G32: Red Sox 7, Cleveland 5

Cleveland - 100 000 301 - 5 12  0
Red Sox   - 220 030 00x - 7 12  1

Buchholz (6.1-8-4-3-0, 111) overcame a shaky first inning - two singles, one walk, and one HBP, all with two outs - and pitched into the seventh inning. It was easily his best outing of the year.

After Cleveland had taken a 1-0 lead, the Red Sox scored two quick runs of their own, as Will Middlebrooks doubled with the bases loaded, scoring Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. In the second, Pedroia cracked a two-run double of his own, and finished the night with three hits and three RBI.

Adrian Gonzalez reached base five times, on two doubles, two walks and a HBP. ... Daniel Nava and Cody Ross both walked twice and doubled. ... Six of Boston's 12 hits were doubles, and they drew a total of eight walks off a trio of Cleveland pitchers.

Trailing 7-1, Cleveland made things interesting in the seventh. With one out, Buchholz gave up two singles and walk, and left with the bases loaded. Rich Hill walked in a run, Middlebrooks's fielding error let in a second run, and Michael Brantley's single made it 7-4.

Vicente Padilla came in with runners at second and third and only one out, and doused the fire. Alfredo Aceves had a bumpy ninth, giving up a walk, two singles, and a run, but he prevailed, stranding the potential tying run at second base by retiring Johnny Damon on a fly ball to center.

Number of pitches for the first four Red Sox pitchers: Buchholz (111), Hill (11), Andrew Miller (11), Franklin Morales (11). Sadly, Padilla (9) and Aceves (29) did not continue the pattern.

Ubaldo Jiminez / Clay Buchholz

Sweeney, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Nava, LF
Ross, RF
Saltalamacchia, C
Punto, SS

There is only one pitcher in baseball history who has allowed five or more runs in each of his first six appearances in a season - and he is pitching for the Red Sox tonight. Over the past 100 years, no Red Sox pitcher has allowed more earned runs in his first six starts than Clay Buchholz has this season (33).

Buchholz has been, by far, the worst starting pitcher in baseball. He has the highest ERA (9.09) and worst WHIP (2.020). Opposing batters are hitting .343/.428/.613/1.041 against him; both righties and lefties have an OPS over 1.000. Buchholz has allowed 10 home runs, as many as he allowed last season, in 50 additional innings. For the rest of the season, if Buchholz can give us what John Lackey did in 2011, it will be a huge improvement.

And he leads the team with three wins, which should be more than enough reason for all of us to never, ever cite W-L records as a meaningful statistic again.

Since making it back to .500 (11-11) on April 30, the Red Sox have gone 1-8. ... They have also lost 11 of their last 12 home games.

Beckett: "I Spend My Off-Days The Way I Want"

Josh Beckett:

I spend my off-days the way I want to spend them. My off-day is my off-day. ... We get 18 off-days a year. I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves.

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston:

Beckett foolishly thought it was about golf.

It was never about golf. It was about giving a damn, or at least offering the illusion of doing so. ...

Thursday night was the first opportunity for Beckett to explain himself. But that was beneath him. ...

Defiant to a hurtling-off-the-cliff fault. ... Beckett evidently believes that even giving an inch is tantamount to surrender. ... He could have demonstrated some level of concern ... But no. Not Josh Almighty Beckett. ...

If he's going down, he's going down swinging, even if it means offering one of the lamest arguments ever put forth by a player, one certain to invite anger and ridicule.

Peter Abraham, Globe:

It's easy to be outraged about Josh Beckett and crack lame jokes about fried chicken, beer, and golf. Knock yourself out.

But the problem isn't Beckett. The problem is that nobody with the Red Sox — from ownership down to his assorted pitching coaches — has required him to be accountable or demanded that he change. ...

Every person in his professional life has given him a free pass because he was so good. Did you expect him not to use it? ...

If Valentine wants to, he can make life difficult for Beckett and demand change. But given the way the Red Sox have treated Beckett since he arrived in 2006, there is nothing to suggest that will happen.

John Tomase, Herald:

Josh Beckett does not do contrition, which is fine. ... The erstwhile Red Sox ace typically ignored the sound and fury that accompanies pitching in Boston, but hurling last night in the wake of a controversial golf outing, he seemed rattled from the start. The result was one of the worst nights of his career. ...

Afterward, Beckett redefined stubborn in his refusal to even acknowledge a perception problem.

Nick Cafardo, Globe:

[S]houldn't you exercise a little discretion?

I mean, you already have the beer and fried chicken stigma.

You didn't tell your manager about the lat discomfort before he left you in for 126 pitches.

Then you have to skip a start.

And then you play golf?

Beckett was supposed to be this team's pitching leader, but right now he's nowhere close to that.

Buster Olney, ESPN:

When the story about the chicken and beer broke, they wanted to hear Beckett throw himself on the mercy of Red Sox Nation. They wanted to hear an unqualified apology, and unqualified accountability, rather than griping about snitches.

Beckett didn't give them this. ...

[T]hey wanted an explanation from Beckett as to why it might have made sense for him to be golfing while being unavailable to pitch -- in the same way that an employer might wonder why someone calling in sick was seen partying on television at a ballgame.

Beckett didn't give them this. ...

