Tough weekend for the Boston Red Sox as they were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays. The story of the weekend was not return of Josh Beckett yesterday but rather the anemic bullpen, who struggled for the most part. There were a few bright spots in the bullpen, Julian Tavarez, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, although the latter two were used to get work in.

In 9 1/3 innings, the bullpen gave up 11 hits, 11 runs (10 earned), 5 walks while striking out 8. With the success the bullpen had last season, this is not what we’ve come to expect out of the bullpen.

After the game yesterday, Beckett said he felt fine but obviously wasn’t happy with the result.

“Health-wise I’m fine, but obviously it was not the result you want. But health-wise, I felt good.”

Up until the 5th inning, he didn’t pitch all that bad. He did leave with the bases loaded and was charged with those 3 runs when Frank Thomas planted the first pitch he saw from Manny Delcarmen into the Rogers Centre seats. I think we were all expecting some F-bombs from Beckett after the game but as long as he’s feeling healthy, I’ll take it.

Could the high-profile girlfriend of Clay Buchholz end up being a distraction for him? My favorite part of the article:

Aside from the nude modeling which won her the Penthouse crown, Ellyson also has starred in several movies, according to the International Movie Database. These include “Nice Girls Are Easy… To Tie and Gag!” , “August’s Nude Bondage Nightmare”, and “Innocent Heroines Stripped and Bound.”

So the Red Sox were swept. So what?

Julio Lugo was brutal on the field yesterday, making three errors prompting calls from someone (me) to bring up Jed Lowrie.

“I think he probably got a little hesitant after he made the first error,” manager Terry Francona said. “He just didn’t move through the ball like he needs to, got a little flat-footed. The balls didn’t quite have enough carry to get where it needed to. I think that’s something we’ve probably all fought at some point. The ball seems to find you right when it doesn’t need to.”

The Red Sox finally return home after leaving Ft. Myers back on March 19th. Tomorrow will be a special day for the Red Sox as they will receive their rings. Will Doug Mirabelli be there? Most of the team that was here last year is already with the team now.

“Everyone will be excited,” said Francona. “It was a great accomplishment. That was last year, but (the players) should enjoy the appreciation from the fans. [Winning a title] doesn’t come every day. It’s hard to do. [The ring ceremony] is something great to experience. Opening Day at Fenway is special, anyway, but with a ring ceremony, to boot, it’s pretty special.”

The ring ceremony starts at 1 PM tomorrow afternoon. It will be shown in it’s entirety on NESN.

Some video goodness of the game.

For more golden nuggets of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.