5 Sox, 2 Phillies

Well at least we got one.

This game could have been a lot more exciting, but then our friend Adrian knocked Cole Hamels out of the game. Hamels had only given up 2 hits in 4 innings. The Sox then took advantage of the Phillies bullpen as Sutton and Ellsbury both drove in runs in the 5th. Jason Varitek was on point, hitting a solo shot in the 6th, then going back-to-back with Pedroia by following his solo shot with one of the 2-run variety.

Jon Lester came through when the Red Sox needed him the most. Lester threw 120 pitches over 7 shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits, 2 walks and striking out 5.

Red Sox @ Phillies Preview

Well, this series has gone bad so far, and it doesn't get any easier tonight with Lester taking on Hamels. Hamels is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA with 21 strikeouts in three starts against Boston, and 5-2 with a 1.85 ERA in his last eight outings. I have always liked Hamels and am actually happy he is having such a great year.

Lester is 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two starts against the Phillies, but has lost two straight. I believe Lester will have a strong game tonight, but I am worried about the Sox being able to score any runs. I would hate to see them fall anymore behind the Yankees, and my hope is Gonzalez, Youk, Pedroia just have enough to get them through this game.

Red Sox win 3-1
Player of the Game: Lester
Game starts at 1:05pm

Red Sox 1 Phillies 2

The Red Sox just aren't hitting right now. Last night Lackey was really their only offense... yea, that's the kind of game it was. This time it was Vance Worley who shut the Red Sox down going 7 innings allowing only 5 hits, 1 run, with 5 Ks. I have been making he excuse that the Red Sox really aren't going to be very good until they have Ortiz and Gonzalez in the lineup, well last night they did starting Gonzalez in RF and Ortiz at first and it still didn't make much of a difference. Maybe it's that Ortiz (0-4) was just out of sink after having to sit so much, or maybe it's just the Red Sox are once again in a funk. They have been an up and down team all year, so it could just be one of the down times.

What is lost in all this is how well Lackey pitched. He went 7 2/3 allowing 2 runs on 8 hits with 5 K's, much better then anything the Sox have been getting from him this year. There were rumors Lackey was going to need Tommy John, but after this performance and Francona and Lackey coming out saying that is false, I would say that it is unlikely.

Lackey was rolling until Ibanez homered to right in the 7th. Still, It's not Lackey's fault the Sox could put more then 1 run on the board. I think they will be fine, and they just need to get out of this NL schedule and back into Fenway. Still, being 2 1/2 games back of the Yankees already the Sox don't want to lose too much ground.

5 Phillies, 0 Red Sox

Cliff Lee is pretty good, huh?

And like our buddy in Hotlanta sent us in a e-mail, thank god the Yankees don't have him.

That's all you can say after Cliff Lee went up against the best lineup in baseball and made them look like a High School team. Lee didn't give up a hit until the sixth to Marco Scutaro. The Sox were completely over matched and this was for his 3rd straight shut out. And on top of it he got an RBI hit, literally beating the Sox by himself. He ends the month of June, going 5-0 while allowing only a single earned run in 42 innings (0.21 ERA).

As from Josh Beckett, he was obviously rusty after the 13 day lay off. giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.

Oh well. Philly is still an awful place.

Red Sox @ Phillies Preview

One of the best pitching matchups you are going to get tonight as Beckett vs. Cliff Lee. Beckett has been out sick for over a week, but is finally feeling better and that's great news for the Red Sox, because he has flat out been their best pitcher this season (6-2 1.86 ERA).

Lee has thrown consecutive shutouts and hasn't allowed a run in 23 innings, but he has struggled against the Red Sox in his career going 2-4 with a 4.06 ERA. Still, with Ortiz most likely out of the lineup tonight he will most likely be tough to score on. Beckett on the other hand has has some success against the Phillies (8-4 3.98 ERA).

The Sox haven't been hitting as well since they have had to start playing NL teams on the road. It's not hard to figure out why. With Ortiz not being able to play much, Crawford out hurt, and everyone in the OF (with the exception of Ellsbury) sucking there just isn't much offense. That could really hurt the Sox tonight, but the Phillies aren't a great offensive team anymore either. I think Boston gets just enough, since they have stepped up against good pitching all year.

Red Sox win 4-2
Player of the Game: Beckett
Game starts at 7:05pm

Surprise, Surprise, Philly Wants To Be Us

Philly.com - If there’s a reason to end interleague play, this is it. The next few days figure to test our collective patience and sanity. Brace yourself: Boston fans are coming. They’ve gotten out of control, these Boston fans. They’ve mutated. There was a time when they took a perverse pride in their suffering, when they romanticized their lack of sports luck. Then the Pats won and the Sox won and the Celtics won and, more recently, the Bruins won. The people in Boston have become obnoxious, arrogant, condescending. After the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, I asked my buddy Flan, who lives up there, whether people were rioting in Central Square – a particularly lawless area of Cambridge where Flan and I once watched two hobos fight in the middle of Massachusetts Avenue. (True story.)”Nope,” Flan said. “We act like we’ve been there before.” Boston Globe and SportsIllustrated.com columnist Dan Shaughnessy – a man who’s written about Boston sports for decades – summed up the vomit-inducing situation perfectly in the first sentence of a recent piece. The story appeared under the obligatory headline you might expect: “Being a sports fan in Boston has become an embarrassment of riches.” “The rest of the country,” Shaughnessy wrote, “must be sick of us in Boston.” Pass the Pepto.

It's so obvious that Philly is the little brother to the best sports town in America, so obviously this guy would come out with a extremely jealous article pointing fingers at fans from Titletown. I have been saying this for a while recently, Philadelphia is a city full of scumbags and they deserve another ringless run. I was happy for the city when they won, now they are trying to play the us against the world card which actually goes to show how actually pathetic they are.

How dare this guy go after our fans, when they have some of the most classless people in America representing their city. They embrace booing little kids, injured players and throwing up on little girls. Maybe they are just upset because their city is a step above New Orleans after the hurricane hit. Honestly have you ever been there? There are 2 cool streets, steak and cheese subs and then a bunch of ugly women. So calm down Philly and embrace the role of the little sister because that's all you'll ever be.

Oh yea Flyers, smooth move, trading 2 of your best players for a ehhh goalie isn't winning you the cup any time soon.