Ellsbury CF
Gomes LF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava RF
Ross C
Iglesias SS
Ciriaco 3B

Lester SP

The Red Sox wanted to rebound from the beating they took from the Indians the night before and they hoped to do it with Lackey on the mound.  Lackey was coming off his best start in a Sox uniform all season long and he would have to face old friend Justin Masterson.  

Lackey would do just what the team needed from him.  He is really starting to look like that pitcher that would sometimes makes us scared to face when he was with the Angels.  He had control and was able to dominate the Indians lineup.  Lackey also got some help from the offense.  In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Mike Carp came to the plate and knocked a 3 run HR to put the Sox on top.  In the bottom of the 3rd, the Sox would give one of those runs back, but it would be an unearned run for Lackey.  Reynolds ended up scoring on an errant throw from Salty to third base.  It wasn't a great throw and it was to Iglesias who has never played third bases in the majors before, so it had fail written all over it.  

The game would stay 3-1 for a while and Lackey just kept pitching.  In the 6th the Sox would add one more run when the Sox had the bases loaded and Napoli hit into what looked like an inning ending double play, but he evaded the tag at first, so a run scored.  Sox 4-1.  Lackey finished off the 7th inning and he was done for the night. Lackey's line was 109 pitches, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 Ks and a heck of a lot of ground ball outs.  This version of John Lackey can stick around for a long long while.  

The Indians went from former Sox Masterson to former Sox Rich Hill in the bottom of the 7th.  The Sox bats had just as much success against him.  Ellsbury hit a 2 run RBI single to score Salty and Gomes.  Sox 6-1.  Then it went from former Sox Hill to former Sox Matt Albers.  The Sox offense got to him too.  Albers gave up an RBI single to Pedey that scored Iggy and Ells.  Sox 8-1.  The current Sox relievers got the job done.  Uehara pitched a scoreless 8th inning and then went into the dugout for a high five fest.  The 9th was pitched by Alfredo Aceves who was just called up from Pawtucket.  Aceves pitched himself a scoreless 9th inning and the game was in the books.

The rain was constant all night, but by the end the water was very dirty!

Red Sox 8  Indians 1  BOXSCORE

WP: Lackey (3-4)  LP:  Masterson (7-3)

The Red Sox made a heckle of roster moves today, so here is a quick review:

David Ross (C) was activated from the 7 Day Concussion DL.  The corresponding move was that Ryan Lavarnway (C) was sent down to AAA.  

Shane Victorino (RF) and Will Middlebrooks (3B) were both placed on the DL.  Victorino was placed on the DL retroactive to Tuesday with a hamstring issue. Middlebrooks was placed on the DL with back spasms.  The corresponding moves were to recall Jose Iglesias (SS/3B) and Alfredo Aceves (RHP).  Iglesias is making his major league debut tonight at third base and Aceves is here to protect the bullpen which was used quite a bit last night.  

It's been another week since our last check in on the AL East standings, so here they are:

Last week the Sox fell to 3rd in the AL East standings after losing 9 of their last 11 games.  What would one week's time bring?  The Sox moved up to 2nd place and are only one game back from the Yanks who are still leading the division.  The Sox swept the Twins and then lost a series to the White Sox.  All in all the week was pretty much a mixed bag. 

This upcoming week the Sox finish out the series with the Indians, weather permitting.  Tito's Tribe already took the first game of the series, but the Sox have 3 games left.  The Indians are leading the AL Central and could end up being trouble for the Sox.  The Sox then host the Phillies for two games and then head to Philly for 2 games.  The Phillies have been struggling this season, so let's hope the Sox can take advantage.  This will be the first time that Papelbon will return to Fenway since signing with the Phils.  

The Sox just placed Middlebrooks and Victorino on the DL, so the rest of the lineup is gonna have to make up for their production.   With Papi and Napoli in the lineup it should still have some pop, but they could use some protection with some hot bats around them.  Pedroia has been absolutely killing the ball.  I know Pedey has won Rookie of the Year and MVP, but I'd make the case that he is actually having his best year to date.  Ellsbury has continued to slump in the leadoff role with a good game here or there at the plate.  Stephen Drew has been getting it done at the plate in the month of May after starting the season in an epic slump.  Salty not only has had some good at bats lately, but he also gave us a glimmer of hope by throwing two runners out the other day.  

In terms of pitching, Lester had his first real bad outing.  It was bound to come sooner or later.  All in all, he's still been one of the most consistent arms this season.  Buchholz got a win and now is 7-0.  Lackey had undoubtedly his best outing of the season even if it was cut short by rain.  Felix Doubront took a huge step forward and was much more efficient on the mound.  Dempster is for sure not the bright spot of the rotation.  He has struggled in his last two outing, last night only making it 3 innings.  As for the bullpen, they have Bailey back as the closer and still have some dominant arms to get through the late innings.  

