Indians vs Red Sox (5/28-5/30)

Game 1: Curt Schilling figured out what had been wrong over his past three starts. He held the Cleveland Indians to 1 ER over 7 innings and struck out 10. Meanwhile, the Red Sox were able to get to Cliff Lee for 3 runs in his 5 innings of work.

The Red Sox received nice offensive contributions from Julio Lugo (2/4), Kevin Youkilis (2/4), and Dustin Pedroia (3/3). Pedroia now sits at a very respectable .298 on the season. Youkilis had an inside the park homerun.

J.C Romero gave up a run in relief as did Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon closed out with multiple fist pumps after 2 very clutch outs to end it. Javier Lopez and Brendan Donnelly combined for a scoreless 8th.

Game 2: Josh Beckett returned from the DL on Wednesday night and it was as if he never left. Beckett was brilliant as he faced the minimum number of batters through his first 6 innings of work. He ended up with 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 7 K as he picked up his 8th win of the season. Beckett is now 8-0.

Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek hit homeruns off of Jeremy Sowers to help the Red Sox to an early lead. Youkilis collected 2 more hits extending his streak of games with multiple hits to nine.

Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, and Hideki Okajima combined for a scoreless 8th and 9th inning. Okajima picked up his 4th save. Mariano Rivera currently has 3.

The Yankees lost their 5th straight by falling to Toronto 3-2. The Red Sox now hold a 14.5 game lead over them.

Game 3: Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled for his 2nd consecutive start. He allowed 12 hits and 6 runs over just 5 innings and the Red Sox were unable to recover from his poor performance.

The Red Sox got 2-hit games from Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, and Dustin Pedroia but it wasn't enough as the Indians scored 8 runs and the Red Sox were only able to put 4 on the board.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series with the Yankees on Friday night. Tim Wakefield will take on Chien-Ming Wang in the opener.

Rangers vs Red Sox (5/25-5/27)

Game 1: Daisuke Matsuzaka was feeling very sick and throwing up between innings, but he attempted to pitch through it nonetheless. The Rangers were finally able to get to him in the 4th inning for 5 runs, he came out to pitch the 5th but his day was cut short after just 85 pitches and 5 IP.

The Rangers were ahead 5-4 heading into the 5th inning, but the Red Sox added 2 runs in the 5th and another 4 runs in the 6th. The Red Sox finished with 10 runs, each member of the team recorded an RBI with exception to Mike Lowell and JD Drew.

The Red Sox were able to win the game thanks to very solid relief outings from Kyle Snyder, Brendan Donnelly, Hideki Okajima, and Jon Papelbon. The win moves the Red Sox to 32-15

Game 2: The Red Sox were able to pick up win number 33 on Saturday evening thanks to a 7 inning, 4 run performance by Tim Wakefield.

The Red Sox trailed 4-2 heading into the 6th inning, but tacked on 5 runs in the frame to take a 7-4 lead. Manny Ramirez had a great night offensively, going 4/4. Kevin Youkilis recorded 2 hits for the Red Sox as well. Brendan Donnelly and Jon Papelbon closed out the game with scoreless innings.

Game 3: Julian Tavarez was absolutely unhittable for the first 5 innings of Sunday's game, but he began to unravel in the 6th inning. Tavarez gave up the lead by allowing 4 runs on 5 hits in the inning. JC Romero came in to finish the 6th inning and was able to do so without allowing any more runs to score. Joel Pineiro relieved him and was brilliant in his 1.2 innings of work. Pineiro struck out three and picked up the win. Pineiro was also helped by a very nice catch in CF by Coco Crisp that likely saved 2 or more runs. The grab kept the Red Sox in the game and they rallied in the following inning.

Pineiro was able to pick up the win thanks to an RBI-double by the slumping JD Drew and an RBI-single by Mike Lowell. Dustin Pedroia played a good game as well, he went 2/4 and gave the Red Sox an insurance run (that turned out to be needed) by hitting a homerun off of Rangers closer Eric Gagne. Pedroia's at-bat leading up to the homerun was one of the best at-bats I've seen all season. Pedroia fought off pitch after pitch before smacking the 12th offering into the left field seats. Jason Varitek had a 3-run homerun in the early innings to give the Red Sox the lead, but Mark Teixeira answered in the Rangers' big inning against Tavarez.

