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.