Red Sox Trade For Morales, DFA Okajima And Nava, Sign Millwood, Send Iglesias And Bowden To Pawtucket, Call Up Sutton, Activate Wheeler

The Red Sox have designated Hideki Ojakima for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for another lefty, the newly-acquired Franklin Morales.

Boston received Morales from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for either a PTBNL or $$ (the Sox have until November to decide what to do). Morales, 25, appeared in 14 games for the Rockies this year, pitching 14 innings and allowing 10 hits and eight walks, while striking out 11. He debuted with Colorado in 2007 (and pitched 2.1 innings in Game 3 of the World Series against Boston).

Opposing batters are hitting .204/.310/.429 against him this year (with a low .216 BABIP). He has been tough on left-handed batters over his career (.185/.291/.333), though he has faced far more righties overall. The Globe reported that the Rays were also trying to deal for Morales.

Theo Epstein:

Morales is gonna come in and be the second lefty in our bullpen [with Rich Hill]. He's somebody we think has some upside, throwing strikes consistently. He's a really hard thrower, a former top prospect. ... We needed a 40-man spot for him so Oki's going to be designated. We'll see if there's a fit for him with a trade somewhere. If not, we'll get him through waivers and he'll end up back at Pawtucket.

Throwing strikes consistently would be nice, but Morales has averaged 5.3 BB/9 over his 102-game career.

And the Denver Post reports that Morales has

battled command issues [this season], and was plagued by walks in late-innings. He seemed to constantly fight composure issues, having trouble calming down in important moments, defined by him wiping his forehead repeatedly.

Jose Iglesias and Michael Bowden have been optioned back to Pawtucket and infielder Drew Sutton will be recalled. Sutton, 27, had a fantastic spring with the Red Sox, playing in 28 games and hitting .317 and slugging .550. He has been a jack of all trades with Pawtucket, playing 12 games at 2B, nine at 3B, seven at SS, and two in LF, and batting .304/.385/.522.

Dan Wheeler was activated from the disabled list. ... Kevin Millwood has reportedly agreed to a minor league contract with the Red Sox. ... Daniel Nava was also designated for assignment.

G43: Red Sox 4, Tigers 3

Tigers  - 010 000 020 - 3 10  0
Red Sox - 010 100 101 - 4  8  1

Boston has played 12 games at Fenway Park in the month of May, and won nine of them. Three of those nine victories have been courtesy of a walk-off hit from Carl Crawford.

Crawford did it again on Thursday, as he had done on May 1 and May 9, lining a single over the head of Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson, who was playing shallow because the Red Sox had the bases loaded with only one out.

Josh Beckett left after six innings (6-5-1-2-3, 83) with neck stiffness, and Boston led 3-1 after seven innings, thanks in part to solo home runs from J.D. Drew and David Ortiz. Daniel Bard began the eighth inning and things took a turn for the worse when Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back home runs. Bard retired the next three batters, but the game was tied 3-3. (It was the second time in his career Bard had allowed two homers in one outing; the first instance was at Yankee Stadium, on August 9, 2009, when Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira went back-to-back.)

In the top of the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon got the first batter, making a quick play on a line drive that drilled him in the right thigh. Then Brandon Inge lined a single to left, Jackson singled to right-center, and Scott Sizemore walked, loading the bases. The next batters? Boesch and Cabrera.

Bot gave Boesch nothing but gas, getting three swinging strikes on fastballs at 96, 94, and 96. Cabrera gave him more of a battle, but Papelbon fanned him, too, on a 2-2 heater.

Facing Al Alburquerque in the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Youkilis worked an eight-pitch walk and Jose Iglesias pinch-ran. Ortiz singled to right-center (his third of the night) and Iggy raced to third. The Tigers intentionally walked Drew, loading the bases for Jed Lowrie, who fell behind 0-2, then stayed alive by fouling off five pitches before blooping the 10th pitch into short left field.

The outfielders were shallow and the Iglesias had to make sure the ball would not be caught. It fell in safely -- but Andy Dirks, who made his major league debut on Monday, grabbed the ball and fired it home, and forced Iglesias at the plate 7-2. The bases were still loaded, though, for Crawford, who looked at ball one, fouled off the second pitch, then sent everyone home happy with a single to center.

The Red Sox have won six in a row, are 9-2 since May 6, and trail the Rays by only 1.5 games in the East.

Justin Verlander/ Josh Beckett

Verlander followed up his May 7 no-hitter against the Blue Jays with eight innings of two-hit ball against the Royals last Friday. He has allowed only three hits to the last 68 batters he has faced (!) and has allowed no more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts this year (!!).

Beckett has pitched equally well, having allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts. He has a current streak of 19 scoreless innings, and has not allowed a run since April 27.

Beckett leads the AL in ERA (1.75) and has the 4th lowest WHIP (0.896; Verlander is #5). Beckett also has allowed the fewest H/9 of any MLB pitcher (5.4; Verlander is #2).

AL East: Yankees/Orioles and Rays/Blue Jays at 7 PM.

Sox Hope Matsuzaka Can Avoid Surgery

Daisuke Matsuzaka said the MRI results on his right elbow - "a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and strain to his common flexor mass" - were worse than he expected.

It's difficult to hold [the ball] and throw with this kind of pain. I usually have high tolerance for pain.

The team does not think surgery to reconstruct the ligament (i.e., Tommy John surgery) is necessary, but Terry Francona said the idea that Dice could begin throwing a ball in two weeks is "probably ambitious". Which means Matsuzaka - who wants to get a second opinion on his elbow - will miss roughly two months, putting his return after the All-Star break.