There is a disconnect between the Red Sox fans and Beckett, reflected in the boos that he heard as he came off the mound, and even in the Boston front office, the question of whether Beckett has irreconcilable differences with the team for which he pitches should probably be asked. The Red Sox should probably begin exploring trade avenues.

Eric Wilbur, Globe:

[D]uring last night's postgame press conference, Beckett gave everybody - fans, the front office, media members - a reason to run him out of town with a ferocious vigor not seen in this town in years.

Beckett's smug defiance encapsulates everything we need to know about the 2012 Boston Red Sox, an over-privileged, under-achieving group of players who have become enemies to nearly every baseball-loving fan in Boston. ...

It's not that Beckett doesn't get it, he just doesn't care, and that is the most damning characteristic an athlete, someone who gets paid millions of dollars to achieve his greatest heights possible in order to help his team, can possess. ...

If Beckett is here next month, it's a clear sign that the Red Sox don't care what you think either. ...

I have never witnessed a more hated team in Boston than the 2012 Boston Red Sox ...

Bobby Valentine:

I've never seen a pitcher get hurt playing golf.

Ben Cherington:

Josh has always been accountable for his performance on the field. I don't believe his outing tonight was affected by anything he did or didn't do on our last off day. I expect he'll pitch well five days from now.

Clay Buchholz, Beckett's golf partner, was asked if he could see why fans were upset:

Not really. I really don't.

G31: Cleveland 8, Red Sox 3

Cleveland - 034 000 001 - 8 12  0
Red Sox -   010 010 100 - 3 10  0

Josh Beckett (2.1-7-7-2-2, 56) recorded seven outs and allowed seven runs. Nine of the 16 batters he faced reached base, including eight of the last 11. He was booed and jeered as he left the game with one out in the top of the third. It was Beckett's shortest outing since 2.1 IP on August 17, 2008, in Toronto.

After the game, Beckett was idiotically defiant: "I spend my off-days the way I want to spend them."

The Red Sox had a chance to narrow Cleveland's lead in the eighth. Vinnie Pestano walked the bases full and Dustin Pedroia (who had crushed an opposite field home run in the seventh) represented the tying run. He got ahead in the count 3-1, but popped out to first to end the inning.

Adrian Gonzalez had two hits and scored two runs. Daniel Nava, in his first Sox game of the year, had an RBI double and two walks. ... Beckett's dismal performance increased the starters' season ERA to 6.06 (7.24 at home). ... Boston (12-19) has lost eight of its last nine games; its six-game losing streak at home is the team's longest since 1994.

Bobby Valentine defended Beckett before the game: "I've never seen a pitcher get hurt playing golf."

Derek Lowe / Josh Beckett

Sweeney, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Nava, LF
Aviles, SS
Byrd, CF
Shoppach, C

Beckett is making his first start since April 29, when he threw 126 pitches in a loss to the White Sox. Beckett will also be dealing with questions about reports that he played golf last Thursday, one day after it was announced that he would miss a start because of a tight/stiff right lat muscle. He also allegedly refused recently to do assigned training work between starts.

Derek Lowe returns to the Fenway Park mound for the only the second time since leaving after the 2004 season; the first was June 20, 2009 with Atlanta. Lowe, 38, has a 2.39 ERA in six starts this year. Cleveland is 17-13 and is in first place in the AL Central.

The Red Sox are 12-18, 7.5 GB the Rays. Since September 1 of last year, the Red Sox have played .333 ball over 57 games (19-38), the equivalent of one-third of a season.

G30: Royals 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox - 003 000 000 - 3  8  1
Royals  - 300 100 00x - 4  9  0

Lester (5-6-4-1-3, 108) threw 38 pitches in the first inning, insuring that he would have a short night. It was a bizarre inning in which Marlon Byrd committed an two-base error on a ball hit right at him and Cody Ross bobbled and lost control of another fly ball on the track in left-center. All three first-inning runs were unearned.

Boston loaded the bases in the third on singles by Byrd, Ryan Sweeney and Dustin Pedroia. With two outs, Adrian Gonzalez brought them all in, tying the game with a double to right-center.

The Royals retook the lead on doubles by Irving Falu and Alcides Escobar.

In the ninth, against Jonathan Broxton, Ross singled and Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked. Bobby Valentine had Byrd bunt the runners to second and third. That did no good, as Sweeney lined out to short left and Mike Aviles grounded out to shortstop.

Will Middlebrooks went 0-for-4 (K, 1-3, 6-3, F9) and did not set a new record with at least one extra-base hit in the first six games of his career. He'll have to settle for sharing the MLB record of five games with Enos Slaughter.

It was a chore to listen to NESN tonight.

Dennis Eckersley harped on a first-inning non-strike call made by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson against Lester for the entire night. (He whined and moaned so much I thought he was auditioning for a job in the Tampa Bay booth.) If Lester had been given the call, it would have ended a 1-2-3 first inning on 14 pitches. Eck's point was the non-strike three call - which, by the way, was not a strike according to NESN's pitch zone - "forced" Lester to throw another 24 pitches. So, Lester had 24 additional chances to get the final out and couldn't do it, all because the big, bad umpire did his job correctly. An ace has got to rise above stuff like that (and misplays in the field); Lester couldn't do it. (I was hoping to post the f/x picture, but it does not currently have Lester's info.)

