Where have the bats gone? Did the bats pack it up and go south for the winter when runners on base. It was another failed game of bringing runners in scoring position home. Good pitching by both starters and bullpens again yesterday as well. Wasn’t this Texas Rangers team the worst in baseball? Or is it the Yanks? I forget. The good news/bad news happened after the game when the Sox had five players named to the All-Star team. That was the good news. The bad news you ask was that Youk was snubbed. More good news came with Hideki “Darkman” Okajima having a chance to be voted in by the fans.

So while I am pissed about Youk getting snubbed, I am happy about Darkman having a chance. I know it was a tough call on who put on the team or the final vote, so I was glad to see one of our two other deserving players having a chance. Anyways, enough of my jibber-jabber, let’s take a look at the headlines and happenings from the Boston and Dallas area media on this lovely spring summer day here in Red Sox Nation.

Clunkers in the clutch: Sox bats fail again in loss to Texas. [Boston Herald]

Hard to figure, but Rangers stay hot. [Star-Telegram]

Sox Still On Down Swing. [Hartford Courant]

Rangers’ Gagne a saver to savor. [Dallas Morning News]

Red Sox fall, and so softly. [Boston Globe]

With the All-Star picks, there’s always some All-Star nits. [Star-Telegram]

Ortiz isn’t talking, and neither is his bat. [Providence Journal]

Rangers’ Young picked for All-Star Game. [Dallas Morning News]

Francona steals moment to chat with Lugo. [Boston Globe]

Talk centers on misplay: Ellsbury a part of Drew error. [Boston Herald]

Youkilis Odd Man Out At First Base. [Hartford Courant]

All-Stars: Ortiz, Ramirez, Lowell, Beckett and Papelbon. [Pro Jo]

Time to show their stuff: Sox’ play not worthy of big lead. [Boston Herald]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News websites.

Three months in and the Sox are still in first place with a record of 49-30 (Ed note: at time of writing) .620 (the best winning percentage in the majors) even though they made it through June sub .500 with a 13-14 mark. The month started off losing two of three to the Yankees and also ended on a home loss to Texas with the teams’ best pitcher on the mound. In between, the dwellers of the Fens, lost 3 of 4 at Oakland, won 2 of three at Arizona. Came home and dropped 2 of three to the Rockies, swept the Giants, then won two of three in Atlanta and San Diego, went sleepless in Seattle (sorry I had to) and split the first two of a four game set with the Rangers. 10 of the teams 13 wins in June were against the National League. They were 5-4 at Fenway in June and 8-10 on the road. Still going into July 1st their lead stood at 10.5 games over Toronto in the AL East.

Well now it’s time to take a little whirl through the Boston roster including the manager and give each player a quick review of how things are at this point in the season. I will also include their May grade so you can see if they went up or down.

Manager Terry Francona: I downgraded Terry and the staff as a whole this month from an A to a B. It’s hard to hand the staff a top grade when the team plays sub.500 ball. But with that said the manager and coaches aren’t the one’s in the field.
Grade: B (May Grade: A)

Starting Nine:
Shortstop Julio Lugo: If you looked in the dictionary for the work “sucks” you’d see his picture at this point. His average dropped 40 points from .230 through 52 games to .190 though 79 games. Not only is this not good, it’s pretty damn terrible. So terrible in fact he was pulled from his traditional lead off spot and dropped to ninth. Lately he has been pinch hit for in key situations and also is gathering more splinters. Four years, $36 million, thanks Uncle Theo.
Grade: F (May Grade: C)

First Baseman Kevin Youkilis: Great OBP of .502, very good batting average of .326 but his power numbers dropped off to 1 HR in June and about 13 RBI. Has played 122 consecutive errorless games at first which is a new club record. Has taken Trot Nixon’s place as the team “Dirt Dog”. Needs to be more consistent with his blog entries. Should be an All-star.
Grade: B (May Grade: A)

Designated Hitter David Ortiz: Very happy with the BA of .318 and somewhat happy with the 49 RBI but he needs more digits in the HR column. Do you realize “Big Papi” hasn’t hit a Fenway HR since April 28th against the Yankees? He also needs to get those close and late numbers up. I don’t know what they are but I heard the other day they aren’t good and I, like you, have seen it with my own eyes.
Grade: B- (May Grade: B)

Left Fielder Manny Ramirez: Just 3 HRs and 12 RBI in June. These are not Manny-like numbers. His average has dropped 20 points in the last 7 games of June.
Grade: C (May Grade: B-)

Right Fielder J.D. Drew: Raised his average to .259 and spent some time hitting lead off. Was very comfortable in the NL parks including a big 2 HR /7 RBI game at Arizona. Had an 8 game hit streak to end the month. Has been on base in 52 of his 68 games.
Grade: C (May Grade: D)

Third Baseman Mike Lowell: Averaged dropped over 30 points in June with just 2 HRs and 14 RBI. Had a 7 game hit streak to end the month with 5 RBI during the streak. 3 errors in June to raise his season total to 12, double what he had in a full season last year.
Grade: B- (May Grade: A)

