Welcome to Boston, Jason Bay!

Sox: 2 A's: 1

Jason Bay's first game as a Red Sox was a long, but hugely successful one. The left fielder from North of the Border, who came over from the Pirate ship in the trade that sent Manny westbound into Joe Torre's realm, scored both of the game's runs, with some help from the rookie Jed Lowrie. Lowrie hit a sac fly that brought him home in the 2nd, scoring the game's first run following his first Red Sox at-bat, where he drew a walk. Bay was on base four times, with two walks, a triple, and being hit by a pitch. He made a run-saving diving catch and played the ball well off the wall in his debut. The Fenway crowd welcomed Bay with open arms and plenty of homemade signs, many of which played on Massachusetts' official nickname of "The Bay State". He got a standing ovation as he walked to the plate for his first at-bat and as he took first on the walk, not to mention when he scored the team's first run two batters later.

Though the offense was far from overwhelming, especially with RISP, the team played better than they had since Sunday night's win over the Yanks. The A's aren't exactly the Angels, but the Sox had an energy to their play that had been lacking earlier in the week. An energy that came from making a fresh start.

Tomorrow, Lester takes the mound against A's lefty Dana Eveland. Let's hope Mikey Lowell is okay and doesn't need to go on the DL. He left the game in the 10th after tweaking his hip running to first.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON A GREAT DEBUT BY JASON BAY!!!!

Trade Deadline Blog: Manny Being Dodger

Yes, Manny has gotten his wish and he's headed for La-La Land. No, wait, hasn't he been in La-La Land for, oh, I don't know, 36 years? Manny and Joe Torre...interesting concept. All kidding aside, Manny is a great hitter and there will be times when his 500+ home run bat will be sorely missed. However, the Manny Melodrama of the past week was becoming toxic to the team. It was evident in last night's game how distracted the team was. The Boston Globe said that "one day after a near no-hitter, they played a no-fielder" Everyone from Manny's teammates and manager to the front office, to Red Sox Nation had had enough, so they shipped him out of Boston and brought on a new left-fielder from the Pirate ship, Jason Bay.

Bay, from what I've read, is 29 years old, bats .282 with 22 HR and 64 RBI. He's been described as a player with all-around baseball skills, from the bat to the field to the base paths. It will be interesting to see where Tito bats him tomorrow night. I'm thinking he bats 5th or 6th as they see how he will produce in Boston. Here are my predictions for possible lineups.

Lineup #1:

Pedroia
Youkilis
Ortiz
Drew
Lowell
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #2

Pedroia
Drew
Ortiz
Youkilis
Lowell
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #3

Pedroia
Youkilis
Ortiz
Lowell
Drew
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #4

Pedroia
Drew
Ortiz
Lowell
Bay
Youkilis
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

There are other possibilities, but this blog is getting long enough! Also on the move are Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen. Mossy was great with the Sox, but there was no room for him in the outfield and he's good enough to be a starter on another team (namely, the Pirates). Hansen was still finding his way as a reliever and may be better off in the smaller-market Pittsburgh.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! WELCOME, JASON BAY!!!

Swept. At. Fenway.

Sox: 2 Team The Sox Have Seen Enough Of: 9

The good news is the Sox don't have to play the Angels any more this season. The bad news is, well, everything else that happened tonight, save for Coco's bat. The Sox were swept at home, folks. In a season where Fenway has been nirvana for them, this is about as bad as it gets. They got a few more hits than last night, with Pedey's hit in the third putting away thoughts of another no-hitter. Interestingly enough, they guy pitching for the Halos tonight is from my hometown, Springfield, VA. Doesn't mean I'm rooting for him, however; he's wearing the wrong uniform...

Beckett fell apart in the 6th inning, but he wasn't helped by the train-wreck defense, which he ended up being part of. Four errors in one inning! The Sox' defensive meltdown put the game out of reach and the sweep in the bag for the Angels.

All the trade-deadline Manny rumors are making my head spin. One of them looks like it could turn out pretty well for the Sox, but I don't want to comment on it because I don't want to get my hopes up. This Manny circus appears to be having a detrimental effect to the team. Something had to be distracting the team in that multi-error inning!