Also, in the top of the first, Don Orsillo said something about Chen's starts at Kauffman Stadium this year and then told us Chen's career won-loss record at home (30-26). What makes this useless bit of trivia even more pointless is that Chen has pitched for 10 teams in his 15-year major league career and, therefore, has called 10 different parks "home". Memo to Orsillo: Just because something is in the media guide or that night's press notes doesn't mean you have to read it.

Jon Lester / Bruce Chen

Aviles, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Ross, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Byrd, CF
Sweeney, RF

RIP Carl Beane.

Reports: Beckett Played Golf Two Days Before Missed Start, Blew Off Training Work During Last Homestand

Josh Beckett was reportedly playing golf last Thursday, two days before his missed start due to a strained right latissimus muscle, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub. There is also a report that Beckett refused to do training work with the other Red Sox pitchers during the last homestand.

The Sports Hub co-host Scott Zolak tweets that the golf story is "100% IRONCLAD" and that Beckett was playing at a local course with Clay Buchholz.

Beckett admitted that the lat muscle was bothering him before his last start, in which he threw a career-high 126 pitches. Beckett admitted that he kept the soreness from the team and that throwing all those pitches exacerbated the situation: "I really wanted to pitch. I just ended up making things worse."

The day after the alleged golf date, Beckett played catch at Fenway Park and said he felt fine. Bobby Valentine said that Beckett also threw on Monday "and said he felt fine and was ready to go". Beckett is scheduled to start tomorrow night at Fenway against Cleveland, and is in (or on his way to) Boston tonight.

If Beckett was golfing, either the lat muscle was not that bothersome, or he was risking further injury by swinging a golf club. Neither choice paints Beckett in a positive light.

From Bobby Valentine's weekly interview on WEEI:

I'm trying to sort out my feelings. ... When we decided for Josh not to make his start, it wasn't because he was injured. It was a precautionary situation because his his lat was a little tight. ... I don't know if he was out at a charity match, just putting, or if he was whaling away and felt that might have loosened things up. ... I would say that was less than the best thing to do on that day off.

And ...

SoSHer Gambler7, 2:08 PM:

Gary Tanguay on with Felger now says Beckett during the last home stand refused to do the work he was supposed to with the rest of the pitchers, said he didn't feel like it, refused to listen to the strength coach. Went into the clubhouse instead.

When you consider that Beckett was one of the main chicken-and-beer boys and admitted to a lack of focus last September, the perception (or reality) that he has freely given the finger to two managers and his teammates in less than three months of playing time will be more than enough - coupled with his less-than-stellar pitching performances and expected taciturn response to questions - to ignite a sizeable firestorm of media attention.

Live Through This

A Different Way To Look At Batting Average
Nathaniel Stoltz / May 7, 2012

First off, it should be stated that batting average, like all the other stats sabermetricians love to hate (W-L, RBI, SV, even ERA), does not mean nothing. If you hit for a high average, chances are you're a good hitter, and if you hit for a low average, chances are you’re a poor hitter. Likewise, there is no doubt a positive correlation between wins for starting pitchers and their underlying performance (FIP, SIERA, or whatever else you care to use).

The rub, of course, comes from the fact that we simply have better numbers to look at.

The Sacrifice Bunt: The Real Rally Killer
Dave Cameron / May 9, 2012

We don't live in 1953 anymore. We have access to more and better information than ever before. Teams are spending large amounts of resources to make better decisions to get improvements on the margins that may end up winning them one or two games over the course of the season. And yet, at the end of the day, most of these teams are still entrusting their in-game strategy to people who simply don't understand the basic probabilities of the sport.

Why Youkilis Has To Go
Gordon Edes / May 9, 2012

The idea of trading Kevin Youkilis to make way for top prospect Will Middlebrooks gained early traction back in April, when Youkilis got off to a slow start and Middlebrooks was tearing it up for Pawtucket, hitting nine home runs and driving in 27 runs in his first 24 games.

That was premature. ... Now, however, that conversation is no longer just fan chatter.

Live With It
Matthew Kory / May 9, 2012

Some Red Sox fans, apparently so upset by the team's 12-17 start and undoubtedly still furious over the way last season ended, have proposed blowing up the team. They're bad, so the thinking goes, so the organization should sell off the best players, accept some losing years, and hopefully look to be successful again in 2015 or whatever.

Moronic. ...

[T]he season is just a crappy 29 games old. You can't blow up the team and the organization over 29 games when there are 133 more to go. So how do you handle it?

Nobody likes the way the season has started. ... Waiting for injured players to return isn't sexy. Waiting for under-performing players to stop sucking and play better isn't headline-grabbing. But it's what we have right now.

Live with it, or do something else. It's your choice.

G29: Royals 6, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 020 110 000 - 4  9  0
Royals  - 030 000 03x - 6  7  1

Billy Butler cranked a three-run home run off Matt Albers in the eighth inning - after Daniel Bard (7-6-5-4-1, 96) may have been left in one batter too long.

