G61: Red Sox 6, Rangers 3

Rangers - 021 000 000 - 3 10  0
Red Sox - 002 000 103 - 6 13  0

Texas manager Ron Washington made two big mistakes in the ninth inning. One, even though he had closer Joe Nathan warmed up, he brought in Michael "6.89 ERA" Kirkman. Two, after Jonny Gomes led off with a first-pitch double, he called for an intentional walk to Dustin Pedroia, so Kirkman could face David Ortiz.

Yes, Ortiz came into the game batting only .250 against left-handers and, yes, he had grounded out in his previous three at-bats. But choosing to face Ortiz with the game on the line? That is madness.

After a pep talk from pitching coach Mike Maddux, Kirkman threw Ortiz a slider that broke inside and low. Ortiz swung and hit a screaming line drive that just cleared the short wall of the visitors' bullpen. And just like that, the Red Sox had a win and Kirkman's ERA ballooned to 8.18!

It was the 11th walk-off home run of Ortiz's career (10th with the Red Sox) and his first since August 26, 2009. Ortiz now has 19 career walk-off hits, 16 with Boston.

It was also a sweet ending to what had been a frustrating night, as Lester (6-7-3-3-4, 108) had a rocky outing and his teammates squandered numerous opportunities to score, stranding 11 men in the first eight innings.

Jacoby Ellsbury, back in the lineup after missing five games, went 4-for-5, with two doubles. Gomes was also 4-for-5. Dustin Pedroia slugged a two-run double in the third. Jose Iglesias singled and walked three times.

Derek Holland / Jon Lester

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

Lester has allowed at least four runs in each of his last three starts.

Linescore of the Month, from last night:

White Sox - 000 000 000 000 050 2 - 7 17  0
Mariners  - 000 000 000 000 050 0 - 5 16  2

G60: Rangers 3, Red Sox 2

Rangers - 000 100 200 - 3  7  0
Red Sox - 000 001 010 - 2  5  0

Elvis Andrus's two-run double off Koji Uehara snapped a 1-1 tie, and relievers Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan held the line.

It was, for me, an extremely infuriating game, marked by one obvious blown call at second base that aborted a Boston rally before it could truly begin, and numerous missed pitches by home plate umpire Rob Drake. Red Sox batters also failed to capitalize with runners at second and/or third.

Stephen Drew opened the third with a shot into the gap in left-center and slid safely into second with a double, but he was called out by Sam Holbrook. It was questionable whether Texas second baseman Jurickson Profar even tagged Drew at all, let alone before drew got his hand on the bag.

In the fourth, the Red Sox had runners at first and second with one out, and second and third with two outs, and could not score, as David Ortiz and Mike Napoli both struck out. After Dustin Pedroia hit a solo home run in the sixth, Ortiz and Napoli walked, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia whiffed to end the inning. In the seventh, Drew walked and Jose Iglesias singled - but the next three batters were quickly retired.

With two down in the eighth, Napoli walked and Salty doubled him home. With the potential tying run at second, Drew grounded to second. Nathan retired the side in order in the ninth on six pitches.

A blown call by 1B umpire Joe West helped the Rangers snap a 1-1 tie in the seventh. Mitch Moreland hurt himself running to second on a leadoff double off Craig Breslow and was replaced by Jeff Baker. Profar laid down a bunt, but Baker (for some unknown reason) did not run to third! Pinch-hitter Craig Gentry tried checking his swing on an 0-2 pitch. He clearly went around, but West said there was no swing. Gentry eventually walked - ending Breslow's evening - and Andrus promptly hit his two-run double on Uehara's first pitch.

Lackey (6-5-1-0-5, 108) pitched well, retiring 11 of his first 12 batters and giving up only a solo shot to dead center to Adrian Beltre.

Alexi Ogando / John Lackey

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

G59: Red Sox 17, Rangers 5

Rangers - 000 201 020 -  5  9  2
Red Sox - 261 114 20x - 17 19  0

The Red Sox narrowly missed becoming only the seventh* team in American League history to score in all eight innings of a home game. They failed to score in the eighth inning against left fielder David Murphy, who allowed a leadoff double to Daniel Nava, and then retired the next three hitters. (No AL team has ever scored in all nine innings of a game.)

*: Boston did score in all eight innings on September 16, 1903. That was part of a streak of scoring in 17 consecutive innings!

In the words of NESN's Dennis Eckersley (when the game was over, thinking his mic was off): "We gotta recap this shit?"

The highlights: Jackie Bradley hit his first major league home run in the second inning. David Ortiz doubled and tripled in his first two at-bats. Daniel Nava had three hits and scored four runs. Stephen Drew had four hits and scored three runs. The Red Sox led off three consecutive innings with a home run: Drew in the fourth, Mike Carp in the fifth, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the sixth. Ryan Dempster (7-5-3-1-6, 107) turned in his second straight solid start. Red Sox batters saw 190 pitches in eight innings!

Justin Grimm / Ryan Dempster

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

The Rangers (35-21) have the best record in the American League. The Red Sox (35-23) are second-best; they lead the Orioles and Yankees by 2.5 games.

Grimm (3.93 ERA in nine starts) is excited to be pitching in Boston:

It's going to be pretty cool to pitch at Fenway. I'm expecting a good crowd. I'm expecting to show up ready to go, ready to compete and be aggressive with them, and go after it. If I do that, it's going to be a good game.

The Rangers lead the AL with a 3.38 team ERA. Boston is tied for second with the Tigers at 3.72.

Gabe Kapler: MLB Must Embrace Widespread Instant Replay (Including Balls And Strikes)

Gabe Kapler for Commissioner!:

Every day in Major League Baseball, calls are blown by MLB umpires. We laugh as the faces of managers get redder and redder; expletives get louder and more venomous. The postgame press conferences make for great TV and fodder for comical chats at the water cooler. ...

This discussion, just like the game itself, is not about the umpires. The fact that it's indeed time to implement widespread instant reply has little to do with the competency of the guys who enforce the rulebook and has everything to do with what's good for the game and its overall health going forward. ...

I'm in love with the tradition of baseball. I have the highest level of respect for our game's history. However, I can't stand that things are done just because, well, that's the way they have always been done. And we are getting to that point without significant instant replay.

We can't do this halfway or little by little. I'm all for correcting calls on the bases and everywhere for that matter. ...

Traditionalists, brace yourselves: When the technology is ready — and it soon will be — we need to let computers call balls and strikes with the game on the line. And we should be using the resources we have now and at every turn to make the game faster and better. ...

It's time to let go of the notion that human error is somehow part of the beauty of the game when it is, in fact, a correctable blight. I for one am ready for MLB to rip off the Band-Aid and get this very important call right.

MLB is seriously discussing introducing a wide array of instant replay for 2014 - "all calls other than balls and strikes", in fact. Having current (or future) technology used to call every pitch is the ultimate taboo in baseball. It seems that most people who are pro-replay draw the line there, insisting that balls and strikes continue to be called by humans. This is unfortunate, as I believe getting those calls right is far more important than reviewing batted balls down the foul lines or controversial home runs.

