Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Your Morning Dump...Where Buchholz is scratched, again

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

His progress slowed, Clay Buchholz is still not 100 percent and won't throw a bullpen Sunday, thus taking him out of Tuesday's start.

"It's getting better every day," said Buchholz. "(But) I'm sort of at a point now where if I was to get off a mound, I think I would regress because I haven't really cut loose with anything playing catch, just for that reason. I don't want to take a step back. I'd rather be at a point where I'm comfortable letting loose.''

Buchholz last pitched on June 8 and felt some stiffness in his neck while twisting to make an awkward fielding play on the mound.

"From the beginning, I wasn't really worried about it being something that was going to take a really long time," said Buchholz. "It's definitely going to take longer than I wanted it to take, either way. I'm trying to be as smart as I can with it, keeping everybody in the loop with how it feels, the progression each day. That's where I'm at right now.''

CSNNE: Buchholz still ailing, won't pitch Tuesday

DAMMIT! This is getting frustrating. Just put him on the 15-day DL and stop playing this "Buchholz is scratched from his next start" shit.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Oh, and Mike Napoli went back to Boston to be examined for his nausea and dizziness.

On Page 2, Something a little better. The Sox beat Baltimore!

How we see it goin' down: Red Sox - Orioles series

First Pitch: Thursday 7:05, Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Thursday: Felix Doubront, LHP (4-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman, RHP (0-3, 8.84 ERA)

Friday: Ryan Dempster, RHP (4-6, 4.40 ERA)  vs. Chris Tillman, RHP (6-2, 3.89 ERA)

Saturday:  John Lackey, RHP (3-5, 3.14 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia, RHP (3-3, 4.47 ERA) 

Sunday: (Maybe) Clay Buchholz, RHP (9-0, 1.71 ERA) vs. Miguel Gonzalez, RHP (4-2, 3.71 ERA)

                      Yard: Oriole Park at Camden Yards   Watch it: NESN   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 41-26 (1st AL East)	Record: 37-29 (3rd AL East | 3.5 GB)
On road: 20-12	At home: 17-14
Streak: W1	Streak: L1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Iglesias (.449)	Average: Davis (.338)
Homers: Ortiz (13)	Homers: Davis (21)
RBI: Napoli (49)	RBI: Davis (54)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Buchholz (9)	Wins: Hammel (7)
ERA: Buchholz (1.71) | Breslow (2.04)	ERA: Gonzalez (3.71) | O'Day (1.55)
K's: Dempster (83)	K's: Tillman (65)

Last time

The Sox had a tough time with the Orioles when they last met on April 8th, 10th, and 11th. The Sox won the first game, 3-1, behind a strong 7-inning performance from Clay Buchholz. Daniel Nava started the scoring for either team, with a 3-run homer in the 7th, and that was all that was needed.

The teams had Tuesday off, and resumed play on Wednesday and Thursday, which did end up working in the Sox' favor.

Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia contributed a pair of solo home runs in what looked like a promising game 2. Ryan Dempster had a decent start and the Sox went into the 9th with a 5-3 lead. Enter Joel Hanrahan. Exit Joel Hanrahan after getting tagged for 5 runs on 3 hits (2 homers). That did it for game 2.

Alfredo Aceves filled in for Lackey in the final game and gave the Sox a decent performance, going 5 innings and giving up only 2 runs. The Sox and Orioles were tied into the 7th, when Clayton Mortensen gave up a single, Miller came in and walked the only batter her faced, and Uehara gave up a double to bring in the run that put the Orioles up for good at 3-2.

Those bastards have become so damn frustrating.

This time

Laser Show: Daniel Nava & David Ortiz

We all know Daniel Nava is making a strong case to be a write in for the All-Star game. Nava is raking and with 4 righties going for Baltimore (.320 vs. RHP), Nava should be set up well for another great series.

