The Boston Red Sox have just released their 2010 Regular Season Schedule this afternoon.  They will be opening up next year’s campaign against the New York Yankees on Monday, April 5th for a three-game series.  This will mark the first time since 2005 where the longtime rivals match up to start the season. After the series the Sox will hit the road until they host the Tampa Bay Rays for the first time on Friday, April 16th for four games that will run until Marathon Monday (April 19). 

The LA Angels of Anaheim will make their way across country to Boston for a string of contests starting May 3rd.  Look for the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies to make an appearance at Fenway June 11th-13th.  Now at the home stretch of this year’s regular season, the Red Sox are 4.5 games up on the Texas Rangers in the AL Wild Card standings.  Stay tuned for some exciting baseball heading into the ‘09 playoffs.

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Friday nights rain delay caused for a Sunday double header where the Boston Red Sox really capitalized on the Tampa Bay Rays. Game 1 was decided in the bottom of the eighth when second basemen Dustin Pedroia hit a rare opposite field two-run blast to provide the Sox with a 3-1 lead.  Pedroia was shocked when the ball left the park, knowing it’s just the second time in his entire baseball career for him to hit one over the right field wall.  “I hit one in New York (on August 6th), but that’s a short field,” Pedroia said. “I was just trying to hit the ball in the air, and they’ve been throwing me away a lot. I just got a pitch a little up, and I just drove it.”

The story of game 2 can really be told through one name: John Lester.  The 13-7 Boston starter threw for eight innings without letting up a run (allowing just two hits). Lester has been on a complete tear this summer.  Since May 31st he has earned a 10-2 record with a 2.02 ERA.  “He threw 30 pitches two days ago and went out and threw 100 more and gave up two hits,” said Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay. “He’s another guy that, for us, is throwing well at the right time.”  Bay gave the Sox an extra run with a solo shot in the eighth.

With the way Lester and Buchholz are pitching now to complement Josh Beckett, the Red Sox starting rotation is certainly rated near the top for the league heading into the last few weeks of the regular season. Boston is now four games up on the Texas Rangers in the AL Wild Card standings.  They are scheduled to host the LA Angels of Anaheim tomorrow at 7:10 pm. 

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Red Sox manager Terry Francona had Victor Martinez on the bench until bottom of the seventh inning last night against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway.  Called in to pinch hit in a 4-4 tie-game situation; Martinez hit a drive to left center for a double with the bases loaded to provide Boston with the lift they needed to notch the win. Seemed like a good decision after all.

“I think he enjoys that situation, for sure,” said Francona. ”He’d rather have been starting, but it’s nice that on nights he hasn’t started, he’s sitting there ready to hit.” The bats were on all night for the Red Sox, as Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Bay and Varitek all showcased multi-hit games.

Paul Byrd threw for five innings to start for Boston and gave up two runs on six hits, leaving the win for Billy Wagner to snag in the seventh.  In his first career AL win Wagner struck out two in his one inning of work.  Papelbon came to help finish the bottom of the eighth and took control again in the ninth. “They were turning it up a little bit, so we had to go out there and battle,” said Wagner. We had some big hits when we needed them to give us a lead, and the bullpen held on and did what they were supposed to do.”

The Sox will now look to start their three-game weekend match up with the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that was just swept by the AL East leading New York Yankees.  John Lester (12-7) will get the nod to start on the hill tomorrow against Tampa Bay’s James Shields (9-10).

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Clay Buchholz in his six innings pitched last night gave up just three runs with three strike outs as the Boston Red Sox out-lasted the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 at Tropicana Field.  The crucial rubber-match victory put the Sox three games ahead of the Texas Rangers in the Wild Card standings and six games above Tampa Bay. 

“It was really good to get a win here tonight,” said Kevin Youkilis. “Coming in here this time of year against a team that’s in the Wild Card race with you, you’ve just got to come in and win the series, and we did a good job of that tonight.

Youkilis, one of the leading offensive contributors for Boston hit 3-for-5 yesterday with an RBI.  Victor Martinez and Jason Bay picked up the rest of the slack, combining for four hits and three RBI’s.  “I like our spot right now,” said Bay. “There’s still a whole month of baseball left. Obviously you get close to the end, and each game is magnified. Better to be on top than looking up.”

The Sox are currently making their way to the Windy City for a series against the Chicago White Sox.  Paul Byrd is next up on the pitching rotation for Boston.  Game time is scheduled for 8:11 pm

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Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria crushed a two run shot off of Manny Delcarmen to add some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Rays went on to overpower the Boston Red Sox 8-5.  Carl Crawford and Pat Burrell also knocked home runs for the Rays early on against Josh Beckett, who gave up five runs in just six innings pitched.

Although Beckett’s numbers didn’t show the best results, Delcarmen was the one who walked away with the loss after his dismal showing in the eighth.  From there the Tampa Bay bullpen took care of business, shutting out Boston in the final inning.

“It was a good game,” said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. “They scored in the end. That’s usually how it’s been here for us the last a lot of games. We obviously played hard so we’ll come out tomorrow and try to win the series.”  The young Clay Buchholz will get the start for Boston tonight against the 7-6 David Price.  Game time is scheduled for 7:08 pm at Tropicana Field.