Peter Gammons reports that the Red Sox have asked free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood if he would sign a minor league contract. Millwood opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees on May 1.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who drove in the only run in last night's game, had nothing but praise for pitchers Clay Buchholz and Johnathan Papelbon:

[Buchholz] was on tonight. He's been on the last three starts I've caught him. Had that sinker working, keeping the ball down. A lot of his pitches were foul balls. ... He still gave us strong innings and got us what we needed. ... Pap has been lights out. He's got a lot on that fastball. He worked a lot in spring training on mechanics and staying behind the ball. The ball is just flying out of his hand. He's controlling where he wants to put it. ...

[Papelbon] worked on his mechanics and stayed behind the ball. Getting great backspin. He's not a movement guy, throws a four-seamer with a split and a slider. When it comes out of his hand, it picks up a second gear. ... It's a pitch that looks so good at your waist, and he hides the ball real well and then it picks up that second gear with a late finish.

Alex Speier writes that the Red Sox have now had an MLB-leading 11 games this year in which the starting pitcher has not allowed a run.

They had 19 such games last year and 21 in 2009. However, in 41 of the 93 seasons for which searchable data exists (since 1919), the Red Sox did not have even 10 such games. The 1964 Angels set the record with 34 "shutout starts". At their current pace, the 2011 Red Sox would finish with 42.

G42: Red Sox 1, Tigers 0

Tigers  - 000 000 000 - 0  5  1
Red Sox - 000 000 01x - 1  4  0

Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled home Carl Crawford, who had walked with two out in the bottom of the eighth. Then Jonathan Papelbon, after giving up a leadoff double in the ninth to Victor Martinez, got the next three batters, saving the game by striking out both Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn.

Buchholz (7-4-0-1-7, a career-high 127) dueled Coke (7-3-0-1-4, 78) in a foggy drizzle for seven innings. Daniel Bard threw one pitch in the top of the eighth, before the hard rain forced the umpires to call for the tarp. Twenty-six minutes later, Bard resumed his work, setting Detroit's 2-3-4 hitters down in order.

In the home eighth, Ryan Perry retired the Jed Lowrie and Mike Cameron. Jim Leyland then brought in lefty Daniel Schlereth to face Crawford. Schlereth walked Crawford on a full-count pitch out came Leyland again. Schlereth went to hand him the ball and walk off the mound, but Leyland only wanted to talk. Shoulda pulled him. Salty whacked a 2-1 pitch into the left-center field gap, and Crawford scored easily.

It was a rough night for the Boston bats before that. Dustin Pedroia singled with one out in the first and Adrian Gonzalez ended the inning with a 463 double play. Kevin Youkilis singled to start the second, but David Ortiz lined to first for an unassisted DP. Pedroia reached on an infield error in the third, but AG again ended the inning, this time with a 163 DP.

Play resumed, 9:58 PM
Rain delay, 9:32 PM: One pitch into the top of the 8th.

Phil Coke/ Clay Buchholz

Victor Martinez returns to Fenway:

I don't know how [Red Sox fans] are going to look at it. I didn't want to go away. But at the same time, they [Red Sox front office] really didn't make me an offer. I know I didn't do anything wrong, or bad. Hopefully, it will be nice. Either way, I have nothing but great things to say about the city and the fans. It was all good there. The experience was something else. It was just the way we were treated — me, and my family. First class. Everything. The fans, the Red Sox organization. I mean, everything.

I cannot imagine the response will be anything less than completely positive. (Francona has kept a picture of himself with Martinez's 6-year-old son, Victor Jose, on his office wall.)

Buchholz had his best outing of the year last Friday (7-5-2-1-7,110 against the Yankees). He has a 1.93 ERA in three May starts and his season ERA is under four for the first time: 3.94.

Of Coke's nine appearances this year, the last seven have been starts (4.35 ERA).

Michael Bowden's numbers out of the Pawtucket bullpen: 14 games, 22.2 innings, 15 hits, 4 walks, 28 strikeouts, 1.59 ERA. ... Dan Wheeler (strained left calf muscle) is expected to rejoin the team on Friday. ... Bobby Jenks (biceps tendinitis) started a throwing program yesterday and will likely have a minor league rehab assignment before he returns.

The principal reason for David Ortiz's success at the plate this year? "Stay away from bad pitches." It's not very earth-shattering, but this is a nice little article anyway. I like Vega referring to Tiz as a "glue guy".

And: I assume you all heard about Vin Mazzaro's historic pitching line for Kansas City on Monday night: 2.1-11-14-3-2, 77. He came in from the pen to get out of a third inning jam, then allowed 10 runs in the fourth, and was sent back out (!) and faced five more batters in the fifth! (Joe Posnanski called it "the worst pitching performance in baseball history".)

AL East: Yankees/Orioles and Rays/Blue Jays at 7 PM.

Aceves, Wakefield Get Their Chances In The Rotation

By the start of tonight's game, John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka will both be on the 15-day disabled list. Righthanders Scott Atchison and Michael Bowden are up from Pawtucket, though Bowden will likely go back down when Dan Wheeler is activated on Friday.

Peter Abraham, Globe:

Matsuzaka could be out for a while. He has a sprained elbow, which likely means there is some degree of ligament tearing. This will be his sixth stint on the disabled list in the last four years ...

Matsuzaka has shown an alarming drop in velocity and command since leaving his start of April 29 with a "tight" elbow. ...

Lackey is harder to gauge because it's difficult to say to what degree he is actually injured in the first place. Francona said on Monday that [if] this were September, he would be pitching. And while the Red Sox deny it, there certainly seems to be a degree of this DL stint being as much a mental health break given his poor work on the mound and family issues. ...

[Aceves] wanted a chance [to start], here it is. The same is true of Wakefield, who feels he has been wasted as a long reliever and mop-up man. ...