Ortiz went cold in Tampa, though, as previously stated, Baltimore has 4 righties going in the series. Papi is hitting a cool .355 against RHP, with 9 of his 13 homers coming against pitchers of the right-handed variety.

Pitch Around: Chris Davis

It's pretty obvious. .338/21/54.

Don't Fall Behind: Chris Tillman & Miguel Gonzalez

Tillman will be the biggest threat to the Sox. Tillman can get outs by way of the K, but does give up a lot of solid base hits.

The same exact thing goes for Miguel Gonzalez. When they are on, they are tough pitchers. If they get rattled just a little bit, the Sox could capitalize by getting good wood on the ball and making them pay for mis-located pitches.

How we see it goin' down

The Orioles are a very good team and have given the Red Sox a world of problems since the end of 2011. We saw it continue at the beginning of this season. On the other hand, the Red Sox are far better than they have been in a while, and could have an easier time with Baltimore. This is going to be a tough played series with the result being a split.

First Pitch: Thursday 7:05, Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Thursday: Felix Doubront, LHP (4-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman, RHP (0-3, 8.84 ERA)

Friday: Ryan Dempster, RHP (4-6, 4.40 ERA)  vs. Chris Tillman, RHP (6-2, 3.89 ERA)

Saturday:  John Lackey, RHP (3-5, 3.14 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia, RHP (3-3, 4.47 ERA) 

Sunday: (Maybe) Clay Buchholz, RHP (9-0, 1.71 ERA) vs. Miguel Gonzalez, RHP (4-2, 3.71 ERA)

                      Yard: Oriole Park at Camden Yards   Watch it: NESN   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 41-26 (1st AL East)	Record: 37-29 (3rd AL East | 3.5 GB)
On road: 20-12	At home: 17-14
Streak: W1	Streak: L1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Iglesias (.449)	Average: Davis (.338)
Homers: Ortiz (13)	Homers: Davis (21)
RBI: Napoli (49)	RBI: Davis (54)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Buchholz (9)	Wins: Hammel (7)
ERA: Buchholz (1.71) | Breslow (2.04)	ERA: Gonzalez (3.71) | O'Day (1.55)
K's: Dempster (83)	K's: Tillman (65)

Last time

The Sox had a tough time with the Orioles when they last met on April 8th, 10th, and 11th. The Sox won the first game, 3-1, behind a strong 7-inning performance from Clay Buchholz. Daniel Nava started the scoring for either team, with a 3-run homer in the 7th, and that was all that was needed.

The teams had Tuesday off, and resumed play on Wednesday and Thursday, which did end up working in the Sox' favor.

Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia contributed a pair of solo home runs in what looked like a promising game 2. Ryan Dempster had a decent start and the Sox went into the 9th with a 5-3 lead. Enter Joel Hanrahan. Exit Joel Hanrahan after getting tagged for 5 runs on 3 hits (2 homers). That did it for game 2.

Alfredo Aceves filled in for Lackey in the final game and gave the Sox a decent performance, going 5 innings and giving up only 2 runs. The Sox and Orioles were tied into the 7th, when Clayton Mortensen gave up a single, Miller came in and walked the only batter her faced, and Uehara gave up a double to bring in the run that put the Orioles up for good at 3-2.

Those bastards have become so damn frustrating.

This time

Laser Show: Daniel Nava & David Ortiz

We all know Daniel Nava is making a strong case to be a write in for the All-Star game. Nava is raking and with 4 righties going for Baltimore (.320 vs. RHP), Nava should be set up well for another great series.

Ortiz went cold in Tampa, though, as previously stated, Baltimore has 4 righties going in the series. Papi is hitting a cool .355 against RHP, with 9 of his 13 homers coming against pitchers of the right-handed variety.

Pitch Around: Chris Davis

It's pretty obvious. .338/21/54.

Don't Fall Behind: Chris Tillman & Miguel Gonzalez

Tillman will be the biggest threat to the Sox. Tillman can get outs by way of the K, but does give up a lot of solid base hits.