Hideki Okajima came in to close the game with a 2-run lead. Okajima gave up 1 run but was able to retire Sammy Sosa with the tying run on base. The Yankees were swept by the Angels this weekend, so the Red Sox were able to pick up another game. They now sit 12.5 games ahead of the 4th place Yankees in the AL East.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game series with the Indians from Fenway Park on Monday night. Trot Nixon makes his return to Fenway and should get a very warm reception, he was a joy to watch over the years. Curt Schilling and Cliff Lee will square off in the opener as the Red Sox attempt to move to a season high 20 games over .500.

Yankees vs Red Sox (5/21-5/23)

Game 1: Tim Wakefield struggled on Monday night and allowed 6 earned runs in 5 innings. That was all the help the Yankees needed as the Red Sox offense was only able to put together 2 runs. Both Red Sox runs came off the bat of David Ortiz.

The Yankees got homeruns from Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi as well as a strong start from Chien-Ming Wang. They won by the final score of 6-2.

Game 2: Julian Tavarez wasn't exactly dominant on Tuesday night, but he got the job done. Tavarez allowed 2 runs over 5.2 innings and struck out two.

The Red Sox were able to take the lead early in the game courtesy of a 3-run homer by Manny Ramirez. Mike Lowell also added a homerun. The Yankees began to pull closer in the middle innings but the Red Sox were able to put them away with a nice display of offense in the top of the 7th inning.

Javier Lopez pitched a very impressive 1 1/3 innings of relief. Okajima relieved Lopez and struggled in his appearance. Okajima allowed his 1st run since allowing a homerun to John Buck of the Royals on his first pitch in the MLB. Papelbon was equally as shaky in the 9th, but was able to get the job done without allowing the Yankees to score and the Red Sox won 7-3.

After the game, some were questioning the takeout "slide" by Alex Rodriguez. In order to attempt to break up a double play, Rodriguez backed into Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia and brought his elbow up near Pedroia's groin. After the game, Pedroia called the tactic "a little cheap" but also claimed that it was no big deal. It will be interesting to see if Curt Schilling will retaliate against Rodriguez as the two men have a history with one another.

Game 3: The Yankees offense didn't waste any time getting started on Wednesday night. By the time their first three hitters had completed their at bats, the Yankees had a 3-0 lead on Curt Schilling who was not at his best. Schilling ended up pitching 6 innings and giving up 5 runs. He struck out only 3 on the night.

Andy Pettitte turned in a nice performance for the Yankees (7 IP, 8 H, and 1 ER) as he picked up his 3rd win on the season to even his record at 3-3.

Hideki Matsui gave the Yankees the lead in the 1st inning with his 3-run homerun. Doug Mientkiewicz also hit a homerun for the Yankees. Coco Crisp hit his first homerun this season as well. Rivera closed out the 9th for the Yankees, but did not pick up a save. Rivera entered with a 5-run lead. The Red Sox lost a game to the Yankees by losing 2 of 3 games in this series. The division lead is still at 9.5 games.

Notes: CB Bucknor's strike zone was called into question on numerous occasions during the game. It is one thing to have a tight strike zone or a wide strike zone, but its completely different if you are inconsistent on a pitch by pitch basis. I felt that he did an awful job calling that game, but it probably affected both sides equally.

Also, Roger Clemens pitched against top Red Sox pitching prospect Clay Buccholz. Buccholz outpitched Clemens who struggled on the evening. Clemens allowed a total of 10 baserunners and left the game with the bases loaded after walking in a run. I realize that he was probably not trying his hardest and still might be a little rusty, but allowing 10 baserunners in just over 5 innings to an AA team has to be reason for concern. Another concern might be that his fastball averaged only 89 MPH tonight. He has been a dominant pitcher throughout his career, and the last 3 years in the National League, but something tells me he's going to have some tough times in the American League. I'm expecting an ERA of around 4 for him, which is respectable. Savior? I think not. The Yankees could still easily win the AL East, there are tons of games left to play. If it does happen, however, I don't think much of the comeback will be attributable to Clemens himself.

On Deck: The Red Sox have Thursday off and will head to Texas for a 3-game series with the Rangers. The series will begin on Friday night and Daisuke Matsuzaka will oppose Brandon McCarthy in that game. JD Drew, who received the night off on Wednesday, should be back in the lineup on Friday night. Hopefully he can get things turned around, he is a much better player than he has shown thus far.

Braves vs Red Sox (5/19-5/21)

Game 1: Daisuke Matsuzaka was very good for his 3rd consecutive start. He went 8 innings and allowed 3 runs while striking out 6.