The starters, though the weekend:

Tonight vs Tigers - Clay Buchholz
Thursday vs Tigers - Josh Beckett
Friday vs Cubs - Jon Lester
Saturday vs Cubs - Alfredo Aceves
Sunday vs Cubs - Tim Wakefield

After their dismal 2-10 start, the Red Sox have been 19-10. That .655 pace is the equivalent of a 106-win season. If they can win like they have been doing since April 16 for the remaining 121 games of the regular season, the Red Sox would finish with exactly 100 wins.

G42: Orioles at Red Sox, PPD

Tonight's game has been postponed.

Orioles - 
Red Sox - 

Zach Britton / Tim Wakefield

Daisuke Matsuzaka had an MRI on his right elbow today and it looks like he will going on the disabled list. Reliever Michael Bowden is on his way to Boston from Pawtucket. Alfredo Aceves may take Dice's spot in the rotation.

AL EAST
             W    L    PCT    GB    RS    RA   DIFF
Rays        24   17   .585   ---   178   149   + 29
Yankees     20   19   .513   3.0   195   172   + 23
Red Sox     21   20   .512   3.0   181   186   -  5
Blue Jays   21   20   .512   3.0   189   176   + 13
Orioles     19   21   .475   4.5   163   184   - 21

AL East: Yankees/Rays at 6:30 PM and Blue Jays/Tigers at 7 PM.

Harmon Clayton Killebrew died this morning at the age of 74. At Baseball Reference, Dr. Doom shared this story:

My wife and I attended a (free) speaking engagement he gave in a local Catholic church last year in St. Peter, MN, with about 300 people in the audience. He was slated to talk for an hour, so, of course, he went about 15 minutes over. Then, he signed autographs for the next hour and a half. This is not because people were bringing too much stuff (there was a limit of one item per person), but because he insisted on talking to everyone and asking about their personal lives. My wife and I each had something - a "Twins Fan Parking Only" sign for ourselves (my wife is a Twins fan, I a Brewers fan), and a Twins pennant for her dad - a baby-boomer Twins fan. I really wanted something for my dad, and as we were among the last in line, I called him on the phone. When we got to the front of the line, I asked if Harmon wouldn't mind saying "hello." I told him he absolutely could decline, but he thought it would be fun. I hadn't told my dad who it was, merely that someone famous wanted to talk to him. I'll never forget Harmon saying, "Hi, Bob! This is Harmon Killebrew." It was a great moment, and even the people around us in line laughed. The man just exuded joy, and it is too, too bad he has to go. He will be sorely missed. And in our household, he will always be remembered for his kindness.

Civil Rights Speech Booed At Civil Rights Game

The fifth annual Civil Rights Game was played in Atlanta this past Sunday, only two days after Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed HR 87 (which was modeled on Arizona's racist and unconstitutional SB 1070), authorizing state and local police to demand immigration papers from people they merely suspect might be undocumented. Any of these suspicious-looking people who are not carrying the proper papers can be arrested and jailed.

One of the non-baseball people honoured over the weekend was guitarist Carlos Santana, who was given a "Beacon of Change" award. I'm sure it's one invitation that Commissioner Bud Selig would like to rescind. Santana addressed the crowd at Turner Field:

The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

And he was roundly booed by the crowd.

For talking about civil rights on Civil Rights Day before the Civil Rights Game.

(Then again, the home team is called the Braves, and the fans have done the Tomahawk Chop and simulated war whoops/chants for more than two decades, so perhaps ignorance and resistance to equality should be expected.)

A bit later, Santana spoke to reporters in the press box (my bold):

This law is not correct. It's a cruel law, actually. This is about fear. Stop shucking and jiving. People are afraid we're going to steal your job. No, we aren't. You're not going to change sheets and clean toilets. I would invite all Latin people to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible. ...

Most people, at this point, they are either afraid to really say what needs to be said. This is the United States, the land of the free. If people want the immigration law to keep passing in every state, then everybody should get out and just leave the American Indians here.

David Zirin, The Nation:

Where was Bud Selig during all this drama? It seems that Selig slunk out of a stadium backdoor in the 5th inning. If there is one thing Bud has become an expert at, it's ducking his head when the issues of immigration, civil rights, and Major League Baseball collide. If Selig really gave a damn about Civil Rights, he would heed the words of Carlos Santana. He would move the 2011 All-Star Game out of Arizona. ... If Bud Selig cared about Civil Rights, he would above all else, have to develop something resembling a spine.

I searched for any possible video of Santana's comments:

That seemed like a good possibility. But:

(Thanks to Kap Fulton for the heads up on this!)

Lackey Put On Disabled List

John Lackey was placed on the disabled list last night with a strained right elbow. Tim Wakefield will start tonight in Lackey's spot.

Terry Francona:

There has been some tugging on that elbow. ... Lack is more than willing to pitch through everything. The more we talked to the medical people, the more we talked to Lack, we took it out of his hands. ... I don't think he was very happy about it because he's such a competitor.

Lackey is only the third pitcher since 1919 to have three games with eight or more earned runs allowed in his team's first 37 games of the season:

Claude Willoughby, 1930 Phillies - May 22, May 30, June 2 (consecutive starts)
Ray Scarborough, 1949 Senators   - April 23, May 3, May 19
John Lackey, 2011 Red Sox        - April 2, May 5, May 11

Daisuke Matsuzaka felt ill before last night's start [insert obvious joke]. Then Brian Roberts drilled Dice's first pitch of the game off his midsection.

Jason Varitek:

He got hit pretty hard, any way, shape or form. He was sick, he got hit in the stomach, and probably the rest of his body didn't feel too well. ... We have stuff that we have to take care of with him and what goes on. We'll take care of it.

He did not elaborate.