The same exact thing goes for Miguel Gonzalez. When they are on, they are tough pitchers. If they get rattled just a little bit, the Sox could capitalize by getting good wood on the ball and making them pay for mis-located pitches.

How we see it goin' down

The Orioles are a very good team and have given the Red Sox a world of problems since the end of 2011. We saw it continue at the beginning of this season. On the other hand, the Red Sox are far better than they have been in a while, and could have an easier time with Baltimore. This is going to be a tough played series with the result being a split.

Your Morning Dump... where Nava is making a case to be an All-Star.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“He keeps coming up in a lot of conversation on things — are we surprised about it? Did we ever envision the contribution?” manager John Farrell said of Nava, the former independent leaguer who wasn’t even invited to major league camp in spring training last year. “We just want to let him continue to do his thing.”

But although Nava is doing it better than almost anyone, he isn’t on the All-Star ballot.

“He’s got my vote,” Farrell said.

Surely, players across the league have taken notice. Nava has emerged as an everyday outfielder for the first-place Red Sox, and with the All-Star Game only a month away, he still has a chance to be selected to the AL roster if enough of his peers vote for him or if manager Jim Leyland names him to the team.

Herald: Nava's star on rise

Daniel Nava continues to be one of the biggest surprises in all of baseball. He added another highlight to his 2013 campaign came last night when he battled Chris Archer and fouling off five straight pitches before taking him deep to score the only runs of the game for the Sox for his ninth home run of the year and his 43rd & 44th RBIs, which puts him in third place among AL outfielders and eighth overall. 

He's also leading all AL outfielders in on-base percentage, (.391), second in batting average (.299) and ninth in slugging percentage (.479). All this coming from a guy who wasn't even offered a spot into Major League Spring Training last season. 

He's been invaluable to the Red Sox, playing both corner outfield spots and hitting everywhere in the lineup. Add all of that with the fact that the Sox are still leading the AL East and he should be a shoe in. Only problem is that his name isn't on the ballot.

So either start writing in Daniel Nava's name or hope that everyone around baseball is taking notice and Tigers manager Jim Leyland adds him to the team. He's as deserving of this selection as anyone else in baseball.

Rest of the Links: Red Sox edge Rays | Nava keeps playing like an All-Star | Herald:  Aceves spot-on again | Club's 1-2 punch losing its power | CSNNE: Aceves' strong start helps Sox hold off Rays Buchholz likely won't start Sunday | Struggling Lester meets with Farrell, Nieves | WEEI: Will finds his way | Ortiz on HR Derby: "I'm done with that" | Aceves, bullpen submerge Rays as Sox win 

Your Morning Dump...where Lester is getting everyone nervous.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

In offering up the customary post-start self-evaluation here last night, Jon Lester didn’t mince words.

“Just terrible,” he said before adding, “unacceptable” and finally, “horse-(expletive).”

And here’s the worst part: It wasn’t limited to only last night

It would have been easier for the Red Sox to swallow Lester’s 42⁄3-inning, seven-walk flop in an 8-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field if it was an isolated instance. But it was only the latest dud in a five-start slump in which he has gone 0-3 with a 6.90 ERA and allowed 58 baserunners in 30 innings after opening the season 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA.

The Sox desperately needed Lester to go deep into the game to save the bullpen and he came up well short. He couldn't get out of any jam early, throwing 70 pitches in the first three innings alone and couldn't get out of the fifth, giving the ball to a battered bullpen. Thankfully, Jose De La Torre came out of nowhere to throw 3 1/3 innings to finish the game but it shouldn't have come to that. 

Lester never looked good from jump, walking four guys in the first, including one with the bases loaded, which the Sox have done five times in the past games. When he was finally able to throw strikes, he caught too much of the plate and the Rays took full advantage smacking three home runs.

The question is now whether or not Lester is just having a bad stretch or is the lefty regressing back to the pitcher we've seen in the past couple of seasons? The stats haven't been pretty over the past five starts: 46 hits, 18 walks and 23 earned runs in 30 innings. It's not a health issue as Lester said after the game he's felt as good as he has all season. 

