Red Sox Take Out the Brooms (11-11)

Last night the Red Sox won a definite pitching game by a score of 2-0. Jon Lester (right) struck out 11 and allowed 1 hit over 7 strong innings, he is now 1-2/4.71/32 whcih is alright. Dustin Pedroia got an RBI on a sac fly in a 1-3 night for him. Darnell McDonald also got an RBI in a 2-3 night as he has been pretty good since he came up from AAA, he is .333/2/5 along with some slick defense in centerfield. Jonathan Papelbon also got the save, his 7th of the season as he is an elite closer for sure. The Red Sox have an off day today then on Friday they head down to Baltimore to play the Orioles. The pitching matchup will be John Lackey (2-1/5.09/11) vs David Hernandez (0-3/4.84/14) on Friday night at 7:10 pm. Oh man, doesn't a sweep feel great?!

Patience Pays Off For Red Sox (10-11)

Yesterday the Red Sox won 2-1 when Mike Lowell walked with the bases loaded, scoring a run and giving the Sox the lead in the 8th. Clay Buchholz (right) was simply dominant, allowing 1 run over 8 innings, he is now 2-2/2.19/22 as he might be the best Red Sox pitcher this season! Last night was probably the best start by a Red Sox pitcher this season. The Red Sox didn't really hit except for an RBI single by Jeremy Hermida in the 2nd inning. David Ortiz really needs to get out of this slump, J.D. Drew has been breaking out of his slump, he is now .191/2/10 which is good in the homer and RBI categories but not really in the average. Tonight, Jon Lester (0-2/6.23/21) against Brett Cecil (1-0/5.40/8) as they hop eto pitch like they did last night. The Red Sox are ready to sweep the Jays!

Red Sox Promote Castro, Demote Atchison

Today, the Red Sox made a move where they demoted reliever Scott Atchison down to AAA and promoted reliever Fabio Castro (right). Scott Atchison has been less than fantastic this season as he is 0-1/6.10/9 in 10.1 innings, while Fabio Castro was 0-0/6.00/14 in his last major league appearance in 2007 for the Phillies. He was then signed by the Blue Jays who he played in AAA for last year so now the Red Sox have Fabio Castro and Marco Scutaro, two players who were on the Blue Jays last year that are playing in the series against the Blue Jays! Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to throw a side session today as he is taking Tim Wakefield's spot in the rotation. Tonight, Clay Buchholz pitches against Shaun Marcum. Tonight, the Sox bat: Scutaro SS, Pedroia 2B, Martinez C, Youkilis 1B, Drew RF, Ortiz DH, Beltre 3B, Hermida LF, McDonald CF as they look to hit like they did yesterday!

Red Sox Win Slugfest (9-11)

Yesterday the Red Sox had some amazing hitting, but the pitching was- to say the least- shaky in a 13-12 win over the Blue Jays. Jason Varitek (right) drove 4 runs in, he is now a very good .357/4/8 to start the season, much better than Victor Martinez' .261/1/5. Josh Beckett allowed 8 earned runs in 3 innings as he has been having a tough year so far. Marco Scutaro scored a career-high 4 runs in a 3-5 game with 1 RBI last night. Dustin Pedroia also had a clutch 2-run double in a 3-6 game for him, he is now .298/5/15 in a spectacular start the season. Adrian Beltre also had a 2-run double that was very nearly a 3-run homer, he is now .309/0/9 as if he gets some home runs he will be good. Tonight's pitching matchup will be Clay Buchholz 1-2/2.70/18 against Shaun Marcum (0-1/4.00/23) as we hope for some more pitching!

Red Sox Sign Cuban Catcher

Today the Red Sox made a bold move by signing Cuban defector, catcher Adalberto Ibarra (right). The deal is worth $4.3 million over 5 years and it is a major league contract so we might just see him before long! He is 5'9" and 200 pounds and has been working in the Dominican Republic since he defected last year. As soon as the deal is finalized, he will be added to the Red Sox' 40-man roster but I don't know who will be taken off. He will go to the complex in Ft. Myers immediately before Terry Francona decides what to do with him. We will see Ibarra before 2011, but the Red Sox have no catchers signed for 2011 so he might make an appearance as a backup or possibly starting catcher which would be interesting. I think this was a good move because the Sox need catching.