Schadenfreude 110 (A Continuing Series)

Bill Madden, Daily News:

In the heat of his anger and frustration Saturday night, Yankee icon Jorge Posada told general manager Brian Cashman amid a flood of F-bombs that he not only wanted out of the No. 9 spot in the Yankee batting order - he wanted out of the Yankees, too, according to team sources.

"It was just something said in the heat of anger and frustration," a close friend of Posada's said ... "He didn't want out ... He was just frustrated and said a lot of things."

After a day of apologies and reconciliation on both sides, it appeared the fences were mended Monday, at least until Posada and the Yankees disagreed on another matter: Whether Posada refused to catch during spring training. ...

[S]ources claim that when Posada was asked to catch in a game in the spring, he declined, citing headaches and concern over the concussion syndrome he suffered after taking a foul ball off the mask the previous September. ...

Posada adamantly denied he was ever asked to catch in a game this spring. "Not at all. ... Not even close. ... [T]hey never asked me [to catch in a game]."

Joel Sherman, Post:

For a second straight day the Yankees went into full damage control to defuse simmering controversies involving first Jorge Posada then Derek Jeter. ...

Early Monday, Yankees officials were expressing irritation at Jeter for exonerating Posada for wrongdoing in the aftermath of the DH's refusal to play Saturday night after being placed ninth in the starting lineup.

With the discord being widely reported, Hal Steinbrenner ordered a conference call that included him, team president Randy Levine, GM Brian Cashman and Jeter. ...

The parties on the phone agreed to agree that there was misinterpretation of Jeter's defense of Posada and the club issued a statement Monday acknowledging the call. ...

That the Yankees found Jeter's words so problematic merely underscores the deteriorating relationship between the icon and the franchise.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

Add A.J. Burnett to the Yankees' long list of problems.

Burnett, arguably the Bombers' most consistent starting pitcher this season, ... suffered a 2010-like meltdown. ...

Pitching with a 5-1 lead, Burnett breezed through the fifth. The sixth? That was a different story. John Jaso doubled and Sam Fuld homered to start the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-3. Burnett retired the next two batters, but those were the last outs he would record.

Evan Longoria singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Matt Joyce's single, reducing the Yankees' lead to one run. Joyce moved to second on Burnett's second wild pitch of the inning, then Upton crushed a 2-2 curveball into the left-field stands, putting the Rays ahead ...

Kyle Farnsworth - yes, that Kyle Farnsworth - closed it out for his eighth save.

Bryan Hoch, MLB.com:

As one of the team's most reliable starters this year, Burnett hopes that one bad inning won't spark all of the here-we-go-again talk that he has worked to avoid since his first day back in uniform this year. ...

The Rays had not scored more than five runs in a home game all season, but they were able to take care of that tricky statistic in just one inning, battering Burnett in a five-run sixth that saw nine batters come to the plate.

George A. King III, Post:

On a day the Yankees wouldn't let the odor of Posada Gate drift into the Gulf of Mexico they continued to stink on the field. ...

[Derek] Jeter and his underachieving teammates coughed up a four-run lead to the Rays on the way to a disheartening 6-5 loss ... It was the Yankees' sixth straight loss and that is a season high ... The Yankees have dropped 10 of 13. ...

Rubbing salt in the raw wound was former Yankee bust Kyle Farnsworth producing a perfect ninth to secure the victory and his eighth save. ...

Rodriguez is in a 3-for-23 (.130) funk. ... Jeter is in a 3-for-18 (.167) slide.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

Winning teams on hot streaks are almost charmed by the process of the nine-inning challenge, figuring out a different way to win today than they did yesterday.

The losing streak is something else altogether: Each inning presents a hazard. What can go wrong now? Who'll be the culprit? The pitchers? The hitters? The fielders? All of the above? ...

[T]he time is rapidly approaching when dismissing this rancid stretch of ball as the product of a "small sample size" will no longer be allowed. ...

The [Red] Sox recovered. The Rays have soared. They are good teams with winning DNA. They figured it out.

G41: Red Sox 8, Orioles 7

Orioles - 201 021 100 - 7 10  2
Red Sox - 000 005 102 - 8 15  0

It was like a doubleheader. In Game 1, Matsuzaka was demoralizing (4.1-5-5-7-2, 106) while Tillman handcuffed the Sox (5-5-0-3-2, 88). In the middle of the sixth, Baltimore led 6-0.

Then Buck Showalter went to his bullpen and Game 2 began.

The Red Sox immediately torched three relievers for five runs, closed the gap to one run again in the seventh, and, after wasting a prime scoring opportunity in the eighth, won the game when Adrian Gonzalez drove a two-run double off the Wall with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Deep down in Florida, the Rays beat the Yankees 6-5, so Boston (21-20) is now in a three-team tie for second place with Toronto (21-20) and New York (20-19).

Red Sox 6th: Orioles 6-0, M Gonzalez pitching. Drew singled, took second on LF error. Lowrie doubled, 1-6. Crawford safe on 3B error. Varitek singled (7 pitches), 2-6. Ellsbury lined out to LF. Accardo pitching. Pedroia flied out to CF. Gonzalez singled, 3-6. Youkilis doubled, 5-6. Rapada pitching. Ortiz walked. Drew grounded out to 2B.

Red Sox 7th: Orioles 7-5, Johnson pitching. Lowrie tripled (8 pitches). Crawford K. Varitek singled, 6-7. Ellsbury singled. Pedroia lined out to LF. Gonzalez K.

Red Sox 8th: Orioles 7-6, Uehara pitching. Youkilis doubled. Ortiz grounded out to 2B. Drew BBI. Lowrie K. Crawford popped out to 2B.

