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.