Red Sox 8 Orioles 7

The Red Sox were down 6-0 in the 6th inning. Dice-K had one of "typical" games letting up 5 ER in 4 1/4 walking 7 batters and throwing 106 pitches. The Red Sox offense looked stagnant, and it just seemed like it was going to be a blowout loss.

Yet, it was the Sox offense that kicked into high gear and crushed their way back into the game. Boston scored 5 runs in the 6th inning with Lowrie, Tek, Gonzalez, and Youk all driving in runs. These hopes seemed to be dashed Mark Reynolds too Aceves deep in the top of the 7th, but once again Tek knocked in another run in the bottom of the inning.

By the way Tek is hitting almost .400 over the last 8 days.

Yet, tonight it was Gonzalez once again who put this team on his back. Smacked a ball off the Green Monster driving in 2 runs to put the Red Sox above .500 for the first time all year.

The Sox offense is getting going, but they haven't hit their peak yet. Wait till Youk and Pedroia really start rolling. I am a little worried about the rotation with Lackey going to the DL, and Dice-K doing normal up and down thing, but this team is going to be able to smash the ball most nights, and will never be really out of a game.

With the win the Red Sox are in a 3 way tie for 2nd place in the AL East, just 3 games behind the Rays.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 5

It's May 16th. And even though the weather's a bit raw, the baseball season is well under way. Summer is approaching. And for the first time all year, the Red Sox are .500.

Remember a few weeks ago, when we were all talking about 100 regular season wins? And now we're skipping in the streets about having as many wins as losses.

It seems kind of silly. Then again, sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx in order to reach this plateau makes it extra special. And the Yankees are only 2 games above .500. As much as the Sox have struggled, they're only 3 games behind the Rays. With 122 games left to play.

Pitching has propelled the Sox to .500. But hitting provided the final ounce of propulsion. They've finally started to hit with runners in scoring position, kind of, and finally started hitting homeruns. Youkilis' 3 run homer in the 3rd was vital to the Sox' effort last night. Ortiz's and Salty's provided the necessary insurance to win.

To be blunt, the Yankees simply aren't that impressive. They've got plenty of names that were intimidating in the late 1990s, but now are just prima donna headcases that seem to distract more than contribute. And how much money is Jeter going to get to hit .260? It's not as if he was underpaid before this season, either. What an overrated, greedy bucket of garbage.

The Sox have finally cracked .500. They'll start a homestand that might be impeded by this unseasonable rain, though. Matsuzaka faces Chris Tillman of the O's tonight, weather permitting.

-The Commodore

Finally......................

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to terms with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez on a seven-year contract worth $154 million. I was ignoring this story for a while because I was getting scared that Adrian was going to pull shit and we would lose him during the offseason.

Gonzalez is real good, and deserves this money in this market. 22 million, whatever, I will scoff at that because it's not my money. I honestly think he will put up better numbers than Albert Pujols and he's looking for 30 million a year.

He is a three-time All-Star, Gonzalez is in his eighth season. He has a career average of .282 with 169 home runs. We haven't seen him go off yet, however, neither have the Red Sox as a team. But you can tell he's going to be real good and real good for a while. I still believe he's going to hit around 45-50 homers with 110-120 rbis, even with the slow start. Maybe this will be the spark that turns the Sox around, but probably not because we have John Lackey on our team.

Indians 8, Red Sox 4

I really thought Daisuke was going to turn the Sox' fortunes around last night. He's always done well against Cleveland. And they tend to be free swingers. I was wrong.

He wasn't awful. But in typical Daisuke fashion, even when he does well, he fails to do well for long enough. And while it was the bullpen that ultimately lost this game, Daisuke gave the bullpen a chance to lose it, by only going 5 innings.

And during those 5 innings, he nibbled. And he nibbled. He threw a joke of a 90 MPH fastball right down the middle to Choo, and it was crushed. He nibbled some more. He walked batters. He hit a batter. He allowed 10 baserunners in 5 innings.

But he didn't lose this game by himself. Not by a longshot. Ellsbury struck out 3 times and went 0 for 5. We're still waiting for him to hit. Youkilis went 0 for 4, continuing his struggles. And Varitek messed up a defensive play, turning what should have been an out into a Cleveland run. His mistake of not tagging Buck at the plate was inexcusable for a veteran and a "Captain."

Then the bullpen. That's worrying me more than anything else right now. The starting pitching is what it is. The offense will inevitably improve. Guys like Ellsbury and Youkilis are not sub-.200 hitters. They'll come around. The bullpen, however, has been nothing but a disaster so far. Dan Wheeler was supposed to be the 2nd set-up man alongside Bard. He's allowed 2 homeruns already. And Reyes was supposed to add depth. He's only added mass, and a heavy ERA.

A few bright notes from last night: Gonzalez hit his first homerun with the team. And Crawford got on base, then ran, stealing his first 2 bases of the season.

The rotoation starts all over again, and maybe that's what this club needs. Lester faces Fausto Carmona, who allowed 10 runs in 3 innings against Chicago. First pitch at 12:05 this afternoon.

-The Commodore