Sorry for the lateness of this post. Thursday’s are always tough to get things done early with errands that have to be taken care of.
After having their bullpen fail on Tuesday night, the Boston Red Sox beat up on the Baltimore Orioles bullpen to comeback for a 6-5 win in 11 innings on Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Sox bats had been stymied by Orioles starter Brad Bergesen who may have thrown the best game against the Red Sox all season. Josh Beckett wasn’t himself but got stronger as he went on shutting down the last 12 hitters he faced. As a matter of fact, three Sox relievers combined with Beckett to retire the final 24 Orioles batters.
Jonathan Papelbon also made a little Red Sox history yesterday when he picked up his 20th save of the season. The save allowed him to move out of a tie with Bob Stanley and take over the Red Sox all-time saves lead at 133. It was also the first time this season, Paps had pitched three consecutive days.
I said this yesterday that the Red Sox are a very resilient bunch and they showed that yesterday by coming back for the win. It was good to see the bullpen respond after Tuesday night’s debacle. The comeback should give them confidence heading into a 10-game homestand that starts on Friday night leading into the All-Star Break.
Speaking of All-Stars, there’s just 12 hours left to help out Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis in the AL All-Star voting. Youk currently leads Mark Teixeira by 35,000 votes while Pedroia is just 6,830 votes behind Ian Kinsler. Let’s help them out and get them to the All-Star Game. Vote Red Sox. You can see what I said about the race between Youk and Teixeira over at the Hartford Courant.
And because I don’t want to see your National League votes wasted, please help out Ryan Zimmerman (3B) and Adam Dunn (OF) of the Washington Nationals. My friend Kristen would really appreciate it if you did that.
The Red Sox also announced that they have signed their No. 1 draft pick, Reymond Fuentes. Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that he got a signing bonus of $1.13 million. Fuentes was assigned to the GCL Red Sox. They also announced the signings of OF Jeremy Hazelbaker (4th round), OF Shannon Wilkerson (8th), C Michael Thomas (12th), and 1B Chris McGuiness (13th).
Links after the jump.
Cruel twist [Boston Globe]
Sox turn tables on O’s [Providence Journal]
Red Sox come back to life [Boston Herald]
Papelbon adds to savings account [Boston Globe]
Papelbon’s now the Sox’ all-time saves leader [Providence Journal]
Julio Lugo accepts cold truth [Boston Herald]
Bay bloodied (a cut) and battered (5 whiffs) [Boston Globe]
Bay unfazed by his 0-for-Baltimore series [Providence Journal]
Jason Bay hits slump [Boston Herald]
Charity begins at home plate [Boston Globe]
Book chronicles a Cumberland family’s journey through the Red Sox system [Providence Journal]
U.S. of Bay [Extra Bases]
Papelbon packs away franchise record [Boston Herald]
D-Backs scouting Red Sox [Extra Bases]
Larry Lucchino Discusses Bay, A.L. East Race [Full Count]
Draft Class Takes Shape: An Update on Sox First-Rounder Reymond Fuentes and 49 Other Picks [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Streaking Sox can bring it on home [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
Five Things We Learned: There’s A Lot More Left To Papelbon’s Story [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Wakefield and the All-Star Game [Clubhouse Insider]
My Number 14 [Ask 14]
Youkilis, Teixeira In A Race At First Base [Hartford Courant]
A Brief Reminder That a Vote for Youk and Pedroia Is Like a Vote for America. Times Two. Or Something Like That. [Surviving Grady]
Sox to sign first-round pick Fuentes [Full Count]
Youkilis or Teixeira As All-Star Starter? Bloggers Speak Up [Hartford Courant]
Big Papi Enters the Restaurant Business [Wicked Good Sports]
Thursday Really Quickie – RALLY TIME! [Nuggetpalooza]
Report on HBO’s Ted Williams Documentary Screening [Fang’s Bites]
The Red Sox bloomed in June alright; July equals test month [Batter-up with Bruno]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.
And if you want to check out the enemy papers, head over to the Baltimore Sun and Annapolis Capital websites.