Red Sox 9th: Orioles 7-6, Gregg pitching. Varitek flied out to LF. Ellsbury singled. Ellsbury stole second. Pedroia walked (9 pitches). Gonzalez doubled, 8-7.

Chris Tillman / Daisuke Matsuzaka

And now ... how about one game over .500, please!

Jerry Remy will be on NESN for the first time since April 26.

Only one Red Sock has more than two plate appearances against Tillman. Carl Crawford is 6-for-12, with a double and two triples. Here is what the Os have done against Dice.

AL East: Yankees/Rays at 6:30 PM and Blue Jays/Tigers at 7 PM.

Schadenfreude 109 (A Continuing Series)

Brian Costello, Post:

The drama surrounding Jorge Posada was a 24-hour distraction from the real crisis the Yankees are dealing with -- they have lost a season-high five in a row and seemingly can't do anything right.

The Red Sox completed a sweep at Yankee Stadium last night, sending the Yankees to a 7-5 loss that featured another brutal error, failure in the clutch and more uninspired play.

A crowd of 46,945 witnessed another dismal outing by the $207 million club that has lost nine of its last 12 and 12 of its last 20. The Yankees now have one more win than the Mets, and the Red Sox are just one game behind them in the AL East. ...

Is this 1-5 homestand rock bottom or a true representation of this team? ...

The Yankees now have 13 errors in their last 10 games ... Swisher is now 0-for-17 with two outs and runners in scoring position, the worst in the majors. ... Boston has beaten the Yankees five of the six times they have met this year. This is the first time the Yankees have lost five in a row in two years. ...

Joel Sherman, Post:

[A]s successful as the Yankees were at executing Public Relations 101 yesterday, the underlying problems that caused the rift persist: Posada's poor offense, the abundance of aging/declining legends and a roster that has betrayed significant flaws.

So the embers to ignite a new blaze still burn, ready to spark anew if Posada cannot lift his average or if, say, Derek Jeter must fall in the lineup (he's slumping again, with three singles in his last 23 at-bats) ...

It means we are going to find out an awful lot about the mental fortitude of this clubhouse and also about Girardi's skills in navigating what projects to be his most combustible issue as the Yankees skipper. ...

Girardi cannot peer into one of those big binders he loves for clues on how to walk the fine line between honoring his win-now job description while not disrespecting a group that has helped bring so much winning to the franchise. That is a difficult double for a manager who is not a master of inter-personal relations. ...

There remains a bubbling lack of trust between Posada and his manager, a growing unease between the players and Cashman's front office. ... One day of good public relations work does not cure this whole patient.

Anthony McCarron, Daily News:

Sloppy play and a fading lineup - the Yanks only had two hits after the second inning - doomed them again and they lost to Boston, 7-5, Sunday night ...

In this series, [New York's] 3-4-5 hitters - Mark Teixeira, [Alex] Rodriguez and Robinson Cano - were a combined 6-for-34 (.177) with one RBI and one extra-base hit.

"Not good, not good," Rodriguez said and his comment could have been about the team's play in every facet.

G40: Red Sox 7, Yankees 5

Red Sox - 013 010 110 - 7  8  1
Yankees - 130 000 100 - 5  6  1

David Ortiz's home run to right in the fifth snapped a 4-4 tie, and the Red Sox got an additional run in the seventh on three walks, a stolen base from Dustin Pedroia, and an error on a ground ball between Alex Rodriguez's legs. After the Yankees cut the lead to 6-5, Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered off Joba Chamberlain.

Kevin Youkilis belted a three-run home run in the third, two pitches after it looked like Garcia had struck him out (for the second out of the inning), but umpire Mike Everitt called it a ball.

Lester (6-5-4-4-7, 109) had a rough two innings to start the night (allowing home runs to Andruw Jones and Curtis Granderson in the second) and trailed 4-1, but settled down, allowing only three walks and a single over the next 16 batters.

Before Ortiz hit his home run, he singled and doubled. However, Flo struck out and popped up in his final two plate appearances. An ESPN graphic stated that the last Red Sox batter to hit for the cycle against the Yankees was Patsy Dougherty, way back on July 29, 1903 (when they were known as the Highlanders)! ... Yook and Salty each had a single to go along with their dongs. J.D. Drew walked three times. ... Adrian Gonzalez was 0-for-3, but walked twice (one intentional).

Jon Lester / Freddy Garcia

If the Red Sox win tonight's game, not only will they sweep the weekend series (and hand New York its 9th loss in 12 games), but they will finally reach .500 for the first time this season and they will match the Yankees' win total (20).

Last night, after striking out and grounding out twice against CC Sabathia, Adrian Gonzalez told Terry Francona: "I'm going to give it a little Ichiro and leak a little bit." What Gonzalez meant was that he would open his front shoulder early, to give him a better chance at putting his bat on an inside pitch.

When a pitcher's beating me in, it's something I do to create a little room inside and make sure I don't miss fastballs in. He was just pounding me in and I wasn't picking up the ball well, swinging at pitches I don't normally swing at. It would be dumb of me to go up there and try the same approach again, you know? ... I've got to try something different. What's the worst that can happen? I make another out again?

Sabathia threw ball one, then Gonzalez pounded a 94-mph fastball into the right field seats to double the Red Sox's lead to 6-0. Five of his nine home runs this season have come on 1-0 counts.

In April, Evil Bert hit one home run and drove in 15 runs. In May, he has eight home runs and 19 RBI -- and the month is not yet half over. He has a long way to go to match the AL record for RBI in May (43), set by Ty Cobb in 1925.

AL East: Orioles 9, Rays 3 (preview) and Blue Jays 11, Twins 3 (Bautista hit 3 dongs) (preview).

