Lester claims 'Ace of staff' rights, right back for Boston

Looks like Jon Lester got a little jealous of Clay Buchholz from his performance last night that he claim back "Ace of staff" rights.

Lester pitched seven inning and allow only one hit with 11 strikeouts and two walks as the Boston Red Sox completed the three-game sweepage of the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday night.

The left-hander lowered his earned run average from 6.23 to 4.71 while raising his strikeout tally to 21 in 21 2/3 innings pitched.

Dustin Pedroia and Darnell McDonald provided the offense in the sixth and seventh innings while Daniel Bard struck out the side in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon grabbed his seventh save in back-to-back nights.

This puts Boston back at .500 (11-11) for the first time since April 14 against the Minnesota Twins when the club was 4-4. 

Been there, Buchholz that; Sox secure 2-1 win

Boston, meet your best pitcher on the starting rotation right now.

We'll give you three guesses. And no his name doesn't begin with the letter 'J.'

Clay Buchholz saved a worn out bullpen by pitching eight innings and allowing only one run on seven hits as the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 Tuesday night. This gives the No. 5 starter a 2-2 record and 2.19 earned run average, the best on the club.

For the first time this season the Red Sox didn't need a lot of offense and they even scored their second run without swinging the bat.

Mike Lowell pinch hit for David Ortiz and walked with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth to grab the lead for good.

Ramon Ramirez did the rest and grabbed his first save without issuing a walk or hit.

At least there is some hope in the starting pitching department. Let's hope Daisuke Matsuzaka can spruce things up as well in his return to the mound on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.

(Josh) Beckett blasted; DL anyone?

This wasn't what Josh Beckett had in mind.

The ace blew a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning and when it was all said and done, allowed eight runs on nine hits, and walked three in three innings pitched. To cap it off He also gave up a two-run  home run to Jose Bautista.

Lucky for Beckett he didn't get the 'L' he deserved. Boston rallied and held on barely again to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-12 as Jonathan Papelbon earned his sixth save of the season.

Scott Schoeneweis (1-0) ended up with the win.

This was the first time this season the Red Sox scored in double digit figures, however the ironic part is that no one in the lineup hit a home run. And of Boston's 18 hits, only four were for extras bases, all doubles.

So here's the looming question. Should we be worried about Beckett? He has a 7.22 earned run average in five starts, but during his last two outings has given up 15 runs in 10 innings to go along with eight walks and seven strikeouts.

Disabled list anyone?

Red Sox weekly recap (Week 3)

Sunday, April 18, 2010 - Saturday, April 24, 2010

Weekly record: 4-3

Overall record: 8-10

AL East standing: 4th, 5.0 games behind Tampa Bay

Runs scored: 29

Opponents' runs scored: 40

Home runs: 10; Jeremy Hermida (2), Darnell McDonald (2), J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Marco Scutaro, Kevin Youkilis

Team leader (HR): Dustin Pedroia (5)

Team leader (RBI): Pedroia (13)

Games left: 144

Weeks left: 23.1

Week 3 in 2009

Batter-up with Bruno: Ortiz needs an attitude adjustment

Pissy Papi poor all-around

David Ortiz throwing hissy fits? No way! Really? Unfortunately the answer is yes.

In flat out frustration on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers, Ortiz snapped his bat in half while walking back to the dugout. Later in the game Mike Lowell pinch hit for Ortiz and received a standing ovation.

Thank you Red Sox Nation, you guys said it all in that moment. No one should respect a player who acts that way. Yes we all know you've been 'sucking' Papi, but it doesn't mean you pull a 180 and become a poor excuse of a role model for the youngsters watching your every move.

Ortiz finally got his bat going by launching his first home run of the season on Friday night against Baltimore. 

That's great, but you still got a long way to go.

Oooohhh, McDonald!

Two words, Darnell McDonald. Wait, Darnell who? Who is this guy?

McDonald got called up Tuesday night from Pawtucket because outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury (cracked ribs) and Mike Cameron (kidney stones) were placed on the disable list. But who knew he'd be the unsung hero for two straight nights? 

The 31-year-old hit the game-tying home run then the game winning hit against the Rangers Tuesday then had another home run Wednesday as Boston came from behind back-to-back nights.