The Red Sox offense was also firing on all cylinders in the first game of the doubleheader. Julio Lugo lead off the game with a homerun. Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell (Grand Slam), and Wily Mo Pena also had homeruns in the first game.

The Red Sox won by the score of 13-3. and moved to 29-12 on the season.

Game 2: The 2nd game of the doubleheader didn't go as smoothly for the Red Sox who gave the ball to AAA callup, Devern Hansack. Hansack struggled with the location all day but the results weren't horrible. The bullpen didn't do anything to help the cause. Joel Pineiro and Javier Lopez both got roughed up in their appearances.

The Braves offense was able to put 14 runs on the board and John Smoltz was his normal dominant self. The Braves won by 14-0. The loss drops the Red Sox to 29-13. The Yankees lost earlier in the day to the Mets. The Red Sox are currently 10.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

Game 3: Kason Gabbard filled in brilliantly for Josh Beckett. Gabbard left his outing without allowing a run, but was responsible for two baserunners when he was lifted. Both runners ended up scoring and he finished with a respectable 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, and 7 K line.

Tim Hudson, who has been dominant thus far for the Braves struggled mightly against the Red Sox, especially in the early going. The Red Sox went up 3-0 in the bottom of the 1st inning on a bases clearing triple by Jason Varitek. Hinske followed that up with a single, giving the Sox a 4-0 lead. Hudson would allow 2 more runs in the later innings before leaving the game.

Brendan Donnelly struggled in relief, however, Lopez, Snyder and Okajima pitched well. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the 9th and allowed a couple cheap hits before striking out Andruw Jones to end the game. The strikeout was Jones' 5th on the day giving him the platinum sombrero.

The win moves the Red Sox to 30-13, the Yankees beat the Mets later in the night so the lead on them remains the same.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game series with the Yankees on Monday night from the Bronx. Tim Wakefield and Chien-Ming Wang will square off in the opener.

Tigers vs Red Sox (5/14-5/17)

Game 1: Red Sox Nation was presented with evidence that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be well worth $103.1 million dollars on Monday night when the Japanese import baffled Tigers hitters and hurled a complete game. Matsuzaka allowed 1 ER over his 9 innings, the run came on a solo shot by Curtis Granderson in the 3rd inning. Matsuzaka allowed 6 hits and walked none while striking out 5.

The Red Sox offense touched up Tigers Starter Nate Robertson for 11 hits in his 5 innings but were only able to put three runs on the board against him. Getting Robertson out of the game early was important because the Tigers bullpen was overworked on Sunday night. A decimated Tiger bullpen will only work to the Red Sox advantage for the remainder of the series. The Red Sox were able to add four more runs in the 8th inning, three of them coming on a 3-RBI double by Julio Lugo.

Papelbon had been warming in the pen but sat down when the league was expanded. Much to the delight of the Fenway Faithful, Matsuzaka came out of the dugout to pitch the 9th inning. The crowd rose and gave Matsuzaka a much-deserved standing ovation. The crowd erupted when the final out was recorded and then gave Matsuzaka another ovation. The Red Sox won by the score of 7-1. They moved to 8.5 games ahead of the idle Yankees with the win and are now 26-11.

Game 2: Tim Wakefield failed to turn in a great start on Tuesday night as he allowed 5 runs over 7 innings. Brendan Donnelly relieved Wakefield and gave up two more runs in the 8th.

The Red Sox were only able to score two runs in the game. One coming from an RBI single by JD Drew in the first inning, the other coming from a solo shot from Kevin Youkilis in the 8th inning.

Justin Verlander pitched very well for the Tigers and was a big reason they were able to win the game. He pitched 7 innings, gave up 2 earned runs, and struck out 7. Fernando Rodney pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for the Tigers and didn't give up any runs. The Tigers won by the score of 7-2 and the Red Sox dropped to 26-12 on the season.

Game 3: The 2006 version of Julian Tavarez the starter was back on Thursday afternoon in the makeup game from Wednesday night's rainout. Tavarez allowed 4 hits and 4 walks but only 1 earned run. He struck out two Tigers in 7 IP.

Tavarez was on at the right time because the Red Sox offense struggled to get much going against Zach Miner and the Tigers bullpen. The offense scored 2 runs on the day (only 1 of them was earned). After the 7th inning, Tavarez gave way to Okajima who pitched a perfect 8th. Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th for the save and the 2-1 win. The win moves the Red Sox to 27-12.

