Sox Cruise Toward Playoffs

After a tough week in which the Sox took 5 of 6 from Tampa and the Angels, the Sox now hit the final stretch of the season and the schedule is very favorable.

With 14 games against Baltimore, Toronto, Kansas City and Cleveland, and 3 at New York left on the schedule, the Sox should easily hold on to their 6-game lead over the Rangers and make the playoffs.

Boston could conceivably still catch the Yankees with 13 or 14 wins over these last two weeks, but that still might not be enough.

Either way, the Sox are playing much better and the Yankees have stumbled a bit lately giving us renewed hope that the Red Sox can still win it all this year.

The lineup has been pretty solid lately with the exception of Varitek. And what's with the two passed balls on strike three the last two games? The first one cost the team a run and the second one may have cost Beckett a win.

We all love Tek and appreciate what he has done for us over the years, but his time has passed. He can't hit and he can't throw anybody out. He shouldn't play in the playoffs and hopefully he'll just retire after the season and bow out gracefully.

The key now is to make sure everyone is healthy. Hopefuly Youk and Paps can shake off their back problems and nothing else happens to anybody over the next couple weeks.

A rotation of Lester, Beckett, Buchholz and a rejuvenated Dice-K might be enough to take us all the way.

Sox Hold Ground in Wild-Card Race

Coming home and facing the Orioles was once again just what the doctor ordered for the Red Sox. Two wins over the O's kept the Sox 2 games ahead of the Rangers who swept the Indians in Cleveland.

Victor Martinez came through with a huge pinch-hit 3-run double to break a 4-4 tie in the 7th and lead the Sox to a 7-5 win Wednesday night.

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 7, Orioles 5

He continues to be probably the best pickup that any team made at the non-waiver trade deadline. Vic is hitting .326 with 6 homers and 28 RBIs in 36 games with the Sox.

Jason Bay went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs and became the 5th Boston left fielder to have 30 homers and 100 RBIs in a season joining Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Manny Ramirez -- not a bad list to be on.

Paul Byrd pitched a shaky 5 innings and Manny Delacarmen was awful in relief giving up the lead by allowing 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning.

Ramon Ramirez gave up a hit to the first batter he faced allowing a run to score. The middle relief continues to be an issue for the Sox, but the back of the bullpen looks pretty solid.

Billy Wagner picked up the win with another scoreless inning. He struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced and has looked dominant in a Red Sox uniform. I don't think Francona would have any problem using Wagner in a save situation if the need arose.

Although Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon didn't have great nights on Wednesday, they have been pitching well lately.

Tuesday, the Red Sox bashed six home runs, including two by Dustin Pedroia, to pound the Orioles 10-0. Clay Buchholz had his best outing of the season and may be that No. 3 starter the Sox have been looking for.

Now comes the two big series against the reeling Rays and the Angels. The Sox can't let up because the Rangers are on fire.

Beckett Still Can't Get a Win

After a nice win on Sunday it would have been big to get a win from Beckett and split the series, but the offense didn't show up again.

Beckett pitched well enough to win, but at this point I think the Sox would have to start Lester in game 1 of a playoff series.

At least Beckett didn't give up any home runs.

BOX SCORE: White Sox 5, Red Sox 1

Maybe the Sox will have a chance if Lester can continue to dominate into the playoffs.

Jacoby Ellsbury continued his outstanding season going 2 for 4, scoring the Sox only run of the game and stealing his MLB-leading 60th base of the year.

Ells has a 5-steal lead over Carl Crawford. If he holds on to lead the majors in steals he will only be the 2nd Boston player to have that title. Billy Werber pulled off the feat in 1934 and '35 with 40 and 29 steals, respectively.

The Rays look like their done, especially with the Pena out, so it's Texas we have to worry about.

The Rangers have 7 more games with the Angels and Oakland, 6 with Seattle, 3 with Tampa and 3 with Cleveland -- including a doubleheader Tuesday.

I like the Sox chances heading into this homestand (2 with Baltimore, 3 with Tampa, 3 with Angels) and then with games against Baltimore and KC and the final 7 at home against Toronto and Cleveland.

The Sox should win at least 15 of the last 25 games, but I think 13 or 14 will get them in.

Struggles Continue in Chicago

Tim Wakefield could barely walk Saturday but he still hobbled out to the mound and actually gave the Sox a decent outing.

I hope J.D. Drew and some of the other guys who don't play when they have a hangnail were watching.

After it looked like he might not get out of the first, Wake was able to gut it out for six innings and give the Sox a chance -- too bad the offense didn't show up.

BOX SCORE: White Sox 5, Red Sox 1

Why is that the entire Sox offense seems to go into a slump at once? Gavin Floyd is a decent pitcher, but he's not Cy Young. Three hits and 12 strikeouts is a pathetic performance.

