Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 6/29/08 - 7/6/08

Saturday, July 5, 2008

I forgot to mention Dice-K in my Lester for All Star Team post! Doh!

Yesterday, I stumped for Lester for All Star Team. (I had already made my case for Wakefield.)

In my Lester post I mentioned Aardsma, Lopez, and Delcarmen all having good years, but not quite ready for the game. I wrote of Beckett and Pap, but somewhere along the way, my Dice-K review got lost. (Damn modern technology!)

Dice-K is having a great year, no doubt. However, I am just a little concerned about his high pitch counts, free passes, and that disastrous 1st game back from the DL.

Those negatives combined with Lester's positives are why I am picking Lester before Dice-K.

Soon come my picks for the rest of the AL arms.

Sox Rally Falls Short In 9th

The Red Sox almost stole one in the Bronx today but the slumping bottom of the order could not get a bases loaded hit. Masterson had another solid outing where he worked out of some jams. He was wild at times but overall he kept the Sox in a position to win. In the 9th Boston loaded the bases after scoring a run but Coco stuck out with a weak swing, quickly followed by a popup by the captain. Lugo came in to pinch hit in a chance to be the hero but once again he was the goat when he failed to make contact on any pitch from the Yankee closer. The offense was not in it today, but it was still one the Sox could have won. On a side note, Manny was hit by a pitch in three at bats today, I wonder if McCormick knows the Yankee pitching coach. The Sox will try to take 3-4 from the Yanks tomorrow night on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

Sox Lose 2-1 BOX SCORE

Close, But No Cigar

Mussina had his game on today, allowing only 4 hits, 1 walk, and no runs through 6 innings. The yankee bullpen for once did their job~ getting to the 9th inning and Mo with a lead intact. One of these days though, Mo's performances are going to land him in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. The Sox almost pulled off a nice come from behind victory. Down 2-0 in the 9th, he hits 2 batters, and allowed 2 hits and a run before wiggling out of a bases loaded jam. I love seeing him come in against the Sox. Close game, but no cigar.

Masterson was just a little wild today, allowing 6 hits, issuing 2 walks, a wild pitch, and 3 HBP's, but he did get through 6 innings with only 2 yanks making it to home plate.

Speaking of hit batsmen, there were 7 of them today, Manny taking 3 of them.

Random thoughts and observations of this game~ Joe Buck said 'Devil Rays.' I thought the Steinbrenner's had a strict dress code that didn't allow facial hair. No matter, some guys just don't look good with a moustache, and neither do his fans. Are golden thongs allowed by the Steinbrenner's? Molina took a nice hit to the head by a foul tip that knocked him down for a minute or so. He's OK. He took a dinger to the cup last week. Not sure how many more he can take, though. When Manny did swing, he was looking a little awkward. I thought Tek had broken out of his slump after going 3 for 7 in the previous 2 games, but he had another 0-4 today. Timlin had a nice 1-2-3 inning with one K. He wasn't wearing his usual knickers, but opted for the ankle length trousers instead.

Today's Lineup at the Bronx

Ellsbury, lf
Pedroia, 2b
Drew, rf
Ramirez, dh
Lowell, 3b
Youkilis, 1b
Crisp, cf
Varitek, c
Cora, ss

Masterson, sp

Yanks Get Beat Up By Sox, Then NY Media

For me there is nothing more fun than reading the New York media after the Sox beat the Yankees. Today proved to have some more entertaining reading, below are a few highlights.

From NY Post:Of course, the Yankees now have to win both games just to get back to the same unfavorable position in which they started the series. Not an exciting prospect.or this from the Daily News:

As for the games, Girardi seems to overthink things at times, whether it was not starting Ian Kennedy because of a bad weather report early in the season, or not bunting Melky Cabrera
earlier this week in a late-inning sacrifice situation, leaving himself open to second-guessing.

He seems to have plenty of respect in the clubhouse, but you wonder if his style creates tension among his players at times. Torre's style never failed to produce a playoff berth. Fairly or unfairly, Girardi's style is now officially on trial.
Or this that Dumbass Hank told to the NJ Star Ledger:
"We're looking into different things," Yankees co-chairperson Hank Steinbrenner said yesterday by phone. "I think we all had more confidence in what we could do with what we have than what we've shown lately.
"I don't think there's going to be any -- for most teams in baseball, 90 percent of the teams in baseball -- there's not going to be anything major that's going to happen."

