White Sox vs Red Sox (8/23-8/26)

Game 1: The first game of the series would take place on Friday due to heavy rains in Chicago on Thursday night. Josh Beckett drew the start against Jon Garland.

Beckett went 5.2 IP and allowed 3 runs, but the Red Sox were luckily on top of their game when their ace wasn't. Jason Varitek had a big offensive night (2/3, HR, 4 RBI) as did Mike Lowell (3/4 2 RBI).

The Red Sox blew the game open in the 8th and 9th innings, scoring 2 runs in the 8th and 4 in the 9th.

Game 2: Curt Schilling pitched a decent ballgame and had his velocity back up to 91 MPH. He allowed 1 run and 3 hits over 6 innings. Schilling was relieved by Manny Delcarmen who pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Kyle Snyder and Eric Gagne also pitched scoreless innings in the game.

David Ortiz was 4/5 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. Kevin Youkilis added a 3-run homer of his own.

Game 3: The Red Sox scored in double digits for the 3rd consecutive game against the Chicago White Sox. Tim Wakefield, who has pitched well of late, did not need all of the support but he gladly took it as he picked up his 16th win. Wakefield now has a decision in all 26 of his starts this year (10 losses).

Wakefield pitched 7 shutout innings and only allowed 3 hits while striking out 6. Kyle Snyder allowed 2 runs in relief while Javier Lopez pitched scoreless 9th.

Newcomer Bobby Kielty lead the offensive charge with a 3/5 4 RBI performance. Mike Lowell went 4/6 with a 2 RBIs and Kevin Youkilis chipped in 2 RBIs as well.

Game 4: Julian Tavarez pitched well in his start and pitched in a tight 1-1 ballgame until the Red Sox scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning. 2 of the runs scored on an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia. A 2-run homer by David Ortiz was the source of the other 2 runs in the inning.

Tavarez finished with 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, and 7 K. He picked up his 7th win of the season as the Red Sox scored in double digits for the 4th consecutive game.

Bobby Kielty played well again as he went 2/4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. JD Drew added a homerun as well. The final score was 11-1 in favor of the Red Sox.

The win gave the Red Sox a sweep of the White Sox. The Yankees also lost today which puts Boston ahead by 7.5 games going into a 3-game set against their rivals. The Red Sox also became the first team to reach 80 wins this season and are now 29 games above .500.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Andy Pettitte will square off in the opener as the Red Sox will have their chance to put the division away with a good series. A poor series could easily let the Yankees right back into the race. Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett will pitch the other 2 games in the series.

Devil Rays vs Red Sox (8/20-8/22)

Game 1: Tim Wakefield continued his master of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays while he and the Red Sox collected another win. Wakefield tossed 7 shutout innings, only allowing 5 hits.

At the same time Wakefield was dominating Tampa Bay hitters, the Red Sox got out to an early 5-0 lead and coasted to victory. Dustin Pedroia, Coco Crisp, and Mike Lowell each collected 3 hits. Lowell had 3 RBIs on the night.

The Yankees lost to the Angels in the 10th inning on Monday night which helped the Red Sox move to 5 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.

Game 2: Unlike the last time the Red Sox faced Andy Sonnanstine, they didn't waste much time. The Red Sox scored 2 runs in the 1st inning and added another 5 runs in the 4th inning.

Varitek, Crisp, Lugo, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Ramirez made significant offensive contributions in the early going.

The Red Sox appeared to have the game in hand until Jon Lester ran into some trouble in the bottom of the 5th inning. Lester gave up a 3-run homer to Akinori Iwamura before the inning was over and the Devil Rays cut the Red Sox lead to 7-5. Lester came out to record an out and give up a hit in the 6th before Manny Delcarmen relieved him and induced a double play to end the inning. Manny Delcarmen and Okajima combined to pitch the 7th, then Okajima and Papelbon combined to finish the 8th. Papelbon also ended up pitching the 9th to close it out for the Red Sox. Papelbon struck out 3 batters in 1.1 innings pitched.

The win moves Boston to 5.5 games ahead of NYY (the lead will become 6 with a Yankee loss tonight or 5 with a Yankee win).

Game 3: The Red Sox lost a close 2-1 affair as Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well for the Red Sox again but did not receive the necessary run support to come away with a victory.

The Red Sox had a slim lead until the 6th inning when Daisuke Matsuzaka made his only mistake of the game. The mistake resulted in a go ahead 2-run homerun by BJ Upton.

Timlin and Gagne pitched scoreless innings in relief, but the Red Sox were unable to come back from the deficit as they dropped the finale against the Devil Rays.