Ortiz's Epic Bat Flip

I could watch this all day.

Thanks to Dr. Jeff for finding it here and sending it along.

Update: I found a second gif:

Schadenfreude 157 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

The biggest reason has been a lack of runs. In the past eight games, the Yankees have scored 15 runs. Four times they have been limited to a run, and last night they didn't score in five innings.

Kevin Kernan, Post:

The numbers are so cold and so revealing.

The Yankees have gone from Bronx Bombers to Bronx Bummers on offense. The difference between the Red Sox and Yankees is painfully obvious. ...

The Red Sox are first in baseball with 289 runs scored.

The Yankees are 20th with 223. That puts them 12th in the American League. To fully understand what that means, consider the lowly Astros, who basically are rebuilding from the ground up, have scored more runs than the Yankees with 227. ...

These are much different days in The Bronx. The explosive offense is history.

John Harper, Daily News:

Remember the good old days of, say, last year, when people worried about the Yankees hitting too many home runs and not enough singles?

Yeah, this team should have such problems.

Simply put, scoring runs hasn't been such an issue in the Bronx since the bad old days of the early '90s ...

Suffice to say the warm and fuzzy feeling everyone had for these gutty, gritty, replacement Yankees is wearing off fast. Actually, the fans never seemed to buy in anyway, judging by a signicant decline in TV ratings, so maybe they were ahead of the curve on this. ...

On this pace the Yankees would score fewer than 670 runs, a stunningly low total ...

In fact, the lowest total the Yankees scored in the last 18 years was 789 in 2008 ... You have to go back to 1992, when the Yankees scored 674 runs in [Buck] Showalter's first year as manager, to find a team that compared to this one.

G58: Red Sox 3, Yankees 0 (6, rain)

Red Sox - 000 111 - 3  8  0
Yankees - 000 00  - 0  2  0

Jose Iglesias and David Ortiz hit home runs and Clay Buchholz (5-5-0-1-4, 71) lowered his MLB-best ERA to 1.62, as the Red Sox won a rain-shortened game and dropped the slumping Yankees (losers of seven of their last eight games) into third place.

The Globe's Peter Abraham reports: "Buchholz has the lowest ERA after 11 starts for a Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez had a 1.44 after 11 starts in 2001."

Buchholz was off in the first inning, throwing 22 pitches, but issued only a one-out walk. In five innings, all but one of New York's 15 outs was recorded in the infield.

Manager John Farrell:

After the first inning, he started getting better touch and feel, and the last couple, three innings that he threw were as sharp as he's been all season. He threw an assortment of pitches ahead in the count. It looked like he could go to any single pitch in any given situation.

The Red Sox stranded two runners in the second and then broke through against Kuroda (5.1-8-3-0-5, 95) in the fourth. Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz (2-for-3) opened the inning with singles and FY scored on Mike Napoli's (2-for-3) fielder's choice. Iglesias homered to start the fifth and Ortiz launched a bomb to right-center in the sixth.

The game was delayed twice in the top of the sixth.

Clay Buchholz / Hiroki Kuroda

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

Buchholz is making his first appearance since May 22. He missed his last start "due to some discomfort in his AC joint around his collarbone, which appeared to be caused by falling asleep in a strange position while holding his daughter".

Buchholz's 1.71 ERA is tops in the American League, and 2nd in MLB (trailing Arizona's Patrick Corbin, 1.71). Kuroda is 5th in the AL at 2.39.

Buchholz is also the best in the AL in not allowing home runs (0.248/9 IP); he has allowed only two in 72.2 innings. ... Kuroda and Buchholz are 5th and 6th in AL WHIP, respectively.

Alex Speier notes that Felix Doubront "has now thrown quality starts in each of his five career starts against the Yankees, becoming the first pitcher to open his career against New York with five straight quality starts in the Live Ball Era (dating to 1920)".

Correction: MLB.com's Quinn Roberts writes: "Daniel Nava turned in his first career four-hit game Saturday night." That is wrong. Nava had four hits in a game twice last season: June 1 and June 20.

Schadenfreude 156 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

With muscles as soft as yogurt swinging wet newspapers, the Yankees can't afford to be escorted into an early ditch by a starting pitcher. ...

By the third inning last night the listless lineup was toast thanks to a five-run Red Sox rally highlighted by Mike Napoli's grand slam off Hughes that lowered the Yankees, who have dropped six of seven, into a deep grave.

Filip Bondy, Daily News:

[L]iving and dying with Hughes on the mound has become a lot like doing the same with A.J. Burnett, a huge-contract guy, when he was in the Bronx. Hughes shows some very good stuff, decent heat. Pick an inning out of the hat, however, and that will be the one in which he'll implode and take the Yankees right out it.

G57: Red Sox 11, Yankees 1

Red Sox - 005 000 033 - 11 18  0
Yankees - 000 100 000 -  1  6  0

Mike Napoli (3-for-5) hit a grand slam and Daniel Nava (4-for-6) added a three-run bomb as Boston humiliated New York. Nava tied a career high with his four hits.

Doubront (6-6-1-3-6, 103) rebounded after a rough first two innings in which he walked three and threw 49 pitches. Although he retired the Yankees in order only once (in the fifth), he was much more economical with his pitches (26-23-11 15-16-12).

The Red Sox battered Hughes (4.1-7-5-2-7, 100) in the third. Jackie Bradley (3-for-5) doubled to left-center and Nava dumped a single in front of the amazingly life-like statue of Vernon Wells in left. Mike Carp doubled on a ball that landed on the chalk line near the left field corner (again, out of Wells's limited range) to bring JBJ home. After Dustin Pedroia struck out, David Ortiz was walked intentionally. Joe Girardi's move backfired in a big way as Napoli poled a 2-2 pitch to right-center for a four-run dong.

In the eighth, after Jose Iglesias and Bradley both singled off Adam Warren (who threw 70 pitches in relief), Nava crushed a high fastball to right-center, his 8th home run of the season.

Stephen Drew hit a solo shot with one down in the ninth. Jarrod Saltalamacchia followed with a double and scored on Iglesias's single. Bradley sliced a double into the left field corner. Iglesias scored Boston's final run on Nava's groundout to shortstop.

The Yankees were spared a drop into third place because the Orioles lost.

Felix Doubront / Phil Hughes

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

Boston (33-23) has a one-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. The Orioles (1.5 GB) and Rays (2 GB) are close behind.

Jacoby Ellsbury (left groin tightness) is day-to-day. He has reached base in 24 of his last 46 plate appearances dating back to May 21, a .522 on-base percentage.

Returns: Shane Victorino is expected to be activated on Wednesday. Will Middlebrooks is eligible to come off the disabled list next Saturday.

G56: Yankees 4, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 000 000 100 - 1  8  0
Yankees - 020 010 10x - 4  7  0

Sabathia (7.1-6-1-0-10, 109) was the story on Friday night, dominating the Red Sox with a steady diet of sliders and cutters. He struck out four in a row and five of six batters during a stretch in the middle innings. Sabathia did not allow a Boston runner to third base until the seventh inning.

