Random Thoughts

- The weekend series against the Blue Jays started off great for the Red Sox with Jon Lester throwing a 1-hit shutout game.  He only gave up one double, and the Sox won 5-0.  Middlebrooks started to find his swing again and cranked out 2 doubles.  Every player had at least one hit except for Ortiz, Napoli, and Drew.

- Buchholz tried to follow-up Lester’s performance with a great outing himself, but the Sox lost 3-2 on Saturday.  Lester’s line was 8.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO.  The game was tied 2-2 going into the top of the 9th when newly appointed closer, Tazawa gave up a home run to Adam Lind.  Middlebrooks had another double and a single this game, and Ellsbury hit a triple, his 4th of the season.

- Sunday’s game was a blowout for the Jays, and the Sox lost 12-4.  Dempster gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings, Miller gave up 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, Mortensen gave up 1 run in an inning and a third, and recent call-up De La Torre gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning.  Napoli and Ciriaco each had home runs, but Middlebrooks stopped hitting and committed another error.  Victorino crashed into the fence (he's said to be okay after a trip to the hospital to be checked out).  The Sox lost the series, their third in a row.

- Not only did the Red Sox lose the series, they lost closer Joel Hanrahan for the year.  He’s going to have season-ending surgery performed by Dr. Andrews to repair his muscle flexor in his right arm.  He was calling out the nay-sayers on Twitter this weekend.

- The Red Sox also lost catcher David Ross to the 7-day concussion disabled list and called-up Ryan Lavarnway.  

- I can’t remember the last time David Ortiz got a hit, let alone a home run.  It’s almost painful to see him bat.  When he does make contact, he just doesn’t have the type of speed to beat out plays.  Here’s hoping Papi finds his power again.

- The Red Sox are no longer in first place.  They currently sit in third place.  They are 2 games back from the Yankees, and one game back from the Orioles.  

- On Friday, Daniel Nava had 23 RBIs, the same as Adrian Gonzalez.  Kind of interesting that a guy (Nava) who was originally signed for $1 had the same number of RBIs as MVP-hopeful Adrian Gonzalez.  (Currently, Nava has 24 RBIs and Gonzalez 26).

- Felix Doubront’s next start, scheduled for Tuesday, is going to be skipped.  According to The Boston Globe’sschedule, he’s going to pitch Thursday against the Rays.  

-Lastly, this is my 200th post of the blog.  When I started over a year ago, I honestly didn’t know if I’d continue it this long.  I am very happy I have, and I’m looking for ways to improve the blog and get the name out there more.  Look for more things to come in the future.