Being Booed In New York Makes David Ortiz Sad

Ortiz:

"I don't know how I can stop people booing me at Yankee Stadium. It really hurts my feelings, man. I don't know how to deal with it. What can I do?"

A friend has a suggestion...

Red Sox DHs Batting 9th

How many times have the Red Sox batted their DH at the bottom of the order?

A search at Baseball Reference turns up a list of 46 games between 1976 and 2008, but only twice since July 1999. Here are the players that did it at least four times:

               DH #9    YEAR(S)
Bob Bailey      10       1978
Midre Cummings   9       1998
Jack Brohamer    6       1978
Bernie Carbo     4       1978
Garry Hancock    4       1978, 1980

In 1978, the DH batted ninth 22 times. It happened 10 times in 1998, six times in 1980, twice in 1989, and once in 1976, 1979, 1993*, 1999, 2002, and 2008.

Last night was the 52nd time the Yankees had their DH batting #9 (Nick Johnson did it 27 times).

* Who the hell is/was Ernie Riles?

Schadenfreude 108 (A Continuing Series)

Anthony McCarron, Daily News:

[Jorge Posada] refused to play Saturday night after Joe Girardi demoted him to ninth in the batting order ... and the episode may color Posada's pinstriped legacy and career.

[Brian] Cashman came to the press box during the game against the Red Sox and announced that Posada had gone to Girardi's office about an hour before the scheduled first pitch and "asked him to remove him from the DH slot in the ninth hole," Cashman said. "There is no injury" ...

But on Twitter during the sixth inning of the game, Posada's wife, Laura, tweeted a different story, saying on the social media site that Posada "loves being a Yankee... He's trying his best to help his team win. Today, due to back stiffness he wasn't able to do that."

"The fact is, he refused to play," a senior Yankee official said when told of Mrs. Posada's tweet. "He never said anything about an injury to the doctor, the trainer, the manager or the general manager. This is just an attempt on his part to rewrite history." ...

According to a team source, Posada, who is batting .165 in 32 games, went to Girardi's office and told the manager he was embarrassed by the lineup demotion ...

If Posada refuses to play Sunday night, he'd be in breach of his contract and the Yankees could attempt to void it, although that is extremely difficult and would undoubtedly spur a fight with the players' union. Posada, 39, is making $13.1 million this season, the last one in a four-year, $52.4 million deal.

Bill Madden, Daily News:

Apparently, in the spring of Jorge Posada's discontent, this was the final humiliation.

Never mind that the 39-year-old Posada was batting .165, including 0-for-24 righthanded, as the Yankees' reluctant designated hitter. To be shunted to the No. 9 spot in the batting order, in a national TV game, against the Red Sox, no less... well, this was one humiliation too much ...

According to the Yankees, there was no injury, no personal problem prompting this astonishing decision ... Just the stigma attached to batting ninth. Initially, they were stunned. Then they were merely steamed. And, as is so often the case in these ugly disputes between the Yankees and their revered multi-ring bearers, the plot thickened as the night wore on. ...

After Saturday night's game, Posada gave a rambling explanation for why he asked out of the lineup, sticking with the "strained back" story in and around implying that he's been "disrespected" by the Yankees and that he had to clear his head. The alleged back injury, he said, was "nothing serious" and yet he couldn't say for sure when he'd be able to play again.

Bob Klapisch, Record:

[It will] be remembered as the lowest point of Posada's career. The catcher asked out of the lineup after being dropped to the No. 9 spot against Josh Beckett — a snub that Posada couldn't live with. Not against the arch-rival Red Sox, not on national television, not when it came directly from the manager he's never liked, Joe Girardi. ...

In-game briefings are extremely rare in the Bronx, reserved only for major news — or major trouble. ...

It was the Yankees' way of putting the spotlight directly on Posada. They were officially putting him on notice. You embarrass us, we'll do likewise, is what Cashman all but said. Within minutes, Posada's wife Laura posted on her Twitter account that Jorge had been suffering from a bad back, which accounted for his absence.

The counter-punch enraged Yankee officials ... Posada and his handlers under-estimated the Yankees' wrath. ...

Posada should've known his request for a mental health day would never go down quietly — not in the middle of a Yankee losing streak, and certainly not against Boston.

The once-great Posada will now be remembered for a cowardly act, for hiding behind a questionable injury, and, mostly, for letting his team down. ...

Bryan Hoch and Thomas Boorstein, MLB.com:

"I told them I couldn't play today and I needed time to clear my head. That was it," Posada said [after the game]. "My back stiffened up a little bit." ...

The slumping Posada insisted that it had nothing to do with being demoted to the No. 9 slot.

Ben Shpigel, Times:

Posada marched into Girardi's office and told him that he felt disrespected. Rather than suffer the ignominy of hitting last in a nationally televised game against the Boston Red Sox, Posada pulled himself out of the lineup. ...

[Posada] was irritated after learning that Cashman had addressed the matter during the game. "I think he should have waited for the game to be over," Posada said, adding, "You don't do that. You’re not supposed to do that." ...

Every day Posada appears to be growing more and more exasperated by the attention he is receiving ... He was brusque Saturday, two days after abruptly ending an interview with reporters when pressed about his ongoing adjustment to being the D.H.

Andrew Marchand, ESPN New York:

Girardi said Posada never mentioned the back injury to him.

With speculation swirling, Cashman met with reporters in a workroom behind the press box during the third inning to give an update. The GM said Posada was not injured.

That irritated Posada.

"I don't know why he made a statement during the game. I don't understand that. That's the way he works now, I guess," Posada said. ...

"The situation that was created by him, then he would have to explain himself after," Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com via telephone. "It was as simple as that. It is common baseball practice to explain after someone is a late scratch in the lineup, they give a reason why. ... Jorgie knew exactly what was being said. This is not a surprise." ...