Lester (6.1-6-4-4-5, 116), on the other hand, seemed off all night, unable to hit his spots. Even when he was getting outs, Lester battled, as the Yankees worked the count relentlessly. He needed 31 pitches to get through the second inning. Mark Teixeira walked and Vernon Wells followed with a double over Jackie Bradley's head in center. Jayson Nix singled in Teixeira and Ichiro Suzuki singled in Wells. Only an extraordinary pivot by Dustin Pedroia on a double play grounder saved Lester from more abuse.

In the fifth, after Lester hit a batter and walked another, Kevin Youkilis singled home New York's third run. After Lester departed with two on in the seventh, Andrew Miller allowed an inherited runner to score.

Sabathia worked around a two-out double in each of the first two innings. He was also aided by double plays in the third and sixth. Boston finally scored when Pedroia (3-for-4) and Mike Napoli each doubled in the seventh. With his lead in slight jeopardy, Sabathia struck out Stephen Drew and got David Ross on a grounder to second.

The Red Sox rallied against Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Pedroia and David Ortiz both stroked one-out singles, but Napoli struck out on three pitches and Drew grounded back to the box.

Jose Iglesias went 2-for-3, upping his average to .435.

Jon Lester / CC Sabathia

Nava, LF
Gomes, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Drew, SS
Ross, C
Bradley, CF
Iglesias, 3B

Jacoby Ellsbury strained his left groin while stealing his fifth base last night, and is not in the starting lineup.

Lester has allowed 10 runs in his last 13 innings.

Sabathia has a 4.85 ERA and 1.483 WHIP in May. In his last start, he allowed seven runs to the Rays.

            W   L   PCT   GB
Red Sox    33  22  .600  ---
Yankees    30  23  .566  2.0
Orioles    30  24  .556  2.5
Rays       29  24  .547  3.0
Blue Jays  23  31  .426  9.5

Schadenfreude 155 (A Continuing Series)

The Post had the series preview:

Then they played the games:

Mets 2, Yankees 1
Mets 2, Yankees 1
Mets 9, Yankees 4
Mets 3, Yankees 1

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Fantasy camp's over, Yankees. Time to start the regular season in earnest.

All-Star players and All-Star opponents will be in The Bronx tonight. Could Joe Girardi's group be receiving a starker signal that they’re entering a new phase of 2013? ...

Have you seen the movies "Three Amigos!" or "Galaxy Quest"? In both, actors convince masses they are actually the roles they are playing — until, mid-film, they are exposed as frauds. That's where we are in this Yankees season. For a while, they had everyone going that this roster constituted a championship-caliber club. Then people caught onto the scam.

Or, their fantasy-camp vibe — "Hey, Overbay, the Red Sox released you? Come on in here and play first base for us!" — predictably dissipated.

George A. King III, Post:

When Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis arrive in The Bronx today, they better bring pails and shovels and assist in the bailing effort.

It took until the last week of May before the Yankees' were exposed as the team attempting to cover up too many holes.

Now, after being swept by the lowly Mets in the four-game Subway Series and riding a season-low five-game losing streak the Yankees are in a free-fall that might be too fast for Youkilis and Teixiera to reverse.

Anthony McCarron, Daily News:

Not exactly the way the Yankees wanted to enter a weekend series against the first-place Red Sox at the Stadium. They were outscored, 16-7, in the series and their final 20 hitters Thursday night made outs.

Associated Press:

The Mets tied a franchise record by going three straight games without allowing a walk, the first time they've accomplished the feat since July 5-7, 1994, according to STATS. Yankees batters, usually patient, have gone three games without a free pass since June 12-14, 1991, when Kevin Maas was their cleanup hitter.

G55: Red Sox 9, Phillies 2

Red Sox  - 400 001 103 - 9 14  0
Phillies - 200 000 000 - 2  6  1

The Red Sox have been playing baseball for more than 112 years, and through more than 17,660* games, no Boston player had ever stolen more than four bases in a game.

Until tonight. Jacoby Ellsbury set a new franchise record with five steals. (He leads MLB with 21 SB.)

*: By my rough count, tonight's game was the 17,665th game in Red Sox history (9,010 wins, 8,420 losses, 83 ties, and 151 post-season games).

Ellsbury reached base five times in six plate appearances:

1st: single, scored
2nd: walk, stole second
4th: single, stole second
6th: HBP, stole second and third
8th: single, stole second
9th: grounded out 4-3

Boston sent eight men to the plate in the first inning. Ellsbury and Daniel Nava singled and Dustin Pedroia contributed an RBI groundout. David Ortiz walked and Mike Carp singled in a run. Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled home two more runs.

Jonny Gomes smacked a pinch-hit home run in the sixth and David Ortiz went deep in the seventh. In the ninth, Salty and Jose Iglesias both had RBI doubles.

Morales (5-4-2-2-2, 79) allowed a two-run dong to Delmon Young in the first, and got a much needed double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Manager John Farrell was hoping for five innings and roughly 80 pitches from Morales - and that is exactly what he got.

The Mets beat the Yankees 3-1, sweeping a four-game series and dropping the Yankees 2 GB the Red Sox in the East. Boston begins a series in the Bronx tomorrow night.

Franklin Morales / Jonathan Pettibone

Ellsbury, CF
Nava, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, 1B
Carp, LF
Drew, SS
Saltalamacchia, C
Iglesias, 3B
Morales, P

Morales makes his 2013 debut. ... Pettibone has a 3.21 ERA in seven starts this season. ... David Ortiz is expected to start at first base tonight.

100 Years Ago, Harry Hooper Made Home Run History

One hundred years ago today — May 30, 1913 — Red Sox outfielder Harry Hooper became the first player to lead off both games of a doubleheader with a home run.

Hooper did it in Washington against pitchers Bob Groom and Walter Johnson.

Chris Jaffe has more details at The Hardball Times. It would be more than 80 years before it happened again. On July 5, 1993, Rickey Henderson of the A's connected twice. Baltimore's Brady Anderson did it on August 21, 1999.

Boston split the twinbill with the Senators, losing the opener 4-3 and beating Johnson in the second game 1-0.

G54: Phillies 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox  - 100 001 001 - 3  7  0
Phillies - 010 200 01x - 4  8  1

With the potential tying run at third and go-ahead run at second, Daniel Nava, batting against Jonathan Papelbon with two outs, grounded sharply to first - and the Red Sox lost another nail-biter to Philadelphia.

Stephen Drew had begun the ninth by working a one-out walk against the former Boston closer. Pinch-hitter David Ortiz just got under a 1-0 pitch and skied a fly ball to right for the second out. Jonny Gomes came through with a single to right and Jacoby Ellsbury blooped an RBI double to left. Nava - who had hit a solo home run off the right field pole in the sixth - had a chance to be the hero, but could not deliver.

Lackey (6-6-3-3-5, 98) allowed three solo home runs for the first time since September 16, 2005. Andrew Miller got into some trouble in the seventh, loading the bases on a single and two walks, but Koji Uehara came in to douse the fire. Uehara also pitched the eighth, and allowed a key insurance run for the Phillies: Domonic Brown's second home run of the game.

