It happened again, we lost a tough one in the horrendous Trop Dome and the Damn Yankees won again. Brad Penny tried his very best to get it done, but failed as Tampa Bay slugged three home runs off him as they swept a two-game set away from us.

JBay and V-Mart both hit majestic home runs but it wasn’t enough and now our stretch run has been disrupted.

We now have to go and play the hated Yankees in a four-game series in their house, two-and-a-half back and just three game ahead of the Rays, this is were the season really begins. We hate each other with a passion, our history is more full of hatred than any other group of people on the face of the earth. Nothing makes me sicker than the New York Yankees, I just hate them wholeheartedly, always have done, always will do.

GO SOX, LETS DO THIS!!!

It is impossible to hate one thing more than I hate the New York Yankees, but over the last two years the jokers from Tampa Bay have come close. Last night, just looking at that horrible dingy astroturf and hearing those horrible cowbells took me back to the 2008 ALCS and I was nearly sick. There is definitley a new rivalry budding in the American League East between the Sox and Rays.

With Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis’ solo shots and with our usually excellent bullpen in control of the game, I thought we had it won but then Evan Longoria mashed two home runs into the horrendous seats of Tropicana Field, which were full of Red Sox fans I may add, to tie it and then win it for the Rays.

If one thing is worse than a Red Sox loss, it’s a Yankees win and if there is one thing worse than a Yankee loss it is a Red Sox loss to the Rays and a Yankee win, and that is what happened tonight. We are now one-and-a-half games behind the Yankees and the Rays are just four behind us. We do, however, have a three game lead in the wildcard, but this set of six games are critical to our season and we have made the worse start possible.

We have to put our faith in Brad Penny tonight against David Price.

I am going to be sick, I cannot stand those Rays!

Let me just say, there is a lot of hatred coursing through my veins tonight.

Victor Martinez, the ultra-professional, experienced leader and newest Red Sock last night destroyed Baltimore’s rubbish pitching stratergy and lead our offensive barrage as we hammered the O’s into the ground, securing the sweep with a huge 18-10 win.

V-Mart, batting in the three hole ahead of Kevin Youkilis, went 5-for-6 with four singles and a double, scoring one run and driving in four runs, putting on a clinic and showing a model of professionalism. With his intimidating frame and war paint abound, Victor is an intimidating force to be reckoned with and he really is going to be crucial as we go down the stretch.

Also involved in the 23-hit barrage was Josh Reddick’s first career home run and six two-out RBI. It was just great to watch the offense running like a well-oiled machine, churning out run after run and treating the base like a revolving fareground ride. Amongst the star performers on the day were Dustin Pedroia (3-for-5), Kevin Youkilis (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Mikey Lowell (3-for-5).

Rocco Baldelli also clubbed a solo shot in the ninth as we collected 32 total bases and generally knocked the six Orioles pitchers round like it was batting practice. I was dissapointed that Clay Buchholz, the much-trumpeted star prospect only managed four innings with all of this fabulous run support, but as always the bullpen was spectacular.

Once again, I would just like to say how much I have been impressed by Victor Martinez and his amazing start to his Red Sox career and he is the model professional.

This weekend has been a complete blur to me. First of all, Friday was complete chaos as I spent seven hours straight on my laptop searching for rumors and news of the latest deals at the 2009 Trading Deadline.

Theo never lets The Nation down when it comes to activicty in the trade market, and this year was no exception as the Red Sox were the busiest ballclub on the day. The first trade he engineered this year was a blockbuster of sorts; the swiss army knife of our bullpen Justin Masterson, along with prospects Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price for solid power hitting first baseman/catcher, Victor Martinez from Cleveland.

Now, lets get one thing straight, Justin Masterson was one of our prize prospects for years and he has blossomed into a lethal weapon out of the bullpen with consistency and a solid approach but, our offense needed a big bat badly, which is what we got without having to give up Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard. In return for our unproven prospects and valuable bullpen star, we got us an excellent bat and a fierce competitor in V-Mart, who has been the de facto captain of the Cleveland Indians for many years.

I am really happy with this trade as I have always liked V-Mart, and he will be able to give the trio of Tek, Youk and Lowell all some rest with his versatility. This is where I am struggling to understand the second deal Epstein made on Friday, right before the deadline.