The Yanks had better do something quick because Ponson is not going to get them into the playoffs.

Friday, July 4, 2008

AL All Stars Continue to Beat Up the yankees

Apparently yesterday's 30 minute reaming by Joe Girardi of his yankees was all for nought as the Sox beat them by a score of 6-3*. Beckett pitched 6 innings allowing 4 hits, 3 ER's, walking 2 and registering 4 K's. All Stars Pedroia, Ramirez, Youk, Tek and Lowell all had productive days at the plate going a combined 9 for 19, scoring 5 times and knocking in all 6 runs. Tek is having better days at the plate these days, going 3 for 7 in 2 games against the yanks. Potential All Star write in candidate Jacoby Ellsbury went 3 for 5, scored a run, and made a spectacular sliding catch. Oki is still looking for his Doki, but Delcarmen, Lopez, and Pap all did their jobs well.

*The official score of the game goes into the books as 6-4. In the 9th inning, Coco Crisp made a spectacular diving catch of a Derek Jeter blooper. Coco knew he made a clean catch as he took his time getting up and picking up his shades before realizing that 3rd base umpire Wally Bell called it a trap. Replays clearly show it was a clean catch. It should have been out #3, but the runner on base scored. Even the yankee announcers said it was a bad call. No worries, Pap got Abreu to fly out to Crisp. Expect to see replays on ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight' at 7 pm. Link will be posted when available.

BOX SCORE

Johnny Damon Can't Catch and Can't Throw

The Sox know where to target their fly balls when playing the yanks: left field and Johnny Damon. In the third inning today, Ellsbury got on with a bunt, Pedroia hit a single to left, followed by a sac fly by Lowell, also to left. Youk hits a long ball to left, Damon leaps and gets a piece of it, but as it was not a clean in-the-pocket catch, the ball popped out of his glove and sat on top of the fence for a couple of seconds while Damon fell on his backside and Youk legs out a triple. The ball falls back onto the playing field. Damon thought he had made the catch, then realizes he didn't, gets up and throws the ball in, but it doesn't reach the infield (but we knew he couldn't reach it, injured or not.) After reviewing the video, it's hard to tell if he injured his throwing arm on the collision, or the throw in. As he lands on his ass and gets up, he does not appear injured at that point. I'm guessing he hurt it on the throw.

Damon's replacement, Brett Gardner has struck out twice and flied out, putting his BA at .077. Is that the best the yankees can do?

Sox up 6-3 going into top of the rain delayed 8th. Is there a 60 minute closed door meeting coming up for Girardi and crew? Perhaps 30 wasn't enough?

Jon Lester Makes His Pitch for the All Star Game

I’ve already called for Tim Wakefield to be named to this year’s AL All Star pitching crew. Last year, the Sox sent 3 pitchers to the game: Beckett, Papelbon, and Okajima. To send at least two Sox pitchers should not raise any eyebrows, but I’m sure yankee fans will disagree. The Sox have several potential nominees for pitcher this year. David Ortiz, despite leading in the DH category, will not be able to play in the game, so hopefully Tito can sneak in a 3rd Sox pitcher.

While being consistent and putting up good numbers, Aardsma doesn't have much of a chance mostly because he’s young, unknown, and a middle relief man. Same goes for lefty specialist Javier Lopez. Until recently, Manny Delcarmen had a nice string of well pitched performances going. From May 8th to June 27th, he allowed only 12 hits and 2 earned runs in 19 games and 20.2 innings. They’re all young and will have more chances during their careers to get to the game if they continue pitching the way they have been. I see Manny becoming a top notch closer someday somewhere.

Beckett has found himself in a nice groove of late, but he has not been quite as overpowering and consistent as he was last year. He gave up 11 hits and 5 runs to the O’s in May, followed that by giving up 6 hits and 6 runs to the Brewers in his next start, and 3 runs to the yankees in the first inning of today's game. Overall, his numbers are pretty good, and I expect him to have another very good year, but as of right now, I don’t see him as the no-brainer starting choice that he was last year. Pap is having another great year, but he did have back to back blown saves and losses in May, along with 2 blown saves in June. Nonetheless, he is one of MLB’s premier closers and should be at the top of the list of nominees.