Ellsbury began the game with a triple and scored on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly.

Boston missed a golden chance to score in the seventh, thanks in part to a blown call by home plate umpire Dale Scott. Trailing 3-2, Jose Iglesias doubled with one out and Gomes was hit by a pitch. Ellsbury drew a walk, but Scott called ball four "strike three" and what should have been a bases-loaded-one-out situation was 1st-and-2nd with two outs. Nava ended the inning by grounding into a fielder's choice.

To be fair, another blown call by Scott helped the Red Sox in the sixth. After getting a gift call on what should have been a walk to Freddy Galvis, loading the bases with one out, Lackey had another chance to retire the Philadelphia third baseman. And he made the most of that opportunity, inducing a double play grounder.

Also: The Mets scored five times in the top of the first en route to a 9-4 drubbing of the Yankees, their third consecutive win over their cross-town rivals.

John Lackey / Kyle Kendrick

Ellsbury, CF
Nava, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Napoli, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Carp, LF
Drew, SS
Iglesias, 3B
Lackey, P

The Red Sox recalled outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. and sent pitcher Alex Wilson to Pawtucket. Yesterday, Franklin Morales was activated from the disabled list and Alfredo Aceves was optioned to AAA.

Dustin Pedroia has been playing with a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb since the first game of the season - and has been ripping shit up in the process: .332/.422/.444, 132 OPS+. FY has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games (30-for-78, .385). ... John Henry talks about the injury.

G53: Phillies 3, Red Sox 1

Phillies - 100 000 101 - 3  9  0
Red Sox  - 100 000 000 - 1  4  0

I began the day in Madrid, Spain, took a detour through Charlotte, North Carolina, and ended it in my chair in Mississauga, Ontario, watching the Red Sox drop a pitchers duel to the Phillies. (Actually, jet lag limited my viewing to seven innings.)

Cliff Lee (8-4-1-0-8, 95) shut down the Red Sox in an impressive outing. He allowed a run in the first inning - Jacoby Ellsbury singled to left, stole second, and scored on Dustin Pedroia's hard grounder to right - but then retired 11 in a row and 22 of the next 23 batters. He also got ahead 0-2 on Red Sox hitters 11 times.

Boston's other hits were Daniel Nava's fifth-inning single and an infield hit from Jose Iglesias in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth, striking out Jonny Gomes and retiring Pedroia and David Ortiz on ground balls.

Ryan Dempster (7-6-2-3-4, 98) bounced back from some disappointing starts with a strong showing. Michael Young homered in the first inning, but Dempster kept the Phillies off the board until the bottom of the order pushed across a run in the seventhm snapping the 1-1 tie. John Mayberry singled, was bunted to second, and scored the go-ahead run on Erik Kratz's single. Junichi Tazawa gave up a solo dong to Domonic Brown in the ninth.

Also: The Mets scored two runs off Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning in Queens, so the Red Sox (32-21) stayed 1 GA in the AL East.

Pedro: 2004 Team Drank Mama Juana, Not Jack Daniels

Pedro Martinez says that the 2004 Red Sox did not take pre-game nips of Jack Daniels during their historic post-season comback against the Yankees. In the weeks after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, Kevin Millar spilled the beans about the team's whiskey ritual. Martinez now says the team actually shared a Dominican drink called Mama Juana.

Everybody took a little bit from the top of the shot after we won the first game [Game 4]. Somebody did it before the game — it was Ellis Burks who wasn't on the roster at the time who took the first shot. And then Millar jumped in. And then Johnny Damon jumped in. And everybody started jumping in, so we did it as a team unity to actually keep the same tradition going for the team. So we had to do it for the four games we beat the Yankees.

Manny In Taiwan

I am getting scores while on vacation, but have not been keeping up on the day-to-day details of the team.

So everyone reading this knows more about the slumping Red Sox than I do. But perhaps you have not seen what Manny Ramirez has been up to in Taiwan.

The EDA Rhinos, the team Manny now plays for, recently dressed in Halloween costumes for a road trip. (Manny also needs to work on his sliding.)

Spain

JoS is on vacation!

Laura and I fly tonight to London, where we will visit some old friends we know from our years in New York. Then it's on to Paris for two days. From there, we fly to Barcelona - and we will spend roughly two weeks driving around Spain. We return on May 28.

Laura will be blogging about our travels at wmtc (maybe not daily, but close to it).

G30: Rangers 5, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 010 000 000 - 1  7  2
Rangers - 100 200 02x - 5 10  0

Texas pitching - which leads MLB in team ERA - shut down the Red Sox for the second straight night. Ogando (6-6-1-2-4, 101) worked out of a few minor jams and a trio of relievers held the line.

Ian Kinsler belted Lackey's first pitch of the game to deep left for a home run. Left fielder Daniel Nava had no idea where the ball went; he was standing with his arms outstretched, confused, as the ball landed 15 rows deep beyond the high wall.

Boston tied the game when David Ortiz doubled and scored on Nava's single to center.

Lackey's control deserted him in the fourth. He walked three and allowed two singles, and was hurt by a throwing error by Will Middlebrooks.

The Red Sox had runners on base in every inning but the first and ninth. With one out in the third, and runners at first and second, Dustin Pedroia struck out and Ortiz flied to left. In the sixth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia fanned, stranding runners at first and second. And Boston had men on second and third with one out in the seventh, but both Shane Victorino and Pedroia grounded to first.

Texas added some insurance on Craig Gentry's two-run dong off Koji Uehara.

John Lackey / Alexi Ogando

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

In 11 games, David Ortiz is hitting .465/.489/.837:

I love beating up on the opposition. I love the pain on their face.

Cheating Epidemic Against Blue Jays Is Out Of Control

Let's look at the unassailable evidence:

On Wednesday night, Boston's Clay Buchholz beat the Blue Jays 10-1.

On Thursday night, Boston's Ryan Dempster beat the Blue Jays 3-1.

On Friday night, Seattle's Felix Hernandez beat the Blue Jays 4-0.

On Saturday afternoon, Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma beat the Blue Jays 8-1.

Obviously, every one of these pitchers is cheating. How long will MLB allow this anti-Jays conspiracy to continue?

G29: Rangers 7, Red Sox 0

Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  6  2
Rangers - 010 510 00x - 7 18  0

Felix Doubront (3.2-12-6-1-2, 96) doled out base hits to the Rangers like candy at Halloween, finally getting the hook after Adrian Beltre doubled home three runs in the fourth.

Doubront is only the seventh Red Sox starter since 1951 to pitch four or fewer innings and allow at least 12 hits. (Amazingly, Pedro Martinez, from 1999, is one of those seven! Here's the list.)

That Doubront allowed only one run through three innings - despite giving up eight hits - was nothing short of a miracle. But his good fortune ran out in the fourth. With a runner on first and two outs, he allowed hits to Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus, walked Lance Berkman, then gave up a bases-clearing double to Beltre, who ended the night 4-for-5.