Which means Lester is just not executing his pitches which is all the more worrisome. Hopefully it's just a bad stretch and it's something he just has to ride out. For the sake of the Sox and the hope of staying atop the AL East, it needs to be sooner than later. 

 

Rest of the Links: Globe: Lester lets Sox down | Sox lose to Rays | Maddon still thinks HBP was intentional | Herald: Bailey believes in own abilties | Gomes, mates not sidetracked by scrap | Jose De La Torre manages to provide some relief | CSNNE: Lester no match for Rays | De La Torre saves bullpen | Buchholz could start Sunday | WEEI: Sound the alarm? | Lester: "I did a terrible job... It's unacceptable" | 

How we see it goin' down: Sox - Rays series

First Pitch: Monday 7:10, Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 7:10

Arms: Monday: John Lackey, RHP (3-5, 2.79 ERA)  vs. Alex Cobb, RHP (6-2, 2.39 ERA)

Tuesday: Jon Lester, LHP (6-2, 3.60 ERA)  vs. Roberto Hernandez, RHP (3-6, 5.03 ERA) 

Wednesday: TBA vs. Chris Archer, RHP (1-1, 4.91 ERA)

                                  Yard: Tropicana Field   Watch it: NESN   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 39-25 (1st AL East)	Record: 34-28 (4th AL East | 4.0 GB )
On road: 18-11	At home: 19-11
Streak: W2	Streak: L1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Iglesias (.446)	Average: Loney (.325)
Homers: Ortiz (13)	Homers: 3 Tied (10)
RBI: Ortiz (48)	RBI: Johnson/Longoria (36)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Buchholz (9)	Wins: Moore (8)
ERA: Buchholz (1.71) | Bailey (1.47)	ERA: Cobb (2.39) | Torres (0.00)
K's: Dempster (83)	K's: Cobb (69)

Last time

The Sox and Rays have met 6 times this season, and the Red Sox have come away with 5 thus far. Most recently, the Sox took 2 out of 3 in Tampa from May 14-16.

The Rays gave John Lackey trouble in the first game, knocking him out after 4 1/3, and tagging him for 5 runs on 9 hits. David Ortiz got the Sox on the board early, with a 3-run home run in the first. That was it for scoring in the first game.

The Red Sox redeemed themselves in game 2,  with a 9-2 victory over the Rays. David Price only lasted 2 1/3 as the Sox tagged him for 4 runs on 5 hits, and then exited the game with an arm injury. Jamey Wright came in with 1 out in the third. The bases were loaded. Everyone scored. The inning continued.The Sox eventually load the bases again. Stephen Drew hit a grand slam, and the Sox put an 8 in the box score in the third. That turned out to be plenty for Jon Lester.

The final game required some late-game heroics. The Sox went into the 9th with a 3-1 deficit. Rodney walked Pedey and Papi (then pinch run for by Ciriaco) to start the inning, then Nava two batters later. Two batters later, Middlebrooks cleared the bases with a double to left and Tazawa closed the game out.

This time

Laser Show: Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, & David Ortiz

Pedroia is riding a 13-game hitting streak and Ellsbury an 8 game streak. Even if they don't go on a tear, you can count on at least one of those guys to keep it going.I would throw Jose Iglesias in there, but with the return of Will Middlebrooks, who knows if he will play.

David Ortiz has just been consistent. A pair of 3-run homers in the last two games and a trio of right-handed pitchers going for Tampa Bay in the series, makes for a promising series for Papi.

Pitch Around: Evan Longoria

Evan hasn't had overwhelming success against the Sox this season or in his career, but he has some very good numbers this season. An average over .300, 10 homers and 36 RBI, should be enough to raise some caution with Sox' pitching.