That brings us to Lester. All sentiment aside, the 24 year old Lester just gets better with every game. Riding his 2007 World Series game #4 victory into this season, he has tossed 6+ innings of 3 hit, no runs ball against the A’s, 8 innings of 1 hit ball against the Blue Jays, a no hitter in June, and just completed his 2nd game of the season, a rarity in this age, another shutout no less, AND it was against the yankees in THEIR house, taboot! Now bring in the sentiment factor. MLB wants ‘stars’ and ‘big names’ in the game to pull in those almighty TV advertising dollars, and Jon Lester has the story line behind his performances that TV suits cream their shorts over. Jon Lester is this year’s ‘no-brainer’. He may not be the starter, but he will be on the team.

Yankee Universe is in Disarray

Things are not going well for the Evil Empire this morning. Girardi had to hold a 30 minute closed door meeting in the clubhouse with the team after last night's loss. The Daily News has more on A-Rod's wife blaming Madonna for their split. Johnny Damon said the following about the game:

"After we got down, it seemed like there was nothing there. It didn't look like we had a chance"

or this from the Daily News:

"So after something of a honeymoon period based on what A-Rod did last year, the fans responded with boos Thursday night, which are predictable at this point.

The shocker was there were some boos for Jeter as well, after a sixth-inning strikeout that essentially punctuated a miserable night for the captain. So apparently even Jeter's championship warranty comes with an expiration date....So just as the Yankees are beginning to resemble the Mets, the Stadium in the Bronx is starting to feel more like Shea this year, where the karma has been toxic from Day One."

Today's Lineup 7/4 in the Bronx

Happy 4th of July

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Manny Ramirez, DH
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Josh Beckett, SP

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Lester and Sox Stop the Bleeding

Jon Lester had a performance that was second only to his no-hitter this season. He got into a jam in the first by walking the first two batters he faced before retiring the next 3 in order. He would dominate from then on holding the Yankees to just 5 hits in a complete game shut-out. The Sox offense got to Pettitte early, scoring 2 in the first and 2 in the second. Tek and Manny both went 1-3 to help them break out of their slumps. The game had everything a Sox fan loves; an error by Jeter, A-Rod and Damon went a combined 0-7, the Sox scored a touchdown + extra point and the Yankees fans were silenced throughout the game.

Sox Win 7-0 BOX SCORE

Tonight's Lineup 7/3 at the Death Star

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Manny Ramirez, DH
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Jon Lester, SP

Why Wakefield Should Be Named to the All Star Team

Wakefield?!

Yes, Tim Wakefield.

But his ERA is up over 4.00, and that crazy knuckleball?! Who’s gonna catch that?

Let’s start with his numbers.

On May 27, his ERA was 5.19 and over his last 7 starts, it has dropped to 3.72. He has gone at least 7 innings in each of his last 7 starts.

Here are the stats for those 7 games:

That’s a pretty impressive string of quality starts. His ERA over this time period is 1.98, again, pretty darned impressive.

I know it’s a long shot, but I think he should at least be named to the team. With 12 pitchers on the staff, it’s possible that he wouldn’t be called, but he still deserves this. His recent numbers support this, and just as important, he gets an A for All Star effort all year long, every year. Jason Varitek will be a late inning replacement at catcher. While he’s not Wake’s ‘personal catcher’, the two have worked together on the same team for years now. It wouldn’t be the first time Tek has caught Wake, and it would most likely be one inning of work or less. If Wake has another good performance in his next outing, which quite coincidentally will be in the same stadium as the mid-summer classic and could be considered a final tune-up, I say Tito should go with Wake as one of his picks.

A-Rod Gets Dumped by Wife for Lenny Kravitz

F-Word (aka Cynthia Rodriguez) has left A-Rod to be with Lenny Kravitz according to People magazine in the wake of his alleged philandering with Madonna. The NY Daily News contends that the A-Rod/F-Word marriage is over, while the singer's rep maintains that she is not divorcing her husband.

So where does that leave A-Rod? Looks like he's been scratched from the line-up. Not enough lumber to go around, Alex? (There's always Jeter.)

