G79: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

Red Sox   - 211 000 000 - 4  7  0
Blue Jays - 000 100 200 - 3  6  1

Eduardo Rodriguez / Marco Estrada

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF

Pablo Sandoval is a hacker - he swings at nearly half of all pitches outside the strike zone - so when he admits he's never swung at a higher pitch before, you know you gotta see the video.

Hanley Ramirez hopes to be in tonight's lineup.

The Red Sox are 7 GB in the East, the closest the team has been to first place since June 13. ... Baseball Prosepctus gives Boston a 3.5% chance at winning the division and a 6.4% chance at being one of the two wild cards. ... Fangraphs gives them a 6.4% chance at the East and 11% at a WC spot.

G78: Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 002 010 000 - 3  7  0
Blue Jays - 000 001 000 - 1  5  0

Xander Bogaerts doubled home two runs in the third inning and that was all the support Clay Buchholz (8-5-1-0-5, 96) needed.

Mookie Betts singled and tripled and scored twice. ... Alejandro De Aza went 3-for-4.

Because the Rays and Orioles both lost, the Red Sox are now 7 GB in the East.

Clay Buchholz / R.A. Dickey

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Leon, C
Bradley, RF

After taking two of three in Tampa Bay, the Red Sox begin a four-game series in Toronto.

In his last nine starts dating back to May 10, Clay Buchholz has a 2.48 ERA and has allowed more than three earned runs only twice.

The Red Sox are 8 GB the Rays and the Orioles in the East.

G77: Red Sox 5, Rays 3

Red Sox - 020 201 000 - 5  8  1
Rays    - 000 010 200 - 3 10  0

One day after the Rays topped the Red Sox with three home runs, Boston turned the tables on Tampa Bay with three dongs of their own. Pablo Sandoval and Alejandro De Aza both went deep in the second inning, and David Ortiz cracked a two-run shot in the fourth.

Justin Masterson (5-5-1-0-6, 84) allowed only an unearned run in outpitching Chris Archer (6-5-5-1-10, 107).

The first two Rays reached base against Alexi Ogando in the sixth, but he got the next three outs. Jonathan Aro gave up two runs in the seventh, allowing Tampa Bay to cut the lead to 5-3. In the eighth, Junichi Tazawa plunked Logan Forsythe with a pitch. After two strikeouts, Tazawa wild pitched the runner to second, then got an inning-ending grounder.

Koji Uehara allowed a two-out double to Grady Sizemore in the ninth, which brought Evan Longoria to the plate as the potential tying run. A wild pitch put Sizemore on third before Longoria flew out to right.

Xander Bogaerts had two hits and scored twice. Both Ortiz and Sandoval knocked in two runs.

Justin Masterson / Chris Archer

In his last nine starts, Archer has a 1.61 ERA.

Masterson is making his first start since May 12.

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF

G76: Rays 4, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 000 000 010 - 1  3  0
Rays    - 000 020 11x - 4  7  0

For the afternoon's first seven innings, the Red Sox managed only one baserunner: Xander Bogaerts's two-out single in the fourth.

Alejandro De Aza homered in the eighth to end the Rays' strong bid for a shutout. In the ninth, Brock Holt singled with two outs, but Rays reliever Brad Boxberger fanned Bogaerts to end the game.

Mookie Betts's 13-game hitting streak came to an end. ... The Rays' runs came via three home runs.

Wade Miley pitched well (6.1-5-2-2-8, 106), but he was no match for Matt Andriese (6-1-0-0-5, 70). ... Time: 2:21.

Wade Miley / Matt Andriese

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Leon, C
Bradley, RF

G75: Red Sox 4, Rays 3 (10)

Red Sox - 020 100 000 1 - 4 10  0
Rays    - 010 002 000 0 - 3 12  0

After Alexi Ogando stranded the potential winning run at third base in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox immediately took the lead in the top of the tenth. Mookie Betts led off with a double and scored on Brock Holt's opposite field single. Koji Uehara set down the Rays in order in the bottom half, striking out two and getting the final out on a grounder to shortstop.

