I’m pretty sure when the plane leaves Seattle on Sunday, the Boston Red Sox will be very happy to leave the west coast behind because once again it wasn’t kind to them.

Ichiro Suzuki hit two home runs, the latter of which gave the Seattle Mariners the lead for good, to help the Mariners to a 5-4 win over the Red Sox in front of 34,952 at Safeco Field.

The loss for the Red Sox is their third straight and drops them to 21-15 on the season. The Mariners had come in to the game losers of 9 of their last 10 games but the win improves their record to 17-19.

Jon Lester got the start for the Red Sox on Friday night and while he wasn’t at his best, he didn’t pitch that badly. It was a lack of focus or concentration on a potential double play ball that cost him. He ended up going 5 2/3 innings and was charged with 5 runs that came on 8 hits and 3 walks while recording 5 strikeouts.

Daniel Bard looked good once again as he went 1 1/3 innings allowing 2 hits. Takashi Saito allowed a hit and a walk in his inning of work.

Thirty-year old rookie Chris Jakubauskas had a rough time early in the game for the Mariners but settled in to give them 6 innings. He allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Sean White, Mark Lowe and David Aardsma combined to shut down the Red Sox over the final three innings with Aardsma picking up his 4th save of the season.

J.D. Drew moved into the 3 spot in the lineup as David Ortiz has been given the weekend off to get his head straight. He responded to the change with 3 hits and drove in one. Jacoby Ellsbury also had a good night at the plate as he had three hits, falling just a homer short of the cycle and an RBI. He now has an 11-game hitting streak. The only other members of the visiting nine to have hits were Mike Lowell and Jeff Bailey. Julio Lugo drove in the other run.

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After losing two-of-three in Anaheim, the Boston Red Sox head north to Seattle where they’ll take on the Mariners in what will serve as their final west coast trip.

It also will be a homecoming game for Jon Lester (Pullyap, WA), Jacoby Ellsbury (Madras, OR), Jason Bay (Trail, BC), Jed Lowrie (Salem, OR) and Jeff Bailey (Longview, WA). Lowrie isn’t with the team though as he is Florida rehabbing his wrist.

The game tonight will start at 10:10 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Mariners television market you can catch the game on Fox Sports Northwest. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Lester will get the ball from Terry Francona and look to improve upon his last start when he gave up a career-high 8 runs on a career-high matching 10 hits. On the season, Lester is 2-3 with a 6.32 ERA in 7 starts. Lester has made 3 starts in his career against the Mariners and all have come at Safeco Field where is 1-0 with a 4.67 ERA.

Chris Jakubauskas starts for the Mariners tonight and is in his first season in the big leagues at age 30. Jakubauskas has appeared in 7 games (5 starts) this season and is 1-4 with a 7.67 ERA.

Lester hopes to get on track in Seattle [RedSox.com]

Rice enjoys memories during Hall tour [RedSox.com]

Rice proud to join elite in Hall [RedSox.com]

Rice tours Cooperstown [Extra Bases]

The Papi dilemma [Touching All The Bases]

Are radar gun readings bad for Daniel Bard? [Full Count]

Top 5: Busts in Red Sox history [Tony Massarotti]

Slumping Ortiz sits, told to clear his head [Projo Sox Blog]

Smoltz excels in two Florida innings [Projo Sox Blog]

Ortiz’s off day [Extra Bases]

Dice-K strikes out 9 pitching for PawSox [Projo Sox Blog]

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers. No one on the Red Sox has faced Jakubauskas.

Apparently there wasn’t any interest in the services of Javier Lopez after he was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox last week as Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe is reporting that he has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Pawtucket.

I guess when you have a 9.26 ERA in 11 2/3 innings, no one is really going to want you. But it’s still surprising considering the small amount of semi-quality lefty relievers in the league.

Maybe some time in the minors is what he needs to turn things around.

Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz pretty much summed up his afternoon by saying “Papi stinks” after he left 12 men on base as he went 0-for-7 in the 5-4 extra innings loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Everybody out there knows Big Papi hasn’t hit a home run this season and he’s struggled mightily at the plate. There seemed like a few times where he was close to getting out of black hole he’s in but he’s never been able to sustain it.

There doesn’t appear to be anything physically wrong with him so it has to be a mental thing. As much as baseball is a physical game, it’s more of a mental game. You have to think of the pitch that’s coming, decide to swing, etc. But when you’re in a rut like Ortiz is, those decisions may not come as quick as he liked. He’s been swinging at some bad pitches but that’s not to see he’s been getting some good pitches.

Yesterday he had a few fastballs thrown right by him. A “normal” Ortiz rarely ever missed those. Now it seems commonplace.

Their are a few logical situations to help him out. For one, Terry Francona could move him down in the lineup so there isn’t as much pressure on him. Francona could also give Ortiz a few mental health days. Since it’s quite possible they could face a few lefties this weekend, the timing couldn’t be any better. There’s also the phantom DL although they may have a harder time sliding that one by.

