Dice-K was able to go 7 1/3 innings last night before tiring in the 8th, and being chased out by s flurry of Seattle hits.  For the game, Dice threw 99 pitches, and only walked three batters.  Dice-K had his outpitch working very well last night as he recorded six strike-outs.  The Mariners were able to scatter five hits, with most of the damage was done in the 8th inning, where they got to Dice for two runs.  With the win last night, Dice-K has now run his record to 11-1 for the season.

  The Boston hitters last night got a taste of life with a knuckleball, as they faced R.A. Dickey.  Dickey's knuckler is not as effective as Wakefields, and Dickey throws with more velocity, as well as few fastballs that topped out at around 85 mph or so.  Seven of the Red Sox hitters recorded hits last night, including Jason Varitek, who has now hit in two games in a row.  Jacoby Ellsbury continues to scuffle some as he again had a less than great night, going 1-5, not good numbers considering he is the lead-off man.  Manny Rameriz and Dustin Pedoria stayed hot, as they both kept thier hit streaks alive.  Mike Lowell had a multi-hit night as well, and hopefully he is coming out of his mini-slump.

  The road trip concludes today, and the Sox then get an off day sorta-off, since they are on the west coast, most of it will be spent adjusting back to the Eastern Time Zone.  The Sox now have a nine game home stand, where they will face the Yanks, the Angels, and the Oakland A's.  In the Yanks and Angels, the Sox face two teams with post season designs, so lets hope the Sox can keep it going at Fenway.

 So I guess it makes perfect sense when one of the "best" and "brightest" GM's in baseball signs a guy who has hit right around .220 the last two years.  In fact Sexson's homerun total the last year and half is just 33, five more than Bonds, and Sexson's had 100 or so more games this year to add to it.  To add to it, Sexson's OBP is around .315 or so the last two season.

So when Bud Selig says there is not colusion....I believe em....makes sense....

  Jon Lester was ABFAB last night for the Boston Red Sox, he indeed was what the doctor ordered.  Lester was able to put on a show for his hometown crowd that they soon will not forget.  Lester went 7 1/3 innings last night, and allowed no runs.  Lester allowed eight hits, stuck out six, and he walked the same number of batters he allowed to score, ZERO.  Lester was also efficient with his pitches, only throwing 103 thru his seven plus innings.  Lester allowed three singles in the 8th though, and it appeared as the bullpen would blow another lead.  However this time, Terry Francona made the right call, and brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon to end the threat, and effectively close the door on the Seattle Mariners.  Papelbon pitched 1 2/3 last night, but only needed 15 pitches to get five outs. 

  Mixed bag for most of the Sox last night, as the most of the same cast of characters remained cool, and the same few remained hot.  Double Play Drew grounded into his fourth double play in the last five games, that is an amazing stat by the way.  Drew was also hitless for the night.  Mike Lowell also continued to scuffle as he also had a hitless night, his second in a row, and third out of the last four.  The offense last night was provided by Jed Lowrie and Jason Varitek.  Lowrie had a two run single, and Varitek homered for the first time in 42 games.

  Tim Wakefield pitched well today, but appeared gassed as he started the 8th inning, as he allowed back-to-back doubles and let the lead slip away.  Wakefield, who entered the game 6-6, will now fall to 6-7, and is as snake-bitten as I have ever seen a pitcher.

  In case your scoring at home the Sox have lost 10 out of the last 12 games they have played on the road.  The Sox failure's on the road this season, is the leak that will sink the ship.  They cannot beat anyone on the road, good or bad, and they now fall 11 games under .500 on the road this season, a pathetic record, especially for a team of this caliber.  Worse still, the Sox have have given confidence to team they have owned as of late.  For the year, the Sox lose the season series to the Angels 5-1, also ridiculous.

  As we approach the trade deadline, I love reading quotes by Theo Epstein that the Sox are good, and anything they do will be done from within.  Hey boy wonder, if you have better bullpen guys within the organization, where the hell have they been all year, and why have they not appeared on the field.  Just another instance of Theo being Theo......

  Beckett had a good outing going thru six innings, but the 7th inning was more than he could bear.  With the bases loaded in the 7th, Beckett served up a bases clearing triple that in effect ended the game.  Beckett gave up four runs in the 7th inning, and that was more than enough for the Angels.  Beckett's line today was eight innings, nine hits, four earned runs and six strikeouts, and a major choke job.  No matter how good his resume is, Beckett is no leader, and certainly no ace, and he has proved this all season long.  Beckett's record drops to a very disappointing 9-6 for the season.

