With last nights 8-4 win at Tropicana Field, the Red Sox did more then set the Tampa Bay Rays back in their attempts to climb back into the Wild Card race (they are now 6 games back of the BoSox) they also got a monkey off their back.

After losing 13 of their last 15 games at the Trop, the Red Sox desperately needed a win and they got it last night on the back of Jon Lester who passed Bruce Hurst for the Red Sox record for most strikeouts in one season by a left-hander. With his 9 strikeouts last night (nice work JL) he has notched 196 strikeouts in the 2009 campaign and is now the left-hander strikeout king for the Red Sox.

It wasn't just Jon Lester that got it done last night, the Sox offense is finally starting to click and this is important if they plan to go deep into the playoffs. While I do believe we will hold on for the wild card, I also think when we get into the playoffs, especially if we go deep into the playoffs, with the state of our pitching rotation we are going to have to win more games by scores like 8-4.

In order to do that we are going to need the bats of Jacoby Ellsbury, Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay and David Ortiz to light up like they have been over the last couple of weeks. We are going to need big hits in big spots, like Big Papi did for us to take us home against the White Sox last week.

Let's be real, the Red Sox pitching rotation is shakey at best at this point so we are going to need big bats in big spots.

Last night it took the whole team to get it done. With the exception of Dustin Pedroia all of the local nine notched hits last night, Papelbon came in and got 3 strikeouts and went two innings to get the job done with a little help from Jacoby Ellsbury on an AMAZING catch at the end of the game and of course their was the pitching from Jon Lester through 6 innings.

It was a win that the Red Sox needed to keep pace in the wild card as the Texas Rangers won against the Blue Jays last night as well. The Red Sox remain 3.5 up in the wild card and with the Yankees on a 5 game winning streak of their own, there is virtually no hope of catching the Skanks for the AL East division win. I think we did alright the last time we got in as the wild card.

- Adam

Labels: Boston Red Sox, Bruce Hurst, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Tropicana Field, Victor Martinez

It used to be that when Tim Wakefield took to the mound you never really knew what to expect. On the nights when the wind was blowing at Fenway Park and his knuckle ball was moving he was unhittable. On the nights when the air was still and his 80 mph fastball wasn't fooling anyone, you knew you were in for a long night.

That was until, this year. Tim Wakefield the all-star is as reliable as they come and last night proved no different. There was something comforting about having him on the mound that made me feel like order had been restored to the nation.

It was all well and good to get a couple of good starts from Brad Penny at the beginning of the season (see ya later by the way.) It was nice to have a dream scenario of Penny and Smoltz teaming up for a great season and one last hoorah with the BoSox. These were nice thoughts that didn't pan out.

Now, with Tim Wakefield back on the mound and pitching well it feels as though order has been restored to the starting rotation. I know, I won't get too far ahead of myself. There is the issue of will Dice-K return and return strong. There is the slumping Josh Beckett. But, going into the home stretch of the season, this is the way our rotation was supposed to look all along. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buckholz, Tim Wakefield and Daisuke Matsusaka. If these pieces start to fall into place, we're looking good down the home stretch.

So, Tim Wakefield was back on the mound last night and he pitched a gem. If only the bullpen hadn't blown it, we wouldn't have needed to see vintage Papi at the end to get the win, but win we did and win we must to make a final push and end up spanking the Yankees in the ALCS...AGAIN!!

Labels: Boston Red Sox, Clay Buckholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield

My what a difference three games make. After getting swept by the New York Yankees and dropping two out of the three from the Texas Rangers, the Red Sox found themselves out of the AL Wild Card lead and on the brink of dropping out of the conversation as to who is the top team in the AL East, but some cool, fresh, Canadian air was all they really needed as they completed the sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays last night at the Roger's Centre.

Labels: Boston Red Sox, brad penny, Clay Buckholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Junichi Tazawa, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Tim Wakefield, Toronto Blue Jays

I get it. "Doc" Halladay is the sexiest "name" out there as we approach the 2009 trade deadline. He is seemingly the only pitcher in baseball who throws complete games on a regular basis. And if he was added to the Boston rotation, the Sox would have undoubtedly the best rotation in baseball, particularly with a 3-man playoff rotation of Beckett, Lester, and Halladay (Wakefield being the 4th).

I mean, look at the lifelong Blue Jay's career numbers, courtesy of baseball reference.com. 142-69 record in 300 games. FORTY FOUR complete games. TWELVE SHUTOUTS. 1410 strikeouts, compared to only 440 walks. That's a better than 3-1 ratio. Six time All Star, one Cy Young award, and 4 top 5 Cy Young finishes. You could easily make a case for him being the best pitcher in baseball.

But here are the most important numbers. 32 years old and parts of 12 Major League Seasons. Despite being at his athletic peak (he notched a career-high 206 strikeouts in 2008), he's not going to be there for long. As hard as he throws, and as deep into games as he goes, he has a very limited shelf life.

The Red Sox would have to mortgage their future to get Doc. They would have to give up arguably their best pitching prospect in Clay Buchholz, and likely their next best prospects in Michael Bowden, and Daniel Bard, possibly more. And that's assuming Toronto's GM JP Ricciardi would even deal his ace within the division. And you know Ricciardi is a smart baseball guy - he still has his Boston accent.

As Randy Booth of overthemonster.com puts it, Sox GM Theo Epstein was faced with a similar dilemma last year, when it would have cost Jon Lester and then some to get another stud, Johan Santana. And Theo (forgive the pun) balked, because the price tag was too steep.