On the other side, the bats could do nothing against Derek Holland (8-6-0-1-9, 112). Only one Boston runner made it past first base. That came in the sixth, when Pedro Ciriaco and Jacoby Ellsbury hit back-to-back singles with one out. But Shane Victorino fouled out to third and Dustin Pedroia grounded to first. Holland was also helped by two double plays, in the fourth and fifth.

Ellsbury had two of the Red Sox's six hits. Ciriaco, Victorino, David Ortiz, and Jonny Gomes had the others, all singles.

Felix Doubront / Derek Holland

Ellsbury, CF
Victorino, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Gomes, LF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Saltalamacchia, C
Ciriaco, SS

Best Red Sox Record After 28 Games

Year     W-L    Final Record
1946    23-5    104-50, AL Champions
2002    21-7     93-69, 2nd, AL East
2013    20-8     ?
1994    20-8     54-61, 4th, AL East

At 20-8, Boston has the best record in the major leagues. However, the Red Sox are unlikely to play at this 116-win pace for the next five months.

Yet even if the team suddenly slumps and plays at .500 for their remaining 134 games, they will still end up with 87 wins, which would put them in serious wild card contention.

G28: Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 020 001 000 - 3  6  0
Blue Jays - 100 000 000 - 1  7  2

Ryan Dempster (6-4-1-3-4, 100) limited the Blue Jays to one run over six innings. I guess he was cheating, too.

Brett Lawrie gave the Jays a quick 1-0 lead when he led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but the lead was short-lived. Mike Napoli doubled to start the second and Will Middlebrooks walked with one out. (That was one of the seven walks issued by J.A Happ in only 3.2 innings.) Mike Carp's single scored Napoli and Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly scored Middlebrooks.

In the sixth, David Ross drew the second of his three walks, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Jacoby Ellsbury's opposite-field single.

Down by two, Toronto threatened in the seventh. Andrew Miller relieved Dempster and allowed a one-out single and a two-out walk. Junichi Tazawa came in and walked Lawrie, loading the bases. But he was able to strike out Adam Lind on a 96 mph fastball to end the inning.

Koji Uehara gave up a one-out single in the eighth, and struck out the next two hitters. In the ninth, it was Joel Hanrahan that came in for the save, not Andrew Bailey. Cody Rasmus singled to right field, but pinch-hitter Rajai Davis popped to second and Munenori Kawasaki grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Boston is now 20-8. Only two other teams in Red Sox history have had a better record after 28 games: 1946 (23-5) and 2002 (21-7). The 1994 squad was also 20-8.

Ryan Dempster / J.A. Happ

Ellsbury, CF
Gomes, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Napoli, DH
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Carp, 1B
Ross, C
Drew, SS

G27: Red Sox 10, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 020 200 402 - 10 15  0
Blue Jays - 000 000 010 -  1  4  1

Mike Napoli hit two long home runs, part of a five-dong Boston attack, as the AL East leaders routed the Blue Jays behind the strong pitching of Clay Buchholz (7-2-0-3-8, 101).

Napoli also added a double; he drove in four runs and scored three times. (I was at this one, and as it will likely be the only MLB game I get to this year, it was a good one.)

David Ortiz ended the first inning with a fly out to deep right, and when Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava began the second with shots to the warning track, it seemed like the Sox might have Buehrle's number. That hunch turned out to be true. After Will Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch, Stephen Drew belted a two-run homer to put the Sox on the board, and Napoli and Daniel Nava went back-to-back to open the fourth.

With two outs in the seventh, Jonny Gomes walked, ending Buehrle's night (6.2-7-5-3-1, 106). Dustin Pedroia greeted Esmil Rogers with a single, and Gomes raced to third. With Ortiz batting, Rogers threw a wild pitch; Gomes scored and FY took second, and the Jays manager John Gibbons decided to walk Ortiz intentionally. (Silly rabbit.) Napoli crushed the shit out of a 3-0 pitch, giving Boston an 8-0 lead, and prompting hundreds of Jays fans to head for the exits.

Mike Carp pinch-hit for Ortiz in the ninth and homered to right. Napoli followed with a double and scored on Nava's single.

Buchholz allowed only two singles: one in the third and one in the seventh. He struck out the side in the third, and ended the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings with a K. Alex Wilson and Clayton Mortensen finished up.

Clay Buchholz / Mark Buehrle

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

Red Sox ERA Leaders Through First 5 Games Of A Season (Since 1920)

ERA    IP    ER   PITCHER         YEAR
0.21   42.1   1   Lefty Grove     1936
0.60   45.0   3   Boo Ferriss     1945
0.66   41.0   3   Roger Clemens   1991
0.68   39.2   3   Roger Moret     1973 
0.84   42.2   4   Willard Nixon   1953
1.19   37.2   5   Clay Buchholz   2013

Just Noticed: this is JoS post #6,000!

G26: Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 7

Red Sox   - 000 211 300 - 7  9  0
Blue Jays - 103 020 21x - 9  9  1

Jon Lester / Brandon Morrow

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

Boston (18-7) starts a six-game road trip to Toronto and Texas. ... Lester pitched seven shutout innings against the Jays on April 7. ... The Red Sox have won 13 of their last 16 games.

Dustin Pedroia is 8th in the AL in batting average (.330) and 6th in OBP (.438); 25 of his 31 hits have been singles. ... David Ortiz (.516/.529/871) and Mike Carp (.455/.500/.864) continue to murderize the ball. Read a quick Q&A with Carp here.

The disappointing Jays are 9-17, a whopping 9.5 GB the Red Sox. It may still be April, but Dave Cameron (Fangraphs) says the Blue Jays are in trouble.

Jason Collins: "I'm A 34-Year-Old NBA Center. And I'm Gay."

Jason Collins:

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. ...

No one wants to live in fear. I've always been scared of saying the wrong thing. I don't sleep well. I never have. But each time I tell another person, I feel stronger and sleep a little more soundly. It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. I've endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew. And yet when I acknowledged my sexuality I felt whole for the first time. ...

Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I'll sit down with any player who's uneasy about my coming out. Being gay is not a choice. This is the tough road and at times the lonely road. ...

The most you can do is stand up for what you believe in. I'm much happier since coming out to my friends and family. Being genuine and honest makes me happy.

Guess The Count #1 - With Marvin Hudson

Good morning, and welcome to Guess The Count!, the umpiring game where we give you the pitches and you make the calls. Test your skills as an arbiter against those of a real Major League Baseball umpire.

Today's man behind the plate is Marvin Hudson and we will be looking at the Astros/Red Sox game from Saturday, April 27, 2013. Make your guess and then see how you matched up against our big-time ump. One explanation before we start: There are no tricks. All of the pitches were taken by the batter; he did not swing at any of them.

Ready? Let's begin! We'll start off with an easy one. The pitcher has made one pitch ... and it's time for you to ... guess the count!

Next:

How about this one?

Check the comments for how Hudson called the pitches. ... How did you do? Do you have what it takes to be a major league umpire? If not, better luck next time!

And that's all for today from ... Guess The Count!

