Here is tonight's lineup vs. the White Sox:

Ellsbury CF
Victorino RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava LF
Middlebrooks 3B
Drew SS
Saltalamacchia C

Lester SP

Game time is at 8:10pm EST. 

John Lackey took the mound and had one of his best outings in a Sox uniform.  Unfortunately it would be cut short due to a rain delay, but he'd still pitch long and well enough to get himself and the team a nice win.  

Lackey pitched 4 perfect innings before giving up his first hit.  At that point, the offense had already given Lackey a 3-0 lead.  Middlebrooks hit a solo HR in the 2nd inning, Pedey reached on what should have been a DP ball and a run scored in the 3rd and then Napoli hit an RBI single in the 5th.  Lackey gave up a leadoff double as his first hit to Plouffe in the 5th inning.  Lackey got a ground ball that should have been an inning ending double play, but Ciriaco air mailed the throw to 1st base and actually hit Parmalee with the ball.  Plouffe scored on the play, but the run was unearned for Lackey.  Sox 3-1.  Lackey kept rolling right up until the 7th inning when the earth opened up and it began pouring.  

The tarp was called and we were in a rain delay.  The delay is one of the longest that I can ever remember.  The delay lasted exactly 3 hours and then the tarp was off and we were playing baseball again.  There were only a couple hundred fans who waited out the delay, so it was a strange sight at Target Field.  Andrew Miller took the mound in the 7th and had himself a nice 1-2-3 inning.  In the 8th, Koji Uehara took the mound and almost gave us all a heart attack.  Uehara gave up a double, a walk and a single to have the bases loaded.  With 2 outs, Joe Mauer came to the plate and we were all collectively holding out breath.  Uehara ended up getting Mauer to strikeout and got out of the inning.  Phew.  In the top of the 9th, Pedey gave the team some breathing room when he hit a 2 run HR that bounced off Willingham's glove and hopped out of the park.  Sox 5-1.  Tazawa came in for the 9th and gave up two singles before getting the next 3 batters in order.  

The Sox swept the Twins and as of right now are only a half game back from the Yankees who are leading the AL East.  

Red Sox 5  Twins 1  BOXSCORE

WP: Lackey (2-4)  LP:  Hernandez (2-1)

Victorino CF
Gomes LF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava RF
Middlebrooks 3B
Saltalamacchia C
Ciriaco SS

Lackey SP

The Red Sox have won their last 3 games and were sending Ryan Dempster to the mound in hopes of making it 4 straight.  The Sox would blast their way to a win, but Dempster wouldn't be able to make it out of the 5th inning.  The score makes it seem like it was a blowout, but those middle innings were pretty tense as the Twins were rallying back.  

The Sox bats got going early in the top of the first when Papi hit a 3 run HR.  Dempster struggled out of the gate as he allowed a baserunner in every inning he pitched.  In the 2nd, he gave up an RBI single to Florimon.  Sox 3-1.  The Sox were able to get that run right back in the 3rd when Papi hit an RBI single to score Gomes.  Sox 4-1.  In the bottom of the 4th Dempster allowed another run to score when he gave up an RBI single to Morneau.  Sox 4-2.  In the top of the 5th the Sox would get to scoring again.  Pedey hit an RBI double, Nava hit a sac fly and then a Lavarnway RBI single.  Sox 7-2.  

The Sox seemed like they had the game in control, but Dempster just didn't seem like he had it and it would continue into the 5th.  Dempster gave up a groundout RBI to Plouffe and an RBI single to Florimon.  Sox 7-4.  Farrell came out to talk to Dempster, but decided to leave him in the game.  That decision would prove to be poor. Dempster gave up an RBI single to Carroll and he was out of the game.  Sox 7-5.  Clayton Mortensen was in the game and got the two outs needed to get out of the inning unscathed.  

Mortensen would start the 6th, but with one out and two runners on base, he was pulled and Craig Breslow was in the game. Breslow issued a walk and the bases were loaded.  Breslow got Hicks to pop out to 2nd base and Pedey made a great throw to home and Lavarnway blocked the plate and took quite a collision with Doumit to end the inning.  In the top of the 7th, Papi reminded his old team how much they should miss him when he hit his 2nd homerun of the night.  Sox 9-5.  Then Daniel Nava hit a 2 run HR of his own to have the Sox leading 11-2.  Suddenly this game didn't seem so tight anymore.  Breslow pitched a scoreless 7th and then Lavarnway added on one more run in the top of the 8th when he hit a sac fly.  Sox 12-5.  Alex Wilson came in and pitched two scoreless innings to end the game.  

This was a great game.  It started with a blast, got way too close for comfort and then the bats blasted away again to put the game to bed.  

Red Sox 12  Twins 5  BOXSCORE

WP: Breslow (1-0)  LP:  Diamond (3-4)

Ellsbury CF
Gomes LF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava RF
Middlebrooks 3B
Lavarnway C
Ciriaco SS

Dempster SP

The Sox came off winning a series against the Rays and were hoping to avenge the Twins taking 3 out of 4 from them at Fenway a week or so ago.  The Sox had Clay Buchholz on the mound who has been their best pitcher this year, so they had a good shot.  In the end, Buchholz would get a no decision and the game would be won in extra innings. 