Here's some background info on this guy from Globe 10.0.

• McDonald was a big time high school football player from Colorado, recruited by Texas, and apparently was going to be the next Ricky Williams, but decided to play baseball. Boston is his seventh organization. He was signed by the Orioles and rated by Baseball America as the No. 1 high school position player in the 1997 draft.
  

Obviously things didn't work out, but all I have to say is, welcome Darnell and I'm glad you're making an impact now.

Buchholz belongs in rotation

Sorry Tim Wakefield, but you're officially the odd-man out. Clay Buchholz earned his keep in the starting five after a dominant performance until it all came crashing down in the seventh inning Thursday night against the Rangers.

Buchholz had a career-high 10 strikeouts and didn't allow a run until the seventh as the Red Sox fell in the series finale. He could easily have a 2-1 record and every time he goes back to the mound he continues to improve and become more consistent.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka scheduled to come back from Triple-A rehab, someone had to be pulled and unfortunately it puts manager Terry Francona in a tough spot, but he made the right decision. Hopefully for the Sox it'll all work out in the long run.

A-Rod is an A-Hole

Have you heard the news about this?

Surviving Grady had a post this week showing Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez showing off his laziness and cockiness by cutting through the pitcher's mound after a called foul ball against the Oakland Athletics.

Pitcher Dallas Braden went nuts after turning an inning ending double play. A-Rod just shoved it off while Braden chucked his glove into the dugout and flung cups everywhere.

Here's the video from YouTube.

Seriously though, who does that? And the best part is A-Rod had no clue why Brasden went ballistic. You're a real class act. 

Papi finally pops one; Red Sox hold on (barely)

Maybe this is what David Ortiz needed.

A couple of days to cool off and perhaps find his old form.

Papi hit a solo home run in the second inning, which ended up being the difference maker, as the Boston Red Sox outlasted the last place Baltimore Orioles 4-3 Friday night at Fenway Park.

Last season Ortiz didn't hit his first home run until May 20 against the Toronto Blue Jays. That ended a 40-game, 149 at-bat stretch dating back to Sept. 22, 2008.

So the good news is he's a month ahead of last year's schedule.

But should Sox fans feel secure with his bat? Not quite yet, since there is still a lot Ortiz has to prove both at the plate and in the dugout. Once he fixes his attitude I'll have some confidence back towards him, but the whole "expletive" comments and snapping bats in half walking to the dugout skits have to stop.

And we continue on to a new day...

Buchholz pitches a beaut, but Red Sox bats MIA

Throw Clay Buchholz in the bullpen?

He don't think so.

Thursday night he proved why he should remain in the starting rotation, despite the Red Sox dropping a 3-0 decision to the Texas Rangers in the series finale.

Buchholz fanned a career high 10 batters and didn't allow a run until the seventh inning when Josh Hamilton ignited the Rangers' bats with a wall ball double.

From that point Texas plated three runs and the Sox offense couldn't pull off another dramatic come from behind win.

Buchholz had every pitch working for him as he cruised, something that he hopefully continues to do throughout the season.

After the game, Peter Gammons confirmed reports that not Buchholz, but Tim Wakefield would be moved to the bullpen once Daisuke Matsuzaka returns. It's the obvious choice to make as Wakefield would be more versatile in a middle relief role. Why not bolster up the bullpen, which struggled to begin the season?

Right now it's about what will make the team better, like having Mike Lowell in the designated hitters role rather than David Ortiz, even though Lowell went 0-for-4, but the rest of the team only compiled six hits (two of them coming from Victor Martinez).

It's still early, let's see how the Baltimore series goes.

Are 'Youk' kidding me? Keep Lowell as DH

How's this for an encore?

• J.D. Drew finally broke his cold spell with his fifth career grand slam.
• Mike Lowell launched a home run batting as the designated hitter.
• Darnell (who) McDonald hit his second homer in two games.
  
• Kevin Youkilis knocks in the game winning run with a shot to the Monster in the bottom of the 12th inning.

In back-to-back nights the Boston Red Sox have have come from behind and won on walk-off hits against the Texas Rangers to give fans signs of hope.

This time it was an 8-7 victory after being down 4-0 going into the bottom of the second.

If Terry Francona were smart, he'd keep Lowell in the DH slot and have McDonald stay for as long as his bat remains hot.

