The Boston Red Sox got off to the start they wanted to in the ALCS as they took game one down in Tampa by the score of 2-0. The sox got out of jams in the game and limited the Rays to only four hits as they went up 1-0 in the best of seven series.

Dice K was great as he pitched seven innings and only gave up four hits to the Rays. Dice K struck out nine batters but also walked four. The walks were the only reason that the Rays were really threatning to score any runs but then Matsusaka worked out of the jams without allowing any runs to score. K was actually throwing a no hitter until the seventh inning when Carl Crawford broke up the no-no.

Jonathan Papelbon closed out the game by pretty much throwing fastballs and recorded the save. Papelbon struck out two of the three batters that he faced.

There wasn’t much offense for the Red Sox as they faced off against James Shields. They were only able to come up with two runs on seven hits in the game. Jed Lowrie got the scoring started in the fifth inning with a rbi sac fly that scored Jason Bay. Kevin Youkilis then added the second and final run in the seventh inning when he doubled and plated Dustin Pedroia.

It could be another low scoring game on Saturday as the Red Sox will send Josh Beckett to the mound against the Rays and Scott Kazmir. Hopefully the Sox can get to Kazmir early and take the pressure off Beckett but we will have to see.

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What a great game for the Boston Red Sox on Monday night as they opened up a three game series down in Tampa against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox hammered the Rays for a 13-5 win and they are now tied with the Rays for the division lead.

The sox offense got right at things in the the first inning as they scored four runs in the first inning and then knocked out Rays starting pitcher Scott Kazmir after only three innings. David Ortiz had four rbi while Kevin Youkilis finished the game with three rbi. Jason Varitek added two rbi and four others had one rbi each. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Cash, and Jason Bay all finished with one rbi. In total, the sox hit 6 home runs off the Rays pitchers.

Daisuke Matsuzaka got the start for the Red Sox but only pitched five innings. His five innings of action was enough to get the win and improve his record to 17-2 however. Dice-K had given up three hits and one run while striking out seven.

Chris Smith pitched the next two innings and gave up four hits, four runs, and two home runs. Not a good outing for Smith, it was a good thing that the Sox had scored so many runs that the runs Smith gave up really didn’t matter.

The Red Sox will now try to take the division lead on Tuesday night as they face off against the Rays once again.

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It was a bad 14th inning for Red Sox relief pitcher Mike Timlin on Wendesday night. Timlin gave up a three run home run to Carlos Pena and the Tampa Bay Rays went onto beat the Red Sox 4-2 and extend their lead in the division to 2.5 games.

Timlin of course took the loss and it was too bad because the Red Sox pitching staff was pretty good the rest of the night. Josh Beckett tossed six innings while allowing six hits and one run. Beckett struck out seven Rays batters but ended up with a no decision due to the lack of run support from the offense.

Dustin Pedroia had the first rbi for the sox in the third inning when he doubled to left field and Jed Lowrie scored. The sox would not score again until the bottom of the 14th inning when they loaded the bases but were only able to score one run. Kevin Youkilis hit a rbi sac fly to right field for that rbi.

So now the Red Sox will be off on Thursday and then start up a weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays who have been playing some awesome baseball lately. It will be a tough series that is for sure.

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What a come back by the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon as they scored five un-answered runs and eventually beat the Baltimore Orioles in ten innings. the Red Sox scored twince in the seventh and eighth innings and then pushed across the winning run in the tenth inning to complete the three game sweep of the O’s.

Dustin Pedroia got things started in the seventh inning with a solo home run that made the score 4-1. Coco Crisp then walked with the bases loaded to make it 4-2 in the seventh. Onto the eighth inning when the Red Sox scored two more runs on a Mark Kotsay triple to tie the game at 4-4. In the top of the tenth inning, the Red Sox started the inning with two singles and then scored the winning run when Jacoby Ellsbury bunted and Orioles pitcher Jim Miller committed an error that allowed Alex Cora to score.

Justin Masterson earned the victory and improved to 5-4 on the season as he pitched the ninth and tenth innings of the game. Dice-K was the Red Sox starter and he gave up four runs over six innings to get the no decision.

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The Boston Red Sox once again used their high powered offense as eight different players had a rbi and the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 10-0. It was a great showing by the three pitchers that pitched as well as all of the batters that had no problems against the Rangers.

Nine runs in the second inning blew the game open for the Sox. Coco Crisp, Alex Cora, J.D. Drew, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Jason Bay, and Jed Lowrie all had rbi’s in the second inning. Ortiz had the big shot that was a three run home run. In the eighth inning, Jeff Bailey got in on the action with an rbi of his own as well.

Dice-K threw seven strong innings to pick up the win. He allowed six hits and five runs but worked his way out of jams without allowing any runs. Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin both tossed one inning each in the game after Dice-K left the game.

Now the Red Sox will play the Toronto Blue Jays in a three game weekend series. Let’s all hope for another Red Sox sweep!