In the first inning, the Sox hopped on the scoreboard with a single run when Papi hit an RBI single to score Nava.  Sox 1-0.  Buchholz continued to pitch well in his outing last night.  Buch only gave up 2 runs over 7 innings pitched.  The only real mistake he made was giving up a 2 run HR in the 3rd to Florimon.  Sox 1-2.  The Sox would end up tying the game in the bottom of the 7th when Ellsbury hit an RBI single to score Jonny Gomes.  The Sox had a chance to take the lead in that inning, but were unable to get it done.   After 7 innings Clay was done for the night and his pitching line was 110 pitches, 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB and 9 Ks.  He'd be in line for a no decision no matter how this game plays out.  

Andrew Miller was out for the Red Sox and pitched the 8th and most of the 9th.  During his 1.2 innings of work, Miller didn't allow any baserunners and got 3 strikeouts.  I often get frustrated with Miller's inconsistency, but tonight I was happy as could be that we saw dominant, in control Andrew Miller.  Miller was out of the game and Alex Wilson took the mound.  Wilson got the out to end the 9th and we were on to extras.  In the top of the 10th, the Sox batters got to work.  Pedey hit a single, Papi walked and then Middlebrooks hit a sac bunt to move them both into scoring position.  The Twins intentionally walked Drew and then Gomes came to the plate with the bases loaded and only one out.  Gomes hit a sac fly to center field and Pedey was home.  Sox 3-2.  Uehara came out in the bottom of the 10th and was in line for his first save situation in a Sox uniform.  Uehara got a fly out and then 2 strikeouts to end the game and notch the win for the Sox.  Uehara then went on to high five everyone he could win.

It was another nice win from the Sox.  This team is showing some real grit in the last few days.  

Red Sox 3  Twins 2  F/10  BOXSCORE

WP: Wilson (1-0)  LP: Roenicke (1-1)  SV: Uehara (1)

It's been another week, so let's check in on the AL East standings:

For the first time this season the Sox fell out of first place.  That tends to happen when you lose games that should be able to win.  The Sox lost 2 out of 3 to the Jays and then just barely won 2 out of 3 from the Rays.  It could have been worse, it surely could have been better.  The Sox were helped out by having Baltimore and NY lose some games as well. The Sox aren't the stinging team they were out of the gate going 20-8, but they also aren't the slumping team we saw go 2-9.  I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.

The next week for the Sox consists of road series with the Twins and White Sox and then heading home to face old friend Terry Francona and his Cleveland Indians.  I'd say that the Sox should be able to do some damage here, but since we lost 3 out of 4 at home to the Twins, you never know.  I'm gonna say this all season, I think the Sox season will live and die by their pitching.  Lester and Buchholz have been everything we've wanted them to be and more.  The jury is still out on Lackey, Dempster and Doubront.  As for the bullpen, we have the strength of members like Uehara and Tazawa.  The Sox have had bad luck with closers with Hanrahan and Bailey both being on the DL.  Hanrahan is done for the season having just had Tommy John and tendon surgery, but things all look like Bailey will be back by the end of the weekend.  

So, it'll be interesting to see where the Sox stand 7 days from now.  

Here is tonight's lineup vs. the Twins:

Ellsbury CF
Nava RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Middlebrooks 3B
Drew SS
Gomes LF
Carp 1B
Saltalamacchia C

Buchholz  SP

Game time is at 8:10pm EST.  

The Sox were coming off a big win and hoped to take this game and the series.  Felix Doubront was up against one of the Rays young, successful arms of Alex Cobb.  Felix pitched better than his last start, but he still had efficiency issues and didn't get out of the 6th inning.  However, the Sox would get a hit late and take the game in the bottom of the 8th.

Felix Doubront took the mound for the Sox after being shelved in the bullpen for the last week when Webster was called up for a spot start.  Doubront had to throw almost 30 pitches to get through the 1st inning, but he was able to get through it unscathed.  Dubi seemed to be squeezed something fierce by homeplate ump Joe West.  In the 2nd, Doubront gave up a solo HR to Roberts to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.  In the 4th inning Papi tied the game up with an RBI single to score Victorino.   Sox 1-1.  Doubront kept trucking through until the 6th inning when he issued a walk to Loney and was pulled from the game.  Doubront still had issues with being efficient, but it was definitely a step forward.  His pitching line for the night was 5+ IP, 104 pitches, 3 H, 2 R, 6 BB and 7 Ks.  

Clayton Mortensen came out in relief of Doubront, however he would not have himself his best outing.  Mortensen walked two batters to have the bases loaded.  Then Morty gave up an RBI single to Jennings to give the Rays the lead 2-1.  Mortensen was done and Andrew Miller was in the game.  Miller gave up an RBI single to Luke Scott and the Sox were trailing 3-1.  Miller got the 2 outs we needed, but the damage had been done.  Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless 7th inning and then Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 8th inning.  The Sox bats took to the top of the 9th hoping to get something done against Rays closer Fernando Rodney.  Rodney was pretty wild during the inning and ended up walking the bases loaded.  Rodney got Napoli and Drew to strikeout and had Will Middlebrooks down to his last strike.  However, Will Middlebrooks hit a breaking ball to the outfield for a double and cleared the bases.  The Sox were now leading 4-3.  Since Uehara was not available, Tazawa would take the mound in the 9th and pitch a scoreless 9th to grab the victory for the Sox.

The water is so very dirty.  The Sox haven't won a series in a while and it has been a much missed sight.  

Red Sox 4  Rays 3  BOXSCORE

WP: Tazawa (3-2)  LP:  Rodney (1-2)

Ellsbury CF
Victorino RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Nava LF
Drew SS
Middlebrooks 3B
Saltalamacchia C
 

Doubront SP