Rick Porcello / Alex Colome

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF

Boston is a distant 9.0 GB the Rays in the AL East. With these three games in Tampa Bay, now would be the time to start on a hot streak.

The Rays have won four of the six games between the teams this season. Both Red Sox wins were shutouts.

G74: Orioles 8, Red Sox 6

Orioles - 000 601 100 - 8 14  0
Red Sox - 010 300 200 - 6 12  2

In the bottom of the ninth, Jackie Bradley led off with a single, and Boston brought the potential tying run to the plate three times. Mookie Betts popped to shortstop, Brock Holt struck out looking, and Xander Bogaerts (who doubled twice earlier) grounded into a force.

Alejandro De Aza hit a three-run homer. Five Red Sox had two hits apiece, including Mike Napoli.

Eduardo Rodriguez: 3.2-7-6-0-5, 67. He retired the first 10 Orioles, then gave up seven straight hits: double, single, home run, single, single, double, single, sac fly.

Miguel Gonzalez / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF

Dustin Pedroia was placed on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain. Deven Marrero was added to the 40-man roster and called up. ... Joe Kelly was sent down to Pawtucket (Justin Masterson will take his spot in the rotation) and pitcher Jonathan Aro was called up. ... Catcher Erik Kratz, claimed off waivers on Sunday, was designated for assignment.

G73: Red Sox 5, Orioles 1

Orioles - 000 001 000 - 1  8  2
Red Sox - 000 005 00x - 5  7  0

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston:

The Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night, 5-1, ending a string of six straight losses to their division rivals, but in the process lost left fielder Hanley Ramirez and second baseman Dustin Pedroia to injuries.

Ryan Hannable, WEEI:

Ramirez left the game following the bottom of the fifth when he was struck on the left wrist by a line drive from Xander Bogaerts on a hit-and-run play ... It was announced as a left hand contusion. ... Pedroia left the game following a single in the sixth, when it appeared he suffered the injury rounding first base. The team announced the injury as right hamstring tightness.

Bud Norris / Clay Buchholz

Betts, CF
Holt, 1B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
De Aza, RF
Leon, C

G72: Orioles 6, Red Sox 4

Orioles - 040 101 000 - 6 11  0
Red Sox - 001 110 001 - 4  8  0

Joe Kelly lasted only 3.2 innings on Tuesday night, with a four-run Orioles second inning - highlighted by #9-hitter David Lough's three-run homer - was Kelly's (3.2-8-5-2-2, 87) undoing. Kelly gave up three singles to begin the inning and a sac fly and Lough's HR accounted for the runs.

Boston tried to cut into Baltimore's lead, but had little success. Twice they scored a run, only to have the Orioles immediately match it.

In the third, Sandy Leon singled and Mookie Betts doubled. Second and third, no outs - how many runs would the Red Sox score? It turned out that even getting the two baserunners home was too much to ask. Brock Holt's groundout scored Leon, but Dustin Pedroia struck out and David Ortiz flied to center.

Hanley Ramirez began the fourth with a single to right and took second on a wild pitch. He scored on Pablo Sandoval's liner to left, but Mike Napoli and Leon were both retire to end the inning.

With two down in the fifth, Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (5-6-3-3-8, 100), leading 5-2, walked both Pedroia and Ortiz. Ramirez followed with an RBI single to left, but Xander Bogaerts struck out.

Boston had a potential sixth-inning rally cut short by some atrocious umpiring behind the plate. Sandoval (3-for-4) singled and watched as Napoli (0-for-4, 4 strikeouts) fanned and Leon popped out. Betts walked. Reliever Brad Brach's first pitch to Holt was outside and home plate umpire Tim Timmons called it a strike. After a foul and a ball, Brach went even further outside - and Timmons called that strike three, ending the inning. Manager John Farrell was quickly ejected by Timmons - who made numerous ball/strike calls against Boston throughout the night, including the first two Boston batters following the ejection (which frankly seemed like retaliation).

The Red Sox made some noise in the ninth. Facing Darren O'Day, Betts walked with one out. After Holt grounded back to the mound, Pedroia doubled to right-center, scoring Betts and cutting the lead to 6-4. However, Ortiz lined out to third to end the game.

