. Danks has a solid outing for the White Sox, but the Sox could have put a lot more runs on the board during the 5th inning, but poor base running by Pedroia cost them that chance. The game got so ugly that in the 8th and 9th innings the Sox put Nick Green on the mound, and he actually pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Jacoby Ellsbury left the game after suffering a high ankle sprain in the bottom of the fifth. Francona said he didn't think it was serious, but I really question if he will be able to play tonight.

With the loss the Sox are up just 1 1/2 games in the Wild Card race.

Tigers 5 Red Sox 6

Well the losing streak is finally over. The Sox didn't make it easy, but a win is a win, and the Sox really needed this one. Boston jumped all over Edwin Jackson in this game. They made him throw 104 pitches in only 4 innings.

Pedroia started the Sox off right hitting a 2 run HR, but unlike so many other games recently the Sox kept putting runs on the board. In the very next innings Nick Green hit a solo shot and Ortiz had an RBI single. Like I said before Boston didn't make it easy as Brad Penny was solid, but not great going 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. Detroit scored 2 runs between the 4th and 5th, so Boston's lead shrank to 4-2. Bay, who was dropped to 7 in the batting order, did his best Fisk impression barely keeping a HR fair as it went into the Monster.

Things got rocky in the 7th as Delcarmen, who has been terrible of late, let up another 2 runs and the game was tied at 5-5. Nick Green once again became the savior in this game hitting a sac fly in the bottom of the inning. Boston tried to close out the 8th with Ramiriez, but when he started to struggle Boston had to lean on their closer to get the last 4 outs of the game, which he did easily. That gave Papelbon his 28th save of the season.

With the win Boston is now 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East, and since the Rangers did not play last night the Sox have a 1/2 game lead in the race for the Wild Card.

A's 9 Red Sox 8 (11 innings)

Lately you could think about the Sox like a ship with many holes in it. The first big hole was their hitting. They weren't getting run support even though their pitchers were holding down the fort. After putting some runs on the board over the past couple games another hole has opened. The bullpen imploded on the Sox last night and cost them a game they had in the bag.

After letting up 2 runs to start the game the Sox offense started to heat up scoring 5 runs in the 3rd innings. With the score 6-2 going into the 7th inning it looked as if the Sox had this game. Buchholz had a solid (but not great) game going 5 2/3 letting up 2 runs on 9 hits with 5 Ks, but it was the bullpen that did them in.

The A's scored a run in the 7th, then another in the 8th. Still going into the 9th inning the Sox were up 3 runs with Papelbon coming in (cue the music!!). Boston led 7-4 when Papelbon came in for the 9th, but he walked the leadoff hitter and gave up three hits. He was also hurt by 2 throwing errors by shortstop Nick Green (can we please get Marco Scutaro now!!!!). It was still 7-7 with 2 out in the 11th when Ellis doubled off Manny Delcarmen and scored on Davis' single to right which ended the game.

I know this was a terrible loss, and I have my concerns about Papelbon, but how much of this can you blame on the bullpen? I mean they hadn't allowed a run in 25 innings since the All-Star break, and the inning that they did get to Papelbon there were 2 errors by Nick Green. Still, Boston looks like a sinking ship right now, and the holes don't seem to want to close. Does that mean Theo needs to make a move, and I mean a real move not signing AAA players? We will see.

The good news is the Yankees lost last night, so Boston is still only 2 1/2 games back for 1st place in the AL East.

Red Sox 1 Rangers 3

The Red Sox have lost a season high 5 straight games. After losing the AL East lead Tuesday, the Sox are two games behind the Yankees now, who have won 6 straight after beating Baltimore last night. Boston is hitting .192 with 13 runs in six games since the All-Star break.