Theo sent newly aqcuired Adam LaRoche to Atlanta for first baseman Casey Kotchman, who will play the same position as LaRoche. Whether it is for financial reasons or whether Theo believes Kotchman will adapt better in the bench role than LaRoche, I don’t know but it is certainly a little strange because we now have seven guys (Youkilis, Varitek, Martinez, Kotchman, Lowell, Kottaras and Ortiz), vying for three positions (DH, 3rd base and 1st). Don’t get me wrong it is a brilliant problem to have and you can never have too much depth going down the stretch, but I was a little suprised at first.

It seems that Epstein’s off-field accumen has spurred the Sox on on the field also, as we are now riding a three-game winning streak that has included numerous home runs. We now find ourselves just a half game behind the Yankees and we go into the horrible confines of Yankee Stadium on August 6 for the start of a big three-game series.

Oh, how exciting it is to be a Red Sox fan!  

On a day when speculation was rife that his name was on the list of 104 performance-enhancing steroid poisitive tests in 2003, David Ortiz let his bat do the talking as he went 2-for-3 with a massive go-ahead, three-run home run in the seventh inning that effectivly won the game for us.

Jon Lester started out great but encountered some struggles as the A’s fought back against us, and had to be relieved after five and two third innings.Ultimatly, this 8-5 win closes the gap to the Yankees to just two-and-a-half games, but David Ortiz is the biggest news of the day.

Thursday morning, the New York Times reported that David Ortiz was on “the list” of 104 positive testers in 2003, along with Manny Ramirez, which has left a real bitter taste in the mouths of Red Sox Nation. My mind is in turmoil now, I really do not know what to think. Was the curse-breaking championship fuelled by steroids in Yankee fashion? Was Big Papi’s 54 homer season a fraud? Is there going to be a huge asterisk over the whole of our 21st century dynasty? I really hope not because that would really damege me forever as a huge memeber of Red Sox Nation.

Until that list of 104 people is published and the players on it are punished, baseball will not feel pure, genuine or clean, it will feel dirty, shadowed and dark, come on, Selig, you gotta’ do something!!!

GO SOX!!!

The Roy Halladay Sweepstakes are in full swing with just under two days until the Trading Deadline passes and it seems that the Sox have made a late entry into the derby, along with the Dodgers, Phillies and Angels, although the Yankees are rumored to be wathing intently from afar.

Gordon Edes, former member of the Boston Globe staff and now lead baseball writer for Yahoo! sports, has said that Theo has made an offer to the Blue Jays and here is where we currently stand: any deal would have to include Clay Buchholz as a starting point say the Blue Jays, and Theo has said that Ricciardi can take his pick from Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden or high-end prospect Lars Anderson to add a little beef to the middle of the deal whilst a few lower-end prospects such as Ryan Westmoreland, are being discussed to fill out the offer.

Theo has placed an off-limits tag on 100-mph jewel Daniel Bard and 19-year old phenom Casey Kelly but the bunch of players we are offering (a choice of Buchholz, Masterson, Bowden, Anderson, Westmoreland), is by far deeper than the other teams offers.

Last night, whilst I was watching snipets of the 2009 Hall of Fame inductins (congratulations Jimmy), and catching a little bit of the retiring of Rice’s number 14, a thought came over me. What about adding Dice-K to the mix with the Blue Jays. Would J.P. take him, I for one would be glad to see the back of Matsuzaka and his luxurious contract. How about Buchholz, Matsuzaka and Masterson for Halladay? I would be willing to make that deal if we were likely to sign Doc to an extension.

I also think that we need anoher power bat in the lineup.

Now, we have Bay with 21 homers, Youkilis with 17, Ortiz and Varitek with 13, but after that, we have nothing of any real value in the dinger department. All of the top teams this year have a bunch of guys who can really bash the ball, the Cardinals have Pujols with 34 homers and even the Nationals have Adam Dunn on 28 round trippers, but this year we just don’t seem to have that offensive spark, the guy who can really hit a ball every time up.

Whatever happens, the next two days are going to be so fun and exciting, I love this time of year. I will be really happy if we can get a slugger and I’ll be over the moon if we can somehow manage a deal with J.P. Ricciardi for Halladay.

GO SOX!!!

Last night, the Sox kept the pressure on the Yankees atop the AL East with a huge surge in offensive power against Oakland. Josh Beckett won a joint-Major League leading 12th game with an overpowering ten strikeouts and the offense backed him up all the way, every guy collecting a hit and making sure the scoreboard kept ticking over.