Don't Fall Behind: Alex Cobb

Cobb is on fire right now. In his last 2 starts, Cobb is 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA, and 21 strikeouts. He ended up with the no-decision in the third game of the last Sox/Rays series, when he went 6.1 innings and held the Sox to 1 run on 3 hits. I don't like the Sox' chances tonight.

How we see it goin' down

As I just said, I don't like the Sox' chances against Cobb tonight, because he is just pitching out of his mind. Aside from tonight, the Sox should have the advantage in the final two.This series will go much like the most recent series between these two teams, with the Rays shutting the Sox down in the first game and the Sox getting some redemption in the final two. Even though we don't know who will be going in game 3.

How we see it goin' down: Angels - Red Sox series

First Pitch: Saturday 1:05, Saturday 7:15, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Saturday: Tommy Hanson, RHP (2-2, 4.19 ERA) vs. Felix Doubront, LHP (4-2, 4.88 ERA)

Saturday: C.J. Wilson, LHP (4-4, 3.93 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz, RHP (8-0, 1.62 ERA)  

Sunday: Joe Blanton, RHP (1-9, 5.53 ERA) vs. Ryan Dempster, RHP (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

                           Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it: NESN | FOX - Sat (GM 2)   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 26-34 (3rd AL West)	Record: 37-24 (1st AL East)
On road: 11-16	At home: 19-13
Streak: L1	Streak: W1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Nelson (.333)	Average: Iglesias (.435)
Homers: Trumbo (15)	Homers: Ortiz (11)
RBI: Trumbo (40)	RBI: Napoli (47)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Vargas (5)	Wins: Buchholz (8)
ERA: Weaver (3.13) | Downs (2.16)	ERA: Buchholz (1.62) | Bailey (1.56)
K's: Wilson (73)	K's: Buchholz (77)

Last time

This is the first meeting between the two teams since August 28-30. The Angels completed the 6-game season series sweep. The games were fairly close, but the Sox put their best efforts forth to do everything to lose.

This time

Laser Show: David Ortiz

You know Papi. Ortiz is keeping his batting average high and he just came through in the clutch. Ortiz has good career averages against the two righties in the series. Papi is batting .500 (1/2) and .345 (10/29) against Hanson and Blanton respectively. Almost forgot to mention the 3 homers against Blanton.

C.J. Wilson, on the other hand, has completely dominated Ortiz, holding him to a .077 average. Looks like a good opportunity to take game 2.

Pitch Around: Mike Trout

Hits for power, average (mostly), has speed, and can work walks. Trout is going to be a pain in the ass this weekend.

Don't Fall Behind: C.J. Wilson

Wilson is clearly the best starter going in the series, but he is not un-hittable.Dustin Pedroia is the only guy on the Sox' roster to have extensive success against Wilson.I wouldn't read too much into it, because the Sox are having success this season against players and teams that have given them trouble in the past. I feel good about the Sox going up against Wilson, especially with Buchholz opposing him.

How we see it goin' down

SWEEP! The Angels suck!

Your Morning Dump... Where the Sox are pleased with Ball

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Nevertheless, the Sox were impressed with Ball’s size (6-foot-6) and the development of a curveball to complement his fastball and changeup. Sawdaye heard talk about Ball flirting with a knuckleball, but never saw him use the trick pitch in a game situation.

“Very rarely do you see a (high school) kid showcase three pitches, and that’s what Trey did,” Sawdaye said. “All in all, he does project to have three plus-pitches, a guy that obviously has to improve in some areas but who we see as a top-of-the-rotation starter.”

“This is a guy whose athleticism and upside would not make him available deeper into the first round in any draft, we don’t believe,” Cherington said. “It just so happened that when we picked at No. 7, he was the top player remaining on our board.”

In the second round, the Sox drafted yet another pitcher, right-hander Teddy Stankiewicz, described by Sawdaye as having “one of the best deliveries in the draft.”