Ubaldo Jimenez / Joe Kelly

Betts, CF
Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
Leon, C

The Red Sox will play teams from the AL East for the next 13 games, hosting the Orioles and hitting the road against the Rays and Blue Jays. After that, an eight-game homestand against the Astros, Marlins, and Yankees leads into the All-Star break.

Peter Abraham of the Globe notes that, in June, the Red Sox have begun to hit and score runs like we all expected at the beginning of the season:

The Red Sox hit .241 with a .684 OPS in the first two months of the season and averaged 3.8 runs. Through 20 games in June, they are hitting .294 with an .809 OPS and averaging 4.7 runs.

Mookie Betts (named AL Player of the Week) has a nine-game hitting streak (20-for-36, .556), with nine extra-base hits, nine runs scored, and eight RBIs. ... . Brock Holt is batting .387 (24-for-62) over his last 16 games, with 11 extra-base hits and 11 walks.

David Ortiz's home run on Sunday was the 476th of his career, putting him ahead of Willie Stargell and Stan Musial on baseball's all-time list. Ortiz is now 29th in career home runs. Above him are Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff, tied for 27th place with 493.

The Red Sox claimed catcher Erik Kratz off waivers on Sunday. Kratz is a six-year veteran with a .217/.270/.400 batting line. (With Christian Vazquez out for the season, Ryan Hanigan on the 60-day disabled list, and Blake Swihart nursing a sprained left foot, Boston is currently using its 4th-string catcher, Sandy Leon.)

Pedro Martinez's Number Will Be Retired July 28

The Red Sox will retire Pedro Martinez's #45 on Tuesday, July 28, before a game against the White Sox. The ceremony will be held two days after Martinez is inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Pedro pitched for the Red Sox for seven seasons (1998-2004), and was fucking awesome, turning in two of the strongest pitching seasons of all time (1999 and 2000) and winning three Cy Young awards. In 2004, he helped the Red Sox win their first World Series title in 86 long years.

Sunday's 13 Extra-Base Hits: Most By Red Sox In 65 Years

According to Elias, yesterday's win over the Royals was only the fifth Red Sox game since 1914 in which Boston had 13 or more extra-base hits.

The five games:

September 24, 1940 (G1): 23 hits, including 14 extra-base hits (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs) - Beat A's 16-8

June 8, 1950: 29 hits, including 17 extra-base hits (9 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs (and 11 walks!)) - Beat Browns 29-4

July 29, 1990: 18 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (12 doubles, 1 home run) - Beat Tigers 13-3

June 4, 2013: 19 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs) - Beat Rangers 17-5

June 21, 2015: 16 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs) - Beat Royals 13-2

G71: Red Sox 13, Royals 2

Red Sox - 010 153 021 - 13 16  0
Royals  - 000 000 002 -  2  9  0

Only three of Boston's 16 hits in its Sunday afternoon rout of the Royals were singles: the Red Sox mashed eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs.

It was only the fifth Red Sox game since 1914 in which the team collected 13 or more extra-base hits, according to Elias. It was also the first Red Sox game since 1961 that Boston had extra-base hits for their first nine hits.

Mookie Betts could have used a single; he doubled, tripled, and homered. (Betts was a home run shy of the cycle five days ago (Tuesday night).)

The top four spots in the order were on fire (11-for-19) all afternoon:

Betts: 3-for-5, double, triple, home run, walk, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI

Brock Holt: 3-for-5, 2 doubles, triple, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI

Dustin Pedroia: 3-for-5, 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI

David Ortiz: 2-for-4, home run, walk, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI

Also:

Xander Bogaerts: 3-for-5, 3 doubles, 3 RBI, run scored

Hanley Ramirez: 1-for-3, home run, walk, 2 runs scored, RBI

Wade Miley: 6-5-0-3-2, 101

Wade Miley / Chris Young

Betts, CF
Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, RF
Leon, C

Ortiz's Ejection By Incompetent Umpire Bruce Dreckman

David Ortiz was ejected in Saturday night's loss to Kansas City after hitting a single in the seventh inning. Home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman tossed Ortiz when the Boston DH was on first base.

