Boston Bombed In Tampa Bay..Papi To Appeal..Crawford Almost Ready

Things started out badly almost the first minute of the game as Red Sox starter Andrew Miller self-destructed, only going 2 2/3 innings and giving up a whopping 7 earned runs. The bullpen allowed a collective 2 runs but it was far too late for any Friday victory dreams. The final score was 9-6. The Sox skipper said this about his pitcher...

"The walks really hurt. The strike-to-ball ratio, I don't think was horrible, but when he threw his balls, they were all bunched together. It was just a tough way to pitch. His pitch count was so high. It was kind of obvious that something was not going right."

I agree with Tito. I hope nothing's wrong with Miller because the Boston Red Sox are running out of pitchers. Fast! Get ready for 4:10pm baseball today on Fox. It's be Lackey dueling Shields in the Florida sunshine. The Sox need to take this but Shields is one tough customer.

In other Red Sox news, Big Papi David Ortiz has appealed his suspension and will play for the time being. There is a chance his "sentence" will be reduced. Let's hope so. Here's the latest from Carl Crawford, our missing left fielder, from the Boston Globe with my thanks...

“The most important thing was being able to break out of the box like I normally can … to be able to move quickly without worrying about my hamstring. I had a few moments tonight where I was able to test it. I had to do some stopping and starting. When you stop real quick and nothing happens that’s a good sign. I want to try and do everything two days in a row to make sure there isn’t any pain or anything like that. After that happens, I’ll be ready to go."

We're ready for Monday, too. I hope every one of you has a terrific Saturday and a tremendous weekend. Click on this post's title for more on last night's action, if I may call it that. Once you do that, click on that mid-screen box with the two teams' emblems for a great 2 minute wrap-uo of the entire action. As always, BE WELL.