California Sweeping, On Such A Lovely Day...LA Angels 5 Boston Red Sox 3

The Boston Red Sox were sent packing by the LA Angels, heading north to Seattle after being swept by the home team yesterday. The Angels scored three in the eighth inning to not only tie the score but go up by two runs. It was something Boston could not overcome, and they ended up losing by a score of 5-3, their third straight loss to the Halos. Tim Wakefield pitched wonderfully yet again for seven innings, but back to back doubles off him in the eighth tied the score. It was then that Manny Delcarmen entered. Little Manny, who said his changup while warming up in the bullpen was superb, left one of those change of speed offerings out over the plate. That scored two, making it 5-3 Halos. LA closer Francisco Hernandez, the best in all of baseball (by far, stat-wise) sealed the deal and the sweep with a one-two-three scoreless ninth. It was the Angels' first three game sweep of the Sox in seven years. My goodness!

"It seems like we never got a combination of good at-bats like they did," said Dustin Pedroia, the only Sox player to swing a hot bat all weekend, his three hits yesterday giving him seven in the series. "We're not going to win too many games scoring two, three runs with five, six hits. They had momentum in the eighth, and we haven't been doing that. Shoot, they get the big hit and keep adding on. They put that damn monkey on the board, and the place went nuts."

Pedey was talking about the Angels' rally Monkey, by the way. In other Red Sox news, David Aardsma, who has been great out of the 'pen, was put on the 15 day disabled list (sore groin), making room for ex-starter Justin Masterson. With his sidearm delivery, he is very tough on righties, and maybe he can save us from some of the mayhem that went on yesterday with the always hot or cold but never in between Manny Delcarmen on the mound. And Tampa Bay lost on Sunday, which leaves the Red Sox 1 1/2 games behind 'em. The Yankees won and now they're a mere three games in back of us. So the AL East is tightening up. What the Sox need is someone who could return to the batting order, ummm, maybe in the third spot, and help this team SCORE RUNS! I have someone in mind, too. And he's almost ready to do just that, as soon as the Sox return to the correct coast to play the pinstriped ones. Three against Seattle...we need two wins. Here are the pitching matchups...

Jon Lester (7-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jarrod Washburn (4-8, 4.83) tonight
Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-1, 2.65) vs. R.A. Dickey (2-4, 3.73) Tuesday
Clay Buchholz (2-5, 5.88) vs. Felix Hernandez (7-6, 2.95) Wednesday

So cross your fingers, maybe your toes, because the Red Sox should be able to beat these guys from the northwest corner of the nation. Lester, Matsuzaka and (gulp) Buchholz. Yeah, two of three would be fine, just fine. Click on the title for some more Soxiness, and as always, BE WELL.