Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 14, 2013

 It is the Sunday Request on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast!

@sullybaseball You're team/pitcher, throwing a No-hitter. I just witness my first one, with Bailey's no-hitter.
— Richie Devotie (@mrbaseballman) July 14, 2013

So what are my thoughts of seeing MY (the Red Sox) throw no hitters?
And I share a recording of my dad and I listening to the end of the Lincecum no hitter.


AJ Griffin, Didi Gregorius, Lonnie Chisenhall and I suppose Tim Lincecum  all owned baseball on July 13, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 14, 2013

The Most Recent No Hitter For Each Franchise (Updated for September 28, 2012)

 The Pittsburgh Pirates will not have a winning season this year. And they clinched a non winning season in a spectacular manner... a 1-0 no hit loss.

But enough of the negative. Homer Bailey let the world know that the Cincinnati Reds will go into the post season with four starting pitchers capable of throwing a big game.

They had faith in Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos and Bronson Arroyo. Well a no hitter should make sure that 26 year old Homer Bailey deserves a start as well.

There is no better boost to a pitcher's confidence than a no hitter.
The Reds finally have a no hitter, their first since Tom Browning's perfect game against the Dodgers in 1988.

It is bad news for the Pirates but pretty terrific news for a Reds team that has World Series aspirations.

Here is the updated list.

THE MOST RECENT NO HITTERS
FOR EACH FRANCHISE

CINCINNATI REDS

Homer Bailey - September 28, 2012.

1-0 over Pittsburgh.

SEATTLE MARINERS

Felix Hernandez - August 15, 2012.

1-0 over Rays. (Perfect Game)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Matt Cain - June 13, 2012.

10-0 over Houston. (Perfect Game)

NEW YORK METS

Johan Santana - June 1, 2012

8-0 over St. Louis.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
Jered Weaver - May 2, 2012.
9-0 over Minnesota.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Phillip Humber - April 21, 2012

4-0 over Seattle. (Perfect Game.)

DETROIT TIGERS
Justin Verlander - May 7, 2011.
9-0 over Toronto.

MINNESOTA TWINS
Francisco Liriano - May 3, 2011
1-0 over Chicago White Sox

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Roy Halladay - October 6, 2010
4-0 over Cincinnati. (Playoff Game)

TAMPA PAY RAYS
Matt Garza - July 26th, 2010
5-0 over Detroit.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Edwin Jackson - June 25, 2010
1-0 over Tampa Bay



OAKLAND A'S
Dallas Braden - May 9, 2010
4-0 over Tampa Bay. (Perfect Game.)


COLORADO ROCKIES
Ubaldo Jimenez - April 17, 2010
4-0 over Atlanta.

CHICAGO CUBS
Carlos Zambrano - September 14, 2008.
5-0 over Houston.


BOSTON RED SOX
Jon Lester - May 19, 2008.
7-0 over Kansas City.


FLORIDA MARLINS
Anibal Sanchez - September 6, 2006.
2-0 over Arizona.


HOUSTON ASTROS
Roy Oswalt, Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner -
June 11, 2003.
8-0 over New York Yankees.


ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Bud Smith - September 3, 2001
4-0 over San Diego.


NEW YORK YANKEES
David Cone - July 18, 1999.
6-0 over Montreal. (Perfect Game.)


PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon - July 12, 1997.
3-0 over Houston. (10 innings.)


LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Hideo Nomo - September 17, 1996.
9-0 over Colorado.


TEXAS RANGERS
Kenny Rogers - July 28, 1994.
4-0 over California. (Perfect Game.)

ATLANTA BRAVES
Kent Mercker - April 8, 1994.
6-0 over Los Angeles.


KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Bret Saberhagen - August 26, 1991
7-0 over Chicago White Sox.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (AS MONTREAL EXPOS)
Dennis Martinez - July 28, 1991.
2-0 over Los Angeles. (Perfect Game.)


BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson - July 13, 1991.
2-0 over Oakland.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Dave Steib - September 2, 1990.
3-0 over Cleveland.


MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Juan Nieves - April 15, 1987.
7-0 over Baltimore.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Len Barker - May 15, 1981.
3-0 over Toronto. (Perfect Game.)

Bonus
WASHINGTON SENATORS
Bobby Burke - August 8, 1931
5-0 over Boston.

The Padres are still on the clock. And it would be nice to simplify the list with the Nationals having a no hitter instead of including the Expos and Senators.

But congrats to Homer. With a name like that, you'd think he'd be a slugger.

Well... that didn't take long, Lester

Earlier today I wrote a piece about how the Red Sox hopes for 2012 are entirely in the hands and arms of Jon Lester and Josh Beckett.

They need to pitch like aces.

One pitch into today's game, Lester let up a homer and the Sox were down 1-0.
One innings into it, they were down 5-0.

Gonzalez homered to make it 5-3. Momentum shift?
Nope. Lester let up two more homers and has let up 9 runs in two innings.
9 runs in 9 innings horrible.
9 runs in 5 innings is "send him to the minors" territory.

9 runs in 2 innings? That's "The season is over."

Even if they win, they have lost.
Even if they come back, there is no erasing the awful start by Lester.

One pitch into this game and the season might be over.
If they lose today (and as of this writing they are down 9-3) then they will be a .500 team in late July with suspect starting pitching.

Yeah, sounds like a contender to me.




 

Red Sox fans, it is all on Lester and Beckett

This has been, needless to say, an odd year for the Boston Red Sox.

2012 has been a joyless grind save for a walk off homer here or a winning streak there. Bobby Valentine and the tension he causes has hung over the team from the start. The end of Youkilis' time in Boston was bitter. David Ortiz is probably winding down his time in Boston and John Lackey will probably remain in Fenway.

Injuries, dumb losses, still no games pitched by Andre Bailey and the fact they are only one game over .500 has given the whole season an aura of being lost.

Yet here the Red Sox sit on July 22 only 2 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.

It would take a good week to put them in a playoff position.
Maybe they should make a trade and that will put them over the top!

Slow down.

There are two players that hold the entire fate of the Red Sox season in their hands, or their arms more correctly.

Boston needs Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to pitch like front of the line starters. You know, the thing they are PAID to do. If they have a good August and September, the Red Sox could miraculously make the post season.

And so far the odds of that happening are not good.

Lester has been the definition of mediocre this year. His record is 5-7. His ERA is 4.80. His ERA+ is 90. His strikeout rate is down. Batters are getting more hits off of him, especially in scoring position. He is being taken out of games quicker than before.

Beckett started off well and I begged the team to trade him when he had value.

Since then he has had injuries and seems to be good for five or six innings at best.

They need more than that. Clay Buchholz is too inconsistent, Felix Doubront is a nice number four starter but not an ace and Aaron Cook threw a nice shutout that one time but is a number five.

The Angels, A's, White Sox and Rays all have good pitching and are contending for the two Wild Card spots. Even Baltimore's pitching, while sometimes spotty, has been more reliable than the Red Sox.

Think about trying to catch Anaheim or Tampa or the White Sox when they know they can rely on the likes of Jered Weaver, David Price or Jake Peavy while the Red Sox hope Beckett can at least pitch into the seventh.

The Red Sox had their epic collapse in 2011 because they could not rely on Beckett, Lester and Lackey down the stretch. Well there will be no epic comeback in 2012 without Beckett and Lester.

At this point the Red Sox are not asking them to be Cy Young contenders.
Just give the Sox two good months.

Maybe then, there will be hope for this team.


 

Red Sox fans... we're not contenders

I wrote a piece for Bleacher Report about why the Red Sox need to deal Josh Beckett. And I got a lot of flack from readers who did not agree with my assessment of the team.

I claimed the Red Sox are not legit contenders in 2012.
For some reason a lot of people disagreed with me.

Well tonight illustrated yet another example of why the Sox are not contenders. Going into the season, Jon Lester was the only pitcher I had any faith in.

He lost... again. And his ERA is 4.72.
That's not good. It is barely mediocre. And we are past the 1/4 mark of the season. The whole "It's early" excuse is getting flimsy.