Maybe he should text Clemens* about that Viagara.

A Win Tonight Will Make All of This Go Away

Note to Red Sox Nation: it is still early July, the Sox will have their best hitter back soon, and the Sox will make a deal to improve the bullpen before the deadline. It is tough to see the big picture in the middle of losing streak but the Red Sox will regroup. Boston has been very streaky this season and have followed their losing streaks with big win streaks. There is heat on Tek, Manny, Tito's managing skills, and the pitching staff in general from the media and the fan base, but the great thing about baseball is you usually get to play again the next night. Tonight the Sox face their real rival with a chance to remind the Yankees and the country(2 of the games are on national TV) that they are World Champs and they are still the team to beat. The Sox are due for some big clutch hitting, tonight it will come at the Yankees expense.

Timlin Returns, Buchholz Does Not

Mike Timlin will be activated today and Chris Smith will be sent down. It was thought that Clay Buchholz would also be returning to the Red Sox to start against the Yankees but the team is saying that he will stay with Pawtucket and Masterson will get the star.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Things That Suck

Tek's bat right now

Manny's bat right now

The bullpen

Getting swept by the Rays

Sox Lose 7-6 BOX SCORE

Pedroia Just a Single Away from Hitting for the Cycle

At Tampa Bay today, the Sox and Rays are in the 5th inning, Sox up 4-1. In the 1st inning, Pedroia hit a home run. In the 3rd inning he hit a triple. In the 5th inning he hit a double, making him 3 for 3, with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI. All he needs is a single to hit for the cycle!

C'mon, Dustin!

And if, make that when, he does it, it will be in decreasing order by number of bags (4, 3, 2, 1)

Kazmir appears not to have his best stuff today.

Here's hopin' he does it!!!

UPDATE: Pedroia did one better than the single he needed; he whacked a double in his last at bat. So far today he is 4 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBI's.

Unfortunately, the Sox are now down 7-5 going into the bottom of the 8th.

The Manny Backlash Begins to Grow

Manny's behavior in Houston is getting more attention mainly because of the way it was swept under the rug. Bob Ryan of the Globe calls out the Sox for their handling of the situation:

Manny was not just out of line. Manny was actually indulging in a criminal act. The Red Sox had an obligation to inform the rest of the organization, as well as the rest of baseball, that they will not tolerate criminal acts on the part of anyone, even future first-ballot Hall of Famers such as Manny Ramírez. It is incomprehensible that such smart people as John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Theo Epstein didn't understand how much they had to gain by taking a stand for honor and decency. There is no more thankless task in baseball than that of the traveling secretary. How can any of the Red Sox brass now look Jack McCormick in the eye?

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports thinks the Sox should end their relationship with Manny at the end of the season:

Should they have disciplined him? It goes without saying. But the Sox can't touch Manny, lest he go into one of his periodic funks. So, they tolerate his obvious sense of entitlement and disrespect for a longtime team employee, viewing the incident as an aberration.

Manny has apologized and Jack McCormick says the incident is in the past but the story has legs and the media and fans will not be satisfied until some additional action is taken. The Sox dropped the ball on the handling of this one and need to right a wrong. I love Manny's quirkiness and his ability at the plate but his actions were inexcusable and need to be addressed in a way that sets an example to the entire organization that Manny cannot get away with anything he wants. I understand the team needs to treat Manny differently in some situations, this is not one of them.

Buchholz May Replace Masterson in The Rotation For Yankees Series

The Boston Globe is reporting that the Sox may bring Clay Buchholz back up to the big club this weekend to start against the Yankees. He would replace Masterson in the rotation.

"The idea was to work on fastball command," Francona said of Buchholz's stint in Pawtucket. "Consistency, and we slightly adjusted his arm angle to create two-seam movement.
"We didn't want to run him down there for just one or two starts. We made him throw his fastball. I don't know if it was a hard count, but we told him, 'Make yourself do this.' "
Buchholz's changeup and curve are so good, he could fall back on those pitches to get hitters out, which is why the Sox told him not to worry about results, Francona said.
But the results have been there as well, which would seem to guarantee Buchholz a seat on the shuttle to Boston, sooner rather than later.