One thing’s for certain, the Red Sox need him on top of his game. If he doesn’t recover, it’s quite possible we could be seeing a new DH-type player come the trade deadline.

The 12th of never [Boston Globe]

Red Sox leave 17 on as Halos win [Boston Herald]

Clutch hits are hard to come by for Boston [Providence Journal]

Ortiz hits a new low by going 0 for 7 in defeat [Boston Globe]

Julio Lugo slaps high 5 [Boston Herald]

Red Sox journal: Pedroia picks up where he left off [Providence Journal]

Expanded zone was striking [Boston Globe]

No waiting on Dustin Pedroia [Boston Herald]

Ortiz: “Papi stinks” [Projo Sox Blog]

Friday Nuggetpalooza! [Nuggetpalooza]

Francona tossed over cheeky talk to ump [Projo Sox Blog]

Five Things We Learned: Ortiz Might Have Hit Bottom [WEEI.com]

Out on the West Coast [Justin Masterson – CSN]

Time off could help Ortiz [Heidi Watney – NESN.com]

People Like Him, But That’s About It [Boston Dirt Dogs]

Beware the Angel Stadium Chicken, Red Sox fans [Red Sox Monster]

Take Ortiz out of the 3rd slot!! [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 must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the LA Times, Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.

UConn Football links

Football: UConn Fairfield County Day Set For June 10 [UConnHuskies.com]

Big East power rankings, post-spring edition [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

Dan O. News And Some Notes [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

First day of trials in the books [Jim Fuller- New Haven Register]

Faris eager to join Huskies [New Haven Register]

The journey continues [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Class personified [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Thabeet could thrive in right situation [ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

Softball: Truax Named To NFCA All-Mideast Team [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: UConn Dominates Villanova 20-6 in BIG EAST Action [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Huskies Clinch Spot in 2009 BIG EAST Baseball Championship [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: WTIC.com To Broadcast BIG EAST Baseball Touranment [UConnHuskies.com]

Excuse My Hiatus, Please [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Friday, May 15^th @ 10:10 PM

Jon Lester (L) (2-3, 6.31) vs Chris Jakubauskas (R) (1-4, 7.67)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Saturday May 16^th @ 10:10 PM

Josh Beckett (R) (3-2, 6.42) vs Erik Bedard* (L) (2-1, 2.53) Garrett Olson (L) (0-0, 2.57)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Sunday, May 17^th @ 4:10 PM

Justin Masterson (R) (2-2, 4.89) vs Jason Vargas (L) (1-0, 1.04)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

* Bedard could be scratched due to a tight right hamstring

Torii Hunter had himself quite a day with 3 hits, 3 RBIs and two great catches and the Los Angeles Angels got the win in the 12th inning on a Jeff Mathis single to beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in 12 innings in front of 35,124 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

The Red Sox fall to 21-14 and the Angels improve to 18-15 on the season.

After the Red Sox left the bases loaded in the top half of the 12th, Manny Delcarmen took over for Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom half.

Juan Rivera greeted him with a single and was taken out of the game for pinch-runner Reggie Willits. Erick Aybar sacrificed him over to second base and Mathis followed with the game winning single to give the Angels the 5-4 win to continue their mastery over the Red Sox in the regular season.

Brad Penny started this one for the Red Sox and I’ll be honest he wasn’t all that bad. He probably shouldn’t have been out there to start the 7th but who am I to question Terry Francona. Penny went 6 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.

Hideki Okajima allowed a hit and had a strikeout in his inning of work. Ramon Ramirez continues to be the steal of the off-season as he need just 16 pitches to get through 2 2/3 innings. Papelbon went an inning, allowing a hit and walk while Delcarmen worked 1/3 of an inning, giving up a hit and the winning run.

I’m not really a big fan of Julio Lugo at all but today he was hitting like his job depended on it. He went 5-for-6 with a RBI and picked up his first stolen base of the season. Dustin Pedroia returned to the Red Sox lineup after missing some time with a pulled groin and had 4 hits and a walk. The Red Sox totaled 15 hits on the day and the only other person with more than 1 was Jacoby Ellsbury who had 2 and added an RBI. Jason Bay had the other RBI for the Sox.

If you really want to know why the Red Sox lost this game today, it might have to do something with the fact that they left 34 runners on base. Yes that’s not a typo, 34 left on base. David Ortiz was the big culprit as he went 0-for-7 with 12 runners left on base. It might be time for a mental health break for Big Papi or maybe he should be hitting down in the order until he gets squared away.

The Red Sox now head up the coast to Seattle for a 3-game set with the Mariners that will mark their final west coast swing of the season. Jon Lester will get to pitch in front of his family and friends for the Red Sox while Chris Jakubauskas will start for the Mariners.

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