Bard began the eighth with a 4-3 lead and had thrown only 86 pitches; after a rough second inning, he had become extremely economical (41 pitches in the first two innings, 45 through the next five). But he seemed to tire in the seventh, allowing two singles to start the inning and getting away unscathed thanks to a superb play by Adrian Gonzalez on a bunt to cut down a runner at the plate.

So Bard opened the eighth by throwing three balls to Jarrod Dyson, battled back to a full count, and then lost him on ball four. This is when Bobby Valentine should have pulled Bard. Maybe. I'm not sure. I go back and forth. Bard was preoccupied with the baserunner, throwing over to first three times, and ended up walking Alex Gordon on four pitches that were nowhere near the strike zone. (Bard's obsession with runners on base cost him in the second inning, as well, as he balked twice and threw a wild pitch.) Now Albers came in, and Butler crushed his 1-1 pitch to deep left, wiping out Boston's lead and giving the Royals their margin of victory.

It's easy to shovel the blame on Valentine for this one, as he has had a slow hook with the starters and a bad habit of not having relievers ready. Valentine may have needed to stay with Bard because Albers did not have enough time to get ready. If so, that is unforgivable. These types of situations have often ended badly - I should make a list - and tonight was no different. But regardless of what Valentine did or didn't do, the serious blame has got to fall on Albers for giving up the meatball.

Will Middlebrooks doubled and scored in the second inning, but left the game mid-inning with a strained left hamstring. Middlebrooks joined Enos Slaughter as the only two players in major league history to have an extra-base hit in each of their first five games.

Kelly Shoppach had an RBI single and Dustin Pedroia walked with the bases loaded in the second. Pedroia singled in Mike Aviles in the third. Gonzalez (2-for-3, with a walk) doubled and scored on an error in the fifth. Marlon Byrd also had two hits.

Daniel Bard / Danny Duffy

Aviles, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ross, RF
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
McDonald, LF
Byrd, CF
Shoppach, C

Will Middlebrooks is the first player in MLB history to have six extra-base hits in his first four games.

He is also only the second Red Sox player to record a 5-RBI game within the first four games of his career; Arquimedez Pozo did it on July 28, 1996.

Middlebrooks has nine RBI in his last two games. He has tied the record for most RBIs (9) in his first four games:

Jack Merson, 1951 Pirates
Joe Cunningham, 1954 Cardinals
Dave Kingman, 1971 Giants
Arquimedez Pozo, 1995 Mariners/1996 Red Sox
Mike Jacobs, 2005 Mets
Will Middlebrooks, 2012 Red Sox

Since April 23, the Sox bullpen has a 1.41 ERA (9 ER/57.1 IP) with 16 walks and 54 satrikeouts. (That also included the three runs allowed by Darnell McDonald.) It's the second best bullpen ERA in MLB since that time. (In the Baltimore series, the bullpen threw more than six innings in three straight games for the first time since August 26-28, 1950.)

Boston - facing a lefty tonight - leads all MLB teams with a .513 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers. The Sox are 5-3 in games started by left-handers.

Batting With Runners In Scoring Position: Dearth or Delightful?

In its preview of the Royals/Red Sox series, Firebrand of the AL wrote:

Sunday's [17-inning] game seems to encapsulate the current plight of the Red Sox: bad starting pitching, a dearth of hitting with RISP, brave and effective relief pitching, yet still a loss because something stupid happens ...

I thought I would check out how poorly the Red Sox are doing with RISP (more accurately defined as RATS (runners at third and/or second)):

.307/.381/.514

The batting average is 3rd best in the American League (behind Texas at .313 and Toronto at .308), the on-base and slugging percentages are 1st in the AL. And the Red Sox's OPS of .895 is the highest in the majors. (Boston also leads the AL with 12 home runs with runners in scoring position.)

So, far from getting a "dearth of hitting with RISP", the Red Sox are arguably the best team in baseball with runners in scoring position.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning last night, Felix Doubront walked Billy Butler on four pitches and stared in at the umpire, clearly questioning one or two of the calls. Bobby Valentine saw that and ran out to the mound.

I think our starting pitchers are maybe falling into a habit that I don't want to see, complaining about the umpire. I went out and tried to put a stop to it before it spread. A couple of pitches were close and he stood there and looked at the umpire. That's not the way we're going to start this stuff.

Nice move by Valentine, but did Doubront have a case?

Kelly Shoppach, on hitting his first major league triple: "It shouldn't be mathematically possible for me to run that far."

Extra-base Hit(s) in First Four Games of Career (since 1918)

Enos Slaughter, 1938 Cardinals
Coco Laboy, 1969 Expos
Yoenis Cespedes, 2012 Athletics
Will Middlebrooks, 2012 Red Sox

Slaughter is the only player to have an extra-base hit in his first five games.

Gary Marbry (Nuggetpalooza) tells us that Middlebrooks is only the third Red Sox player to have a multiple home run game in the first four games of his career and he's only the third player in major league history to drive in 4+ runs twice in the first four games of his career.

G28: Red Sox 11, Royals 5

Red Sox - 401 200 040 - 11 16  1
Royals  - 022 000 100 -  5 10  0

Felix Doubront (6.1-7-5-3-2, 111) did his job, pitching into the seventh inning, and Will Middlebrooks cracked two home runs and a double to help the Red Sox snap a five-game losing streak.

