Papi Grande Powers Red Sox Victory. Boston Red Sox 12 Kansas City Royals 5

The Boston Red Sox Wednesday night defeated the KC Royals by a score of 12-5. The game's big blow was David Ortiz' grand slam in the fourth inning which made the score 10-3. The four RBIs gave Ortiz 1,000 during his Boston tenure. Only five others have reached the 1,000 RBI milestone for the Red Sox -- the distinguished quintet of Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Bobby Doerr. What an accomplishment! Here is our Big Papi...

"This is what, my ninth year here? When your name gets in the mix with guys that played here their whole career, it's a compliment. It's something that you don't think about it right now while you're playing. You kind of sit down later and say, 'Well, I did OK while I was there." I think Ellsbury and Pedroia, they're making it tougher on everyone else,. What they're doing at the top of the lineup, it's ridiculous. You don't get that on a daily basis from the first- and second-hole hitter. They're putting so much pressure on the pitcher. Winning is something that we expect every day. That's why we get ready to play every day. Even the guys coming up, they get that feeling when they walk into this clubhouse. They know this is a winning ballclub and everybody around here gets prepared to play and to win games. You know, you can see it around here. When we lose a game, it's like the end of the world because we're ready to win games and play the game the way it's supposed to be."

And that's exactly what they've been doing. Coupled with a Yankees loss, their AL East lead is back to three full games. John Lackey started and, before most people were settled in their seats, gave up a three run tater. When I saw the ball sail into the stands, I thought "Is this the start of a deluge?" It wasn't. Lacks settled down although he gave up a ton of hits in his 5 1/3 innings. I say every game that he starts and we win is like icing on the Red Sox Nation cake. We Red Sox fans know that we root for a team that can hit the s*it out of the ball and last night, they did it again. Jacoby Ellsbury and Pedey Pedroia, the first two hitters in the Red Sox lineup, smashed taters and they went from there. Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Gonzalez each had three hits. Ells and Pedey are ridiculously hot, white hot fire hot. And Lackey was good enough in a maddening way. Here he is...

"I felt pretty good. I felt strong starting off. I wish the first inning would have gone a little smoother, and then I would have had a little more in the tank getting into the game. But I didn't. It kind of turned into a little bit of a grind."

Grind away, John. Do anything you can to win. Without Buchholz, who is seeing yet another back doctor today (just a formality?), the Red Sox are not as strong as they could be. That's obvious. The trading deadline is tomorrow and I think Boston has to shell out for a number five guy or experiment with someone already in their system. One though three...we're solid as a rock with Lester, Beckett and...err...we're solid as a rock with our first two starters, then there's Wakes and Lackey. I love Wakes but in his last few starts he has given up a ton of runs and Lackey is Lackey. We need Buchholz back by the end of August. Yes, that's what they're saying right now but I'll wait for the doctor's opinion to be released to the public.

It's day baseball as the two teams conclude their four game series with J. Beckett (9-3) to take on L. Hochevar (6-8). The game begins at 1:35 pm EDT. The team will then start a road trip in Chicago to play three with the other Sox, the white ones. But first things first...enjoy the afternoon bliss if you can and I'll be back later this afternoon with a report or four. You can click on this post's title to see all the highlights of last night's happiness in Boston and as always, BE WELL. GO SOX. We love ya!