The Sox lost to the Rays. Never good. This is a team the Red Sox are supposedly chasing.

But here is the most convincing stat I can give anyone to make my case that this Red Sox team is not a contender. In the Schedule and Results section of Baseball Reference, they break down the games, head to head match ups and amount of time in first place among other details of the season.

Here's the entry for the 2012 Red Sox in terms of "Most Games Above .500" for 2012.

NEVER!

They haven't been above .500 once all season.

We're almost in freaking June and they haven't been in the black for a day.
So yeah, the Red Sox should listen to offers for Kevin Youkilis, Kelly Shoppach AND Josh Beckett.

That's not blowing up the team. That's making some changes based upon moving some players who might help another club in 2012 and won't make much a difference in 2013.

But please. Don't call this team a contending team.
Contending teams have winning records.

   

Lester to the rescue!

The Sox winning streak (and pattern to the season) continues.

They are going to win a bunch, then lose a bunch.
Look unstoppable, then look awful.

And when the dust settles they will be an 84 win team out of the playoffs.

But a night like last night was just what the doctor ordered for the Red Sox. Jon Lester threw a complete game and looked solid.

AND the bullpen is totally rested for a Josh Beckett start.
They may need to go 8 today.

Well played Lester.
Let's see if we can get this to a 5 game winning streak.

Just get it to the green, Beckett.

  

I like THIS Red Sox team

This team is playing hard.
Pitching well.
Making the plays.
Jon Lester out pitched Jake Peavy (who suddenly is pitching like a Cy Young contender again.)

 They have won the first 6 games of the 7 game road trip and climbed back to .500.

The last time they played in Fenway it was the massacre against the Yankees.

If they win tomorrow, they could return as a team above .500.

Should I put today's "1-0" win in the "Dodged Bullet" tally?

Nope.

I need to see the Red Sox in first place and beating good teams before I call them a contender.

I'd LOVE to be proven wrong on this... but I'm still not there yet.

Yesterday showed why the Red Sox aren't a playoff team

I know it can seem silly declaring a team's playoff hopes dead before they play their first home game. ESPECIALLY when that team won 90 games the year before, 89 the year before that and made the post season 6 of the prior 7 years.

But let me ask you a few questions and you might understand why I have no playoff hopes for this team.

1. How many starters on the Red Sox can you count on?

That would be Jon Lester. Everyone else is suffering from injuries (just have your thumb treated, Beckett and join Dice-K and Lackey on the DL!) will eventually be injured (I'm looking at YOU Feet of Clay Buchholz) are relievers thrown into the rotation (Daniel Bard aka Joba Chamberlain 2.0) or should be a minor leaguer (no offense, Felix Doubront.)

2. How many relievers on the Red Sox can you count on?

At this point? Padilla. And that is scary.

3. Seeing that you can't count on 80% of the rotation nor the bullpen, can the Red Sox afford to lose games where Jon Lester has pitched well?

Nope. Those have to be put in the bank.

4. Has Jon Lester pitched well in his first two starts?

Very well. He has lived up to his billing. He let up only 3 hits over 8 innings yesterday and in the opener let up one run over 7 innings.

5. How did the Red Sox fare in those games?

They lost them both.

This team has virtually ZERO margin for error. Especially with the way the Rays have come out of the gate (and with their young pitching, they can pick each other up) and the way the Yankees recovered from the opening Tampa sweep. (Reports of Mariano's demise were exaggerated.)

Yes it is early.

It's not even Tax Day.

But 89 or 90 wins aren't going to cut it for a trip to October.

And there is no way you are going to win 95 of the final 156 games if you can't cash in terrific Lester outings.

2 out of 3 of those games should be automatically in the team's win column if not Lester's.

There's not a lot of depth to pick up the slack.

Lower your expectations Red Sox fans.

This is not a playoff team.