Doubront was victimized by some bad luck in both the second and third innings, when the Royals scored a total of four runs. Marlon Byrd muffed a fly ball from Mike Moustakas in deep center in the second - instead of one out and a man on first, KC had runners on second and third and no outs - and Middlebrooks committed a two-base throwing error in the third. One run scored on the error and a second run scored on a ground ball.

Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead when Dustin Pedroia walked with one out and David Ortiz singled. After Cody Ross struck out, Adrian Gonzalez ((2-for-5) singled home Pedroia and Middlebrooks drove the ball just inside the right field pole for three more runs.

Ortiz went deep in the third (#7) and Pedroia smacked an opposite field two-run shot in the fourth. In the eighth, Ross doubled in two runs and Middlebrooks lined a shot off the left field pole for two more, giving him 5 RBI for the night.

Middlebrooks had at least one extra-base hit in each of his first four major league games. No other player in Red Sox history has done that for more than two games. In the four games since his call-up, Middlebrooks had hit two singles, three doubles, and three home runs.

Ortiz (home run, two singles, two intentional walks) and Pedroia (home run, double, three walks) each reached base five times. They each scored three runs.

In the fourth inning, Kelly Shoppach, in the 1,526th plate appearance of his nine-year career, hit his first triple. It was the longest triple drought of any active player.

The play of the game came in the bottom of the seventh. Doubront loaded the bases with one out and then walked in a run - cutting Boston's lead to 7-5 - before Bobby Valentine finally pulled him. Vicente Padilla came in and got Billy Butler on a high chopper to second. Pedroia started a 4-6-3 double play, ending the threat. And the Red Sox padded their lead with four runs in the next inning.

Kudos to Valentine for sticking with Padilla (2.2-3-0-0-1, 39) for the rest of the game. Padilla gave the rest of the bullpen a night off and picked up his first save of the season.

Felix Doubront / Jonathan Sanchez

Aviles, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ross, RF
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
McDonald, LF
Byrd, CF
Shoppach, C

Back on the horse.

This is Day 4 of the Red Sox's three-week stretch without a day off (20 games in 20 days). Boston has gotten off to an extremely rocky start, playing games of 13, 9, and 17 innings - and losing all three. (And the press is having a - WARNING: link to a noxious character assassination piece of shit follows - field day.)

The bullpen has thrown 26.2 innings in the past three games, and is spent after yesterday's marathon loss to the Orioles - only Clayton Mortensen had Sunday off - so we need innings from Felix.

The Red Sox are on the road for only these three games in Kansas City. Then it's back to Fenway Park for four games against Cleveland and two games against the Mariners.

G27: Orioles 9, Red Sox 6 (17)

Updated with more factoids!

Orioles - 101 300 010 000 000 03 - 9 15  2
Red Sox - 000 140 010 000 000 00 - 6 16  3

Orioles DH Chris Davis struck out in his first five plate appearances, then hit into a double play. He finished the day 0-for-8. But he also threw two scoreless innings, and was the winning pitcher.

Darnell McDonald pinch-ran for David Ortiz in the eighth ining and scored the tying run. He came in to pitch the top of the seventeenth and allowed a three-run home run to Adam Jones. McDonald batted in the bottom half with a chance to re-tie the game, but he grounded into a game-ending double play. (McDonald also pitched an inning on August 26, 2011, in a 15-5 loss to Oakland.)

Bobby Valentine must have assumed that if the other team puts a position player in to pitch, that he had to do it also. If Baltimore if going to waive the white flag, that is no reason for the Red Sox to do the same. (In his post-game conference, Valentine said something like it wasn't fair to the Orioles to have an actual pitcher still out there for the Sox. I'm waiting for the exact quote before popping off.)

This was the first game in which position players pitched for both teams since an end-of-the-season game in 1925. The last game in which both the winning and losing pitchers were position players was September 28, 1902. That was the final game of the season, and the White Sox and Browns used only position players to pitch the entire game.

Each position player was his team's ninth pitcher of the day. The 18 pitchers used was a record for a game at Fenway Park, and one shy of the MLB record of 19, set by the Yankees and Rays in last year's final regular season game.

Davis was the first player to go 0-for-8 and end up as the winning pitcher since Rube Waddell won a 20-inning complete game against the Red Sox on July 4, 1905.

The teams combined to throw 570 pitches. It was the most pitches thrown in an American league game since a Red Sox/White Sox game in July 2006 (see below).

It was the longest Red Sox game by innings since July 9, 2006, when they lost 6-5 in 19 innings to the White Sox on the day before the All-Star break.

Adrian Gonzalez struck out on three pitches against Davis in the seventeenth, ending an 0-for-8 afternoon. Gonzalez is the first Red Sox player in history to go 0-for-8 from the cleanup spot. (Here is a list of the eight Boston players who have gone 0-for-at-least-8 since 1918; two of them happened in that 2006 game!)

The Orioles put their leadoff man on base in the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fifteenth innings. The Red Sox bullpen and infield kept all of those runners from advancing. Boston turned a total of six double plays in the game, including four in extra innings.

Boston nearly won the game in the sixteenth when Marlon Byrd tried to score from first on Mike Aviles's two-out double to left-center. The ball beat Byrd to the plate and he went in hard, but could not jar the ball loose.

