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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The Boston Red Sox picked up a great win on Wednesday night as they took game one of the ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels. Jason Bay got the Sox on the scoreboard in the sixth inning when he hit a two-run home run and then they added two more runs in the ninth inning with rbi singles from Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. The Sox went onto win the game 4-1.

The Sox are now up 1-0 in the best of five series and are sitting pretty against the Angels. Jon Lester was great as he threw seven innings while only giving up six hits and one run. Lester struck out seven batters and only walked one.

Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon finished off the game by pitching the last two innings of the game and holding of the Angels. Papelbon allowed one hit but struck out three to end the game and pick up the save.

The two teams will now be off on Thursday and then play game two of the series on Friday night. Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the mound for the sox in game two.

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The Boston Red Sox picked up a huge win on Monday night against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox scored three quick runs in the first inning and then held off the Rays the final eight innings to pick up the 3-0 victory. Exactly the way the sox were wanting to start off the three game series with the Rays. The sox are now only a half game beind the Rays in the division!

Big papi David Ortiz started things off with an rbi double to score Mark Kotsay to make the score 1-0. Ortiz then came around to score on a rbi single to shallow center by Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis was tagged out on the play when he tried advancing to second base on the play. With the bases now empty, Jason Bay hit a solo home run to make the score 3-0 sox.

That was all the offense that the Sox would need on the night as Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon were awesome. Lester pitched 7 2/3 innings to pick up the victory. Lester gave up six hits while walking three and striking out nine others. Good quality start for Lester! Papelbon pitched 1 1/3 innings to record the save which was his 36th of the season.

Great job for the sox and they will now hope to win on Tuesday to take the lead back in the division.

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The Boston Red Sox scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings as they defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 as the two teams started off a mid week series in Baltimore. It was a good start to the three game series for the Red Sox as they try to keep pace with the league leading Tampa Bay Rays.

Jason Bay connected for two home runs and now has 25 on the season. Bay finished the game with four rbi as he went 3-5. Jason Varitek also hit a solo home run to finish with one rbi while David Ortiz also chipped in with an rbi of his own.

Jon Lester gave up four hits and one run in seven innings of action. Lester got the victory and is now 12-4. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the final inning to earn his 33rd save of the year. Manny Delcarmen had some problems in the eighth inning as he was charged with two runs when Aubrey Huff hit a two run home run off of him.

The Red Sox will try to take game two of the series on Tuesday night.

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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 to play extra innings on Wednesdsay but they were able to come away with the 6-3 victory in 13 innings and complete a three game sweep of the Seattle Mariners.  Mike Lowell had a two run single and Sean Casey added a rbi single in the 13th inning to provide the winning runs for the Red Sox.  It was awesome to see the Red Sox come back and win this game!

Lowell finished the game with two rbi while Casey, Coco Crisp, and Kevin Youklilis all had one rbi each.  There wasn’t a whole lot of offense for the Sox today but they did enougn to pull out the victory.

Jonathan Papelbon ended up getting the win and is now 4-3 on the season.  Craig Hansen pitched the bottom of the 13th inning to record his second save of the season.  Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the no decision.  He allowed seven hits and three runs in the game.

The Yankees will now be coming into Boston for big series.  Hopefully the Red Sox swing the bats better then they did on Wednesday or else they will find themselves losing to the Yankees.

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Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up his 11th win of the season and improved to 11-1 as he 7 1/3 innings and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-2.  It was another good win for the Red Sox out in Seattle as they have now taken the first two games of the three game series and will be looking for the sweep on Wednesday.

It was a quality start for Dice-K as he gave up five hits and two runs.  He did walk three batters but struckout six others.  His era now sits 2.63 after the game.

Hideki Okajima recorded the final two outs in the 8th inning after Dice-K left the game.  Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 30th save of the season as he shut the door on the Mariners in the 9th inning.  Great job by Okajima and Papelbon.

J.D. Drew went 2-3 with a solo home run and a rbi sac fly to lead the team with two rbi.  Drew has been on fire as of late and is really swinging the bat very good.  Mike Lowell hit a rbi double while Jed Lowrie added a rbi sac fly.  Both Lowell’s and Lowrie’s rbi’s came in the 5th inning.

I like the Red Sox chances Wednesday afternoon to pick up another win and sweep the Mariners.  What do you think about the game?

Red Sox Blog

The Boston Red Sox and two pitches combined to shutout the Seattle Mariners in a 4-0 victory Monday night out in Seattle.  The Red Sox and Mariners opened up a three game series and the Red Sox grabbed game one of the series with out much problems.  It was a big win for the Red Sox who remained 1.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays who also won on Monday night.

Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester pitched 7 1/3 innings to get the win and improve to 8-3 on the year.  Lester pitched good as he gave up eight hits but zero runs while striking out six Mariners.  One key for Lester was that he did not walk any batters.  Jonathan Papelbon tossed 1 2/3 innings to get the save which was his 29th of the season.

Jason Varitek got the Red Sox scoring started in the 5th inning when he hit a two run home run and Coco Crisp scored as well.  Jed Lowrie scored Kevin Youkilis and Crisp in the 8th inning on a two run single to left field.  That was enough runs the way Lester and Papelebon were throwing the ball.

The Red Sox need to keep on winning out in Seattle to stay close to the Rays.  I think they will sweep the Mariners actually.  What do you think?

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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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Tim Wakefield pitched the first seven innings of the game for the Boston Red Sox and he only allowed two hits while the Red Sox beat the Diamondbacks 5-0.  It was a great outing by Wakefield and it was a good thing he pitched so well because the Red Sox offense only scored two runs in the game.

Wakefield improved his season record to 5-5 on the season as he picked up the win.  Wakefield walked one batter while striking out six others.  Manny Delcarmen pitched the eighth inning without giving up a run. Craig Hansen then came in to pitch the ninth inning but gave up two walks and infield single to load up the bases.  He was taken out of the game with two outs and Jonathan Papelbon came in and struck out Chad Tracy for the final out of the game.

Brandon Moss had rbi’s for the Red Sox.  Moss had a rbi ground out in the second inning and then had a rbi sac fly in the sixth inning.  In the eighth inning the Red Sox pushed across three more runs as Kevin Cash hit a three run homer to extend the Red Sox lead to 5-0.  The Red Sox need to get the bats going and get some more production going up and down the lineup as they didn’t do much until the eighth inning home run by Cash.

The off day on Thursday will hopefully help out the Red Sox.  They will then open up a three game series at Houston this weekend.

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