On Deck: The Red Sox are set to begin a 4-game series with the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

Angels vs Red Sox (8/17-8/19)

Game 1: Clay Buchholz made his first career start for the Boston Red Sox on Friday afternoon in the 1st game of the doubleheader with the Angels. In the first inning, Buchholz was visibly nervous as his first 5 pitches were balls and he threw a curveball to the backstop. Buchholz quickly settled down after that despite a fielding error by JD Drew which would have ended the inning. Buchholz ended up allowing an unearned run in the 1st inning and 3 ER throughout the rest of his performance. He finished with 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 5 Ks. Buchholz made his final pitch to Reggie Willits to end the 6th inning on a nasty 12-6 curveball with incredible movement. Red Sox nation was impressed with their 1st look at what is potentially a future ace in the big leagues.

The job done by Buchholz allowed the Red Sox to take the 1st game of the doubleheader from the Angels as their offense tacked on 6 runs in the 1st inning against Cy Young candidate John Lackey. Lackey ended up going 4 innings before giving way to the bullpen.

Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez had 2 hit performances. One of the hits by Ortiz was a 2-run homer that gave the Red Sox an early lead. JD Drew collected 3 hits in the contest.

The win moved the Red Sox to 6 games in 1st place ahead of the New York Yankees.

Game 2: The nightcap was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least for the Red Sox and their fans. It appeared to be an easy game to win with Ervin Santana squaring off against Boston's ace, Josh Beckett. Beckett pitched very well, but Santana was surprisingly able to top him as the Angels carried a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning.

In that frame, the Red Sox were able to come up with some clutch hits against Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez. The big blows came from David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez who have seemingly disappeared in close and late situations this season. Ortiz had a 2-RBI double to tie the game and Ramirez followed with a double that scored Ortiz.

Papelbon and Okajima had been used in the day game so it appeared that Francona had to go with Eric Gagne. Gagne started the inning strong to retire Reggie Willits but it all came undone from there. The Angels tied it on a hit by Orlando Cabrera and took the lead when Vladimir Guerrero followed it with a hit of his own.

The Red Sox were unable to come back in the bottom of the 9th. Kevin Youkilis was the victim of a horrible call. Youkilis was called out on strikes after foul tipping what the umpire believed to be strike 3. Terry Francona came out to argue and was ejected, Youkilis was ejected soon after. Julio Lugo was the final batter of the game and he flied out to Gary Matthews Jr. in center field.

The loss combined with a Yankee win brings the Yankees to within 5 games.

Game 3: The Red Sox had not been very good at rallying up until recently, and they were able to do it again on Saturday evening against one of the better pitching teams in baseball.

The Sox fell behind 5-0 early as Curt Schilling struggled through 6 innings, however, he was able to pick up the win thanks to some clutch hitting. The big blow came on a grand slam by David Ortiz in the bottom of the 5th inning. The homerun put the Red Sox up for good.

They ended up scoring a total of 10 as the Angels were unable to put any more runs on the board once Schilling left the ballgame. Mike Timlin, Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched scoreless innings to finish out the game.

Game 4: After an encouraging offensive night, the Red Sox bats fell silent on Sunday afternoon in Fenway Park. Joe Saunders of the Angels held the Red Sox to 1 run in 7.2 innings of work. Julian Tavarez pitched very well for the Red Sox (6 IP, 2 ER), but it wasn't enough to deliver a victory.

The lone bright spots in the offense on Sunday afternoon were David Ortiz (2/4) and Bobby Kielty (2/3). It was Kielty's first start in a Red Sox uniform. He also robbed a 3-run homer in the 1st inning to keep the Red Sox close.

The loss, coupled with a Yankee win brings the Yankees to within 4 games of the AL East lead.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday night. Tim Wakefield and Scott Kazmir will square off in the opener.

Devils Rays vs Red Sox (8/13-8/15)

Game 1: Tim Wakefield had a no-hitter through 6 innings before giving up a leadoff single to Carl Crawford in the top of the 7th inning. At the time, the Red Sox were clinging to a 1-0 lead. Crawford successfully stole 2nd base but was stranded by Tim Wakefield as the Red Sox kept their slim lead.

The Red Sox would score another run in the bottom of the 7th inning and tack on more in the bottom of the 8th inning to extend the lead.

Wakefield finished with 8 innings pitched, 2 hits allowed, and no earned runs. He struck out 6. Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the 9th and struck out 2 batters to complete the shutout and keep the Red Sox 4 games ahead of New York.

Game 2: The Red Sox finally got what they were looking for out of Jon Lester in his emotional return to Fenway Park. Lester labored through the first bunch of innings but finished strong. Lester ended up hurling 7 innings while using under 100 pitches. He allowed 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run as he struck out 4. Though he pitched great, Lester left with a 1-0 disadvantage and the score would stay that way until the 9th inning.

The Red Sox got good performances out of Mike Timlin and Eric Gagne (1 IP 3 Ks) in relief. Manny Delcarmen also contributed but got the Red Sox into a jam in the 8th inning before Timlin bailed him out. The solid bullpen work allowed the Red Sox to stay close.