  Of course the Sox offense came up small again, scoring only two runs, and five total in the last 18 innings.  The Sox left them loaded in the 8th when Jed Lowrie struck out badly, and they left two on when Manny grounded out.  It was certainly a team effort to stink today, and every Red Sox did thier part.  Even Mike Lowell is not immune to the stinkage on this trip as he has gone 0-9 in the series.

  Bad news worse, the Yankees won at home today, and now pull to within four games of the Sox.  The Rays as we speak have put up a five spot on Toronto and Roy Halladay, so I guess the Rays will gain on the Sox today as well.

Papi had another great night in his rehab assignment.  He was 1-2 with a three run homer and two walks in his seven innings of play last.  Showing good progress considering this injury's normal side-affect is less power.  So far no power outage to report.

You can't blame Clay Buchholtz for last night's debacle, his second strainght stinker since being called back up from Pawtucket.  Buchholtz had seven days rest, and he still looked like crap.  Clay Buchholtz should not be in this position, he should not be the 5th starter.  At no point this season has he earned the right to be a starter for the Boston Red Sox.  Buchholtz stunk in spring training, and he has been highly ineffective the ENTIRE season.  The Red Sox had an effective 5th starter in Justin Masterson, whom they determined needed to go back to Pawtucket to make room for Buchholtz.  Theo also wanted to have Masterson learn bullpen 101 on the fly, since he (Epstein) constructed such a crappy bullpen this season.

  For his efforts last night, Buchholtz was tagged for eight runs in just under five innings.  He gave the Sox no chance to win, as he surrendered three earned runs in the first inning.  Buchholtz surrendered eight hits and two walks in his short night.  It was the second outing in a row for Buchholtz going five innings or less.

  I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it many more times this season, Theo Espstein has no business putting together a Major League pitching staff.  In his tenure as the Boston G.M., he has constantly been plagued by poorly constructed staff's and bullpens.  Buchholtz may be a pitcher of the future, 2009 or 2010 perhaps, but the future for this kid is certainly not in 2008.

Big Papi made a splash in his return to baseball last night.  In his second at bat last night, Papi turned on a 1-2 breaking ball that was dumped over the right field fence.  For the night, Papi was 1-3 with a homer and a walk.  He also scored a run as well, in a game Pawtucket won 15-6.  All in all not a bad night for guy that may have diminished power from his injured wrist.

  It's not like Manny's concerns are unfounded either.  In his time with the Sox, Manny has seem them come and go.  This current group of Red Sox brass has not exactly handled free agency with flying colors.  Two big name stars that made big time contributions in thier time in a Red Sox uniform, were told one thing, and an entirely different thing occured.  The end result, was that one of those free agents went to the New York Yankees( Johnny Damon), and the other (Pedro Martinez), went to the New York Mets.  Of course both times a war of words occured and it was media firestorm of he said, he said.

  John Henry can act offended if he wants to, however he has been as guilty as anyone in the Red Sox front office for the mis-handling of Red Sox free agents.  The "record" is littered with comments made by Red Sox brass concerning upcoming Red Sox free agents.  This is being portrayed as another episode of Manny being Manny, however this is more like Manny looking out for Manny.

  Gaining David Ortiz back at this point is like trading for a bat, except not having to give anything up for it.  I'm sure there will be some hiccups along the way with Papi and his injured wrist, but just his presence makes the Red Sox a stronger team to face.  Another by product of Ortiz's return will be the depth it will add back to the Sox roster.  J.D. Drew can return to the middle of the line-up, hopefully adding some pop to the back half of a so far lifeless group.  With the exception of Kevin Youkilis, the bottom of the Red Sox line-up has resembled a bad National League line-up, that included a pitcher hitting in the nine spot.  Jason Varitek has been as bad as he can possibly be, and his numbers look to only gets worse, as they have in the second half of every Red Sox season since 2003.

  Whatever the case, the season begins in earnest tommorrow night.  The Sox are down to thier last 65 regular season games, with the majority being at Fenway Park.  As the case has been all season, they will start the second half the same way they started the regular season, on the road in a different time zone, around 3,000 miles or so away from friendly Fenway.

