After watching Jonathan Papelbon close out the Red Sox on Friday and do his signature poses in the process, there’s no way the Sox could let that happen again on Saturday.

So, the offense took over, clubbing four home runs to back Jon Lester, who despite a shaky outing, managed to earn the win in a 7-5 final. Continue reading Red Sox Launch 4 Home Runs, Top Phillies 7-5 »

The 2012 Boston Red Sox look a lot like the 2011 version of the team, at least on paper. Two players entered this year as potential free agents: David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis. Ortiz, enjoying a tremendous resurgence, may have already guaranteed himself another arbitration deal with the Red Sox, but Kevin Youkilis, over whom the Sox have a $13 million option for next season, may not even finish 2012 in a Boston uniform. The question is: if he’s not playing in Fenway, where is he?

2012 did not start the way Youkilis wanted. Right off the bat, his new manager was calling him out to the media questioning not his health or his playing ability but his intangibles: Bobby Valentine criticized his passion for the game. The new Sox skipper said Youk just wasn’t “as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past.” While both sides tried to dismiss the comments and focus on the team – struggling mightily at the time – Ken Rosenthal is reporting that, according to a baseball executive,“Valentine wanted Youkilis out as far back as spring training, viewing him as a liability.” Continue reading Kevin Youkilis Trade Rumors: Where Will He End Up? »

The adventures of Daniel Bard as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 2012 continues. On Friday night, the erratic pitcher continued to miss the strike zone early against the Philadelphia Phillies in what ended up a 6-4 Red Sox loss. The Phillies’ offense walked all over Bard in the first, and from there, three Red Sox home runs weren’t enough as former Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon shut the door.

Bard’s Wild First

Bard allowed four runs in an awful first inning where his command was completely off. He allowed a leadoff walk to Jimmy Rollins, and then consecutive one out walks to Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence. With the bases loaded, Carlos Ruiz singled to center, scoring two runs and giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. Continue reading Red Sox Home Runs Not Enough in 6-4 Loss in Philadelphia »

“I’ll start hitting home runs,” Adrian Gonzalez said after Wednesday’s game. “I’ll hit a homer (Thursday).”

So, now that Thursday’s game is in the books, how did he do? Well, upon hearing Gonzalez’s comments, David Price retweeted this to his 87,000+ followers:

Moore should put one right between his numbers. @TBTimes_Rays: Gonzo guarantee: “I’ll homer tonight” @DAVIDprice14 @Evan3Longoria #Rays

— Zach Wendkos (@zwendkos) May 17, 2012

So, Gonzalez was drilled by a pitch (likely on purpose) in his first at-bat. Continue reading Adrian Gonzalez Home Run Guarantee Falls Short »

After dropping the series opener on Wednesday night by the score of 2-1, the Boston Red Sox hit two home runs on Thursday night to back Felix Doubront en route to a 5-3 victory. Doubront went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) and striking out seven. Matt Moore made the start for the Tampa Bay Rays and gave up only five hits over six innings – but two of the hits were solo home runs.

The Red Sox got off to a hot start out of the gate with first-inning singles from Mike Aviles and David Ortiz. Up was Adrian Gonzalez, who had guaranteed to the press after Wednesday night’s loss that he would go deep. Upon hearing this, David Price tweeted to his 87,000+ followers that “Moore should put one right between his numbers.” On the first pitch of the at bat, Moore did indeed drill A-Gone in the area of his belt buckle. Gonzalez finished the game 0/3, leaving his promise unfulfilled. After Will Middlebrooks struck out, Cody Ross drew the walk to open the scoring. Continue reading Cody Ross Powers Red Sox to 5-3 Win at the Trop »

Interleague play is almost upon us, and that will mix up the races for sure. In fact, there’s a three-way tie for the top AL spot. The NL race isn’t too far away from that either. However, injuries are continuing to hit key names, which should shake things up even more. Where do things stand in the face of all this? Let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Thursday, May 17, before the day’s games: Continue reading If The Playoffs Started Today – MLB Week 6 »

When you have three outfielders on the disabled list and a team in last place, what do you do? Call up lifetime minor leaguer Daniel Nava, of course. The 29-year-old outfielder may be best known for hitting a grand slam on his first major league pitch back in 2010, but Nava is managing to contribute to the Red Sox again today. Furthermore, he is making a legitimate case to be on a major league roster, albeit with a small sample size.

On a team that is labeled overpaid and complacent, it raises a question that isn’t unreasonable–Should the Red Sox make use of more players like Daniel Nava that are fighting to stay in the big leagues? Continue reading Nava-gating MLB: Do the Red Sox Need More Players like Daniel Nava? »