G25: Red Sox 6, Astros 1

Astros  - 100 000 000 - 1  7  2
Red Sox - 100 220 10x - 6 11  1

John Lackey (6-5-1-2-4, 81) was strong in his return to the rotation, David (.516) Ortiz picked up two more hits, and Stephen Drew cracked a two-run, tie-breaking triple in the fourth inning as the Red Sox swept a four-game series from the Astros. Boston outscored Houston 28-10.

Lackey may have been a little rusty in the first inning, allowing two walks and a single after there were two outs. But after giving up a single to start the second, he retired 13 in a row. With one out in the sixth, Lackey gave up three singles to load the bases, but got a strikeout and groundout to end the threat. Clayton Mortensen, Koji Uehara, and Andrew Bailey each pitched one inning.

Ortiz, Daniel Nava and Mike Carp each contributed a single and a double. ... Nava scored three runs. ... Both Ortiz and Drew had two RBI.

Boston has won 13 of their last 16 games, and is 18-7 for the season. Today's win tied the franchise record for most wins in April. The team has a chance to set a new record on Tuesday night in Toronto.

Bud Norris / John Lackey

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

Lackey returns from the disabled list (right biceps strain) to make his second start of the season. On April 6, he went 4.1-5-2-1-8, 77.

Boston is 17-7. The club record for wins in April is 18 (1998 and 2003).

G24: Red Sox 8, Astros 4

Astros  - 200 000 100 - 4  5  1
Red Sox - 040 100 30x - 8 12  1

David Ortiz went 2-for-3 (he's batting .519) and drove in three runs as the Red Sox held off a couple of late rallies from the Astros. At 17-7, Boston - the experts' pre-season pick for the AL East cellar - has the best record in MLB.

Houston managed to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the seventh and - after the Red Sox added three runs to their total - the potential tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Junichi Tazawa and Alex Wilson, respectively, doused the two fires. Andrew Miller picked a quick and perfect ninth, striking out the last two batters.

Doubront (6.2-4-3-4-8, 103) had a brutal beginning to his night, but after the first inning, he was dominant. Facing the first six Astros, he allowed a hit, three walks, a wild pitch, and an HBP - and two runs. From the second through the sixth, however, he allowed only one hit. Doubront struck out two batters in the second and fifth innings, and fanned the side in the third.

Boston took care of business against Peacock (3.1-6-5-5-3, 90) in the second. Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked with one out, and a double by Will Middlebrooks and a walk to Stephen Drew loaded the bases. Jacoby Ellsbury's single scored two runs and after Dustin Pedroia walked to re-load the sacks, Ortiz doubled home two more. ... Flo's sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 5-2. ... Drew, Daniel Nava and Pedroia had RBI hits in the seventh.

Pedroia reached base four times with two singles and two walks. ... Middlebrooks singled, doubled, and walked and Drew singled and walked twice. Both scored twice, as did Salty.

Brad Peacock / Felix Doubront

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

The Red Sox and Rangers are tied for the best record in baseball: 16-7. ... The Red Sox have the best team slugging and OPS in the American League.

G23: Red Sox 7, Astros 3

Astros  - 001 010 100 - 3  7  0
Red Sox - 111 210 01x - 7 17  2

The Red Sox hit four home runs, including two by David Ross (who had four hits for the first time in his career), and Ryan Dempster (6-4-2-3-10, 104) struck out 10 Astros in six innings. Boston is now 12-0 when they score first. They are 16-7 overall.

Only four Red Sox teams have had a better record after 23 games: 1946 (20-3), 1904 (18-5), 1940 (17-6), and 1998 (17-6).

The Red Sox scored in each of the first five innings:

1st: Jacoby Ellsbury lined a single off first baseman Brandon Laird's glove and scored on Dustin Pedroia's one-out double.

2nd: David Ross hit a two-out solo home run.

3rd: Pedroia doubled (a ground rule two-bagger to right) and scored on Mike Napoli's double into the left field corner.

4th: Will Middlebrooks and Ross began the inning with back-to-back home runs. Those dongs ended Erik Bedard's night: 3-8-5-0-5, 91.

5th: David Ortiz homered to dead center with one down - his second straight game with a tater.

The Red Sox added a run in the eighth. Singles by Middlebrooks, Ross, and Pedro Ciriaco loaded the bases with none out. Ellsbury lined to shortstop and Middlebrooks was doubled off third. Jonny Gomes's single scored Ross, giving Gomes his first RBI of the year.

Napoli set two team records for April: most doubles (13) and most extra-base hits (18). He has 27 RBI in the month, with three games remaining.

Extra-Base Hits18  Mike Napoli      2013
16  Jose Offerman    1999
15  David Ortiz      2012
15  David Ortiz      2007
15  David Ortiz      2006
15  David Ortiz      2004
15  Mo Vaughn        1998
  
Doubles13  Mike Napoli      2013
11  Ryan Sweeney     2012
11  Mike Lowell      2006
11  Jose Offerman    1999
10  Adrian Gonzalez  2011
10  Dustin Pedroia   2008
10  David Ortiz      2004
10  Mo Vaughn        1993
  
RBI
31  Manny Ramirez    2001
28  Mo Vaughn        1996
27  Mike Napoli      2013
26  Manny Ramirez    2002

Ellsbury stole second base in the sixth - the 200th of his career - breaking his own Sox record for steals in April. He now has 11, which also leads the major leagues.

Stolen Bases11  Jacoby Ellsbury  2013
10  Jacoby Ellsbury  2009
9   Johnny Damon     2002

Matt Dominguez (two doubles, HBP) scored all three of Houston's runs. Five of the Astros' seven hits were doubles.

Erik Bedard / Ryan Dempster

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

Boston is tied with Texas and Atlanta for the most wins in the major leagues (15).

The Red Sox have been in first place for all 26 days of this season, which sets a new club record for the longest stretch in first to begin a season. The 1918 team was atop the American League for the first 25 days.

Mike Napoli's double in the seventh inning last night was his 16th extra-base hit of the month, tying Jose Offerman (1999) for the team record in April. He also tied Offerman (1999), Mike Lowell (2006), and Ryan Sweeney (2012) for the team record with 11 doubles in April.

The Red Sox are 11-0 when they score first. ... The Red Sox are 13-2 when scoring three or more runs.

G22: Red Sox 7, Astros 2

Astros  - 011 000 000 - 2  7  1
Red Sox - 401 020 00x - 7 11  0

Clay Buchholz turned in his fifth consecutive strong start (7.2-6-2-2-10, 109) and David Ortiz collected three hits, including his first home run of the season, and scored three runs as the Red Sox cruised past the Astros in the first game of a four-game series.

The Red Sox have won all eight of their series-opening contests this season, a new franchise record. The 1917 team won the first game of its first seven series.

Boston battered Philip Humber (4.2-10-7-3-5, 88) in the first inning. With one out, Daniel Nava walked, took second on a passed ball, and scored on Dustin Pedroia's single. Pedroia then stole second without a throw and came home on Ortiz's single (an outfield error on Ortiz's hit allowed Flo to advance to second). After Mike Napoli struck out, Mike Carp doubled Ortiz home and Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled Carp in.