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The Boston Red Sox played consistent all around last night to notch the 8-4 win against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.  Jonathon Papelbon earned his first career six-out save with help from Jacoby Ellsbury, who made a spectacular diving catch in the eighth inning with the bases loaded.  The game marked Papelbon’s 33rd save in his last 36 attempts. 

Newly acquired Billy Wagner was more than impressed with the clutch save, saying “I told him I’m glad it’s him and not me. That two-inning thing, that’s for young people, not for me,” said Wagner…”That was a lot of fun to watch. I know the nerves and what’s going on out there. One bad pitch and you look like the goat. But man, he was great tonight.”

Red Sox starter John Lester did his job from the mound as well, letting up just two runs on seven hits in six innings with nine K’s.  Boston’s line up posted their runs with the big bats last night; the first homer coming from J.D. Drew in the 4th inning, followed by Jason Bay in the fifth and Youkilis later in the eighth.

The Sox remain 6 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East standings, while staying ahead of the Rangers in the Wild Card race by 3 1/2 games.  Tampa Bay with the loss has been pushed to six games behind Boston.  “The biggest thing I liked about it was we got a win here - we got a win on the road in Tampa Bay,” said Ellsbury. “It just puts them back another game. Any time you play them head-to-head, those are big games with a month left in the season. It’s nice to come in here and get that first one.”

The 14-5 Josh Beckett will get his start tonight against the Rays for game two of this regular season showdown.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting pitcher Ervin Santana notched his first win at home this season with a magnificent outing last night against the Tampa Bay Rays. With no help from the bullpen he left Tampa Bay scoreless, only allowing three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Rays left-hander David Price certainly did not make it a pitchers duel, letting up six runs off eight hits in his six innings pitched. 

Santana has missed 52 games during two stints on the disabled list this season.  Last season he won 16 games for the Angel’s, and yesterday was a definite reminder of what the club has been missing all year.  “We could see it coming within Ervin,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “A lot of areas on our team needed a performance like that. He had a lot of pitches working. He couldn’t really have pitched a better game. … He’s a much better pitcher (now) than we saw all year.”  The Angels and Rays will face off one more time this afternoon at 3:35 pm.

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Brad Penny let up five runs including three homers over six innings, resulting in another Tampa Bay Rays victory over the Boston Red Sox last night at Tropicana field.  Despite the Sox matching their number of hits at 7, Tampa Bay’s home run derby led them to take this one 6-4. Jason Bartlett was the last to knock one out in the 7th off Delcarmen to seal the deal for the Rays.  Similar to the game two nights ago, Boston hit two long balls themselves in the 2nd and 6th innings from Jason Bay and Victor Martinez (first HR in a Boston uniform).

For the past two years the Red Sox have won two out of 15 games while away at Tropicana field.  Head coach Terry Francona says it’s really the Rays they need to be worried about, not the stadium.  “I don’t know that we evaluate ballparks,” said Francona. “They’re a good team. I don’t think it’s this place. I think it’s who we’re playing. They’re good. They’ve played us very tough.”  The Red Sox will need to get themselves together before heading to New York to face the Yankees for four games this upcoming weekend.  New York now leads the AL East standings by 2 1/2 games.  A few wins for the Sox would be huge as they head into the most crucial months of the regular season.

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The Boston Red Sox took the Tampa Bay Rays to 13 innings before Evan Longoria decided it was time to go home, blasting a two-run walk off homer to give Tampa Bay the 4-2 victory last night in St. Petersburg, Fla.  Boston scored the first go-ahead run in the 2nd inning with a Kevin Youkilis solo home run to center.  Dustin Pedroia later thought he would get in on the long ball action, hitting a shot to left in the 6th to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.

John Lester pitched nothing short of outstanding for Boston, allowing one run off three hits with 10 K’s.  That run was produced in the 7th inning when Jason Bartlett drove in Carlos Pena with an infield single.  Longoria, after striking out four times earlier haunted the Red Sox in the 8th with a solo shot to center to tie the game up 2-2.  From there it was a fight between bullpens, going 13 innings until Longoria stepped back up to the plate.  Right then and there he ended it; drilling Takashi Saito’s 1-0 fastball over the left field wall with two outs in the bottom of the 13th, concluding the low scoring yet home run friendly regular season AL East battle.

The Red Sox will have another chance at Tampa Bay tonight at 7:08 pm before heading to the new Yankee Stadium for a four game weekend series.  Red Sox tickets are available now!

With much anticipation, the Home Run Derby ended with a familiar face winning. Previous contestant Prince Fielder outslugged Nelson Cruz 6-5 in the final roundto win the derby. Brandon Inge, Joe Mauer, Carlos Pena, and Adrian Gonzalez all failed to make it to the second round, leaving Ryan Howard, Fielder, Cruz, and hometown favorite Albert Pujols in the semifinals. Howard and Pujols, both fan favorites, failed to outlast Fielder and Cruz. Cruz batted first in the finals, hitting 5 homers. Fielder hit a bomb into the center field grass hill to end the contest.

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