Dustin Pedroia kicked the scoring off with a muscled home run over the monster, using every ounce of his small frame, his fifth of the year. JBay added another one on in the third before Adam LaRoche, who really has breathed a new lease of life into the ballclub, took one and turned it to the opposite field for a an RBI double high off the Green Monster, 3-0 Red Sox. That was soon 4-0 when Jason Varitek pulled one to the right side and scored J.D. Drew from second.

As Beckett continued to dominate through seven innings, the score stood at 8-3 thanks to a freak bloop two-RBI hit from Jed Lowrie, and a bit of run manufacturing from the A’s. Daniel Bard came out throwing 100 mph heat in the eighth and struckout two of the four batters he faced and Manny Delcarmen closed this one out with a perfect ninth inning.

GO SOX!!!

After taking the first game of a three-game weekend series with the Orioles on Friday, last night Jon Lester and the offense dominated the O’s again at Fenway to close the gap on the Yankees to 1 1/2 games.

Lester tossed 7.1 innings of excellent baseball, allowing just two runs on eight hits whilst dazzling with nine strikeouts with magnificent breaking stuff and an overpowering fastball.

In the top of the first, Big Papi got the southpaw some early run support when he jumped on a Jeremy Guthrie fastball and put a charge into it. The ball caromed off the photographers well in straightaway centre field for a huge three-run home run, Ortiz’s 13th of the year and RBI numbers 52,53 and 54. I can feel Ortiz just really starting to get HOT, like David Ortiz HOT! Like he says a lot, he hits a lot of his home runs in August and I feel he could still be on for a 25+ homer season, at least I hope so.

While the Orioles somehow managed to score two runs on Lester with his commanding stuff, Jacoby Ellsbury brought in two runs for us with a pair of RBI doubles and, heading into the bottom of the eighth we had a comfortable 5-2 lead with which to play with.

With no outs and Mikey Lowell on second, Adam LaRoche, the newest member of the Sox, stepped in. On the very first pitch of the at bat, the Oriole reliever threw a little breaking pitch right in LaRoche’s wheelhouse and the former Pirate smoked it to the opposite field. The ball landed in the very first row of monster seats for a two-run dinger by the new guy, welcome to Boston!

So, Ramiro Ramirez closed out the win and we are now just one and a half behind the Yankees, GO RED SOX!!!

Theo Epstein racked up plenty of hours on his cell phone yesterday and managed to pull off two excellent trades, in my opinion. In the first one, the GM finally found backup for the infield in the shape of Pitsburgh first baseman, Adam LaRoche. In return, the Bucs recieved shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland. It’s a trade that the Sox win hands down and to think that we will have somebody with as much talent as LaRoche, who is batting .247 with 12 homers and 40 RBI, coming off the bench. Adam is really going to help us down the stretch and give us that extra lefty bat we need off the bench.

Rating: 8/10

Theo also managed to somehow finally find a taker for Julio Lugo, thank goodness! The St.Louis Cardinals agreed to take Lugo in exchange for Chris Duncan, their free-swinging slugging outfielder who has the capability to smash plenty of homers in bunches. To think that we would have hapily released Lugo, to get a guy who has twice hit 20 homers in a season in return (even though we will have to eat the remainder of that ill-fated contract) is an excellent bit of dealing by Theo. I have always liked Duncan as a raw slugger and I think the Red Sox way of baseball will really bring out his true talent. He has reported to Triple-A Pawtucket off the bat, but should see some playing time down the stretch. It really is exciting!

Rating: 7/10 

It has been a terrible week for the Sox and the wheels are buckling underneath our juggernaut of a ballclub. We have lost the last five ballgames because the offense has been anemic and our pitchers haven’t got any run support. If there is one thing worse than a Red Sox loss, it’s a Red Sox loss and a Yankee win and believe it or not, after being an inconsistent team all season, the Damn Yankees have chosen to go on a six-game winning streak.

We were three games ahead of the Yankees before the All-Star Break and now look, we are two games BEHIND!!! It has been terrible. Tim Wakefield, our best pitcher, is now on the DL, Josh Beckett pitched an outstanding complete game in defeat on Tuesday and the offense is in one of the worst cold patches of the year. We are playing our worse baseball and it can’t go on, before it is too late.

COME ON YOU MIGHTY RED SOX LETS GO!!!