BUT I will dutifully update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES -1

April 9 - 4-2 win in Toronto. (A day after blowing leads in the 9th and 11th, the Sox win their first game of the year with a 3 run 9th inning rally capped off by Ryan Sweeney's 2 out go ahead RBI single)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES -3

April 5 - 3-2 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox rally to tie the season opener with 2 outs in the 9th only to lose on a bases loaded walk off single by Austin Jackson.)
April 8 - 13-12 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox bullpen surrender a 3 run game tying homer in the 9th to Cabrera and Avila smacked a 2 run, 2 out walk off come from behind homer to win it in as brutal a loss as you will ever see.
April 11 - 3-1 loss in Toronto. (Lester throws a complete game but Ricky Romero shut down Boston's bats and Rajai Davis manufactured a critical run.)

-2.

The Sox open Fenway tomorrow against Tampa on Friday the 13th.
No potential bad omen there.

Start the season with an F Bomb!

Lester pitched great (and got a few calls against him.)
He matched Verlander almost every inning and the Sox showed a lot of guts and heart by rallying to tie the game with 2 outs in the 9th inning.

OF COURSE THEY LOST!!!

Terry Francona was in the booth for ESPN watching the game, seeing that the last two regular season Red Sox games have been walk off losses.

I know it is only one game in, but the Red Sox can't afford to lose many games where Lester is kicking butt. ESPECIALLY games against elite teams.

So yeah, I am keeping the Dodged Bullet/ Teeth Grinder tally.
Why?
This game counts as much in the 2012 standings as the finale in Baltimore counted in the 2011 standings.

Remember how the Sox lost their first 6 games last year? If they went 2-4 in those 6 games, they would have made the playoffs.

Just saying.
Let's update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES -0

TEETH GRINDER GAMES -1

April 5 - 3-2 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox rally to tie the season opener with 2 outs in the 9th only to lose on a bases loaded walk off single by Austin Jackson.)

-1.

I don't have a lot of hope for this season.
This is no way to start it.
Tomorrow is an off day (who wants to see a ball game on a Friday?)

Let's hope the bats show up for more than an inning on Saturday.

I'm of explaining why I'm not panicking about the Red Sox

I'm still not panicking.
I'm not.

If the Red Sox can beat A. J. Burnett and not get swept by the Orioles they will be almost there.
And once the playoffs start, their record will be 0-0.

Of course it would be nice to NOT have lost 3 of 4 to Baltimore...
Of course it would have been cool to NOT have Jon Lester get rocked...

And I'm a broken record on this but I'd rather be UP with 5 games to play instead of DOWN with 4 to play.

Win one of two games tomorrow and it's almost all but over.
Calm down.

Now today's blow out what hardly a teeth grinder. It was over early. But I forgot to put in the last loss against the Orioles.

And I'm going to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 46

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)
May 15 - 7-5 win in the Bronx. (Sox fall behind 4-1 but come back as Youk, Papi and Salty all homer.)
May 16 - 8-7 win against the Orioles. (Down 6-0 after 6 innings, the Sox rally and win it with a 2 run walk off double by Adrian Gonzalez)
May 18 - 1-0 win against Detroit. (With 2 outs in the 8th, Salty doubles home Crawford from first for the only run. Papelbon gets himself in and out of 9th inning trouble.)
May 19 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Bard blows Beckett's lead but Carl Crawford wins it with a walk off hit.)
May 24 - 4-2 win in Cleveland. (Varitek throws two runners out and homers as the Red Sox win their first game against the Indians.)
May 29 - 4-3 win in Detroit. (The Red Sox blow an early 3-0 lead but David Ortiz wins the game with a pinch 9th inning homer.)
June 3 - 8-6 win against Oakland. (Buchholz lets up 4 runs in the first but the Sox come back thanks to Carl Crawford's 2 run single.)
June 4 - 9-8 win against Oakland. (Red Sox blow a 4 run 9th inning lead and trail in the 11th before Ellsbury ties it and Drew wins it in 14.)
June 7 - 6-4 win in the Bronx. (Papelbon strikes out A-Rod to end the game with a runner on base.)
June 9 - 8-3 win in the Bronx. (Down 2-0 to Sabathia in the 7th, the Sox score 7 runs as Papi exacts revenge after getting plunked. A 3+ hour rain delay pushed the game past 1:30 AM)