  Another thing, while we are at it.  Espn kept showing Yankee Stadiums greatest moments.  However I think they missed quite a few....FYI......

Here are just a few in the last few years they ommitted from thier list.

For starters how bout Wyatt Earp Jr going into Yankee Stadium on three days rest, and five hitting and shutting out the vaunted Yankees.  The Yankees were a 200 million team versus a 54 million dollar team, and they were heavily favored.  They were punked that October, as they have been in everyone since.....

Or how bout this beauty the next year....the 2004 ALCS...game six...bloody sox...ring any bells Yankee fans...I swear the "stadium" was sold out that night...

What about this one....Red Sox converging onto the middle of the field to celebrate thier comeback over the Yankee's in Yankee Stadium...in the 2004 ALCS...a series in which they trailed 3-0

How about the time a Red Sox won the All-Star MVP in the last all-star game at Yankee Stadium.....

ESPN and Yankee fans can have thier fond Yankee Stadium memories....and I'll have mine..... 

  Last night's game featured top shelf pitching, as both teams combined to strikeout 34 times in the game.  In 15 innings, both teams combined to get 27 hits, but it seemed none could get a big hit in those later innings.  The American League got to those later innings due in large part to a two run homer that had the mostly Yankee crowd cheering for a Red Sox.  For his efforts, Drew was awarded the MVP award for the game.  As you can see Drew got the award around 2 am EST, so I doubt he did much celebrating.

 Both teams went thru all thier pitchers, but at least both Francona and Clint Hurdle managed to save a starting pitcher just in case.  The Tampa Rays had requested that Scott Kazmir not be used unless it was an emergency, but Francona had to break the glass.  One has to wonder what Francona would have done if Texas Ranger Micheal Young had not ended the game with a sac-fly r.b.i. .

  It is amazing how the National League keeps ripping defeat from the jaws of victory in these All-Star games.  The N.L. has only managed a tie in the mid-summer classic since 1996.  So once again, the American League Champion will have home field advantage in the World Series.

Here are the line-ups....

American League

1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF, Mariners
2. Derek Jeter, SS, Yankees
3. Josh Hamilton, CF, Rangers
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees
5. Manny Ramirez, LF, Red Sox
6. Milton Bradley, DH, Rangers
7. Kevin Youkilis, 1B, Red Sox
8. Joe Mauer, C, Twins
9. Dustin Pedroia, 2B, Red Sox

Cliff Lee, Indians -- Starting pitcher

National League

1. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins
2. Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies
3. Lance Berkman, 1B, Astros
4. Albert Pujols, DH, Cardinals
5. Chipper Jones, 3B, Braves
6. Matt Holliday, RF, Rockies
7. Ryan Braun, LF, Brewers
8. Kosuke Fukudome, CF, Cubs
9. Geovany Soto, C, Cubs

Ben Sheets -- Starting pitcher

Below are the complete AL and NL

  Josh has had a tough go of it the last few years with his Astros, if you have not noticed, they stink on wheat this year and last.  To make matters worse, they teased Josh earlier in May by pulling one game back of the Cubs.  However it turned out to be a mirage for the fans of the Houston Astros.  They are now in dead last in the N.L. Central, behind the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates of all teams.

  Okay fast forward to a few days ago, my phone is ringing @ 9am on a saturday morning, a risky proposition to be sure.  However I am awake, so I answer, it's Josh.  Josh is of course calling to complain about yet another horrible loss by the Astros, this loss a 10-0 beatdown by the Washington Nationals, another crappy team.  To make matters worse for Josh, is he has to decide whether he wants to drive four hours to Washington to see the Astros play the Nationals in the final two games in the series.  Fours hours each way, so a total of eight hours to see the crappy Astros, who have a 40/60 chance of winning those games.

  Being the "real" fan that he is, Josh and his girlfriend (who purchased the tickets), made the long drive in I-95 traffic to see the Astros.  Josh's efforts were rewarded, the Astros went on a season high two game win streak, and won both games that Josh got to see. 

CONGRATS JOSH, YOU ARE RED SOX NATION DAILY'S FAN OF THE WEEK

IN ANOTHER CEREMONY HELD BACK STAGE JOSH ALSO WON MOST ANNOYING ASTROS FAN OF THE WEEK AS WELL