Earlier this week, a Yankee official told ESPN New York that the team doesn't know what they would do with Posada if he continues to fail to hit. Posada doesn't play the field anymore and doesn't run well, so if he doesn't hit, he would seem to have no value on the roster.

Brian Costello, Post:

Cashman would not comment when asked if this was insubordination. ...

There has been tension between Girardi and Posada for a long time, and it has been threatening to blow up since the Yankees made him the everyday DH this winter and told him he would no longer catch.

Joel Sherman, Post:

The uneasy relationship between Joe Girardi and Jorge Posada has been an open secret around the Yankees since they were the team's catchers in the late 1990s.

But, if anything, it was revealed yesterday that Posada's rapport with general manager Brian Cashman is far worse. ...

"If we felt Jorge was toast we'd pull the plug now," [Cashman] said. "We don't think that. ... [But] I think Jorge has some damage control to deal with ..."

Mike Mazzeo, ESPN New York:

Derek Jeter was nowhere to be found in the clubhouse after Saturday night's 6-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox. ...

[G]iven all the turmoil that unfolded in front of designated hitter Jorge Posada's locker after the game, you would've thought the Captain would come out and defuse the situation.

Joel Sherman, Post:

In the big picture, this is about what happens when teams try to take aging icons into their twilight and how difficult it is to make that end happily ever after. ...

[Posada] insisted before yesterday's game that he was not in a slump, but rather was "in a little hole." He was batting .165, the lowest among 193 players qualified for the batting title.

[T]he disharmony between legacy player and his manager, GM and organization is now overt. Posada did not simply chalk this up to a bad personal day, which might have defused some of the heat. Instead, he flip-flopped on different reasons in explaining his decisions. ...

You wonder if this unnerves a clubhouse at a fragile time; the Yankees lost 6-0 to Boston last night and are reeling. And this all just feels like a coming attraction. ...

G39: Red Sox 6, Yankees 0

Red Sox - 000 020 400 - 6 11  0
Yankees - 000 000 000 - 0  7  0

Beckett was on (6-4-0-2-9, 105) and Sabathia (6.2-7-6-3-6, 116) was not. The Red Sox were relentless in the seventh inning, finally driving CC from the hill when Adrian Gonzalez put the game on ice with (yep) a three-run home run to right-center.

Boston took a 2-0 lead in the fifth, when singles by Jed Lowrie and Carl Crawford and a four-pitch walk to Jason Varitek loaded the bases with one out. Jacoby Ellsbury cracked a double to the gap in left-center, where Brett Gardner got burned by playing too shallow and had to chase the ball to the base of the wall.

Dustin Pedroia showed signs of coming out of his slump, going 3-for-4. Varitek singled in a run in the seventh before Gonzalez hit his ninth home run of the season (his eighth since May 3 and his fifth in the last four games).

And re what I said below about Beckett's high number of no-decisions, here is Evan Drellich from tonight's MLB.com game story:

[Beckett] also has a scoreless innings streak of 18 1/3 innings that stretches to April, and his ERA is 1.75, second best in the American League -- though he has just three wins to show for it.

Josh Beckett / CC Sabathia

Beckett (1.99 ERA, 1.56 since his first start) has not allowed a run in his last 13 innings. In his seven starts this year, he has allowed two or fewer runs five times.

Since April 21, Beckett has made four starts -- 25.1 innings, 17 hits, 6 walks, 17 strikeouts, 2.13 -- but since he received neither a win nor a loss in each of those starts, he has, as the media often tells us, "nothing to show for it" (except for, you know, the results that I just mentioned and the positive value he gave to the team towards winning baseball games).

Sabathia has allowed nine runs (seven earned) in his last two starts.

            ERA    FIP   xFIP
Beckett    1.99   2.98   3.29 
Sabathia   2.89   2.86   3.46

What is FIP? Glad you asked. Fangraphs' Dave Cameron explains that FIP stands for:

Fielding Independent Pitching, which calculates a pitcher's responsibility for the runs he allows based on his walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed. ...

[T]here are so many extra variables that go into a pitcher's ERA that the pitcher himself simply doesn't have control over. ... Using ERA or RA simply adds too many non-pitcher factors into the equation to the point that we're no longer just evaluating the pitcher.

FIP removes defense from the equation by only looking at three factors that a pitcher has demonstrable control over – walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed. By using FIP, we're isolating the pitcher's core abilities and evaluating him based on those skills. Now, we're not claiming that FIP captures everything a pitcher is responsible for. ... But when confronted with a choice of including way too many non-pitcher inputs or leaving out a few minor actual pitcher inputs, the latter was the better choice. You will get more accurate win values for a pitcher using FIP than you will ERA or RA.

And:

xFIP is the same thing as FIP, but it sets everyone's HR/FB% to league average ... [which] basically shows the value of getting groundballs as a pitcher.

AL East: Orioles/Rays and Blue Jays/Twins at 4 PM.

Schadenfreude 107 (A Continuing Series)

The Yankees are 3-7 since May 3 and and have dropped five games in the AL East standing in ten days, from 3 GA to 2 GB.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

The Yankees have to get a big hit eventually, right? ...

After leaving 20 runners on base and going a combined 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position in their two losses to the Royals, the Yankees were no better in either department Friday night.

The Bombers were 1-for-7 with RISP, stranding eight runners as they suffered their third straight loss - the second time in 10 days they've found themselves in such a slide.

George A. King III, Post:

Wednesday they couldn't hit water if they jumped off the George Washington Bridge with runners in scoring position. Thursday they looked like Edward Scissorhands trying to catch and throw baseballs.

Last night at Yankee Stadium, Joba Chamberlain trucked to the dark side of the Yankees' universe when he soiled a respectable outing by Bartolo Colon against the Red Sox. ...

