Poor Effort By Red Sox...Minnesota 8 Boston 0

There was good news and bad news on the Red Sox front yesterday. I'll start with the bad...

Bad News #1) The game itself. The Minnesota Twins whupped the Boston Red Sox in a game filled with Boston miscues and a starting pitcher who only "had it" for four innings. Tim Wakefield allowed five runs collectively in the fifth and sixth innings, turning a 1-0 contest into a 6-0 folly. He allowed 10 (!) hits and six earned runs while walking one and whiffing two. It was a very mediocre outing. Couple Timmy's performance with the Red Sox defense (& offense) and you had all the makings of a major loss. The Sox commited three errors and Victory Martinez made a major throwing error, going to second base while the runner was running, head down, not looking, from second to third. An accurate throw might have gotten him. The bottom line, however, is this...the Sox never plated a single runner. A win was impossible. Here's Wakefield on his performance...

“It was a very ugly game today, and that started with me on the mound,’’ Wakefield said. “I wasn’t able to stop the bleeding quick enough. I just didn’t have very good stuff today. Just one of those games where I tried to grind it out as long as possible. I had really no feel for the breaking ball, couldn’t throw my fastball for strikes, and my knuckleball also wasn’t doing very well."

I've already turned the page and am looking forward to ten games of Fenway Park baseball. They'll face the Rays tonight with their ace, Josh Beckett on the mound. Look for a win. PERIOD.

Bad News #2) Jacoby Ellsbury is still hurting...a lot. He said yesterday that it hurts to sharply inhale, much less play left field and swing the bat. He was checked out yesterday in Minnesota, as was Mike Cameron (see below), who couldn't even make the flight back to Boston. DO NOT expect to see Jacoby back in left for at least a week and Boston might try to acquire another outfielder. Their center and left fielders are not on the field right now and the oft-injured JD Drew has been troubled by his neck. The injuries mount. That brings us to bad news number three.

Bad News #3) Mike Cameron woke up yesterday with a pain in his gut...literally. He was checked out at a Minnesota hospital before the team jetted home because the Sox wanted to make sure it isn't appendicitis. Or a hernia. I haven't heard how his examination ended up but he remains in Minnesota for now.

Finally, GOOD News #1) Daisuke Matsuzaka made his second start for the PawSox and was impressive. He allowed no runs and threw 86 pitches. 56 of them were strikes and he looked better than he did at any point last year. Here's the man himself...

“I think I’ve thrown enough pitches at this point to be ready to pitch in the big leagues,” he said through a translator. “Compared to the second time I went on the DL last year, when it took me a really long time to have that feeling, I can’t even compare them. Right now, I’m confident. I think personally I’m ready."

I, for one, hope he's ready to contribute to the big club, whether taking the place of Buchholz or Wakefield in the rotation. I'd hate to relegate either of them to the 'pen but if the manager and coaches feel that Daisuke is pitching "lights out," that might be what happens.

I think that covers just about everything for now. Thanks for stopping in, click on this post's title for more on the Sox and as always, BE WELL. See ya.