As for Ortiz, this is a no brainer and right now, he is the odd man out on a playing level and also a respect level.

Snapping your bat in half in frustration isn't going to solve your hitting difficulties and it's not going to win you over with the fans.

It's pretty much official even though it already has been since last season, Big Papi is not Big Papi anymore so get used to it.

Lowell should be the clear DH (for right now anyways) NOT Ortiz. And I'll say this again, good thing Lowell wasn't traded to Texas. Now how about that?

(Darnell) McDonald who!?

Boston Red Sox fans, meet Darnell McDonald. 

Darnell McDonald, meet Red Sox Nation.

And let me be the first to say THANK YOU. 

Thank you for giving us something to cheer about since Opening Day at Fenway Park.

McDonald was the unsung hero hitting a two-run pinch hit home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, then delivered the game winning run an inning later as the Red Sox killed off their five-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 7-6 win over the Texas Rangers.

Can this finally be the break Boston needed?

Red Sox weekly recap (Week 2)

Sunday, April 11, 2010 - Saturday, April 17, 2010

Weekly record: 2-4

Overall record: 4-7

AL East standing: 4th, 4.0 games behind New York and Tampa Bay

Runs scored: 22

Opponents' runs scored: 31

Home runs: 5; Dustin Pedroia (3), Marco Scutaro, Kevin Youkilis

Games left: 151

Weeks left: 24.1

Batter-up with Bruno: Howie Carr's a moron

Howie Carr suspended? Shocking.

This just in last night, from Boston.com's MetroDesk:

"Conservative talk radio host Howie Carr of WRKO 680 AM has been suspended for a week, effective Friday, for publicly and repetitively using his program to bad-mouth the station, a company executive said."

Wow really? Gee Carr what did you think would happen? It's one thing if you're bashing a company you don't work for like when you kept bad-mouthing The Boston Globe and how it should have been shutdown, but to be bold enough to criticize your own company on your radio show? How stupid can you be?

WRKO should not only suspend him, they should flat out fire him. Stick to your lame column in The Boston Herald, then you can bad-mouth WRKO as much as you want.

Suspended by rain?! Really?!

After an hour and three minute rain delay the umpires decided to call the Red Sox-Rays game Friday night before the start of the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied 1-1.

It only took over an hour to see on the doppler radar that the heaviest rains were then coming into Fenway Park, in yet for the majority of the game there was standing water on the warning tracks and foul ground territory. Needless to say it's a miracle no one got injured due to the atrocious conditions. 

Because of the game being called, it's going to continue Saturday night before the start of the scheduled game at 7:10. Fans who had tickets for Friday night cannot go to watch the rest, but fans who have tickets for Saturday get to see the end result then a whole other game.

How ridiculous. When the tarp came out, it should have been called right then and there, not an hour later. Umpires do not think about the media whatsoever when it comes to these decisions. No, this won't impact them, while reporters, copy and layout editors, and agate clerks are waiting to see if the game resumes and we're going to have a full story, photos, and box score.

Let alone, the fans who were being drenched and waiting it out only to find out the bad news.

Can we fix this?

Super-Tek

"Hey Boston Red Sox, this is why I should play everyday!"

That's what Jason Varitek's bat is saying right now as the captain has been on fire in his two starts. In seven total at bats, Tek has three hits, all of them solo home runs, including two against Kansas City this week.

This is something we could all get used to every four games. Last season Tek also jumped out to a fast start, but slowly his stats declined after the All-Star Break and he finished with a career-low .209 batting average with 14 HR and 51 runs batted in.

Lets see how long it lasts this time.

Ellsbury still KO, not OK

Jacoby Ellsbury is still hurting from Sunday's collision with Adrian Beltre. The left fielder has bruised and sore ribs and said it was hard to take deep breaths, rotate his body, and couldn't even take batting practice, let only swing off from a tee.

Ellsbury has been out for the week, but so far manager Terry Francona hasn't decided to call up anyone from Pawtucket for outfield help.

Who knew how costly that collision would be, plus center fielder Mike Cameron has been out because of kidney stones.