Game 4: Curt Schilling struggled on Thursday night but grinded his way through 6 innings to keep his team in the game. Schilling left after 6 innings and 2 earned runs. Schilling allowed 8 hits and walked 4 on the evening.

At the end of the 6th inning, the Tigers and Red Sox were tied at two. Brendan Donnelly pitched a scoreless 7th. In the bottom half of that inning, the Red Sox had a man on first with 2 outs as Eric Hinske came to the plate. Hinske who had already saved at least 1 run earlier in the game when he made a spectacular diving catch. His catch might turn out to be one of the best catches in 2007. As Hinske raced after the ball, it appeared that he wouldn't come within 5 feet of it but as the ball began to fall Hinske launched himself parallel to the ground and made an unbelievable catch to end the inning. He was a little shaken up on the play but eventually got up and received high fives from Curt Schilling and the rest of his teammates. Anyways, back to the top of the 7th inning, Hinske came to the plate with 2 outs and smacked a two run shot into the Red Sox bullpen in right centerfield. The homer gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.

Brendan Donnelly and Javier Lopez combined for a scoreless 8th inning. The score remained 4-2 heading into the 9th and Francona elected to stay away from using Papelbon again. Papelbon had thrown 13 pitches in the day game. Instead, Hideki Okajima, who also threw 13 pitches in the day game came in to finish the game. Okajima got the job done and pitched a scoreless 9th to give the Red Sox the win. With the win, the Red Sox took 3 of 4 from the defending AL Champion Detroit Tigers and moved to 28-12. The Red Sox retained the best record in the MLB and moved to 9.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

Notes: Josh Beckett will head to the DL and miss 2 starts. Devern Hansack will get the nod on Friday and Kason Gabbard will likely start on Sunday (because of the doubleheader on Thursday night). Beckett's next turn would come on Thursday, a day that the Red Sox have off. The Red Sox may elect to skip Hansack/Gabbard as a result of the off-day. They may also elect to have Hansack or Gabbard start on Friday to give the rest of the rotation a little bit of extra rest. The Red Sox are hoping that Josh Beckett will return on May 29th to face the Cleveland Indians. Hopefully his injury is not enough to slow the Red Sox down.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. Devern Hansack will square off against Anthony Lerew in the opener. Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to face John Smoltz on Saturday. On Sunday, Kason Gabbard is set to oppose Tim Hudson. Hopefully the Red Sox can sneak out a win or two in this series, the pitching matchups certainly do not appear to be favorable (at least on Friday and Sunday).

Orioles vs Red Sox (5/11-5/13)

Game 1: All good things must come to an end. The Red Sox offense struggled for the first time in awhile on Friday evening. They left the bases loaded in 3 different innings and were only able to put 3 runs on the board as a result.

Julian Tavarez turned in a pretty shaky start, allowing 10 hits and 4 runs, he struck out only two Orioles. The Red Sox got solid efforts from Javier Lopez (1 IP, 0 ER), Kyle Snyder (2 IP, 1 ER), and JC Romero (1 IP, 0 ER).

As a result of the lack of offense, the Red Sox ended up losing the game by the score of 6-3. The loss put an end to their 4 game winning streak. Fortunately, the Yankees remain 7 games behind as a result of their loss to Seattle later in the evening.

Game 2: Curt Schilling wasn't at his best on Saturday afternoon but he was able to do enough to keep them in the game. Schilling left with runners on base in the 5th inning and by the time the inning was over the Orioles had tied the game. Javier Lopez relieved Schilling and did a good job of stopping the Orioles rally.

The Red Sox were able to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by David Ortiz. Javier Lopez started the 6th inning, but gave way to Donnelly who allowed 2 baserunners and failed to record an out. Hideki Okajima cleaned up the mess and got the Red Sox out of the inning with the 1-run lead still intact.

After Okajima's fine work, the Red Sox offense was able to add three more runs to the scoreboard. Okajima then pitched a scoreless 8th before the Red Sox tacked on 5 more runs to put the game out of reach. Papelbon pitched in the 9th with a big lead because the team wanted him to get some work in. Papelbon hadn't pitched since May 9th, and fortunately, he only threw 13 pitches in the outing.

