Boston Red Sox

Jon Lester is 4-5 with a 5.43 earned run average in 10 career starts against the White Sox. That?s more than half a run higher than it is against any other team in the American League.

Shane Victorino came out of tonight's game in the sixth inning with a tight left hamstring.

I am seriously wondering what one does with Jacoby Ellsbury. It is very hard to pull for the guy when he is the lead off hitter and he can not get on base. Should Farrell bat him in the lower third of the order? Should they try and trade him for whatever he might be worth? Or just stick it out? I understand that it is still relatively early in the season, but, from what I can see he is way off at the plate and I am noticing a bit of a problem with him throwing from the outfield. Has anyone else noticed the double pumps and looks of uncertainty when he throws back into the infield, especially when runners are on base? I am seriously wondering what one does with Jacoby Ellsbury. It is very hard to pull for the guy when he is the lead off hitter and he can not get on base. Should Farrell bat him in the lower third of the order? Should they try and trade him for whatever he might be worth? Or just stick it out? I understand that it is still relatively early in the season, but, from what I can see he is way off at the plate and I am noticing a bit of a problem with him throwing from the outfield. Has anyone else noticed the double pumps and looks of uncertainty when he throws back into the infield, especially when runners are on base?

"Looks like the Orioles aren't gonna have that same 1-run game record they had in 2012." --Tom Caron, after the Orioles lose by 2O's have lost 6 straight after blowing one at home to the Yanks. It doesn't matter that a couple of old shitheads are hitting well. It's because their pitching has been good that they're in first place. So when the pitching stops being good, AND the old fucks revert to what they really are, the drop-off will begin.We went down 5-0 early and couldn't quite make it all the way back, so our 5-game win streak is over, and we're 1.5 back.If you need cheering up, try this show out.

The Red Sox missed big plays by inches, letting the White Sox escape with a 6-4 victory and snapping Boston's streak at five straight. It did not take long for Jon Lester to show he simply didn't have it tonight. While the first two outs would come relatively easily on a pop-up and a strikeout, Alex Rios would hit a 2-2 fastball on he ground, but back up the middle. That seemed to completely derail Lester. He struggled to find the strike zone against Paul Konerko, walking him on five pitches, and then threw two balls to Adam Dunn. The Chicago designated hitter entered the game hitting .069/.182/.172 against lefties, but when Lester offered him a 2-0 fastball waist-high and outside, Dunn didn't miss it. The ball dropped into the right field stands, and the White Sox were up 3-0 after one. Things would continue to go downhill in the second, and once again all the damage came with two outs. This time, though, it came with some help from the defense. A Tyler Greene double to right field never had a chance to be caught, but Will Middlebrooks let an Alejandro De Aza ground ball to third get under his glove and into shallow left field for an RBI double, extending the inning and allowing Alexei Ramirez a chance to double De Aza home to make it 5-0. The Red Sox would finally strike back against Dylan Axelrod in the third, with Stephen Drew drawing a walk and Jarrod Saltalamacchia clubbing a two-run shot to left-center, but that would be all they would manage against the Chicago starter in six innings of work. With another poor play by Will Middlebrooks costing Lester a sixth run in the fifth inning, the Sox trailed by four going into the last third of the ballgame. To that point, the Sox hadn't really felt like competitors since Dunn's homer, but all that changed in the seventh. A pair of leadoff walks from Matt Thornton to David Ortiz and Mike Napoli gave the Red Sox a golden opportunity, and Will Middlebrooks took advantage, hitting a hard drive to the wall in left. Dayan Viciedo's defensive efforts were sloppy at best, and both Ortiz and Napoli came around to score, bringing the Red Sox within two. Ultimately, though, that would not be enough. The Red Sox had been hitting fly balls to the warning track all night, and that trend would hold frustratingly true. Jarrod Saltalamacchia would make the last out of the seventh with a fly ball to the warning track that, had it gone just a little further, would have tied the game. The same was true of an effort from Will Middlebrooks to dead center in the ninth. Both times, though, the balls died just shy of the wall, leaving the Red Sox with outs. Even Stephen Drew tried to keep the game going with a sharply hit two-out ground ball in the ninth, but Paul Konerko made a diving stop and tossed to Addison Reed to end a game that certainly could have gone the other way. Read more Red Sox: Starting pitching the difference in 2013 What's wrong with Jacoby Ellsbury? Daniel Bard walks five, sinks further, Juan Nieves concerned Keith Law’s mock draft says Ryne Stanek to the Red Sox Jonathan Papelbon: Should’ve kept?

Top 3rd: White Sox 5, Red Sox 2 - Jarrod Saltalamacchia hits his fifth homer to leftcenter batting lefthanded to chip away at the ChiSox lead. Bottom 2nd: White Sox 5, Red Sox 0 - Jon Lester often talks about...

Backup catcher David Ross, who is out with a concussion, was cleared to start working out. He then threw, hit off a tee and rode an exercise bicycle.

The first of the five straight wins the Red Sox have was 9-2. Convincing, but just one win. It would've been easy to imagine them falling right back into the slump. The second win almost was that loss that sent them back into the slump, but for Will Middlebrooks' big hit that completed Fernando Rodney's blown save. The third win, 3-2, came only in extra innings, once again just barely enough. Saying at that point that the Red Sox were back...well, they'd won three, but it didn't feel like they were really all the way back. The good news is that those wins helped to keep them above water. They floated, treaded, call it what you will, but by just barely eeking out those wins, when they really went off for twelve runs on Saturday, it was the fourth game of their win streak, not an abberation in a losing streak. And wen they took a fairly comfortable 5-1 decision on Sunday to sweep the Twins, it was clear that this was once again becoming the norm. The Red Sox could lose tonight. The White Sox aren't great, but, y'know, things happen in baseball. But thanks to those two middle wins, it's not going to invite any questions if they do. On the other hand, they could always just win, which would be a lot more fun. Go Sox!

The three hour, fifteen-minute duration of the game was just a quarter-hour less than the rain delay. David Ortiz tweeted during the delay, “Raining for 2 hours and no one will call the game.... Come on!!!!!” Once a game starts it is the umpire-in-chief’s call when the game should recommence.

Okay, maybe some half-cocked allusion to a winning streak doesn’t really constitute a plan, I’ll take it. Five wins in a row is five wins in a row. Consider this: the next three games are against the White Sox. We’ve got Lester and Buchholz going in two out of the three games, with a little luck (and some big bats when Doubrant pitches tomorrow) and we could be talking about an eight game win streak on Thursday. The Red Sox are now 27-17, pretty amazing considering Middlebrooks, Drew and Ellsbury are each hitting under two-fifty. The kick-assery this team has been displaying is very impressive, leaving me very impressed…and stuff. Tonight, I’m hoping the Red Sox jump ugly on Dylan Axelrod and just let Lester feel the groove. A big lead also insure some quality Remy-DO blowout shenanigans. First pitch at 8:05…why aren’t you drinking yet? The post I Love it When a Plan Comes Together appeared first on Surviving Grady.