Catcher/team captain Jason Varitek: Had been very steady but is hitting .200 in his last 12 games to drop his average to .261. Has caught 60 games, 15 of his 19 off days have been starts by Tim Wakefield.
Grade: C+ (May Grade: B)

Center Fielder Coco Crisp: Has seen his average rise over 20 points in June and hit for some power on the last road trip with 3 HRs. Missed last two games of the month with an injured thumb. Hitting .368 in his last 18 games. Had his first career 2 HR game at Atlanta on June 18th.
Grade: B+ (May Grade: C+)

Second Baseman Dustin Pedroia: The rookie second baseman continues to shine as his average went up another 20 points in June. Hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games in the month. Set career highs with 5 hits and 5 RBI vs. the Giants on June 15th
Grade: A- (May Grade: B-)

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In what seems to be a recurrent theme lately, the Red Sox get strong pitching and no hitting as the Rangers managed 2 runs in a 2-1 win. Julian “Yo-Yo” Tavarez was the victim on Maine day today as he pitched 5â…” decent innings and got no support from his teammates at the plate.

Yo-Yo had a rough start to the 1st inning as Kenny Lofton and Ramon Vazquez both reached on singles. Yo-Yo got Michael Young to ground into a double play and Slammin’ Sammy Sosa to ground out to end the inning. His 2nd inning of work was a little easier as he retired the Rangers in order.

The Sox put together a mini-threat in their half of the 1st inning but the bats failed them when needed. Dustin Pedroia grounded back to Rangers starter Kameron Loe for the first out. Kevin Youkilis hit a ground rule double to right field and Big Papi walked. Manny Ramirez flew out to left field and J.D. Drew hit a comebacker to the mound for the final out. Jason Varitek managed a hit in the 2nd but that was it.

After Yo-Yo got the first two outs of the 3rd inning, the hot-hitting duo of Lofton and Vazquez strong together back-to-back singles, with Lofton advancing to third. Yo-Yo got Young to ground out to get out of the mini-jam. Loe put down the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.

The comedy of errors for the Sox happened in the 4th inning. Slammin Sammy led off the inning with a single. Frank Catalanotto then hit a ball to Alex Cora that Cora booted. Marlon Byrd followed with a gap shot to right field that bounced off the glove of Drew for the second error of the inning for the Sox. It also resulted in the first run of the game for Texas as Sosa came across the plate. Yo-Yo helped his teammates out by striking out Brad Wilkerson and getting Adam Melhuse to ground into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.

Boston threatened again in their half of the 4th inning as Manny led off the inning with a double and Drew drew a walk. Loe quickly got out of any trouble as he got Hinske to ground into a double play and Varitek to ground out to him.

In the home half of the 5th inning, the local nine managed to scrape together a run. Cora led off with a single. After an Ellsbury fly out, Pedroia smacked a single of his own moving Cora to third base. Youk brought in Cora with a single of his own, with Pedroia only getting to second base. The RBI for Youk tied the game at 1. Big Papi flew out and Manny grounded out ending the inning and the scoring for the Sox.

The Rangers would chase Yo-Yo from the game in the 6th inning. Catalanotto worked a walk. Yo-Yo would Byrd to line out to short. Wilkerson would bring Catalanotto home for the second run of the game for the Rangers with a double. Wilkerson went to third on the throw home. Yo-Yo walked Melhuse and would leave the game after getting Travis Metcalf to line out to short. Javier Lopez came in and got the hot-hitting Lofton to fly out.

Yo-Yo went 5â…” innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), and 3 walks. He struck out 2 on 106 pitches.

Loe worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning and turned it over to his bullpen. C.J. Wilson retired the first two batters of the 7th but allowed Pedroia to reach on infield single. Frank Francisco came in and walked Youk but got Big Papi to strikeout.

Manny Delcarmen had come in for Lopez in the 7th inning and gave up a single to Young before retiring Sosa and Catalanotto. In the 8th, Delcarmen gave up a double to Byrd. Byrd went to third on a sacrifice by Wilkerson. The Rangers were unable to bring the Byrd in as Delcarmen got Melhuse and Metcalf out to end the inning.

A strange thing happened in the 8th inning with Rangers pitcher Eric Gagne. Akinori Otsuka had hurt his ankle on a play at first with Varitek and was taken out of the game. Since Gagne hadn’t started warming for the 9th yet, he began to throw in the bullpen while he was being summoned to the field to warmup. After numerous phone calls from the dugout and a visit from one of the umpires, Gagne finally made his way to the mound. After a few minutes of warmups, he got Cora to ground out to end the inning.

Hideki “Darkman” Okajima worked a 1-2-3 9th inning for the Sox. Gagne allowed just a walk to Pedroia in bottom half of the 9th before getting the final two outs of the game for his 10th save.

Kason Gabbard will look to overturn the slide for the Sox as he takes the hill tomorrow. Hopefully he will overcome his troubles from his last start and get this potential shipwreck righted.

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