This is clear evidence of a new "stay the course" mentality in Boston that's taken shape with the new regime, particularly over the last 5 years. If today was July 29th, 2004, I'd be all for trading for Halladay. Before the "Curse" was broken, we had to win now at all costs. Our aging fathers and grandfathers were concerned that they would never see a championship in their lifetimes. 86 years of torment had been passed down through the generations. We had to win, to satisfy the older folks, and if anything, to stop those damned chants of "1918" emanating from the Bronx.

But life is different now, after not one, but two World Series Championships. The Sox want to win now AND later. And they are not going to mortgage the next 5-10 years just to say they've won THREE titles since the Yankees last put up a banner. If the Sox added Halladay, they'd be the odds on favorite to win the 2009 World Series. They'd have to be. But then, what happens when Doc becomes a free agent? What if the Yankees outbid us? Where does that leave us for 2010, and beyond?

Now that the animalistic appetite for a championship has been quenched - again, twice - the Sox don't need to mortgage the farm to win this year. And besides, with a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Wakefield, Buchholz, and Penney (sorry Smoltz), I think we've got just as good a chance as anyone.

- Jag

Labels: Boston Red Sox, Brad Penney, Clay Buckholz, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, New York Yankees, Roy Halladay, Tim Wakefiled

Jon Lester was stellar in his Game #1 start on Wednesday night. The man is simply becoming one of the best starters in the game. What were we all worried about that Beckett was going to have to sit out? In 7 innings, Lester gave up just six hits (all of which were singles) and no earned runs to put the Red Sox in a good position to take Game #1, which they did by a score of 4-1.

Jason Bay had Boston fans saying, Manny who, with his two run shot off Lackey in the sixth inning to put the Red Sox out in front 2-1. He was the first Red Sox player since Todd Walker, to hit a home run in his playoff debut with the Sox and it came at a big spot in the game.

Labels: A-Rod, Boston Red Sox, Jason Bay, Jon Lester, Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim, New York Yankees

It’s the beginning of September and the 2008 Red Sox appear to be hitting a stride, right at the perfect time. It doesn’t feel like 2007 though does it? That’s because it’s not. In 2007, everything was going well. Sure there were some ups and downs, but nothing like what’s happening this year. Here are the 5 reasons the Red Sox should not be contending for the top spot in the AL East.

adam@wickedpissadude.com

Labels: Boston Red Sox, Clay Buckholz, David Ortiz, JD Drew, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Manny Ramirez, Tim Wakefield

Well, the thought was nice. A beautiful summer afternoon. A beer in one hand, the remote in another and the Boston Red Sox on my television. Too bad the Red Sox couldn't help me out a bit with, I don't know, ONE RUN!!! It wasn't to be as Jon Lester had one of his worst performances of the season and the Red Sox got blanked by the Blue Jays 11-0.Jon Lester only lasted 2 1/3 innings and in that short span of time gave up 8 hits and 7 runs before being yanked. That's just about the story of today's game, but there was more.

The game started out on a bright note as it looked like the Red Sox were going to explode offensively again. Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both got on in the 1st with no outs. Then David Ortiz, Kevin Youklis and Jason Bay fizzled and that was the story of the game.

The first inning was all there was to speak of in terms of Red Sox offense for the afternoon, as they were only able to muster four hits, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of Red Sox Nation International.

So now the deficit in the AL East is 5.5 and it's looking less and less likely that the Red Sox will catch the Rays, regardless of what Big Papi says, it is unlikely it will happen. There's always the wild card right? Well, if you can call a 1/2 game lead a lead, otherwise, that's a dead heat.

Click here for the boxscore.

Labels: Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay, Jon Lester, Kevin Youklis, Toronto Blue Jays

Another episode in the books. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded the show so far and please tell your friends so everybody gets WPD Radio delivered to them.

We were planning on talking mainly about the C's big win the other night, but while we were doing the show, Jon Lester stunned the Fenway faithful and knocked out a no-no. Check out the show.

E-mail the show at wickedpissadude@hotmail.com And don't forget to subscribe to the show and to the blog so you never have to be without WickedPissaDude.com.

Our songs this week:

LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (Timmy) in honor of Jon Lester and Suge Knight (see below for video)
Eminem - Business (Adam) a work-out throwback

Also, I will be off next week, so make room for our special guest host Bobby Duggan. I will be in San Diego at a Padres game so we had to talk about their hideous stadium and jerseys. See below as well.

Here's the Suge beatdown.



And...a throwback Padres jersey along with the hideous camo jersey...YAAAAAAAAWN!!!












Enjoy the show.

- Adam

Labels: Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox, Jon Lester, San Diego Padres, Suge Knight

Jon Lester threw a no-hitter tonight. His final line, 9IP, 9 K, 2 BOB, 0 hits and 0 runs. This marks the first left-hander to throw a no-hitter in 55 years. This is also the fourth no-hitter to be caught by Tek. Jason Varitek also caught, Derek Lowe, Hideo Nomo and Clay Buckholz (last year.)

Keep it right here for more on Wicked Pissa Dude Radio, coming up tomorrow morning.

Click here for the boxscore.

- Adam

Labels: Clay Buckholtz, Derek Lowe, Hideo Nomo, Jason Varitek, Jon Lester, Jon Lester No Hitter, No-Hitter