Ortiz led off the third with a home run to dead center. He also singled in the fifth, raced gingerly to third on Carp's single, and scored on Salty's second hit of the night. Will Middlebrooks followed with an RBI double that scored Carp.

Ortiz is now 11-for-20 (.550) in his five games. He has hit safely in 17 straight games, dating back to July 2, 2012.

Buchholz reached double digits in strikeouts for the second time in his last three games. He has pitched at least seven innings in all five starts this year, and his ERA is now 1.19. [For those who care about pitcher wins: Buchholz joins Babe Ruth (1917), Pedro Martinez (2000), and Josh Beckett (2007) as the only Red Sox pitchers to win five games in April.]

Daniel Bard pitched the ninth inning, allowing a two-out single and striking out one batter. His fastball was 93-95, but his control was slightly shaky.

Philip Humber / Clay Buchholz

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

Aceves Sent To Pawtucket

A day after a horrible pitching performance against Oakland, which he seemingly blamed on the home plate umpire, the weather, the mound conditions, and his teammates' cold bats, Alfredo Aceves has been optioned to Pawtucket.

The Globe is reporting that Ryan Lavarnway will be called up. Whoever is recalled may only be with the big club for a few days, as John Lackey is expected to be activated on Sunday.

In five games (three starts) this season, Aceves has a 8.66 ERA, having allowed 25 hits and 12 walks in only 17.2 innings. Opposing batters have a 1.047 OPS (.329/.416/.632). ... Since August 1, 2012, Aceves's ERA is 8.51 over 25 games.

G21: Red Sox 6, Athletics 5

Athletics - 000 300 110 - 5  9  0
Red Sox   - 000 330 00x - 6 10  0

Stephen Drew's two-run triple tied the game in the fourth, and the Red Sox batted around in the fifth, scoring three more times. That lead was whittled down to 6-5, but Andrew Bailey struck out the side in the ninth to preserve the victory. Boston is 14-7.

Bailey and the Red Sox may have received a little help in the ninth from the "human element". With two outs, Jed Lowrie smoked a 2-2 pitch down the right field line. It appeared to hit some chalk, but was called a foul ball by umpire Greg Gibson. Two pitches later, Lowrie fanned to end the game.

Earlier in the game, the umpires were not on Boston's side. Lester (5.2-6-3-6-5, 115) got squeezed so much in his innings - mostly on pitches in the lower portion of the strike zone - I could have sworn Mr. Whipple was behind the plate. (Actually, it was Jerry Layne and Mike Estabrook; Layne left the game in the top of the fourth after being hit on the left hand with a foul ball. Maybe that's what you get for disregarding the rule book and making up your own zone.)

Lester hung a curve to Chris Young in the fourth and Young blasted it over the Wall for a three-run dong. Boston came right back to tie the game in their half. With one out, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli hit back-to-back doubles (3-1). Jonny Gomes walked and was forced at second by Will Middlebrooks, and Drew tripled into the right field corner (3-3).

In the fifth, Jacoby Ellsbury singled and stole his MLB-leading 10th base of the year. Shane Victorino doubled him home (4-3). Pedroia singled and Ortiz singled (5-3). After a pitching change, Napoli was plunked and pinch-hitter Daniel Nava singled FY home (6-3).

Oakland chipped away. Facing Junichi Tazawa with two outs in the seventh, Lowrie doubled to left-center and scored on Josh Donaldson's right-field single. Young led off the eighth against Koji Uehara with a solo shot, his second home run of the afternoon, but Uehara got the next three A's, on two strikeouts and a fly ball to center.

In the ninth, Bailey - working in his fourth game in the last five days - struck out John Jaso, Seth Smith, and Lowrie for the save.

Ortiz is 8-for-16 in four games. ... Napoli leads MLB with 26 RBI. ... Ellsbury is 10-for-10 in steals.

Brett Anderson / Jon Lester

Ellsbury, CF
Victorino, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Gomes, LF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Drew, SS
Ross, C

Daniel Bard is returning to the Red Sox. He will be recalled from Portland today, with Steven Wright going down to Pawtucket. Bard has pitched six scoreless innings in his last five appearances for the Sea Dogs, allowing five hits and three walks.

NESN: Aceves's "Hobey" Is Cooking

In yet another of NESN's useless sideshows that constantly interfere with its ability to show every pitch of Red Sox games, here we have a glaring error. How could such a blatant misspelling get all the way to on-air without anyone noticing? It boggles the mind.

This, of course, is part and parcel of NESN's production. During the current Oakland series, camera angles in the first game were brutal. NESN showed the crowd in the bleachers on a routine fly to center - making viewers believe the ball was headed over the fence - then closing up on an outfielder when another well-hit ball actually did go over the fence. NESN continues to miss pitches  - it's been a problem for more than a decade - because of replays that run too long or commercially-sponsored bits of nonsense like the Quote Of The Day. And now we learn that the people in charge of on-screen graphics cannot spell.

Jere has long noted NESN's chronic unprofessionalism. Just this year, he has pointed out that NESN misspelled Lou Piniella's name on Opening Day, posted the score as 6-1 en route to a 13-0 Red Sox win, and misspelled "Buchholz". (Maybe I should give NESN a pass on that one, since Clay has been part of the team for only seven years.) Last season, they continually misspelled Vicente Padilla's first name.

G20: Athletics 13, Red Sox 0 (7)

Athletics - 006 241 0 - 13 13  0
Red Sox   - 000 000 0 -  0  3  2

Aceves's start was as foul as the weather - a 42 degree night with constant drizzle and strong winds blowing in from center field. The tarp was dragged out after the seventh inning, and the game was called after a 37-minute delay.

This is what Aceves (3.1-7-8-4-3, 80) did in the third inning: He threw 42 pitches to 11 batters, and allowed three hits, three walks, and six runs. He also balked twice, was late covering first base on a grounder to Mike Napoli, and made a throwing error.

Steven Wright (3.2-6-5-4-4, 82) made his debut, relieving Aceves in the fourth.

Boston could do absolutely nothing with Colon (7-3-0-1-7, 94). He allowed only one hit through the first four innings, and he struck out the side in the seventh.

Red Sox baserunners: Dustin Pedroia had an infield single in the first, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jonny Gomes hit back-to-back singles in the fifth. Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk in the sixth and was stranded at third base - the closest Boston came to scoring a run.

Bartolo Colon / Alfredo Aceves

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

Mike Napoli has an MLB-best 25 RBI in 19 games. That is the most by a Red Sox player in the first 19 games of a season since 1940. Here is a list, courtesy of Elias:

Red Sox RBI In First 19 Games Of Season, And Season Total

1938 Jimmie Foxx  29  (175) 
1940 Jimmie Foxx  27  (119) 
2013 Mike Napoli  25  ( ? ) 
1995 Mo Vaughn    25  (126) 
1941 Bobby Doerr  20  ( 93)

Napoli's teammates are impressed. Also, he has been doing most of his hitting with men on base.