Herald - Sox stick to draft plan

Not a ton of news on the Saturday morning following a rainout -- unless you want to read my thoughts on Jose Iglesias.  I don't mind writing another "na-na-na-poo-poo" column.  I'll spare you that absurdity, and instead we'll take a bit of a closer look at Trey Ball, the Sox top pick in this week's draft.

The Sox organization seems incredibly pleased with themselves over this draft pick.  Not that you would expect them to have remorse over selecting him this soon after the draft.  But still, there seems to be genuine excitement about this kid.  And not knowing anything about him (or really, any of the players selected) I'll  buy into the hype.

Ball immediately gets lumped in with the Sox other top pitching prospects: Webster, De La Rosa, Workman, Ranaudo, Barnes and Henry Owens.  Obviously the baseball prospect game is a crap shoot, but that's a formidable list of names.  If even only 4 of these guys pan out, that is huge for the Sox organization -- both in terms of roster building and trade possibilities.

But let's not try to push Bell along too quickly.  For now let's just be happy that the Sox had a top 10 draft pick and seem to have gotten themselves a legit talent.  Oh, and you didn't have to read me rambling about Iglesias again.  Win-Win!

Rest of the links:

Herald - Iglesias becomes a hit | Globe - Victorino could rejoin Red Sox on Saturday | Red Sox-Angels rained out; two games today | WEEI - Swinging for the fences with Trey Ball: What Red Sox saw in the left-hander | ‘2013 MLB Draft’ | CSNNE - Kalish progressing in rehab

Your Late Morning Dump...Where it's draft day

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The Rule 4 Draft starts at 7 p.m. with the first two rounds. The Sox select seventh overall, their highest pick since 1993. This is the reward for all that suffering last season.

Because that reward is not immediate like the NBA or NFL, casual baseball fans often dismiss the draft. Very few amateur baseball players are prominent names on the sports landscape and it often takes three or four years for a player to emerge from the crucible of the minor leagues and impact the major league team. That is if they emerge at all.

But it's a crucial day for the Red Sox because such a high pick brings with it a better chance to add a player who can impact the franchise for years to come.

"When you look at it historically, the odds of getting a good player are higher the higher you pick," general manager Ben Cherington said Wednesday. "That's relative to year and whatnot. We'll know five years from now how good this draft is. But it's an opportunity to choose from a different pool than we normally would, and we've got to take advantage of that opportunity."

Globe: Draft day arrives and it's a critical one for the Sox

So that was one positive as a result of last season, a high draft pick. The Sox will have a good chance to get some great young talent and have some talent in the system.

I have no idea who is out there, because there are just too many prospects. I'm sure the Sox will pick a good player that we won't see for a few years...or sooner. Now, go get 'em Bennie!

The rest of the links:

Globe: Lackey sharp, but Red Sox fall to Rangers | Middlebrooks not ready yet | Will latest scandal end baseball's steroid era? | WEEI: Larry Lucchino on D&C: Silver lining to be found in Biogenesis case | Jacoby Ellsbury expecting he will avoid disabled list | Herald: A-Rod's future with Yankees is uncertain | Dahlberg: Selig finally takes stand in steroid fight | Questions, answers about MLB drug investigation | Ben Cherington preps for No. 7 pick | No relief for Red Sox in loss to Rangers | John Lackey continues strong comeback | CSNNE: Making the most of No. 7 pick

How we see it goin' down: Rangers - Red Sox series

First Pitch: Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 7:10, Thursday 7:10

Arms: Tuesday: Justin Grimm, RHP (5-3, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ryan Dempster, RHP (2-6, 4.45 ERA)

Wednesday: Alexi Ogando, RHP (4-2, 3.08 ERA) vs. John Lackey, RHP (3-5, 2.96 ERA)  

Thursday: Derek Holland, LHP (5-2, 2.81 ERA) vs. Jon Lester, LHP (6-2, 3.53 ERA)