Weekly News

The Red Sox had a respectable week, going 4-3 to make them 8-11 on the season and in 4th place. They lost the final game of a 4-game series to the Rays, won a series 2-1 over the Rangers and 2-1 over the Orioles as well. J.D. Drew (right) is our Player of the Week for the first time ever in Sox.Rox, he had 1 homer and 7 RBIs and he is now .180/2/9 in a tough start. The Red Sox lost the game earlier today, 6-7 in 10 innings. Tim Wakefield allowed only 2 runs in 6.2 innings in his last start to earn a no-decision. That is his final start for a while as he will go to long relief with Daisuke Matsuzaka healthy and ready to join the rotation. The Red Sox will have a 3-game series vs the Blue Jays in Toronto and then have an off day on Thursday before having another 3-gamer vs the Orioles. 8-11 is a whole lot better than 4-8, which they were last week!

Forget Nomah-- We've Got Mahco (8-10)

Last night, the Sox came back to win a thriller vs the Orioles in a 7-6 win for the Sox. John Lackey had a very good start, allowing 3 runs and striking out 3 in 7 innings. Lackey is now 2-1/5.09/11 but he has only had one bad start, he shouldn't be that bad. Brian Matusz strifled the Red Sox throw 6+ innings, but once he left, the score 1-3, Marco Scutaro (right) lifted the Red Sox with a go ahead 3-run homer, he is now .273/2/6 and in my humble opinion he is the best shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra, at least he is the most consistent. Kevin Youkilis also smashed a 3-run homer in the 7th, he is now .250/3/10 as he has had a sort of bad start to the season. The Red Sox play at 1:35 today and the Weekly News will come. Tim Wakefield (0-1/6.38/11) and David Hernandez (0-3/4.67/13) will pitch today. If the Sox win, they will sweep the series and be 9-10!

Red Sox Get Ahold of Van Every Again

Today the Red Sox made a move to bolster their veteran-deprived outfield by acquiring Jonathan Van Every (right) from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Van Every played for the Red Sox in '08 and '09 but was released and acquired by the Pirates over the winter. With the injuries to Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury, the outfield is pretty thin with only J.D. Drew, Darnell McDonald, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Reddick and now Van Every. With the acquisition, Josh Reddick has been optioned to Pawtucket and Santo Luis has been released to make room on the 40-man roster. In 2010 for the Indianapolis Indians (Pirates' AAA affiliate) Van Every has been .314/2/4. In '09 he had a nice season as a bench player, going .364/1/3 in 7 games and in '08 he was .235/0/5 in 11 games. He will probably see some playing time in the 2 weeks we have without Ellsbury and Cameron.

Lester and Big Papi Break Out of Slumps (7-10)

Last night, the Orioles back from for a 0-3 deficit to make it a close game and the Sox ended up winning 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk by Adrian Beltre. David Ortiz (right) hit his first home run of the year and his first homer in April for 3 years! He is now .159/1/3 on the year but I'm sure he will get better. Lester has also had a tough career in April, but last night he threw 5.2 shoutout innings, also it was only a no-decision. He is now a rough 0-2/6.23/21 as he also struck out 7 more last night. It was also very strange to see Adrian Beltre get 2 walks in one game, including the game-winner! That guy is a swinger but he took some pitches and I actually have a vote on on my poll saying he will lead the Sox in homers this year! You never know! Tonight, the Sox send John Lackey (1-1/5.63/8) out against Brian Matusz (2-0/4.34/23). The Sox are finally winning, they have won 3 of their last 4 games!

Tough 7th Costs Red Sox Game (6-10)

Last night the Red Sox lost a tough game 0-3 to the Rangers. Clay Buchholz (right) did extremely well until the 7th inning, when he allowed 3 runs. In the game he went 6.2 innings, allowing 3 runs, on the season he is 1-2/2.70/18 as the strikeout number rocketed with a career-high 10 strkeouts in this game. The problem was that C.J. Wilson gave nothing to the Sox; Victor Martinez was their best hitter, he went 2-3 last night. Bill Hall went 1-3 as he is sort of turning his tough start around. The Red Sox should be able to turn their start around facing the Orioles who have started very very badly, they stand at 2-14, worst in MLB by no small margin so the Sox should easily beat them. Tonight, Jon Lester (0-2/8.44/14) faces Jeremy Guthrie (0-2/3.15/14) so I hope Lester can turn around against a bad team as the first 3 teams he has faced (Yankees, Twins, Rays) are all quite good.