Clay Buchholz (3.2-7-5-4-4, 81) was dreadful (again), allowing two solo home runs to J.J. Hardy and a three-run bomb to Robert Andino. Buchholz has allowed at least five runs in all six of his starts this year, and his ERA is up to 9.09. No Red Sox pitcher has given up at least five runs in six consecutive starts since Red Ruffing (1925).

Down 5-0, Ryan Sweeney singled home Mike Aviles in the fourth. Sweeney finished the day with four hits; Aviles had three.

In the fifth, Will Middlebrooks crushed a grand slam over everything in left. Middlebrooks is the first Red Sox player in history with an extra-base hit in each of his first three games in the major leagues.

Mark Reynolds reached base in his first six plate appearances (two hits and four walks), but was finally retired in the sixteenth inning.

The Boston bullpen (not including McDonald) allowed one unearned run in 12.1 innings.

It took 39 innings, but the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox for the first time since June 10-12, 1994 - Will Middlebrooks was only five years old - and moved into first place in the AL East. The Red Sox (11-16, 7.5 GB) have lost five consecutive games, and have dropped 10 of their last 11 home games.

Tommy Hunter / Clay Buchholz

Aviles, SS
Sweeney, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Ross, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Middlebrooks, 3B
Byrd, CF

Buchholz has allowed at least five runs in each of his five starts this season: 7, 5, 6, 5, 6. His ERA is 8.69 and his WHIP is 1.897. But there is some good news! ... He's 3-1!

The Red Sox are #2 in the AL with 5.3 runs per game, but seven games of 10+ runs have helped that average. In exactly half of the Red Sox's games this year (13 of 26), they have scored three runs or fewer.

G26: Orioles 8, Red Sox 2

Orioles - 017 000 000 - 8 10  1
Red Sox - 000 000 200 - 2  8  0

Instead of a recap, we have a picture of a cut below Aaron Cook's left knee, sustained in a collision at the plate in the second inning when Baltimore scored its first run (on a passed ball). After a few minutes with the trainer, Cook stayed in the game - and was sent to the showers the following inning (2.2-8-7-1-0, 48).

Jason Hammel / Aaron Cook

Punto, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Aviles, SS
Sweeney, RF
Ross, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Byrd, CF

Will Middlebrooks has been taken out of the original lineup (see comments) because of a tight left hamstring.

Cook makes his Red Sox debut, starting in place of Josh Beckett, who has a sore lat muscle (and did not tell anyone about it before his last start, in which he threw 126 pitches). Beckett expects to make his next start on Thursday.

Hammel has a 1.97 ERA (3rd in the AL) in five starts this season.

The Red Sox have lost eight of their last nine games at Fenway Park, dating back to April 16. Bobby Valentine was asked why the Red Sox haven't had any momentum carry over from their 6-1 road trip. "I don't believe in that nonsense."

G25: Orioles 6, Red Sox 4 (13)

Orioles - 001 200 100 000 2 - 6 10  3
Red Sox - 012 010 000 000 0 - 4  8  0

Franklin Morales got the first out of the thirteenth, but allowed a single to Matt Weiters, a walk to Wilson Betemit, and an RBI single to Chris Davis. The Orioles added a run on a sac fly from Mark Reynolds off Scott Atchison. The Red Sox went down in order in the home half.

Lester (6-5-3-3-2, 99) was handed leads of 1-0 and 3-1, but gave the runs back as soon as possible. Of the six Boston relievers, two stood out: Matt Albers threw two shutout innings (8th and 9th) and Alfredo Aceves struck out six batters in 2.2 innings (10th-12th).

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second when Cody Ross tripled and scored on a passed ball. In the third, Adrian Gonzalez got the first of his three hits; Dustin Pedroia doubled him to third. A groundout from David Ortiz scored Gonzalez and Pedroia scored on Ross's fly to left. In the fifth, Will Middlebrooks doubled and scored on Pedroia's single.

After the fifth, the Red Sox were quiet with the bats, getting only two runners to second base. In the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Sweeney singled and was bunted to second, but Mike Aviles and Middlebrooks both grounded out (seeing a total of only three pitches). In the tenth, Pedroia was hit by a pitch with one out and Ross walked with two down, but Darnell McDonald ended the inning with a fly to center.

The Red Sox (11-14) are 7 GB the Rays.

Wei-Yin Chen / Jon Lester

The Orioles (16-9) come to Fenway having won two of three games in New York (1-2, 7-1, 5-0). Baltimore held the Yankees to two runs or fewer in three straight games for the first time since 1978. (But that was over two different series months apart: May 31 (3-2), June 1 (1-0), and August 4 (2-1).)

Rookie lefty Chen, 26 years old, has a 2.22 ERA in four starts this year (24.1 IP, 24 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 19 K). This will be his fifth major league start.

Lester threw seven shutout innings against the White Sox in his last start.

Mariano Rivera Tears ACL While Shagging Flies In Outfield

Shocking news from Kansas City before last night's Yankees-Royals game.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

Have we seen the last of Mariano Rivera?

Even the greatest closer of all time had trouble answering that question after a freak accident during batting practice Thursday night left him with a torn ACL in his right knee.