In the bottom of the 9th, Manny Ramirez led off and was retired. With 1 out, Mike Lowell came to the plate and deposited an Al Reyes pitch into the Green Monster seats to tie the game and send the Fenway Faithful into a frenzy. It turned out that the Red Sox weren't quite done. With 2 outs and nobody on base, Varitek ripped a single into the right field corner, not missing a walk-off homerun by very much. Coco Crisp was next to the plate and after a lengthy at bat, he singled to right field which allowed Varitek to score. Delmon Young fielded Crisp's hit and made a poor throw to home. A good throw may or may not have made a difference.

The Yankees also lost this evening, so the Red Sox lead in the AL East increases to 5 games.

Game 3: Daisuke Matsuzaka labored through 6 innings on Wednesday afternoon while Andy Sonnanstine was baffling Red Sox hitters. The Red Sox trailed 6-0 going into the 7th inning before Jason Varitek hit a 2-run homerun and Julio Lugo recorded an RBI double to cut the Devil Rays' lead in half.

After Daisuke's departure, Julian Tavarez and Mike Timlin gave the Red Sox solid work out of the bullpen as they combined for 3 scoreless frames.

The Red Sox were able to score another run off of Dan Wheeler in the 8th inning to cut the lead to 2. Jason Varitek had a chance to do more damage but grounded a changeup to 1st base to end the inning.

Entering the 9th inning, the Red Sox needed 2 runs to tie. The inning was led off by Coco Crisp who started things with a bunt single. Julio Lugo followed that up with an RBI double. With 0 outs and Lugo (the tying run on 1st base), the Red Sox could have potentially put across the game-tying run without even getting a hit. Unfortunately, there were no clutch hits on Wednesday afternoon as Dustin Pedroia recorded the 1st out as he struck out swinging. Kevin Youkilis followed that up with a strikeout of his own before David Ortiz walked. As a result of the walk, Manny Ramirez came to the plate with the winning run on 1st base and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Ramirez fouled off pitch after pitch before finally striking out on a neck-high pitch from Al Reyes.

The win was Tampa Bay's first of the season in Fenway Park. Fortunately, the Yankees 9th inning rally was overcome by the Baltimore Orioles so the lead stayed at 5 games as the midway point of August has passed.

On Deck:The Red Sox will get the day off on Thursday and will resume play on Friday night against the Angels from Fenway Park. Ervin Santana will face Josh Beckett in the opener. It is rumored that Clay Buchholz will start the 2nd game of the doubleheader on Friday night against John Lackey. Buchholz is highly regarded and is the Red Sox top pitching prospect at the current time. He has been baffling hitters in the minor leagues and the Red Sox are hoping that it will translate to success in the major leagues in the near future. Another big arm would be a great boost for the Red Sox, whether out of the bullpen or in the starting rotation.

Orioles vs Red Sox (8/10-8/12)

Game 1: A good start by Daisuke Matsuzaka and an inspiring comeback were wasted on Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. Erik Bedard and Matsuzaka engaged in a pitching duel for 7 innings with the Orioles leading 1-0. Finally, in the 7th the Red Sox tied it and then took the lead on bunt single by Julio Lugo that opened the flood gates. The Red Sox would score 3 more runs in the inning as the game appeared to be all but over.

But then Terry Francona revealed his ugly head and reminded me of how much I dislike his bullpen management skills (or lack thereof). Francona opted to go with Gagne to start the 8th inning despite the fact that the coming matchups favored Hideki Okajima. Not only that, but after the initial mistake he made the mistake of leaving Gagne in for too long when he was struggling. Okajima would finally come in, but it was too late as he allowed a weak basehit and the tying run scored.

Okajima would pitch the bottom of the 9th and give up a leadoff double to Brian Roberts who ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly by Nick Markakis. Francona also inexplicably left 1st and 2nd base open with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning with the inning run of 3rd base.

Boston lost by the score of 6-5 as Eric Gagne's struggles in a Red Sox uniform continued.

Game 2: Josh Beckett helped the Red Sox back into the win column on Saturday afternoon. Beckett had no-hit stuff in the early innings but struggled in the 9th inning. Beckett was 1 out away from his 1st shutout in a Red Sox uniform before allowing 2 runs and giving way to Jonathan Papelbon who closed it out.

Beckett pitched 8.2 innings, allowed 8 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8 and walking none. JD Drew had 3 hits and 2 RBIs while Julio Lugo contributed with 2 hits and 2 RBIs of his own as the Red Sox won by the score of 6-2.

Game 3: Terry Francona tried his best to blow the game against the Orioles on Sunday and succeeded. He wasted a good start by Curt Schilling at the same time. Schilling went 6 innings without allowing an earned run in his 2nd start back from the disabled list. He left the game with a 3-1 lead and was in line for the win until Terry Francona attempted to use his league-best bullpen.

