Batting coach Jim Presley #15 congratulates starting pitcher Bud Norris #25 of the Baltimore Orioles following the Orioles 4-0 win over the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 9, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland.

With every game played, it gets harder and harder to not compare this Boston Red Sox team to the one of 2012 that we all know was in the words of Charles Barkley, “turrible”. And while a certain part of the cast is the same, this is not the 2013 World Series Championship team by no means. This one lacks an identity.

They had lost 10 straight games, then reeled off seven wins in a row, then lost five in a row before winning on Sunday night. Then on Monday night against an AL East foe in the Baltimore Orioles kept them quiet as well.

Bud Norris allowed three hits over eight innings while the O’s offense had three home runs off of Jake Peavy in a 4-0 win over the Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Brock Holt, Daniel Nava and David Ross managed the three hits for the visitors.

Peavy only needed 94 pitches to get through seven innings but basically three mistakes led to home runs by Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Ryan Flaherty.

We could argue that maybe the Red Sox were tired after getting in late from Detroit. We could argue many a different things.

One thing is for certain.

If these guys don’t start picking things up, we could see the Red Sox as sellers and not buyers at the trade deadline.

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David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox hits a three-run home run that gives the Red Sox a 5-3 lead with catcher Alex Avila #13 of the Detroit Tigers looking on in the ninth inning at Comerica Park on June 8, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan.

The Boston Red Sox started the week having won seven games in a row after losing 10 straight. They entered play on Sunday night against the Detroit Tigers having been swept in Cleveland and then losing the first two at Comerica Park.

It looked like they were on their way to their second straight sweep on the road trip and second of the season by the Tigers. But one swing of the bat by David Ortiz changed everything.

Big Papi’s three-run homer in the top of the 9th off of former New York Yankee Joba Chamberlain gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead and Koji Uehara made it stand up for the win with the save, his 12th of the season.

Brock Holt continues to rake at the plate as he went 4-for-5 from the leadoff spot with a run scored. He also started in left field for the first time in his career. With Mike Napoli back in the lineup last night, skipper John Farrell is looking for ways to keep Holt’s bat in the lineup as he settled down the leadoff spot for the Red Sox.

And oh by the way, Holt even made a great defensive play with a superb catch out there in left.

Napoli, who declared himself ready after facing Clay Buchholz in a simulated game earlier in the afternoon, returned to the lineup with three hits, including a solo home run. Dustin Pedroia walked twice and picked up an RBI on a sac fly.

John Lackey picked up the win and was almost victimized by no run support again until Papi’s blast. Lackey went eight innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk while striking out five.

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Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates after hitting a walk-off three run home run during the twelfth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Progressive Field on June 5, 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Boston Red Sox are a lot like experiencing turbulence on an airplane right now. They go up and down and never really level out. They had lost 10 straight games before winning seven games last week.

Now they had to Detroit as losers of three straight after Cleveland Indians SS Asdrubal Cabrera‘s three-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning gave them a 7-4 win.

Edward Mujica suffered the loss after admitting he left a changeup up in the zone that Cabrera drove out of the home of Flo. Mujica has struggled for the better part of the season and hasn’t lived up to the expectations with the Red Sox. If he didn’t have a two-year contract, I’d think they’d have gotten rid of him by now.

Brock Holt‘s only hit of the game turned out to be a big one as his single brought in two runs to tie the game at 4. David Ortiz had two hits, including a 2-run homer in the 6th inning.

Brandon Workman did his job and kept the Red Sox in the game through five innings as he allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. Chris Capuano faced three batters and allowed three hits and the Indians fourth run of the evening in the 6th.

From there, the Red Sox bullpen kept the Indians at bay until Mujica’s troubles in the 12th.

During most of the baseball games last night, it was announced that Don Zimmer passed away at the age of 83. Zimmer was the Red Sox third base coach from 1974 to the middle of the 1976 season. He then took over as a manager in the middle of that season until 1979. He was a wealth of baseball knowledge and will be missed by all in the baseball community.

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Michael Bourn #24 of the Cleveland Indians is congratulated by Manager Terry Francona #17 after the Indians defeated the Boston Red Sox on June 3, 2014 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Heading to Cleveland to face the Indians and some old friends on a seven-game winning, things were looking up for the Boston Red Sox. But after rallying to tie the game in the 7th last night, Andrew Miller‘s nemesis Michael Bourn got the best of him and now the Red Sox have lost two straight games.

Bourn delivered a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning and the Indians bullpen made it hold up in a 5-3 win over Red Sox at Progressive Field.

Xander Bogaerts continues to shine offensively for the local nine as he had two extra base hits, a double and a solo home run. He scored two runs including the game-tying run at the time off the bat of Dustin Pedroia.

Jonathan Herrera added the other RBI for the Red Sox with a single in the 6th inning. He along with Pedroia also had two hits.

Jake Peavy was saddled with the loss after allowing all five runs to come across in 6 1/3 innings. Miller had been responsible for the two runners Peavy left him with.

There’s no sense in panicking just yet. This is how the season has gone so far. It just would be nice to see them get back on track and string some more wins together and get back up over .500.

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Justin Masterson #63 celebrates with second baseman Jason Kipnis #22 of the Cleveland Indians after the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Progressive Field on June 2, 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Boston Red Sox had a reunion last night as they met up with some former teammates and their former manager, Terry Francona last night in Cleveland. And it was old friend Justin Masterson, who the Red Sox traded to the Cleveland Indians for Victor Martinez, that did the Red Sox in.

Masterson struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings to help the Tribe to a 3-2 win over the visiting nine at Progressive Field.