                           Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it: NESN (ESPN2 - Wed)   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 35-21 (1st AL West)	Record: 35-23 (1st AL East)
On road: 17-13	At home: 17-12
Streak: W1	Streak: W2
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Baker (.333)	Average: Iglesias (.434)
Homers: Cruz (13)	Homers: Ortiz (10)
RBI: Cruz (39)	RBI: Napoli (45)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Darvish (7)	Wins: Buchholz (8)
ERA: Darvish (2.77) | Scheppers (0.64)	ERA: Buchholz (1.64) | Breslow (1.29)
K's: Darvish (111)	K's: Buchholz (77)

Last time

The Sox were swept out of Texas at the beginning of May. Game 1 was a 7-0 loss, and Felix Doubront was absolutely bitch slapped (3.2 IP, 12 H, 6 ER) by the Rangers' offense.

Game 2 was not as bad, ended in a 5-1 loss, and John Lackey got a softer slap (5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER) than Doubront.

Game 3 was surprising. The Red Sox were able to hit Darvish early, tagging him for 3 runs in the first two innings, and that was it. That was the surprising part. The Red Sox bats were shut down from that point on. Jon Lester was able to match Darvish for 6 innings and it went down to the wire. The Rangers walked off with 2 outs in the 9th to sweep the Sox with a 4-3 win.

This time

Laser Show: David Ortiz

David Ortiz was able to get at least one hit in each of the 3 games against Texas in that last series. His average has dropped since then, but only slightly. David's numbers against the Rangers are nothing spectacular, but he has been consistent and very reliable.  

Pitch Around: Adrian Beltre

He is a constant reminder of what we had in Boston and what the Sox let go. Beltre went 7-for-13 against the Sox a month ago and he will likely do something like that again.

Don't Fall Behind: Every pitcher

The Rangers are the best pitching team in the AL (Bos - 2nd). They have pitched very well against Boston in recent history and the Sox have not found an answer. Virtually every pitcher that the Sox will see in the series is very good and it has turned into the best team record in the AL. This pitching staff is a huge momentum stopper.

How we see it goin' down

I do not have much confidence that the Red Sox will be able to figure out Rangers pitching. The Sox will be able to squeak one game out, and that will be it. I hate the Rangers.

Your Morning Dump...Where the Sox put the Yankees in their place

(AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

All these intentional walks to David Ortiz are becoming a good move — for Mike Napoli and the Boston Red Sox, that is.

Napoli hit a grand slam right after Ortiz got a free stroll, Felix Doubront stifled the Yankees once again and the Boston Red Sox sent New York to its sixth loss in seven games, 11-1 Saturday night.

Napoli has batted four times this season after intentional walks to Ortiz. He’s produced in those spots, homering twice and driving in eight runs.

‘‘My job is to be his protection,’’ Napoli said. ‘‘I like protecting him and maybe giving managers another thought.’’

Daniel Nava added a three-run homer in the eighth inning that emptied the crowd. The aisles were full of fans streaming to the exits by the time Nava touched the plate, and a ‘‘Let’s go, Red Sox!’’ chant erupted when Stephen Drew homered in a three-run ninth.

Globe: Napoli's slam leads Doubront, Red Sox rout Yankees

Not only did the Red Sox completely bitch slap the Yankeees, Red Sox fans took over Yankee Stadium with "Let's go Red Sox" chants. 

Mike Napoli's grand salami was nice, but how about Daniel Nava? He has nothing else to prove and he is getting paid next to nothing (compared to other players that have similar stats). He won't be a free agent until 2018 when he is 35, so he will never get a huge pay day. The great thing is, he is just happy to be playing baseball for a living.

Back to the game. The Sox did everything right last night and it was extra special that they did it in New York. I am not sure how many people watched this game over the Bruins (I wasn't among the few), but it was surely one of the best wins of the season. I'm kicking myself for forgetting to set the DVR, but not to worry if you are like me, because the Sox will just give us a repeat performance on ESPN's national stage tonight. I guarantee it. Maybe...

On Page 2, When will we see Ellsbury back in the lineup?