Athletics vs Red Sox (6/4-6/7)

Game 1: Julian Tavarez did a pretty good job of keeping the Red Sox in a game that they had no business winning. His efforts allowed the Red Sox to enter the 9th inning with just a 2-run deficit and luckily their bats came alive.

It all started with a double from David Ortiz. The next two batters (Ramirez and Youkilis) were retired. Jason Varitek then singled home Ortiz to make it a 1-run game. Coco Crisp came in to run for Varitek. Wily Mo Pena was up next and on the third pitch he saw, Crisp attempted to steal. Pena smacked that pitch into the gap and Crisp raced around the bases to score the tying run.

The A's couldn't answer in the bottom of the 9th. In the 10th inning, the Athletics loaded the bases with no outs against JC Romero, but Romero was able to miraculously work his way out of trouble. The Red Sox failed to score in their half of the 11th inning. Kyle Snyder came in to pitch the bottom half and retired the first two batters he faced when Eric Chavez came to the plate. Chavez smacked a walk-off homerun off of Snyder to end the game and give the Athletics the victory.

Game 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka turned in a decent performance on Tuesday night going 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs. He struck out 7 and threw 129 pitches.

Despite his performance, the Red Sox gave him no chance of winning as they were stymied by former Red Sox pitcher Lenny Dinardo. Dinardo walked 6, but was very solid despite the control issues.

Eric Chavez homered once again for the Athletics as the Red Sox dropped their 3rd straight game.

Game 3: Tim Wakefield turned in his best start in awhile on Wednesday night. Wakefield went 6.2 innings, and allowed 3 runs while striking out 8.

The Red Sox offense was again nonexistent for the first 6 innings, but finally showed signs of life in the 7th when they scored 2 runs to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

Hideki Okajima relieved Wakefield and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. His efforts were not enough as the Red Sox failed to score. It was their 4th straight loss and 6th in the last 7 games.

Game 4: Curt Schilling was extremely close to making history on Thursday afternoon. Schilling entered the 9th inning only having allowed 1 baserunner which came on a fielding error by Julio Lugo. Schilling retired the first two batters in the 9th inning, still having allowed no hits.

At this point, Shannon Stewart was the only thing standing in the way of Curt Schilling and his first career no-hitter. On the first pitch, Varitek called a slider away, and Schilling shook him off. Instead, the two agreed on a fastball away. Unfortunately, Shannon Stewart smacked the offering past Alex Cora for the first hit of the game. Schilling retired Mark Ellis on a tough blooper which was reeled in by Alex Cora to end the game.

After the game, Schilling seemed to be in pretty good spirits and whether he meant it or not, his postgame comments were the truth. The Red Sox needed the win and they got it and thats all that matters.

Schilling's performance came at the perfect time. The Red Sox had been struggling and only scored 1 run courtesy of a David Ortiz homerun in the 1st inning. They are extremely fortunate to get that win right now while only scoring 1 run and they have Curt Schilling to thank for that.

The 4-game losing streak is snapped and the Red Sox are now 12 games ahead of the Yankees depending on what happens in their game tonight against the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox now sit at 38-21.

On Deck: The Red Sox will start a 3-game series with the Diamondbacks on Friday from Arizona. Josh Beckett will get the nod in the opener for the Red Sox.