After the game, Ortiz said:

All I have to say is that this situation between players and umpires is getting to a ridiculous point. ... I'm an 18-year veteran in this league and when I was coming up it seems like you deserve respect because of that. But it seems like it doesn't work that way anymore. ...

You call two bad pitches on a guy that throws 100, what do you want me to do? It was pretty obvious that those two pitches were pretty bad. Not only that, I look at you, you look at me, and I tell you the guy doesn't need help and you keep giving me signals. I finally give up on you and you throw me out of the game for that? ... I want to see what the commissioner and everybody is going to tell me about because it seems like every time we are the bad guy. I don't feel like I did anything wrong. ...

I just keep on telling him that the guy on the mound doesn't need any help. The guy throws 100 mph. If you look at the video, that's all I say, he don't need no help.

And what about those two pitches that upset Ortiz?

These were the pitches in that at-bat, according to pitch f/x data at Brooks Baseball:

G70: Royals 7, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 101 020 000 - 4 10  1
Royals  - 010 051 00x - 7 11  0

Mookie Betts began the game by hitting a home run. He scored twice and was one of four Red Sox batters - along with Hanley Ramirez, Alejandro De Aza, and Blake Swihart - to have two hits.

Rick Porcello coughed up a three-run lead by surrendering five runs in the fifth inning.

Pabloe Sandoval sprained his left ankle making a play in the third inning. Sandoval was wearing a walking boot in the clubhouse. ... Swihart exited the game in the fifth after spraining his left foot. ... David Ortiz was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the seventh - while he was on first base after singling - by the appropriately named Bruce Dreckman.

The Red Sox (30-40) are a season-worst 10 games out of first place.

Rick Porcello / Edinson Volquez

Betts, CF
Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, RF
Swihart, C

G69: Red Sox 7, Royals 3

Red Sox - 050 010 100 - 7 16  0
Royals  - 000 010 011 - 3 10  1

Rookie lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (6.1-6-1-1-5, 104) was back in the groove Friday night, pitching 6.1 solid innings in Kansas City and allowing only one inconsequential run. Mike Napoli and Blake Swihart each drove in two runs during a five-run second inning. Mookie Betts went 4-for-5 (the first four-hit game of his career).

With one out in the second against Yohan Pino (5.1-1-6-1-0, 76, in his first start since August 23, 2014), Xander Bogaerts grounded a single into right-center. Pablo Sandoval doubled to deep center, over the head of Lorenzo Cain, putting runners at second and third. Napoli singled on a slow-rolling ground ball to center and both runners scored, Sandoval showing hustling around from second. Alejandro De Aza walked and Swihart doubled to deep right to make to 4-0. Swihart went to third on a ground out and scored on Betts's single to right.

The five runs were the Red Sox's second-most runs in any road inning this year (they scored six in the third inning in Philadelphia on April 9).

Hanley Ramirez homered in the fifth. In the seventh, Brock Holt walked and Betts singled. After a double steal, Ramirez singled in Holt.

Everyone in the lineup (except for Holt) had at least one hit, including Rusney Castillo, who came into the game in the seventh inning and singled in the ninth.

Eduardo Rodriguez / Yohan Pino

Holt, 2B
Betts, CF
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, RF
Swihart, C

Matt Collins, OTM: "Seven Reasons You Should Still Watch The Red Sox":

The Red Sox stink right now. For the last two months, they've been just plain bad at baseball, and there's little room for optimism that they'll turn it around. ...

Even with this rough season, we're still going to watch. ... We're stupid like that. Luckily for us, there are more than a few reasons why watching this team can still be fun, even if it doesn't end with a miraculous playoff trip.

I'm not sure these reasons - one of them is tonight's starting pitcher - are enough to give up three hours of every summer evening, but that is what fans do, I suppose.