While the Red Sox didn’t face Scott Atchison, Nick Hagadone (also part of V-Mart deal), George Kottaras, they did see David Murphy and Mike Aviles play in the game. Murphy had three hits in three at-bats off of John Lackey while Aviles was 0-for-3.

Lackey didn’t have his best stuff last night but did pitch a complete game and kept the Red Sox close the whole way. Xander Bogaerts got the Red Sox to within a run in the 8th with a two-run homer. Bogaerts finished with two hits on the night.

Brock Holt, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz had the other three hits the visitors had on the night.

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Last weekend we watched the Boston Red Sox be swept by the Tampa Bay Rays to make it 10 straight losses for our team. However during that game, the benches cleared. Since then, the Red Sox have been playing inspired baseball.

Brock Holt went 4-for-4 with four doubles and two RBIs while Jon Lester struck out 12 over seven innings to help the Red Sox to a 4-0 win and a sweep of the Rays at Fenway Park. It’s also their seventh straight win.

Since Will Middlebrooks went down with a fractured finger, Holt has solidified the Red Sox leadoff position. And while unfortunate for Mike Carp, who has a fractured foot, Holt will remain in the lineup as the primary first baseman until Mike Napoli returns from his injuries.

Garin Cecchini was called up to provide an extra body on the bench on Sunday and got into the game after Dustin Pedroia was ejected from the game. Cecchini picked up his first big league hit, an RBI double in the 7th inning.

His PawSox roommate, Alex Hassan, also made his big league debut yesterday and had his first MLB hit.

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It was Rubby De La Rosa‘s world last night and we all got to live in it. The young righty flamethrower was called up to start in place of the injured Clay Buchholz and did not disappoint in his first career start for the Boston Red Sox.

De La Rosa went seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight as the local nine beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 at Fenway Park. It’s the sixth straight win for the Red Sox after losing 10 straight.

De La Rosa used all of his pitches effectively mixing in a changeup that the Rays hitters could do nothing with. When he fell behind in counts, he had the confidence to throw whatever A.J. Pierzynski put down. That’s a big difference from Buchholz who has been lost in his own world on the mound.

Offensively, Brock Holt hit his first big league home run as part of his two hits. Jackie Bradley, Jr. had his first home run of the season while Jonathan Herrera had three hits including a safety squeeze bunt. Herrera was starting in place of the injured Dustin Pedroia who had an MRI on his hand that came back negative.

Pierzynski and Grady Sizemore each had two hits with A.J. adding an RBI. Mike Carp had the other RBI for the Red Sox on sacrifice fly that scored Xander Bogaerts, who reached base three times last night (one hit, two walks).

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A.J. Pierzynski #40 of the Boston Red Sox is greeted by teammates after his game-winning RBI triple during the tenth inning of their 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on May 30, 2014 in Boston, MA.

If last night’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox is any indication, the next two games plus the rest of the season series is going to be fun to watch to say the least.

How many times have you seen a team use four managers in a game and win?

That’s exactly what happened on Friday night at Fenway Park as A.J. Pierzynski hit a walk-off triple in the 10th to help the Red Sox complete the comeback and walk-off with a 3-2 win.

So why did the Red Sox have four managers?

Skipper John Farrell was ejected in the 1st inning after arguing the fact that David Price hit David Ortiz intentionally with a pitch. He was also arguing the fact that now his pitcher was limited in protecting his hitters.

Torey Luvello took over as acting manager and he was ejected in the 4th inning after Price hit Mike Carp with a pitch (video below). That one actually caused the benches to clear and while there were no punches thrown, Big Papi let it be known he wasn’t happy about being hit in the 1st inning to Price.

Brian Butterfield was then handed the lineup card and he lasted until the 6th inning when Red Sox starter Brandon Workman was ejected for throwing behind the back of Evan Longoria.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, hitting coach Greg Colbrunn lasted the rest of the game as the skipper.

Xander Bogaerts continues to swing a hot stick as he had three more hits, including two off of Price, and an RBI. Big Papi knocked in a run as well.

For all the bad luck he’s had lately, Andrew Miller picked up the win after throwing just two pitches.

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Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox is mobbed by his teammates including Brock Holt #26 after hitting the walk-off game-winning single in the 9th inning against the Atlanta Braves during the game at Fenway Park on May 29, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts.

You really have to wonder if the skirmish with the Tampa Bay Rays last Sunday woke the Boston Red Sox up. While they ended up losing that game, they’ve been playing some inspired baseball since then.

They completed their road trip with two wins in Atlanta against the Braves. Those same two team came back to Fenway Park and after last night’s walk-off win, the Red Sox find themselves with four straight wins.

The Red Sox trailed in this one 3-1 before rallying back in the 8th and 9th.

Xander Bogaerts and A.J. Pierzynski had RBI singles in the 8th. Bogaerts had the single in the 9th that caused the winning run to be scored.

Braves 3B Chris Johnson got a Bogaerts grounder had only one play which was at second. Problem was that rookie Tommy La Stella dropped the ball and it allowed Jackie Bradley, Jr. to score from second with the winning run.

Bogaerts has been on fire lately as he added another three hits on Thursday night. Brock Holt added threehits and an RBI from the top of the lineup. He’s going to make things interesting when Stephen Drew gets recalled because Holt has stabilized the leadoff spot for the Red Sox.

Pierzynski had two hits as well from the DH spot. He was a last minute addition to the lineup when David Ortiz was scratched from the lineup with a sore right calf. Big Papi did pinch-hit in the 8th but was intentionally walked.

Jake Peavy was solid for eight innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Koji Uehara picked up the win after working the top of the 9th.

PC/MOBILE/TABLET Link (full game recap)

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.

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