Francona, instead of sticking with Hideki Okajima (who has been lights out this season), went with the struggling Eric Gagne once again. Gagne replaced Okajima after he recorded an out and allowed 1 baserunner and promptly allowed a game-tying 2-run homer to Miguel Tejada.

The game stayed tied until the 10th inning when Terry Francona removed Manny Delcarmen after 1 inning pitched. He replaced him with mop up man Kyle Snyder (instead of Papelbon). Snyder gave up 2 base hits to start the inning which brought up Kevin Millar. Instead of walking Millar to create a force play at home with no outs and the winning run on 3rd base, Francona opted to have Snyder pitch to Kevin Millar who cranked a 3-run walkoff homerun as the Orioles took the series from the Red Sox.

Much of the blame from the losses this series can be attributed to Terry Francona and Eric Gagne and I'm sure they both know it. I'm also confident that Eric Gagne will find himself at some point before the end of the season and be a worthwhile acquisition for the Red Sox.

The frustration was compounded with a Yankees victory over Cleveland which brought them to within 4 games of 1st place in the American League East.

Angels vs Red Sox (8/6-8/8)

Game 1: Curt Schilling made his return from the DL on Monday night but was unable to lead the Red Sox to victory. Schilling went 6 innings, allowing 4 hits and 9 runs while striking out 5 and walking none. Schilling had been cruising through the first three innings until he tried to barehand a comebacker that ricocheted off of a finger on his throwing hand.

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead on a 2-run homer by Kevin Youkilis but the lead was soon surrendered by Curt Schilling on a 2-RBI single by Casey Kotchman. Maicer Izturis broke the tie in the 7th inning with a solo shot and Chone Figgins added to it with a sacrifice fly.

The Red Sox had some chances against Jered Weaver and against Scot Shields but were unable to capitalize on the opportunities as they took the loss. The loss cuts the Red Sox lead on the AL East to 6 games with a little less than 2 months remaining in the season.

Game 2: Tim Wakefield was touched up pretty good by the Angels on Tuesday night as he allowed 6 ER over 4 innings. Kyle Snyder and Julian Tavarez would give up more runs in relief.

While the Angels did alot of scoring, the Red Sox did not have much of an answer. Doug Mirabelli hit a 2-run homer to temporarily give Boston the lead in the top of the 4th inning, but it was relinquished in the bottom half.

Boston ended up losing the game by the score of 10-4 as Joe Saunders took the win for the Angels.

Game 3: The Red Sox fell behind early on Wednesday night but showed some resilience in their comeback effort against the Angels.

The Angels got out to an early 3-0 lead but Boston battled back with 4 runs in the 4th inning. Jon Lester gave up the lead in the bottom of the 4th but the Red Sox took it back in the top of the 5th. The Angels tied it at 6 in the bottom half of that inning and the game stayed tied until the 7th inning when Dustin Pedroia hit a solo homerun off of the glove of Garrett Anderson.

Hideki Okajima took the win for the Red Sox.

Mariners vs Red Sox (8/3-8/5)

Game 1: Jon Lester made his 3rd start since returning to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. Lester wasn't on top of his game as he allowed 4 runs and 8 hits in 5 innings.

The Red Sox and Mariners were tied at 4 after 5 innings but the Mariners started to pull away in the 6th inning and were able to pick up insurance runs in the 7th as they won by the score of 7-4.

Game 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched very well on Saturday night in a 4-3 Red Sox victory. Matsuzaka pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs while striking out 10.

Red Sox runs were driven in by David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Varitek.

Eric Gagne pitched the 8th inning with a 2-run lead. Gagne retired the 1st two batters he faced before allowing 3 consecutive hits and a run to score. The new Red Sox reliever was able to get out of trouble, however, when he induced a comebacker that he threw to 1st base for the final out of the inning.

Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the 9th and walked 2 batters before retiring the Mariners in the bottom of the 9th for a Red Sox win.

Game 3: Josh Beckett pitched a gem on Sunday afternoon as he went 6 innings while only allowing 1 run. He struck out 9 Mariners on the afternoon.

In addition to Beckett's stellar pitching, the Red Sox got a good offensive effort against Seattle starter Miguel Batista. The Red Sox offense scored 9 runs as Manny Ramirez homered and Coco Crisp, Mike Lowell, and Julio Lugo had 2-hit performances.

At the conclusion of the Sox-Marniers series, the Red Sox hold a 7 game lead on the AL East over the New York Yankees. The Yankees have been hot lately and are only 1/2 game out of the AL Wildcard.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game series with the Anaheim Angels on Monday night as they continue their 6-game trip to the West Coast. Curt Schilling will start the opener for the Red Sox in his 1st start back from the disabled list.