Things started well for the Sox as Buchholz got through the first 2 innings without letting up any runs, and Nick Green went deep in the 3rd to put the Sox up 1-0. The problem is that is all the offense the Sox got last night. Texas on the other hand was very patient at the plate and chased Clay out of the game after only 4 innings. Ian Kinsler went deep for Texas in the 3rd. In the 4th the Rangers tacked on 2 more runs, and that is all they would need as the Sox look for like the Mariners then a team that was in the top 5 in runs scored.

The only good news in this game was that Boston's bullpen played very well. Delcarmen, Bard, Okajima, and Papelbon combined to pitch 4 scoreless innings. Still, Boston is now 2 games back of the Yankees for 1st, and their anemic offense has shown no signs of life...

Red Sox 6, Braves 5

Nick Green deserves an honorable mention in the category of Red Sox Contributions for the 2009 Season. The reason the Sox are in first is pitching, along with Jason Bay's hitting, and things like that. But Nick Green has quietly hit .293 with a .345 OBP. And Sunday afternoon, he was on center stage, hitting a walk-off shot to right, and giving the Sox their 4th consecutive series win.

An extremely encouraging sight was David Ortiz's bomb to left center in the 1st. He's hitting .292 in June. But more importantly, he's slugging .604 with an OBP of .393. Those are the kinds of numbers we're used to seeing from David Ortiz.

Is this just a fluke sort of thing with Ortiz? Is his slump merely slumping, waiting to eventually return back to normal? Is this a bear market rally? I don't think it is. But I do doubt that he'll continue with the .600 SLG and .390 OBP numbers.

The Sox have Monday off, then play the lowly Nationals in DC. How bad are the Nats? They're 7 games behind Cleveland for 29th place in Major League Baseball. They're 21 games behind the Red Sox. They're the only team in baseball with a winning percentage below .300. They could win 1 game in this 3 game series, and their winning percentage would go up.

Brad Penny faces John Lannan Tuesday night.

-The Commodore

Yankees 0 Red Sox 7

The Sox have now beaten the Yankees 6 times in a row. You have to love with all there high paid players that they brought in they still can't figure the Red Sox out. A.J. Burnett was on the mound for the Yankees. Up until this game he had never lost to the Red Sox, but that changed quickly as he was chased out of the game after only 2 2/3 innings.

Boston had everything clicking yesterday, as Ortiz hit a 2 run HR in the 2nd inning. That HR marked the second homer in three games for the struggling slugger, who looks to be turning things around a bit as he now is riding a 7 game hitting streak. Drew kept the runs coming as he added another 2 runs with a double that scored Green and Kotsay.

That is really all the Sox would need, as Beckett continued to be unhittable. He only went 6 innings, but he could have gone longer if needed. He finished with 6 innings letting up 0 runs on 1 hit with 8 Ks. After the Sox scored runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 7th inning the bullpen took care of the rest pitching 3 scoreless innings.

Boston looked great last night, and now are tied for 1st place in the AL East.

Sox 2 Mariners 3

Another heart breaking loss for the Sox, as they just can't seem to win on the west coast. A costly error late in the game now make the Sox just 2-4 on their west coast trip, and whatever road problems the Sox had last year seem to have followed them into this season.

Masterson pitched well as he went 6 1/3 letting up only 2 runs, but he did let up 9 hits, and if Seattle had any good hitters at all this could have been a really bad outing. Boston tied the game at 2 in the 4th inning when J.D Drew hit his 6th HR of the season, and it was a bomb. Then once again the Boston bats feel quiet. Ramon Ramirez came in to pitch the 9th. He didn't pitch bad, but a throwing error by Nick Green let the game winning run on base. He then scored on an RBI single by Gutierrez to hand Ramirez his first loss in a Red Sox uniform.

Boston has to find a way to get the bats going. They benched Ortiz for this series, and it will be interesting to see what they do when they bring him back. Does he still bat 3rd? If not then where? He is supposed to play on Tuesday so I guess those questions will be answered then. Boston is now 3 games back in the AL East and are just 9-12 on the road this season (13-4 at home).