Tomorrow's an off day and this team certainly needs it. Is it just me or is '08 Lester looking more and more like '07 Beckett?

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!

Time for a Sing Along

Cuz I've got too much time on my hands...


When The Sox Start Scoring Runs (to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In")

When the Sox start scoring runs
Oh when the Sox start scoring runs
Against the better pitchers
That's when we know they will go far

When the 'pen starts throwing strikes
Oh when the 'pen starts throwing strikes
And the pitching's more consistent
And keep runners from scoring

When they start winning on the road
When they start winning on the road
And start beating top contenders
Come October, they will play.

But first the Sox must score more runs
But first the Sox must score more runs
Help their pitchers out a bit more
Then they will play better baseball

Good Lord, They Almost Got No-Hit by Lackey!

Sox: 2 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States of America, Earth: 6

Pedey and Youk saved the Sox from the Ultimate Humiliation tonight by breaking up a no-hitter in the bottom of the ninth by John Lackey. This is the same John Lackey the Sox used to OWN, especially at Fenway. Not so tonight. He was steamrolling the comatose Red Sox offense through 8 1/3 innings until Pedey singled and Youk took him deep. An out by Papi, a walk by Manny, and another out by Lowell later, the Sox came away with the loss, but at least prevented a no-hitter and a shutout.

Buch didn't do too terribly tonight, even though he was touched for six runs, four of them earned. Sloppy defense and not-too sharp relief by Hansen didn't help his cause. He had a couple of one-two-three innings and went 6 1/3, so there are signs of progress. Oki is starting to come around, so that is good news too in a stretch where good news for this team is hard to come by.

The Sox need to wake up those bats and play with some more fire if they're going to remain in playoff contention. They can't keep relying on the Rays or the Yanks losing. The Rays won tonight, by the way. But there are two months left in the season and let's hope they're two good ones for the Sox.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!

Dice-K Gets Diced

Sox: 5 Halos: 7

Alas, there was no 12th win for Dice-K tonight. The sixth inning did him in, with the Angels knocking two multiple-run dingers and pulling off a successful squeeze against Masterson in relief. The Sox came back with three more runs, including a two-out ninth inning monster shot by Manny, but it wasn't enough. Lowell flied out to end the game. The Sox did manage to outhit the Halos 11 to 9, but those 2 and 3 run homers by the L.A. boys are what killed them.

The good news is...the Rays lost! And the Yanks are in a 9-run hole in the ninth. The Red Sox' best hope in this series is probably tomorrow night against Lackey, who they have OWNED at Fenway. Of course, Buchholz will be on the mound for the Sox, which could be an adventure.

Latest trade deadline rumor: The Sox are after Tejada. Tejada's signed through next year, I believe, with the Astros. No idea on who the Sox are offering them in return. All they're saying is that the Tigers are also in the mix.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!

Lester being Houdini

Sox: 9 Spanked Yanks: 2

Jon Lester worked magic in more than one way on the mound tonight. The Houdini reference comes from how he escaped a bases-loaded no out situation in the fifth with two runs already scored that inning and A-Rod at the plate. It had all the makings of a big inning for the Yanks until Lester pulled a line drive straight to Mikey Lowell out of his hat. Then, he induced a pop fly and groundout to get out of the inning with relatively minimal damage. His escape was Dice-K-esque. Lester was once again the stopper the Sox needed to avoid the sweep, with the help of some finally heated-up bats.

Big Papi and Manny (putting his bat where his mouth is) were back to being the formidable 3-4 punch in the lineup. Everyone in the lineup got a hit, save for JD, who still managed to get on base via two walks. Jake's bat seemed to be adjusting to the 9 hole fine, getting three hits on the night, one of which was an off-the-monster double. It was nice to see Alex Cora get two hits, playing shortstop this game in place of Lowrie. Those Boston bats chased Ponson after 4 innings and backed up Lester's ninth win of the season. Having the Sox play like this on Yankee-loving ESPN made it all the sweeter.

Tomorrow night, the Sox get another visit from the Halos, who gave them the broom treatment in L.A. If the Sox can carry the momentum from tonight's game into tomorrow night, they have a good chance against the team with the most cumbersome name in the majors (oh, and the best road record too).

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!!