Kevin Youkilis, Alex Cora, Julio Lugo, and Mike Lowell lead the offensive charge for the Red Sox. The Red Sox won by the score of 13-4 and move to 24-11 on the season. They remain 7 games ahead of the Yankees if the Yankees hold onto their lead against Seattle tonight.

Game 3: The 2007 Boston Red Sox do not quit. Orioles' starter Jeremy Guthrie had Red Sox hitters off balance all day long and it wasn't until Sam Perlozzo prematurely removed him that the Red Sox finally got something going.

Josh Beckett only went 4 innings in his outing, but pitched very well. He left after striking out the side in the 4th inning with what the team is calling an "avulsion of the right middle finger." After the game, Terry Francona described it as a cut or a flap of skin that had peeled back from the finger.

Beckett's injury, however, was momentarily forgotten with an unbelievable 9th inning from the Red Sox bats. Guthrie entered the 9th inning with a 5-0 lead and started by retiring Julio Lugo. Coco Crisp was next and hit a high popup to Ramon Hernandez. Had Hernandez made the routine play, the Orioles would have been an out away from victory with a 5 run lead. At that point, Guthrie's pitch count was in the low 90's and he'd been cruising all day long. Inexplicably, Perlozzo came out of the dugout to remove him with a complete game shutout in reach and the game not necessarily on the line. Shut out aside, Guthrie simply gave the Orioles the best chance of winning the game with the way he was pitching and Perlozzo made a huge mistake by removing him and he ended up paying dearly.

After replacing Guthrie for Danys Baez, Baez allowed an RBI double by David Ortiz and a single by Wily Mo Pena. In came Chris Ray, needing to get two outs and having a 5-1 lead with 2 runners on base. Ray walked Drew and Youkilis before allowing a crowd awakening double to Jason Varitek. The tying run was now on 3rd base with less than 2 outs and the winning run was on 2nd. Eric Hinske came to the plate and was intentionally walked to set up a double play possibility. Cora's spot was next, despite how hot he's been, I wanted Tito to let Lowell hit in his place. In hindsight though, Cora doesn't strike out much and doesn't hit into many double plays, so it wasn't a horrible decision by Tito. Cora ended up hitting a slow grounder to 2nd base. Brian Roberts fired the ball home, and forced out Kevin Youkilis at home. Youkilis was visually upset with the call and after seeing the replay, it appeared that he had cause to feel that way. Julio Lugo came up with 2 outs and the bases still loaded. Lugo hit a bouncer in between 1st and 2nd and Kevin Millar (1B) left the bag to go after the ball. As a result, it appeared that the game would come down to a foot race between Julio Lugo and Chris Ray. It appeared that Ray's foot beat Lugo's to the bag, but Millar's throw was slightly off and it deflected off the edge of Ray's glove and into foul territory. The tying run had already scored, and the winning run (Eric Hinske) was rounding 3rd. By the time the Orioles had retrieved the ball, the Red Sox spilled out of the dugout as Red Sox Nation erupted into a frenzy.

I watch alot of Red Sox games and this was probably the best 9th inning Red Sox comeback I have ever seen live. It was their largest such comeback in 9 years. They didn't quit and it paid off. The Yankees also lost, which means the Red Sox now lead the division by 8 games. The Red Sox now also possess the best record in the Majors (25-11). What an unbelievable game.

On Deck: The Red Sox will be tested in a 4-game series against Detroit starting on Monday night at 7:05 PM from Fenway Park. Detroit currently has the 2nd best record in the American League. Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to put together consecutive good starts and will be opposed Nate Robertson in the opener.

Blue Jays vs Red Sox (5/8-5/10)

Game 1: Josh Beckett continued his Cy-Young season (yes, it's early but the guy has been phenominal and deserves a ton of credit). The Red Sox offense was right there to back Beckett's brilliance. They put up 9 runs and had homeruns from Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek. Youkilis had 3 hits in the game and Varitek had 4. Varitek is now hitting at .284 which is a pleasant surprise for many Red Sox fans.

Red Sox Nation got its first look at Devern Hansack in 2007 and it was not a good one. Hansack struggled with his control and allowed a run. I do still think that he can greatly help this team out of the bullpen if given the chance. Romero and Snyder pitched well in relief to finish out the game

Beckett gave up 1 run in 7 innings. The run came on his first pitch of the night to Alex Rios who smashed the offering over the wall for a leadoff homerun. The following batter doubled and then Beckett settled right down and was locked in from that point on. Beckett has changed his pitching style and is throwing a lesser percentage of fastballs and its benefitting him greatly. Last season, 73% of Beckett's pitches were fastballs. This season, the number has dropped to 63%. Beckett is mixing up his pitches and keeping hitters off balance, they can no longer sit on the fastball. In my estimation, he has been the team's MVP thus far and is providing a ton of optimism among Red Sox Nation. Let's hope it continues.