June 15 - 3-0 win in Tampa Bay. (Youkilis homers in the 7th for the only runs in Beckett's 1 hit masterpiece.)
June 16 - 4-2 win in Tampa Bay. (Papelbon wiggles out of a 2 on, nobody out jam in the 9th thanks to Youk's diving catch.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. (The Pirates make 4 errors and the Red Sox score 2 in the 7th to avoid a sweep by the Bucs.
June 30 - 5-2 win in Philadelphia.(An injury to Cole Hamels leads to the Red Sox bats waking up.)
July 1 - 7-5 win in Houston. (The Sox score 6 in the 7th inning to come back and win.)
July 3 - 2-1 win in Houston. (The Red Sox score a run in the top of the 9th on a walk to break a tie.)
July 5 - 3-2 win against Toronto. (Lester gets hurt but Darnel McDonald throws out the tying run at the plate to end the game.)
July 6 - 6-4 win against Toronto. (The Sox score 4 in the 4th to take the lead and Wakefield and company hang on for dear life.)
July 10 - 8-6 win against Baltimore. (The Orioles score 6 runs off of rookie Kyle Weiland in the second, but the Red Sox hit three homers in the bottom of the second to tie the game and hold for dear life.)
July 16 - 9-5 win in Tampa. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 3-0 first inning hole, but 3 Sox homers bring them back for the win.)
July 17 - 1-0 win in Tampa. (Beckett throws a masterpiece and the bullpen throws 8 amazing innings. But the Sox bats go dead, leaving 17 men on base before Pedroia drove in a run with 2 outs in the 16th inning.)
July 18 - 15-10 win in Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 6-2 lead but score 8 runs in the 8th to take the game.)
July 22 - 7-4 win against Seattle. (John Lackey beat Felix Hernandez and Mike Carp's error helped the Red Sox score 5 in the 7th to give them some breathing room.)
July 23 - 3-1 win against Seattle. (Ellsbury gets Beckett off the hook in a tight pitchers duel when he got a 2 out, 2 strike 2 run go ahead single in the 8th.)
July 26 - 13-9 win against the Royals. (The Sox trailed in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th before the bats exploded in the 5th.
August 2 - 3-2 win against Cleveland. (Youk tied the game with a 6th inning homer and Salty dove home for the winning run in the 9th.)
August 3 - 4-3 win against Cleveland. (Ellsbury hits a walk off shot in the 9th.)
August 7 - 3-2 win against the Yankees (The Sox rally off of Rivera in the 9th and win on Josh Reddick's 10th inning single)
August 8 - 8-6 win in Minnesota. (Down 5-1, the Red Sox rally back, then score twice in the 9th to give the Sox the win.)
August 9 - 4-3 win in Minnesota. (Darnell McDonald's homer ties the game and Ortiz singles home the game winner as Bard worked out of trouble in the 7th.)
August 12 - 6-4 win in Seattle. (Reddick and Ortiz homered to bail out Lackey.)

August 16 - 3-1 win against Tampa Bay. (Pedroia makes a diving catch in the 9th to help preserve the win.)
August 18 - 4-3 win at Kansas City. (Sox hold on despite having three base runners thrown out by the outfielders.)
August 31 - 9-5 win against the Yankees. (Beckett blows a 4-1 lead but homers by Ellsbury and Varitek put the Sox on top.)
September 13 - 18-6 win against Toronto. (Wakefield blows 2 early leads but the Sox bats explode in the 6th to earn Wakes win #200.)

September 16 - 4-3 win against Tampa Bay. (Beckett, Aceves, Bard and Papelbon all wiggled out of jams to give the Red Sox a critical win.)
September 19 - 18-9 win against Baltimore. (Lackey was given 11 runs to work with but the Orioles cut it to 11-9 before a 7 run rally put the game away.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 44

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)
May 21 - 9-3 loss to Cubs. (Up 3-1 in the 8th inning, the bullpen and defense implode. The Cubs score 8 runs while both teams wear their 1918 uniforms.)
May 23- 3-2 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox blow a 2-1 8th inning lead when the Indians rally with 2 outs. Crawford ends the game on a double play.)
May 29 - 3-0 loss in Detroit. (Verlander keeps the Sox off base and prevents the sweep.)
June 1 - 7-4 loss to White Sox. (Konerko drives in three, spoiling a game tying Ortiz homer.)