              AVG    OBP    SLG
Bases Empty  .194   .242   .419 
Men on Base  .333   .373   .667 
With RATS    .370   .414   .630

Manny Ramirez holds the Red Sox record for April RBIs with 31 (2001). Boston has seven games remaining in the month. (That Elias list is wrong, I think. I counted 21 RBI for Manny in the first 19 games of 2001, but he is not on the list.)

Finally, Napoli has 14 extra-base hits to go along with his 25 RBI. No Red Sox batter in at least 98 years (since 1916) has had those totals in a season's first 19 games.

David Ortiz walked into a restaurant on Saturday night and got a fucking standing ovation.

I'm telling you, people stopped eating dinner and were like, "Yeah!" My Twitter account went up like 50,000 people. It had happened to me once when we won the World Series the first time. But this was different. ... I haven't heard anything negative from nobody. Nobody. Not one person.

Sports Illustrated: Strong: Triumph After Tragedy

G19: Red Sox 9, Athletics 6

Athletics - 020 010 030 - 6  5  2
Red Sox   - 010 350 00x - 9  9  0

Mike Napoli's grand slam in the fifth inning helped Boston take a 9-3 lead. It was a laugher into the eighth inning, and rookie Steven Wright was warming up, getting set to make his debut in the ninth. But Clayton Mortensen allowed the A's to get back in the game, and John Farrell needed Junichi Tazawa and Andrew Bailey to put out the fire.

Napoli - named today as co-AL Player of the Week, with teammate Bailey - finished with five RBI, on a double and the dong. Will Middlebrooks hit a three-run homer in the fourth, a line drive into the Monster Seats. David Ortiz doubled, walked, and scored twice. Middlebrooks and Napoli also scored two times.

Doubront (6.2-3-3-5-8, 113) was managing his pitch count nicely until he needed 31 pitches to get through the fifth, a frame in which he walked three batters and threw a wild pitch.

Mortensen finished the seventh and he walked Brandon Moss to start the eighth. After striking out Jed Lowrie, he hit Derek Norris and gave up back-to-back doubles that brought in three runs. Alex Wilson came in and walked pinch-hitter Seth Smith. That brought the potential tying run to the plate - and it brought Tazawa in from the pen. Eric Sogard, another pinch-hitter, crushed a long drive to right that sliced towards the corner, but Shane Victorino ran and ran and tracked it down. Then Tazawa got Coco Crisp to ground out to first.

In the ninth, Bailey walked the leadoff man, but retired the next three hitters, two by strikeout.

A.J. Griffin / Felix Doubront

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

Also:

Tuesday: Bartolo Colon / Alfredo Aceves, 6:30 PM
Wednesday: Brett Anderson / Jon Lester, 4:00 PM

Oakland is 12-7, in second place in the AL West. They have the 4th-best team OPS in the American League; the Red Sox are 7th.

Boston has a 2.83 team ERA, second in the AL behind the Rangers. ... Doubront has pitched only five innings in each of his two starts this year.

John Lackey will make a rehab start for Portland tonight, pitching about four innings or 65 pitches. John Farrell said Lackey may need only one rehab start before rejoining the Red Sox rotation.

G18: Royals 5, Red Sox 4 (10)

Royals  - 100 020 010 1 - 5  9  1
Red Sox - 021 010 000 0 - 4  9  1

Andrew Miller walked in the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth as the Royals swept the Red Sox in Sunday's doubleheader. (I thought Andrew Bailey, who threw only 10 pitches in the ninth, might get another inning.)

With one out, Alex Gordon singled and Miller walked Alcides Escobar on four pitches. Miller fanned Billy Butler (whose solo shot had tried the game in the eighth), but he gave up an infield single to Hosmer. Pedro Ciriaco had saved a run by keeping Hosmer hit in the infield, but it didn't matter as Miller then threw four balls to Lorenzo Cain to give KC a 5-4 lead.

Kansas City hit three home runs, including two off Webster (6-5-3-1-5, 84), who showed off a nice fastball and curve and an absolutely sick changeup. He looked calm and collected on the mound - and I look forward to seeing more of him very soon.

The Red Sox were done in by a lack of clutch hitting and a bit of overly aggressive baserunning that short-circuited a promising rally in the third. After Dustin Pedroia singled in Jacoby Ellsbury to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead, he was thrown out trying to steal second. Mike Napoli followed that with a double. Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a hot smash that bounced away from Eric Hosmer at first base and was tracked down by second baseman Elliot Johnson; Napoli was caught off third base and run down 4-2-5-2-6.

In the fifth, Boston had taken a 4-3 lead and had runners at first and third and only one out, but Salty struck out and Will Middlebrooks (now 4 for his last 43) grounded to short.

Napoli singled, doubled, and homered, but he came up empty in the bottom of the ninth - after the Royals had walked Pedroia intentionally - with the potential winning run at second. Pedroia singled twice, walked twice, and stole a base. Ellsbury singled, doubled, walked, and stole a base.

Jeremy Guthrie / Allen Webster

Ellsbury, CF
Nava, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Napoli, 1B
Saltalamacchia, DH
Middlebrooks, 3B
Carp, LF
Ross, C
Ciriaco, SS

Webster will make his major league debut in the nightcap of today's day-night doubleheader.

Webster, 23, has made three starts for Pawtucket this month. In 12 innings, he has allowed 10 hits, three walks, and one run, while striking out 16.

Alex Speier wrote an excellent article this spring about Webster, who came over in the Punto Trade.

No corresponding roster move needs to be made, as teams can expand their rosters to 26 players for doubleheaders.

G17: Royals 4, Red Sox 2

Royals  - 100 300 000 - 4  8  0
Red Sox - 200 000 000 - 2  8  0

The winning streak was snapped at seven.

I did not watch this one, so you will have to check out the box score (above) and the recaps at MLB and Extra Bases.

Ervin Santana / Ryan Dempster

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

This is the first game of a day-night doubleheader. Friday's postponed game will be played tonight at 7 PM. Pitcher Allen Webster will make his Red Sox debut in the second game.

Boston is 12-4, their best start to a season since a similar beginning to 2002. The only Red Sox teams to win at least 13 of their first 17 games are the 1904 and 1946 clubs (they were both 14-3). Both of those teams won the American League pennant.

The FCC will not punish David Ortiz for his profanity during yesterday's pre-game ceremony: "This is our fucking city!"

Ortiz:

It just came out. It just came out, man. It just came out. If I offended anybody, I apologize, but I feel like this town needs to be pumped. It seems like that was it.

More Press Notes:

Red Sox starters have allowed three runs or fewer in all 16 games this month. According to Elias, only two other teams in American League history have streaks as long as 16 games to begin a season: the 1978 A's and the 1981 A's. No AL team has begun a season with a 17-game streak.

This is the Red Sox's longest such streak at any point in a season since an 18-game stretch from July 4-21, 1966.

The Red Sox are 10-0 when scoring first this season. Since at least 1918, this marks the first time the Sox have ever won their first 10 games when scoring first.