G68: Red Sox 5, Atlanta 2

Red Sox - 000 103 100 - 5  9  1
Atlanta - 000 002 000 - 2  6  1

Clay Buchholz / Shelby Miller

Holt, 2B
Betts, CF
Ortiz, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
De Aza, RF
Shaw, 3B
Leon, C
Buchholz, P

Ian Browne tweets that Pablo Sandoval is not playing tonight because he violated the team's social media policy during last night's game:

Sandoval "liked" a picture of female on Instagram during game. He admitted he did it and accountable for punishment of not playing today.

G67: Atlanta 5, Red Sox 2

Red Sox - 000 101 000 - 2  8  1
Atlanta - 000 101 21x - 5 10  1

Joe Kelly / Alex Wood

Pedroia, 2B
Holt, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
Betts, CF
Swihart, C
Kelly, P

G66: Red Sox 9, Atlanta 4

Atlanta - 000 200 002 - 4 10  0
Red Sox - 200 003 13x - 9 18  0

Brock Holt hit for the cycle, doubling in the first, singling in the fifth, homering in the seventh, and tripling in the eighth.

Holt became the first Red Sox player to hit for the cycle since John Valentin did it on June 6, 1996 and the 20th player in franchise history.

Holt: "Obviously I knew I needed a triple. I didn't expect to hit one, but as soon as barrel hit ball I was like, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.' Because once it gets in the triangle, anything is possible."

Mookie Betts had three hits (single, double, triple) and four other Red Sox had two hits as Boston snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Red Sox's 18 hits were a season high (for a nine-inning game); they had 18 hits in a 19-inning win against the Yankees on April 10.

Julio Teheran / Wade Miley

Holt, 2B
Betts, CF
Ortiz, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Castillo, RF

G65: Atlanta 4, Red Sox 2

Atlanta - 000 300 100 - 4  9  1
Red Sox - 000 000 101 - 2 10  0

Williams Perez / Rick Porcello

Pedroia, 2B
Holt, RF
Ramirez, LF
Ortiz, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
Betts, CF
Leon, C

G64: Blue Jays 13, Red Sox 5

Blue Jays - 000 640 300 - 13 16  0
Red Sox   - 000 050 000 -  5  8  1

We knew it couldn't last, but why did it have to end?

Eduardo Rodriguez's historic dominance to kick off his major league career - one of the few bright spots in this season of woe - came to an end this afternoon.

Rodriguez (4.2-8-9-3-1, 87) was hoping to escape the fourth inning down by only three runs, but Ryan Goins's homer with two on boosted the Blue Jays' lead to 6-0. The third out also eluded Rodriguez in the fifth. After getting the first two Jays, he gave up a walk, a single, and a double - and his day was done. (And Danny Valecia drove reliever Steven Wright's first pitch out of the park for two more runs.) Rodriguez's ERA rose from 0.44 to 3.55.

David Ortiz crushed a three-run bomb in the fifth. Dustin Pedroia and Pablo Sandoval had two hits each. One of Sandoval's hits was a triple - and he hit it to left-center! The two Toronto outfielders both leapt for it at the wall and it caromed away.

This was the Red Sox's sixth straight loss - and it dropped them 8 GB in the East.

Ryan Hannable (WEEI) noted: "Sunday marks the 17th straight day the Red Sox have not gained ground in the AL East."

Marco Estrada / Eduardo Rodriguez

Pedroia, 2B
Holt, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Ortiz, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
De Aza, RF
Castillo, CF
Swihart, C

G63: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 4 (11)

Blue Jays - 030 100 000 01 - 5 12  1
Red Sox   - 000 301 000 00 - 4  9  1

It is perhaps worth noting that the Red Sox, down 0-4, came back to tie the game fairly quickly, as David Ortiz's home run in the sixth knotted the score. However, Russell Martin homered off Matt Barnes to begin the 11th - and the Red Sox (27-36) lost once again.

R.A. Dickey / Clay Buchholz

Pedroia, 2B
Holt, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Ortiz, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Sandoval, 3B
De Aza, RF
Castillo, CF
Leon, C

John Farrell: "I wouldn't write this team off. This is still a team that's got a long track record of individual performance, and we have to put some things together as a team in all phases."