June 14 - 4-0 loss in Tampa Bay. (Wakefield's solid outing is spoiled. Longoria scores on a passed ball.)
June 18 - 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. (The Brewers hit three homers early off of Lester and hang on.)
June 21 - 5-4 loss to San Diego. (Ortiz hits a double play in the 9th to stifle a potential winning rally.)

June 24 - 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox strand 7 runners in scoring position.)
June 25 - 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox fall out of first as Pedroia's error leads to a Pirates run.)
June 29 - 2-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Vance Worley duels John Lackey and slumping Raul Ibanez drives in both runs.)
July 4 - 9-7 loss to Toronto. (John Lackey's miserable start puts the Sox in too big a hole to climb out of.)
July 19 - 6-2 loss in Baltimore. (Scutaro gets thrown out stealing and the Orioles tack on 3 big runs late.)

July 25 - 3-1 loss to the Royals. (Scutaro botches a potential game winning squeeze play in the 12th as the Red Sox lose in 14.)

July 28 - 4-3 loss to the Royals. (Crawford's bid for a walk off homer falls just short.)
July 29 - 3-1 loss to the White Sox. (Sox blow a late 1-0 lead and spoil a solid Wakefield start.)

August 1 - 9-6 loss to Cleveland. (Asdrubal Cabrera's second home run was an 8th inning tie breaking shot off of Daniel Bard.)

August 4 - 7-3 loss to Cleveland. (Carlos Santana's homer broke a 3-3 tie.)
August 5 - 3-2 loss to the Yankees. (The Sox leave the bases loaded in the 5th and the Yankees score 3 in the 6th to take the lead.)
August 10 - 5-2 in Minnesota. (The Twins score 3 in the 8th, spoiling Ortiz's game tying homer.)
August 13 - 5-4 loss in Seattle. (Mariners score 5 in the first and the Red Sox come back falls short.)
August 14 - 5-3 loss in Seattle. (The Red Sox comeback falls short as Wakefield loses a complete game).

August 16 - 6-2 loss against Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox pull a triple play but a late rally by the Rays puts the game out of reach.)

August 21 - 9-4 loss at Kansas City. (The Royals' 8 run 6th spoils a 4-1 Sox lead and Wakefield's bid to win 200 games.)
August 30 - 5-2 loss to the Yankees. (Sabathia finally beats the Sox and Cervelli's homer sparks bean balls.)
September 1 - 4-2 loss to the Yankees. (Russell Martin's 2 run double in the 7th put the Yankees on top for good. Rivera struck out Gonzalez with the bases loaded to end the game.)

September 5 - 1-0 loss in Toronto. (Beckett sprains his ankle and Brett Lawrie homered in the 11th to win.)
September 7 - 11-10 loss in Toronto. (Bard melts down in the 8th, preventing Tim Wakefield's 200th win. Aviles is thrown out trying to steal to end the game.)
September 10 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox get 2 homers in the 9th to tie the game only to lose it in the 11th.)
September 14 - 5-4 loss to Toronto. (Adam Loewen singled home 2 runs in the Blue Jays 3 run 8th inning, making Bard a loser AGAIN!)
September 17 - 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. (Scutaro grounds out to end the game with the tying run on second.)
September 19 - 6-5 loss to Baltimore. (Kyle Weiland gets bombed, Darnell McDonald drops a ball, a fair ball is called foul... just a bad day all around.)
September 20 - 7-5 loss to Baltimore. ( hit a 3 run double with 2 outs in the 8th to give Baltimore the win.)
September 21 - 6-4 loss to Baltimore. (Crawford goes 3-4 but Beckett can't hold onto a lead as the Orioles rally in the 8th.)

It is down to +2.
It's getting tight.

Hold on.
5 games left.
Don't make me look bad for NOT panicking.