Now the Sox have to win the next two games with Lester and Beckett on the mound and then beat up on Baltimore at home before Tampa and the Angels come in.

Byrd Not The Word

There's a reason why Paul Byrd wasn't playing baseball for most of the season. His first start was a nice surprise, but we really shouldn't be surprised that he got pounded by the White Sox Friday night.

If the Sox need to depend on Byrd to get them into the playoffs they are in trouble.

BOX SCORE: White Sox 12, Red Sox 2

Hopefully Wakefield with return for good saturday. Who would have ever thought that Wake would be the key to the pitching staff and his injury would be the one that had the biggest effect on the team.

It looks like Tazawa isn't ready for the majors just yet either. Hopefully this will be good experience for him and not destroy his confidence.

At least everybody got some rest Friday night, but it is a little disheartening that the Sox basically gave up on this game in the thrid inning when Byrd was allowed to stay in for 7 runs.

How about Kotsay getting some revenge on the Sox? Trading him for Anderson and the Laroche for Kotchman trade seem to be mistakes.

I know they made them because the guys they were getting back were younger, but it doesn't make sense to trade a better play straight up for another guy just because he's younger. Money is obviously not an issue with the Sox, so there was no reason to do this.

Sox Leave Tampa in Good Shape

The Red Sox finally put to rest the notion that they can't win in Tampa and all but eliminated the Rays from the wild card race by taking two of three in this huge series.

With Vic, Youk and Bay all smashing the ball and everyone in the lineup excpet Ortiz and Lowell getting hits Thursday night, the offense seems to have hit its stride.

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 6, Rays 3

Buchholz had a nother decent outing and despite being somewhat inconsistent he may have enough confidence to be effective in the playoffs.

The back end of the bullpen looked overpowering. Billy Wagner continues to be virtually untouchable, Bard finally had a decent inning and papelbon has definitely righted the ship and returned to the form that made him one of the most dominant closers in the league.

With a couple more weeks of solid play the Sox may actually be able to relax a bit and set up the rotation heading into the playoffs.

Beckett Bombed Again

Maybe we spoke too soon yesterday. Josh Beckett was back to his 2006 (and recent) form giving up two more home runs as the Sox squandered a chance to put the Rays away for good.

Beckett actually settled down and struck out 9 without walking anybody in 6 innings, but if the Sox want to go anywhere in the playoffs they need Beckett to be the dominant pitcher he was for most of May and June.

BOX SCORE: Rays 8, Red Sox 5

Over his last 5 starts he's given up an astounding 26 earned runs in 31 1/3 innings and has surrendered a ridiculous 14 home runs. Those numbers are scary. Maybe we should have kept Brad Penny, who of course pitched 8 shutout innings in his Giants debut Wednesday night.

With the success of Smoltz and now Penny since they left the Sox is it possible that it's the Red Sox system, specifically the coaching of John Farrell, that's the problem?

Maybe they should let these veteran pitchers do what has been successful for them their whole careers. Dice-K was pretty damn good in Japan before he came to the Sox and they reportedly changed his throwing program.

The offense reverted to not being able to come up with a big hit again as well.

It was nice to see them battle back and tie it, but the strikeouts by Gonzalez (a pinch hitter would have been nice in that situation) and Ells to end the 8th-inning rally was a killer. Not getting J-Bay home from 3rd with one out in the 2nd didn't help either.

If the Sox can win Thursday they will still be able to take major step toward securing the wild card and burying the Rays once and for all. A nice outing from Buchholz will also be a huge boost for the once again shaky itching staff.

Sox Make a Statement to Open Series in Tampa

After a huge win to open a huge series in Tampa Bay, it's time to rethink the Red Sox playoff chances.

I'll admit that I had pretty much written them off after the recent struggles with the Yankees, but I have to give this team credit for bouncing back and putting themselves in position to go into the playoffs playing good ball.

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 8, Rays 4

The moves that Theo has made seem to be paying off and the lineup is finally coming around.

If J.D. Drew can continue his hot hitting -- and of course stay healthy (that's the sound of me knocking on wood) -- combined with the resurgence of J-Bay and Big Papi and the steady hitting of Ells, Dustin, Victor, Youk and Lowell, this one-time below average lineup looks pretty formidable.

The addition of Billy Wagner may turn out to be a huge pickup as well. He's a strikeout machine, fanning 5 of the 7 batters he's faced in two scoreless innings for the Sox.

And Tito finally showed some balls by going against the "manager's code" and bringing in Papelbon with the game on the line and no outs in the 8th. Paps delivered the clutch 6-out save and has re-established himself as an elite closer again after a rough patch.

I also like the bench depth the team has now with the 40-man roster call ups. When did we get Joey Gathright? He's a great guy to call up for September to pinch run and steal a key base when you need it. He can also come in for defense in the late innings.

Now if Byrd or Tazawa or Nick Green (LOL) can step up and solidify the rotation we may really have something.