The Sox move to 21-10 with the win, 6 games ahead of the 2nd place Yankees.

Game 2: The real Daisuke Matsuzaka showed up in Toronto on Wednesday night. Matsuzaka went 7 innings, allowed 1 earned run, and struck out 8. He walkd 3 on the night.

The Red Sox offense picked up where it left off on Tuesday evening and put another 9 runs on the scoreboard. Lugo chipped in with a homer as did Mike Lowell and Manny Ramirez. David Ortiz went 4/5 with a homerun of his own. Dustin Pedroia's recent great play continued as well. Pedroia was 2/4 with 2 runs scored and made some pretty nice plays with the glove

It's so encouraging to watch this team right now. They are going to be a special ballclub if they can avoid injury. The win moves them to 22-10. The Yankees also won, so the division lead stays at 6 games.

Game 3: Roy Halladay wasn't even enough to stop the Red Sox offense. The Red Sox were able to touch up Halladay for 8 runs (7 earned). Mike Lowell hit another homerun in the effort.

Tim Wakefield was once again unbelievable. He pitched 7 shutout innings and struck out 5 to lower his ERA to a measly 1.79. Wakefield only allowed 3 hits and a walk to the Blue Jays who have now lost 9 games in a row.

The Red Sox received good work out of the bullpen from Hideki Okajima. JC Romero pitched a scoreless inning, but gave up 2 hits. The win moves the Red Sox to 23-10, they have won 4 straight. The Yankees also lost today, which means that the Red Sox division lead has increased to 7 games.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a series with the Orioles on Friday night. Julian Tavarez will oppose Brian Burres of the Orioles. Curt Schilling will pitch in the 2nd game for the Red Sox and Josh Beckett will pitch in the finale.

Thoughts: Roger Clemens to NY

The signing of Roger Clemens definitely improves the Yankees staff, but they still have alot of question marks including Clemens himself. Clemens' numbers looked very nice in the National League over the past few years. However, I'm willing to bet that he won't have the same luck in the American League.

Clemens is now 45 years old and Yankees "fans" are acting like he's going to be a savior. I just don't see it. In 2002 with New York, he finished with an ERA of 4.35, in 2003 he finished with a 3.93 ERA. Solid, but not great, not the savior he's being made out to be. Not only is he not going to get to face a pitcher 3 times per game, he's going to have to face much stronger offenses in the American League. Roger Clemens is now technically the game's highest paid player (yes, his salary even trumps that of teammate Alex Rodriguez).

On the outside, this appears to be a panic move by the Yankees. It was reported that the Red Sox offered him a pro-rated salary of $18 million (the Yankees offered $28 million). At this point it seems pretty clear that Roger is all about the money and nothing else. He has nothing to gain in New York. Coming to Boston would have given him the best chance at another ring. Clemens could have passed Cy Young as the winningest pitcher in Red Sox history and ended his illustrious career where it all started. He could have gone into the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox and had his #21 retired by them, but apparently the money meant more than all of that (even though he'll probably never spend a cent of it).

My Prediction: Yankees win the AL East (I felt this way even before the Clemens signing despite the fact that I believe the Red Sox have a better ballclub). Clemens puts up an ERA between 3.90 and 4.10. I still feel like the Red Sox have a stronger club and will fare better in the playoffs barring injury to a key player or a big trade made by the Yankees.

Twins vs Red Sox (5/4-5/6)

Game 1: The Red Sox got another brilliant performance out of Tim Wakefield as he lowered his ERA to 2.11 on the season. Wakefield pitched 7 shutout innings and only allowed 6 baserunners. Romero, Donnelly, and Papelbon all pitched well in relief and Papelbon picked up the save.

The Red Sox were fortunate that Wakefield and the bullpen were on top of things because their offense was only able to push 2 runs past Carlos Silva and the Twins. The Red Sox took the lead in the 6th inning with a solo shot from David Ortiz and scored another run in the 8th inning on an RBI single from Coco Crisp. The win moves the Red Sox to 19-9 on the season.

