For 6 2/3 innings, Josh Beckett was looking at a no-no–then, within one
inning, BAM! The Tigers put 5 runs on the board, and the Sox had
committed three errors–THREE! And No, Julio Lugo didn’t play–but one
of the errors WAS Nick Green’s)

Josh’s line: 7.2 inning, throwing 119 pitches, 80 for strikes, giving
up 3 runs (all unearned–a combination of the 3 errors, and the fact
that Daniel Bard couldn’t stop them from scoring) on 2 hits, while
walking 2 hitting a batter, and striking out 9…Josh has been very good
the last couple of outings, let’s hope this trend is the one he goes
with for the rest of the season…

And with last night’s win, and the Skanks loss, the Sox and the Skanks
now share 1st place duties in the AL East…

Jed Lowrie is stil on track for a June return, taking about 30 swings
from each side of the plate before yesterday’s game. More from Jed: “It
felt good today, and that was the first time I had done the over-hand
stuff. Just continue to keep doing it. I say that all the time, but
that’s all I can do. Just day by day and hope that it keeps getting
better. I’ll keep working at it.” If all goes well with his testing
tomorrow, it looks like he will progress to batting practice when the
Sox return to Fenway this weekend…

Remember how going to the bullpen meant time for the Tums and Jack
Daniels smoothie? Remember Bullpen by Committee? How about Scott
Williamson? Rudy Seanez? And the countless other members of a scary
relief corp the Sox have had in recent (and no so recent) memory? Well,
guess who LEADS THE MAJORS with a bullpen ERA of 2.89? Yep, the Boston Red Sox…freaking unbelievable, isn’t it? Although I do think Daniel Bard needs to go back to Pawtucket and get some more seasoning. The whole “I can throw a 100mph” is great and everything, but it always seems like he is giving up inherited runs–like the 2 charged to Josh Beckett last night….and then their was the 2 runs he earned all by himself–all of this happening in 1/3 of an inning…he is very young,
and needs some seasoning….

Numbers Game: In last night’s contest, Mike Lowell had his 1500th
career hit, and Rocco Baldelli, had his 500th…It was also the 501st
win for Terry Francona, the 3rd longest in Red Sox History…

Holy Crap! What was Atlanta thinking?? Billerica native, co-star of
the greatest commercial EVER, 305 game winner, and potential Hall
of Famer Tom Glavine was RELEASED yesterday. And their reason? “This
was not a business decision, This was a performance decision…We’ve
been evaluating him the last four weeks and everyone felt we had a
better chance to win at the major league level with one of our younger
pitchers…We gave [Glavine] the option, ‘If you want to retire, you can
retire as a Brave…He asked us to release him.” Glavine has been
rehabbing after shoulder and elbow surgery, and just has a strong outing
for A Rome, where he threw six scoreless innings…And yet another
reason I cannot stand Atlanta…BUT, its interesting to note that the
Sox are on the short list, if not at the top of the list of places
Glavine would like to pitch–Theo–I know the Sox have way too much
pitching–but SIGN HIM NOW!!!

Coming up: Today marks the official ending of the 1st third of the 2009
campaign at 54 games. Tim Wakefield takes the mound for the (hopefully) sweep against the Tigers, and extend their road record even further (it’s currently at 5-4). He is opposed by former phenom, turned pretty awful, Dontrelle Willis, which means HE’LL probably throw a
no-hitter….1st pitch, 1:05pm…