Clay Buchholz limited the lame lineup to two runs in seven innings and Chamberlain's high-octane heat wasn't good enough to avoid a 5-4 before 48,254.

With two more games against the Red Sox this weekend and a two-game set against the Rays on Monday and Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Yankees look like somebody attempting to get around an ice rink in sneakers.

Joel Sherman, Post:

[T]he Yankees were just 2-for-14 with men on base. The Yankees over the years have made their reputation by doing damage when working into favorable counts. But against Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz and reliever Daniel Bard the Yanks generated 13 hitter's counts -- 2-0, 3-0 or 3-1 -- and went 1-for-11 with two walks, three strikeouts and not a single ball driven into the outfield in those situations besides Posada's ground single that preceded Martin's homer in the fifth.

John Harper, Daily News:

[W]hen the ball doesn't go out of the park, they don't score enough runs to win.

They've left 37 runners on base during this three-game losing streak, and they haven't played crisp baseball for the last couple of weeks. ... [I]t's the middle of May and Posada is still only hitting .165 [.147 in his last 21 games] , while Swisher is at .221 with two home runs [11-for-75 (.172) over his past 18 games].

Beyond that, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez haven't looked right the last couple of weeks, either. ...

Going into Friday night's game the Yankees were hitting .239 with runners in scoring position, which ranked ninth in the AL, and .202 with RISP and two outs, which ranked 10th. ...

And despite Derek Jeter's recent run, [scouts] continue to question his bat speed, pointing to his 72% ground ball ratio, easily the highest in the majors ...

Kevin Kernan, Post:

A-Gone is the new Big Papi. Get used to it Yankees. ...

[I]n his first game at the new Yankee Stadium, Gonzalez put his stamp on the rivalry, blasting a leadoff home run in the fourth off Bartolo Colon, deep into the second deck in right and driving in a run in the Red Sox three-run seventh with a long sacrifice fly to left off Joba Chamberlain ...

The Yankees have no real weapon in their bullpen to counter the lefty-swinging Gonzalez. ... He simply has the look of a Yankee Killer with that sweet lefty swing. ...

Mark Hale, Post:

Mark Teixeira's futility against the Red Sox has become frightening.

Teixeira went 0-for-5 in last night's 5-4 Yankees loss in The Bronx, making him a woeful 0-for-17 in the Yankees' four games against the Red Sox this season. ...

The first baseman also closed last season hitless in his final 11 at-bats against Boston.

Teixeira is now 0-for-his-last-28 against the Red Sox. During that time, Teixeira has produced 13 strikeouts and zero RBIs.

Last night in The Bronx, Teixeira helped kill three different Yankees rallies, stranding three runners.

"I didn't get the job done," he said.

Sherman, Post:

A scary thought for Yankees fans as their team lost 5-4 to the Red Sox on Friday the 13th: Maybe your club's best chance to separate in the AL East has come and gone.

Because are the Yankees really going to have more favorable conditions than they have experienced over the first six weeks this season? ...

The Red Sox's best play is almost certainly in front of them. The onerous aspects of the Yankee road schedule are coming, including both West Coast trips. Plus, the Yankees now have to make up those three postponements, which will mean fewer offdays and greater stress on that older roster. ...

Have the Yankees already fumbled their best chance to control the AL East?

G38: Red Sox 5, Yankees 4

Red Sox - 000 200 300 - 5  9  1 
Yankees - 000 020 011 - 4  8  0

Buchholz had by far his best outing of the season (7-5-2-1-7, 110), Adrian Gonzalez hit his sixth home run in the past week, and Kevin Youkilis belted an opposite field two-run bomb off Joba Chamberlain to give the Red Sox a necessary cushion.

The Yankees (3-7 since May 3) have lost five games in the standings in 10 days, and are now 2 GB behind the Rays, who shut out the Orioles 3-0 behind Jeremy Hellickson (9-4-0-1-3, 120). The Red Sox and Blue Jays are tied for third, 5 GB.

Daniel Bard faltered in the eighth, giving up a triple to Curtis Granderson and wild pitching him home. Then Bard walked Alex Rodriguez and hit Robinson Cano in the left foot, and watched as they pulled off a double steal. But Bard struck out Nick Swisher on high heat and then got Dumbo to ground to second.

With two outs in the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon allowed singles to Derek Jeter and Granderson, but he retired Mark Teixeira on a pop-up to third to end the game.

Colon (6-5-3-3-4, 103) threw more pitches than he had in any game since he threw 103 on June 1, 2008, for the Red Sox. His one bad inning was the fourth: Gonzalez led off with a rocket into the second deck in right.

(the ball is a blur above the head of the guy above the word "grab")

Youkilis struck out, but reached first on a passed ball. David Ortiz walked and was forced at second by J.D. Drew; Jed Lowrie walked to load the bases. Yook scored on Carl Crawford's grounder to first.

Colon started the seventh (which was odd) and allowed an 0-2 single to Jarrod Saltalamacchia before handing the ball to Chamberlain. Jacoby Ellsbury forced Salty at second and raced to third on Dustin Pedroia's perfectly-placed hit-and-run single to right field. Gonzalez's deep fly to the track in left scored Ellsbury and then Yook donged to right-center.

Clay Buchholz/ Bartolo Colon

The Red Sox play a three-game series in New York this weekend. The Yankees (20-15) dropped out of first place last night, and are one game behind the Rays. Boston is tied for fourth place with the Blue Jays, at 17-20, and 5 GB.

The Red Sox and Yankees have each lost their last two games. Boston has dropped five of their last eight and New York has lost six of their last nine.

AL East: Orioles/Rays at 7 PM and Blue Jays/Twins at 8 PM.