Game 2: In a game that appeared to be a huge mismatch on paper, Julian Tavarez kept the Red Sox in the game and actually outpitched Johan Santana. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Twins caught a few breaks and were able to score 2 runs against Julian Tavarez. The Red Sox offense also blew a couple of golden opportunities against Johan Santana early in the game.

The Red Sox had a chance to tie the game in the top of the 9th inning. Kevin Youkilis got on base with 1 out to give David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez a chance to make something happen. Ortiz made very good contact on Nathan, but Torii Hunter was able to track the ball down in centerfield. Nathan then retired Manny Ramirez to end the game and the Twins won by the score of 2-1. The loss dropped the Red Sox to 19-10, but they remain 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

Game 3: The Red Sox offense was able to score 4 runs against Sidney Ponson in the 5.1 innings that he pitched. They took the 4-0 lead into the 7th inning when Curt Schilling began to unfold. Schilling ended up being removed from the game after allowing two runs. He was eplaced by Hideki Okajima who allowed an RBI single and a 3rd run was charged to Schilling. Okajima ended up getting out of the inning with a 4-3 lead.

Okajima came out to pitch the 8th inning and did a nice job. He gave way to Papelbon in the 9th inning. Papelbon struck out the first batter he faced and then induced a ground ball out. Jason Tyner then blooped to Mike Lowell to end the game. The Red Sox win the game by the score of 4-3 and take 2 out of 3 games from Minnesota. They moved to 20-10 on the season and remain 5.5 games ahead of New York.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game series in Toronto on Tuesday night. Josh Beckett will face Victor Zambrano in the opener.

Mariners vs Red Sox Makeup Game (5/3)

Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled mightily in the 1st inning of Thursday's game. He allowed 5 runs in the inning on only 2 hits, but hit a batter and walked 2. Fortunately, the Red Sox were able to battle back against Horatio Ramirez. After the 5-run 1st inning, Matsuzaka settled down and the Red Sox eventually took a 7-5 lead. The final two runs of that rally came on a 2-run shot by Manny Ramirez. The Mariners answered in the following inning and tied up the game at seven.

The game stayed tied until the 8th inning when Manny Ramirez smacked a solo homerun into the seats and the Red Sox took an 8-7 lead. Francona held out Papelbon for the 2nd consecutive night and the Red Sox got solid performances out of Kyle Snyder, Brendan Donnelly, and JC Romero. Romero picked up the save and the Red Sox won the ballgame.

Athletics vs Red Sox (5/1-5/2)

Game 1: Curt Schilling turned in a nice performance, but it wasn't enough as Jon Papelbon faltered for the first time of the young season. Papelbon had been unhittable, but he clearly did't have it on Tuesday night. Schilling went 7 innings and only allowed 2 runs and the Red Sox took a 2-run lead into the 9th inning. On most nights, the game would have been over but Papelbon was touched up for in the inning courtesy of a 2-run homerun by Travis Buck.

It was by far the most disappointing loss of the season. The Red Sox seemed to have the game in the bag from start to finish, only to see the victory disappear at the very last second. The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 9th, but were unable to come up with a winning hit. Crisp was at the plate with men on 2nd and 3rd base and 2 outs but unfortunately he grounded out to end the inning. Donnelly came in to pitch the 10th and allowed what turned out to be the winning run on back to back doubles. The Red Sox were unable to answer in the bottom half and dropped to 16-9 on the season.

Game 2: Coco Crisp might FINALLY be coming around. For the second consecutive night, he made an unbelievable catch in centerfield. He also has an 8-game hitting streak which continued tonight with a 2/4 performance with 2 runs scored. One of Coco's hits was a double in the bottom of the 6th inning which turned out to be a big reason that the Red Sox won the game.

Josh Beckett also moved to 6-0 on the season and has been extremely impressive so far. Beckett went 7 innings and allowed 3 runs while striking out 7. Hideki Okajima pitched for the 2nd consecutive night and once again got the job done. He'll probably need a day or two off. Timlin came in to pitch the 9th and allowed a leadoff single. Timlin was able to finish the inning allowing only 1 run, but it could have been way worse if Coco Crisp wasn't in centerfield to make his brilliant catch. A nice win for the Red Sox as they moved to 17-9 (Six games ahead of New York).

On Deck: Makeup game with the Mariners at 7 PM from Fenway Park. Daisuke Matsuzaka will face Horatio Ramirez.