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There isn’t a whole lot to blog about tonight because the Boston Red Sox were almost no hit by John Lackey and the Los Angeles Angels.  Lackey shut down the Red Sox for nine innings and he had plenty of offense to get the win in the game while only givine up one hit.  Dustin Pedroia came through with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning and then Kevin Youkilis hit a two run home run for the Red Sox two runs.

Clay Buchholz was the starting pitcher for the Sox and he took the loss after giving up six hits and six runs.  Five of those six runs were earned as well.  Craig Hansen recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning after Buchholz was taken out of the game.  Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless eighth inning and then Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the ninth inning without giving up a run.

You have to give it to the Angels and Lackey for almost throwing the no-no, they had the Red Sox number tonight.

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The Boston Red Sox had no problems beating the visting Minnesota Twins on Wednesday as they defeated them by the score of 18-5.  The Red Sox used a seven run 7th inning to really blow the game wide open and finish off the the three game game sweep of Twins.

Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak once again as he had three rbi in the game to go along with three rbi from Manny Ramirez.  Kevin Youkilis however led the team with four rbi has had a two run home run in the 9th inning to go along with a rbi double and rbi sac fly.  Mike Lowell, and Sean Casey all had two rbi as well.  Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Kevin Cash, and Julio Lugo all had one rbi to help out.  Everybody except Brandon Moss and Jeff Bailey had a rbi in the game.

Josh Beckett earned the win even though he didn’t throw the ball that well.  Beckett only pitched five innings as he gave up eight hits and five runs.  Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel both took Beckett deep to account for three of the five runs that he gave up.  However, Beckett was still able to improve his record to 9-5.

Javier Lopez, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, and Mike Timlin all pitched great out of the bullpen as the held the Twins to the five runs that Beckett had allowed.  Great job today out of the bullpen!

The Red Sox are now off on Thursday and will pick things back up Friday against the Baltimore Orioles.

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The Boston Red Sox scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as they completed a nice comeback and defeated the visiting Minnesota Twins by the score of 6-5.  It was a great win for the Red Sox and huge because the rivals in New York beat the Tampa Bay Rays so now the Red Sox are only 3 games out in the division.

J.D. Drew had a rbi groundout in the eighth to get the Red Sox’s rally started.  Manny Ramirez then hit a two run home run and Brandon Moss then tacked on a rbi single.  Drew, Ramirez, and Moss all had two rbi each in the game.  Dustin Pedroia also had two hits in the game to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.

Jon Lester tossed 7 1/3 innings as he got a no decision in the game.  Lester gave up nine hits and five runs as he was shacky through out the game.  To be honest, I’m suprised that he was able to last seven plus innings the way he was throwing the ball.

David Aardsma was the winning pitcher after recording the final two outs in the eighth inning after he came in when Lester excited.  Jonathan Papelbon had some troubles in the ninth inning as the Twins had the game tying run on third base but he was able to finish off the Twins without that run scoring.  Papelbon now has 27 saves on the season.

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Wow, that was a very dissapointing series for the Boston Red Sox as they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Red Sox lost 7-6 on Wednesday night for the third loss in a row against the Rays.  The Rays used a huge six run inning in the seventh to take the win away from the Sox.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched five innings and pitched very well as he only gave up two hits and one run.  It was the Red Sox bullpen that really struggled.  Manny Delcarmen gave up three hits and four runs while Craig Hansen allowed six hits and there runs.  Delcarmen and Hansen simply didn’t have it tonight and they really hurt the team.

Dustin Pedroia led the Red Sox with two rbi including a solo home run in the first inning.  J.D. Drew, Manny Ramirez, and Kevin Youkilis all had one rbi each.

So now the Red Sox were just swept by the Rays and they will start up a four game series against the Yankees on Friday.  The Yankees avoided a sweep by the Rangers with a blow out win on Thursday night so both teams struggled in their last series.  It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

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The Boston Red Sox were able to score four runs in the eighth inning as they came back and defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 5-4.  Dustin Pedroia had a huge game as he had two rbi in the game including a solo home run.  Mike Lowell had a two run double and Jason Varitek had a rbi single to finish the scoring in the eighth inning.

Besides that four run eighth inning, the only run the Red Sox had was the Pedroia solo home run in the first inning.  The bats were asleep all game until the eighth inning which wasn’t very good.  Luckily they were able to wake up however and atleast score enough runs to get the win.

Justin Masterson pitched the first six innings of the game as he got a no decision.  Masterson allowed seven hits and four runs in the game.  The big hit that hurt Masterson was a three run home run by Chad Tracy in the third inning.  Other then that one pitch he pitched pretty good.

Chris Smith ended up picking up this win as he pitched the seventh and eighth innings without allowing a run to score.  Smith is now 1-0 on the season.  Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 22nd save of the season in the game.

Good come from behind win for the Red Sox.  Tomorrow I expect the bats to get going before the eighth inning however.

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