"At this point, I don't know," Rivera said, fighting back tears. "At this point, I don't know. We have to face this first. I want to think and pray a little bit before I make decisions of whatever happens."

Rivera suffered the injury while shagging fly balls in center field, an exercise as routine as throwing his trademark cutter.

Rivera made a leaping attempt at a Jayson Nix fly ball. Rivera's right knee appeared to give out on him when he landed, then he made contact with the wall and dropped to the warning track, clutching his right knee as he grimaced.

Rivera had pitched in nine games this year. After allowing two runs and blowing a save on Opening Day, he had pitched in eight games, throwing a combined eight shutout innings, allowing three hits and no walks.

The Yankees (13-12, 4th place) will likely use David Robertson (0 runs in 11 IP) and/or Rafael Soriano as their closer for the rest of the year.

Fun With Anagrams

Bobby Valentine - I Envy Babble. Not.

Dustin Pedroia - I Rip Astounded; Super Addition; I Add Eruptions

Josh Beckett - The Best Jock

Alfredo Aceves - Faced Save Role; Alas, Coed Fever

Matt Albers - Arm Tablets; Lamb Taster; Blame Tarts

Adrian Gonzalez - Gonna Air Dazzle

Felix Doubront - Nod, Fix Trouble

David Ortiz - Diva Or Ditz

Jacoby Ellsbury - Job: Clearly Busy

Vicente Padilla - All Advice Inept

Scott Atchison - Is Contact Host

Andrew Bailey - Bye, Wild Arena

Mark Melancon - Am Lemon Crank

Ben Cherington - Re Ten Inch Bong

G24: Athletics 4, Red Sox 2

Athletics - 000 103 000 - 4  9  1
Red Sox   - 000 000 101 - 2  8  0

While the Red Sox had runners on base against Brandon McCarthy (6.2-5-1-3-4, 113), they could not get any hits when they truly needed them. Boston was 0-for-13 with runners at second and/or third, and left 11 men on base.

Daniel Bard (5.1-8-4-2-1, 101) fell apart in the sixth inning and, once again, Bobby Valentine was unprepared. Josh Reddick singled to start the inning and with one out Bard allowed back-to-back doubles on fat fastballs to Seth Smith and Kila Ka'aihue. Oakland was ahead 3-0, Bard was at 92 pitches and tumbleweeds were blowing through the Red Sox bullpen. Bob McClure came out for a chat and it was only then that Matt Albers started to warm up. Bard drilled Kurt Suzuki in the left hand with a pitch and allowed another run-scoring double (grooving a fastball pitch to Brandon Inge) before being relieved.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled to lead off the seventh, Will Middlebrooks doubled into the right field corner, and Salty scored on Marlon Byrd's fly out to left. Dustin Pedroia had an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Adrian Gonzalez, representing the tying run, grounded out to third. Gonzalez did not hit the ball out of the infield tonight and is 0 for his last 17. (He also struck out with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning.)

Middlebrooks walked on four pitches in his first major league at-bat, with two outs in the second inning, and promptly stole second. He beat out an infield single to third in the fifth and doubled in the seventh. He struck out swinging in the eighth. He had two chances at third and fielded them both cleanly.

Clayton Mortensen pitched the final three innings for Boston and after allowing a single to his first batter, retiring the next nine: K, K, 3U, 3U, K, K, 3-1, K, K.

Brandon McCarthy / Daniel Bard

UPDATE: Kevin Youkilis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to last Sunday.

Bobby Valentine says that third baseman Will Middlebrooks is in tonight's starting lineup, making his major league debut. (Sox Prospects has The Book on Middlebrooks.)

The Red Sox have also called up pitcher Clayton Mortensen - just another bullpen arm for a day or two, I presume. ... Peter Abraham notes that since the start of 2009, McCarthy is 7-0, 3.50 in 12 starts against AL East teams.

Since April 23, the Sox bullpen has a 0.74 ERA (2 runs in 24.1 IP). ... Boston's seven games with 10+ runs scored lead the majors and are the most in franchise history through the first 23 games of a season.

Bard is the first Red Sox pitcher to strike out 6+ batters in his first three major league starts since Aaron Sele (June 23-July 5, 1993). The last Boston pitcher to do it in his first four starts was Lynn McGlothen (June 25-July 4, 1972).

And it's Throwback Night - 1936!

Tim Welke Makes "The Worst Call Of The Year"

With roughly six months of baseball left to be played in 2012, I'm nowhere near ready to crown this atrocity as the worst of the year.

Screengrab from Fangraphs.

Here is another shot:

Yer Out!!

Deadspin:

Today Tim Welke demonstrated why the Human Element is bullshit, by blowing a call that was obvious to anyone watching in the stadium—indeed, it should have been obvious to the other three umpires, but due to the esoteric rules regarding overruling decisions, they each had to stay quiet.

And a gif!

Unbelievable.

I WANT ROBOTS - AND I WANT THEM NOW!

Bradford: Cook To Start In Place Of Beckett On Saturday

Rob Bradford tweets that Aaron Cook will be starting in place of Josh Beckett on Saturday.