For either Materson or Buchholz it is going to be a pressure filled situation to pitch in the Bronx when the Sox are desperately in need of some wins. This could be great for Clay's confidence if he can pitch well in New York but it could also have the fans and media really questioning Theo and Tito if he comes up and gets shelled.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Ortiz's Absense Is Becoming a Big Factor

For the second night in Tampa the Sox had trouble bringing runners across the plate. Manny is slumping and J.D. is not really a guy you can build a lineup around. Wakefield pitched well but so did Garza for the Rays. The Sox did not have many scoring opportunities and when they did they did not come through; Mike Lowell grounded out to short in the eight with bases loaded to end the inning. Boston is now 2 1/2 games out of first and the lineup is badly in need of a spark. If Ortiz can come back at 90% or better the Sox will be fine but if he can't return it will be difficult to win the division. The Red Sox need to leave Tampa with a win before heading to the Big Apple to face the Evil Empire.

Sox Lose 3-1 BOX SCORE

A- Rod Now Cheating With Madonna?

A-Rod announced he will not be participating in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game in New York because it would upset his swing. There may be another reason; he wants to avoid the national media. A report has come out in US Magazine that A-Rod has been making late night visits to Madonna's apartment in NYC. I wonder if he texts Pete Rose while he's there? Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

Tonight's Lineup 7/1 at Tampa Bay

Lugo gets a day off, that should give you something to cheer about.

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez DH
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Moss LF
Cora SS
Cash C

Tim Wakefield SP

Last Call to Vote for 2008 All Star Game

It's looking like the Sox will have 3 starters at this years All Star Game farewell to the House that Ruth built (and the one that the Steinbrenner's burned down.) Youk, Pedroia, and Manny, are all leading their respective positions in ballot totals updated as of Sunday, 29 June. Youk is up by about 260k votes over the Twins' Morneau, while Pedroia has a lead of about 185k votes over Kinsler of the Rangers. Manny is the leading vote-getter in the outfield, and has a slim 82k vote edge over Hamilton, also of the Rangers.

Due mostly in part to his torrid June, JD Drew has surpassed former Sox traitor Johnny Damon and is now in 6th place in the outfield ONLY 7,OOO VOTES BEHIND THE YANKEES' ABREU.

VOTE NOW FOR JD DREW!!

Voting ends at 11:59 PM ET on Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Big Papi still maintains quite a lead over 2nd place Matsui for DH, but has fallen to 3rd place in the most-votes-overall category behind yankee caped crusaders A-Rod and Jeter, by about 36k votes, most likely because it had been becoming apparent that his injury would prevent him from playing in the game. You can still vote for Papi, and it sure would be nice to see the final tally with him on top of the two yanks.

The Sox should also be furthur represented with Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek both holding comfortable 2nd place positions over their nearest competitor's in 3rd place.

This puts 3 Sox starters and 3 Sox reserves in the last ASG ever to be held at Yankees Stadium.

But wait! There's more!

VOTE FOR JACOBY ELLSBURY IN THE WRITE-IN BALLOT!!

We'll take a look at likely pitching candidates after the voting is done.

Another Silly Rip on Red Sox Nation

Hat tip to The Rational Red Sox Fan for pointing out an article in today's St. Petersburg Times entitled 10 reasons to hate the Red Sox. If anything this shows how hard the Rays fans are trying to be legit but bottom line is they play in the worst stadium in baseball, they live in an area that is home to Scientology, they had to change their name to try to sell more gear, and I can personally say, I have NEVER seen anyone wearing a Rays hat. Maybe Tom Cruise can make some aliens come down and fill the Trop with real fans...until then they can return to being the basement rat that they will always be. If you don't believe me, watch below.

Close, But Lugo Was At the Plate

Justin Masterson looked like an inexperienced pitcher facing a first place team last night. He gave the Rays an early lead when Upton homered off him in the first and left the game after 6 innings. The Sox offense struggled against Shields but did manage 2 runs. In the 9th the Sox were down by 3. The started a comeback and scored two runs. Moss, the tying run, was at third when Lugo came to bat. Lugo got decent wood on the ball but it caught at short to end the game and put the Sox a game and 1/2 behind the Rays.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Tonight's Lineup 6/30 at Tampa Bay

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Dustin Pedroia, 2B
J.D. Drew, RF
Manny Ramirez, DH
Mike Lowell, 3B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Brandon Moss, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Julio Lugo, SS

Justin Masterson, SP

Ortiz To Miss All-Star Game

No big shock here, Ortiz will not be ready to play until after the All-Star Game. He told the Boston Herald he will attend to honor all of those that voted for him and said:
“I’m going to activate myself even if I’m hurt because I have the sword that can control the beast of Manny Ramirez.”