Where will we be this time next week?  I imagine it might be in about the same spot.  I am hoping that the Yanks and Rays beat up on each other a little bit and that the Sox can make the best of the schedule heading their way.  After this week, the Sox schedule gets a little gnarly, so I am hoping they take any opportunity while they can.  

Ellsbury CF
Nava RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Saltalamacchia C
Carp LF
Drew SS
Iglesias 3B
 

John Lackey SP

The Sox had a successful road trip and headed home to face their own friend and manager Terry Francona.  The Sox had Dempster on the mound and the Indians had McAllister.  The Sox gave Tito a nice welcome home gift and gave him a no doubter win as he returned to Fenway Park.  

Ryan Dempster threw 127 pitches in his last outing, so many people were watching what kind of outing he would have this time around.  This time Dempster would end up throwing 85 pitches and only last 3 innings.  It's an understatement that it wasn't his best outing.  Dempster gave up his first run in the 2nd inning when he gave up an RBI double to Stubbs.  Sox 0-1.  Dempster would give up 3 more runs in the 3rd inning with a 2 RBI single to Reynolds and a ground out RBI to Mike Aviles.  Sox 0-4.  

The Sox bats gave us a glimmer of hope in the bottom of the 3rd.  Papi hit a monster of a HR to bring the Sox to 3-4.  The game would have been tied if Ellsbury wasn't throw out at the plate when he tried to score in the previous at bat.  Dempster was done for the night and unfortunately it did not get any better when Mortensen took the mound.  Morty gave up an RBI single to Cabrera in the 4th and followed that up with giving up an RBI single to Aviles in the 5th.  Sox 3-6.  Mortensen found trouble again in the 6th and was out of the game and Alex Wilson was in.  It went from bad to worse at this point.  The Indians broke this game wide open during this inning.  Wilson gave up an RBI single to Reynolds, a 2 run RBI double to Gomes, a two run RBI triple to Stubbs and an RBI single to Bourn.  Ah, good times.  Sox 3-12.  There would be no great comeback from the Sox, but at least they did have a few innings of scoreless pitching to finish off the game.  Breslow pitched a scoreless 7th, Tazawa a scoreless 8th and then Miller pitched a scoreless 9th.  

Red Sox 3  Indians 12  BOXSCORE

WP: McAllister (4-3)  Dempster (2-5)

Here is tonight's lineup vs. the Indians:

Ellsbury CF
Nava RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Saltalamacchia C
Middlebrooks 3B
Drew SS
Carp LF

Dempster SP

Game time is at 7:10pm EST.

P.S. Welcome Back Tito!

The Red Sox had dropped the first two games of the series with the White Sox and with Clay Buchholz on the mound, they needed him to bring the team to a win before they headed back home.  Clay didn't have his best stuff all night long, but even so he was able to limit any damage and have his team in line for a win.  Clay was helped through his outing by Salty throwing out not one, but two runners trying to steal second.  

The bats gave Buchholz a lead before he even took the mound.  With two runners on, Papi hit a blooping single to score both Gomes and Pedey.  Red Sox 2-0.  The Red Sox were looking for more, but Santiago got out of the inning without any more damage.  Buchholz didn't look great when he took the mound and he had a habit of almost always letting the leadoff batter on base, but he also tended to not let them score.  Buch allowed a run to score in the 3rd when he gave up an RBI groundout to Rios.  Red Sox 2-1.  The Red Sox bats weren't able to pad Clay's lead while he was on the mound, but that was enough for him.  Buch pitched 7 strong innings and his line for the night was 113 pitches, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB and 4 Ks.   It wasn't his best outing, but it sure was good enough.

The Red Sox bats got back to work in the 8th.  Santiago was making a spot start for Sale who was out with injury and he was only on 3 days rest, however the bats wouldn't be able to do much damage until he was out of the game.  Santiago did exactly what the White Sox needed him to.  In the 8th, the Red Sox had the bases loaded and only one out.  Middlebrooks hit a sac fly and then Napoli scored on a passed ball to have the Red Sox leading 4-1.  Uehara pitched his usual 1-2-3 8th inning and then went in for one of his usual epic high five sessions in the dugout.  In the 9th the Red Sox added on when Nava hit a 2 run RBI single.  Red Sox 6-1.  Andrew Bailey made his first appearance since coming off the DL and while it wasn't a save situation, it was nice to see him get some work.  Bailey didn't have a clean inning as he gave up a HR to Paul Konerko, but that would be all the damage.  

Sox win 6-2 and head home to face their old friend Terry Francona.  

Red Sox 6  White Sox 2  BOXSCORE

WP: Buchholz (7-0)  LP:  Santiago (1-3) 

Here is tonight's lineup vs. the White Sox:

Ellsbury CF
Gomes LF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava RF
Middlebrooks 3B
Drew SS
Saltalamacchia C

Buchholz SP

Game time is at 8:10pm EST.