Beckett, who tied a career-high with 126 pitches last Sunday in Chicago, is experiencing soreness and stiffness. (Bobby Valentine has said that if he had known Beckett would throw 12 pitches to his final batter, he would have pulled him beforehand, at 114.)

CSNNE: Middlebrooks Will Be With Red Sox Tonight

Third baseman Will Middlebrooks is on his way to Boston, according to CSNNE's Maureen Mullen.

Middlebrooks is traveling from Toledo where Triple-A Pawtucket Is playing.

Middlebrooks could be activated or kept in the wings, depending on the Red Sox' need. Third baseman Kevin Youkilis has missed the last three games with an ailing back.

Lars Anderson was optioned to Pawtucket after last night's game, so Middlebrooks's call-up could be the corresponding move.

There has been no decision on whether to put Youkilis on the disabled list (although that seems likely as his back pain is only getting worse), and no announcement about the status/destination of either shortstop Jose Iglesias and pitcher Aaron Cook. [UPDATE: Rob Bradford reports that Cook has been called up.]

Middlebrooks, 23, is hitting .333/.380/.677 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs in only 24 games. If Youkilis remain unavailable, Middlebrooks should be the starting third baseman every night.

G23: Athletics 5, Red Sox 3

Athletics - 100 400 000 - 5 10  0
Red Sox   - 000 100 002 - 3  7  0

The Red Sox's ninth-inning rally fell short, as they left the potential tying runs on first and second.

Felix Doubront (4-6-5-2-8, 94) assured himself of an early exit on a soggy night by throwing 30 pitches in the first inning and 20 in the second. After a quick third, he threw 32 more pitches in the fourth, when Oakland scored four times. Cliff Pennington had an RBI double and Jemile Weeks singled in two more (and took second on a throw to the plate, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch).

Boston had very little success against Jarrod Parker (6.2-4-1-2-4, 98). Dustin Pedroia singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth, took second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on two groundouts. The Red Sox had runners at first and second with one out in the fifth, but Mike Aviles was caught looking and Ryan Sweeney flied to left. Cody Ross (3-for-4) doubled to start the seventh, but never made it to third base.

Ross began the ninth with a double off Grant Balfour. Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out looking as the zone suddenly expanded; strikes two and three were clearly outside. After Marlon Byrd singled, Balfour lost the strike zone, giving Nick Punto his third pass of the night (loading the bases) and falling behind Aviles 3-0. Aviles eventually lined a full-count pitch to center for a two-run single.

Kevin Youkilis was seen on the top step of the dugout, a possible pinch-hitter for LHB Lars Anderson, but when Oakland brought in lefty Jordan Noberto, Yook did not hit. Anderson struck out, and Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice for the final out.

Oakland stole four bases: Josh Reddick, Kila Ka'aihue, Weeks, and Pennington all stole third. (Ka'aihue was actually thrown out but an out-of-position Phil Cuzzi blew an easy call.)

Anderson is on his way back to Pawtucket, but the corresponding move (probably Aaron Cook) has not been announced.

Jarrod Parker / Felix Doubront

Aviles, SS
Sweeney, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Ross, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Byrd, CF
Punto, 3B

Doubront has been Boston's top starting pitcher, according to xFIP (3.61), though he's still throwing too many pitches per inning and walking too many batters (4.1 per 9 IP). This will be his fifth start.

Parker, a 23-year-old right-hander, is making his third major league start/appearance. After missing 2010 recovering from TJ surgery, Parker debuted for Arizona in G161 last year. His second start came last Wednesday against the White Sox. Parker was #50 on Baseball Prospectus's Top 100 Prospects for 2012.

David Ortiz reached base in 20 of his 22 April games and finished the month with a 1.184 OPS (.405/.457/.726), making a strong case for AL Player of the Month. Flo also hit .543 (19-for-35) at Fenway Park in April (helped by a ridiculous (and unsustainable) .536 batting average on balls in play). Ortiz batted .600 (12-for-20) when leading off an inning, and in his first plate appearance of the game, he was 12-for-19 (.632!).

Gordon Edes has a nice wrap-up of April.

Iglesias Called Up, Tazawa Sent Down

In the first of what will likely be several roster moves over the next few days, the Red Sox optioned pitcher Junichi Tazawa to Pawtucket and called up shortstop Jose Iglesias (.200/.274/.212). Tazawa pitched last night and has options, so he is the logical candidate to go.

With Kevin Youkilis out of the lineup for the third consecutive game, Bobby Valentine said the team needed an infield backup Tuesday night.

With the [wet] playing conditions and with the roster situation, I didn't think it was fair to the team to play so short in the infield, so we have a backup in case we need it.

It is unclear whether Youkilis will be put on the disabled list. Valentine:

Yesterday it was during infield practice, the day before it was during batting practice. He's doing everything he can. Other [medical] opinions or any of that stuff, I'm not sure where we are on any of it.

If Yook does go on the DL, the consensus is that the team will swap Iglesias for Will Middlebrooks, who has been tearing up the International League (1.104 OPS in 96 PA) but is nursing a tweaked thumb at the moment.

Aaron Cook pitched 6.1 innings for Pawtucket on Saturday and can opt out of his contract if he is not added to the major league roster by midnight. The Red Sox might send Iglesias back down after tonight's game and call up Cook to take Tazawa's spot in the bullpen.