This is NOT a Rivalry

As much as the folks in Tampa want this to be a rivalry, it is not. As soon as the Rays become a real team and play in a real stadium there can be roots for a rivalry but right now they have some good young players but there ride will soon be over. When you look at the fans of the Rays you see the similarities to the Rockies fans last year. Rays fans will be sporting their brand new gear to the Trop to see their first baseball game. It is so bad that even their hometown newspaper had to print 10 Tips for New Rays Fans today, one of the tips is. get this...learn the fight song. Who has fight songs that matter besides USC, Michigan, and Notre Dame? When the Rays sell more seats to their fans than to fans of other teams and keep the stadium half full for a few years there could be a rivalry with maybe Baltimore. As for the Sox, the rivalry will always be with the Yankees, the Rays are more of a novelty or a distraction right now; slightly more interesting than inter-league play.

Two Sox Minority Players Threatened

The Red Sox received a threat against Latino and African-American players in the mail. The threat reportedly cited 2 players and was postmarked from Memphis. Extra security has been added for the team. The threat is not linked to the incident between the Rays and Sox.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Manny Gets Into Altercation With Sox Traveling Secretary

Manny Ramirez was displeased with Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick because he could not get him 16 tickets to Saturday's game. From the ProJo:

When McCormick cautioned Ramirez that he might not be able to fulfill his request, Ramirez responded by shouting: "Just do your job!"

An argument insued and Ramirez pushed McCormick, sending him to the ground.

Later, the two met behind closed doors and Ramirez apologized to McCormick, who accepted the gesture. No further disciplinary action is expected against Ramirez.

Asked on Sunday to comment on the altercation, Ramirez responded: "That's over. We're fine now."

When you add this to the recent fight between Manny and Youk you start to wonder what happened to easy-go-lucky Manny? Maybe he found this new personality when he read The Secret. This will get some play as Manny being Manny but it is ridiculous behavior, if he needs more tickets he could throw some money at StubHub and see what fans have to do when they need good seats. Only we don't have the millions of dollars of disposable income.

Met Fan Knows What to Do With a Foul Ball From A-Rod

A Met fan in today's Yankee game showed the proper technique for disposing of a foul ball from A-Rod. Watch below:

Oki Is Not So Doki

I usually agree with Francona's moves in a ballgame but I must say I was perplexed when he went to the struggling Hideki Okajima in the 8th. Oki admitted earlier in the season that he does not do well with runners on base but Tito brought him in with Carlos Lee on first. After a wild pitch put the runner in scoring position, Oki served up a hit to former Sox second baseman Mark Loretta to put the Astros up 3-2. The Sox could not score a run in the 9th and leave Houston losing 2 out of 3. They now take on the Rays in a series for top spot in the A.L. East. Okajima has not been the pitcher he was last year and the bullpen is filled with question marks. It is time for Theo to see what is out there before the deadline.

Sox Lose 3-2 BOX SCORE

Today's Lineup 6/29 at Houston

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Dustin Pedroia
RF JD Drew
LF Manny Ramirez
3B Mike Lowell
1B Kevin Youkilis
C Jason Varitek
SS Julio Lugo
SP Josh Beckett

10 Runs Not Enough For Sox Pitchers

This loss you can blame squarely on the pitching staff. The Red Sox offense handed Lester a 4 run lead in the top of the third but he gave all of the runs back plus one more in the bottom of the inning. The Sox added 5 more runs in the 6th but the pen (mainly Delcarmen) gave those runs back too. Houston took a two run lead going into the 9th. Lowell homered to put the Sox within one but that was as close as they would get. Tek and Lugo continued to struggle at the plate and Lester had his first bad outing in a while. This was a tough loss for the Sox but they should be able to put it behind them and leave Houston having won the series with Beckett on the hill today.

Sox Lose 11-10 BOX SCORE

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