Red Sox weekly recap (Week 1)

Sunday, April 4, 2010 - Saturday, April 10, 2010

Weekly record: 2-3

Overall record: 2-3

AL East standing: 4th, 2.0 games behind Toronto 

Runs scored: 25

Opponents runs' scored: 23

Home runs: 8; Dustin Pedroia (2), Jason Varitek (2), Victor Martinez, J.D. Drew, Jeremy Hermida, Kevin Youkilis

Games left: 157

Weeks left: 25.1

Batter-up with Bruno column: Shut up Joe West

Editor's Note: My senior year at Curry College I wrote a bi-weekly column called "Batter-up with Bruno." It was a column styled recap of the happenings in the wide world of sports. On Saturday's I hope to deliver a column to you in the same format. Hope you enjoy.

............................................................................

If you were living under a rock since Easter, here is what you missed this week in the wide world of Boston Red Sox baseball.

Joe West needs to shut up

Mr. West has issues with the two best teams in baseball. Apparently he thinks the Sox and New York Yankees take too long to play the game.

"They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West. "They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest...It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play."

Hey Joe West guess what? No one likes you and no one cares. Why don't you do your job and the teams do theirs? Oh yeah speaking of that, you umpires need to learn how to do yours more proficiently. 

Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia lashed back at West saying,

"To call the Yankees and the Red Sox, the two best teams in baseball, 'pathetic and embarrassing,' that's just ridiculous. If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too."

Ok hold up a sec Pedroia. Please don't be predicting the World Series the first week of April when your team is 1-3. Both teams need to get over the ignorant comments and just play the game.

Bard has to get on the ball

So Daniel Bard hasn't exactly been dominant. He was the losing pitching on Friday night against the Kansas City Royals as they came back to win 4-3 after being down 3-0. On Wednesday he inherited Scott Schoeneweis' baserunner and tied up the game 1-1.

Boston went on to lose courtesy of Curtis Granderson in the top of the 10th inning.

Should fans be a bit worried about Bard not being lights-out? It's only Game 5 coming up, but lets pray not for the next Manny Delcarmen.

Marco? Error-o!

Scutaro was signed for his defense right? Well fans forgot about that on Tuesday night when he made a throwing error to keep the eighth inning alive and hand Hideki Okajima a loss to the Yankees.

Lights out Papelbon?

Not so much. Terry, why did you bring back Papelbon to pitch the 10th? It was the third game of the season, fresh out of spring training. Paps isn't a two-inning pitcher right now and it showed when Granderson greeted him with a leadoff bomb. Next time, don't do it.

1-2 looks awfully familiar for Red Sox

Does this record look familiar?

A year ago Boston won its season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays in exciting fashion.

Dustin Pedroia hit a bomb to the Monster seats in his first at-bat in 2009.

Fans had to wait an extra day because of the rain, but it definitely seemed worth it.

And the rest of the story? The Sox lost the series 1-2 then went on to start the season 2-6 losing series to the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics.

Fast forward to 2010.

Pedroia was the hero with a two-run shot to lift the hometown team to a 9-7 win over the New York Yankees, but then went on to lose the series 1-2. 

The Yankees triumphed 6-4 then 3-1 in 10 innings Wednesday night. A Marco Scutaro throwing error Tuesday night and a Curtis Grandserson home run were the factors in those losses.

Boston fans more than likely cringed seeing closer Jonathan Papelbon coming back to pitch the 10th inning. Hopefully Terry Francona will remember not to do that again until later in the season.

Will the 2009 repeat itself? Here's a note to Major League Baseball for 2011, don't start off the season with a Red Sox-Yankees series. 

Blogging announcement

It's officially the 2010 Boston Red Sox season and if you guys haven't noticed this past off-season, it's been pretty difficult balancing the blog and my crazy, insane new work schedule.

Since taking a new part-time post at The Republican newspaper in the office, my free time has significantly shrunk, making it nearly impossible to try and update the blog everyday.

I have decided that every Thursday I will try to dedicate with a post.

I will continue to write my "Red Sox weekly recap" as I did last season on Sundays.

As for the reminder of the week, you might see something here or there, depending.

I hope I will not lose readers, but I figured this move is better than not updating the blog for weeks on end and posting twice a month. As long as there is some kind of consistency to it readers will know the expect something new and fresh two days a week.

Thanks for reading and Go Red Sox!!!

-Amanda