Well we had one good moment, as Papi broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the 9th. We lose anyway, 8-0.

In the 7th, it had been a perfect game, when Papi popped one up to short right field. This poor sap named Odor, playing in his second game, was right there, but for some unknown reason, didn't catch the ball. Don thought the right fielder called him off, though I didn't see his mouth open. The official scorer thought (or pretended to think) the same thing, because he/she gave the right fielder an error.

In any other situation, despite the fact that the ball should have been caught, they would have just called it a hit because nobody got a glove on it. I'm still wondering why, in 2014, we still have these rules that are sometimes followed and sometimes aren't. How is it that the scorer can say, "well we won't call it like we normally do to keep the no-hitter alive"? In fact, who's in charge of these "official" scorers? Is it like the skywriters' code?

Anyway, at that point, Yu still deserved the no-hitter so it's not like I was mad we didn't get credit for a hit, I'm just wondering why they can score differently in certain situations. Of course, this has been going on for a long time. But I thought the revolution was being televised! And replayed. How about the guy scores a play, then somebody in New York watches him write it down, then tells him he did it wrong, and makes him change it?

Also, terrible job by Rangers fans, cheering wildly while that pop-up was in the air. Never cheer for something that hasn't happened yet! Made it all the more hilarious when that ball landed. Well, that and the name Odor.

Finally, nice job by those Red Sox fan kids shown in the crowd late in the game trying to jinx Darvish while everyone else cheered around them. I'll root for a no-hitter...if my guy's throwing it!

The shittiness of this article would piss me off in general, but what makes it worse is that it came up as the top "Red Sox" hit in my Google News thing right before the Reds series. Let's break it down:

It's a light week for the Boston Red Sox, who start two-game set against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.

Left out a word, but hey, it happens, let's move on.

Some time has past

passed

since the last time the Red Sox have played a meaningful series against the Reds (since the Big Red Machine days, at least),

Such an odd thing to say. The Red Sox never played the Reds in a game that counted until the "Big Red Machine days." So "At least" makes no sense. It also implies we've been playing them all along, when in reality we played them in one series in '75, then not again until '05, and then one other time before this week.

so this quick set will be a good opportunity for Boston fans to catch a surging Cincinnati franchise in person.

Had lots of meaningless games been played, they still would have counted as opportunities to catch the Reds.

Although, the real focus will probably be placed sole on trying to win both games and gain some ground in the division.

That "Although" with a comma after it reeks of school newspaper. And your "Sole" needs an "ly." And yes, we're probably trying to win above all else.

Here's the AL East outlook as of Friday morning:

Since this was a Tuesday-Wednesday series, I checked his previous article to reveal that this inexplicable "Friday" line was indeed a copy/paste. Someone should also tell the guy what "outlook" means.

The New York Yankees have yet to pull away, and no one else seems intent on going on a run. As a result, the Red Sox are now in a tie for third place, despite a 5-5 run. Then again, the 15-16 Reds aren't on fire themselves.

I thought the Reds were surging! The Red Sox are in a tie for third despite a 5-5 run? So they played .500 ball and ended up right in the middle. What's so despitey about that? Should I be surprised that the Yanks haven't pulled away?

I'll end it there. But please note he does start sentences with "Although [comma]" two more times. Maybe it doesn't seem that horrible, but go to the link and read it all and you'll get the vibe I got. The "not good" vibe. The writer is an associate producer and "coordinates" sports coverage! I almost feel like Dan Lamothe put this guy in charge just to make me mad. Lord knows I used to make him mad. I guess he's some kind of military reporter now. Come on Dan, you know I can do a better job than this. All I ask is what the Ghostbusters paid Winston to start, 11-five a year.

Left Newport at 3:00, parked at a meter in Boston at 4:35. Super-walked over to Fenway and got in during RSN early entry. Spotted ballhawk Mike in our usual area. "We" got this toss-up ball.

I asked this Red for the ball, he nodded at me, then appeared to throw it to Mike to give to me, saying "red," which I thought meant my red t-shirt. Of course, Mike was wearing red too, and his shirt had a big C on it, so it could be that the guy was telling me, "sorry, I gave it to the Reds fan." Either way, Mike is one of Earth's rare nice people, and he gave me the ball right away. Thanks, Mike!

Here he is in action below in a separate incident, getting a toss-up from another Red.

[video here--it won't let me embed for some reason]

I'll never not take a picture of this.

I like this shadow.

Classic Wall-in-late-afternoon shot.

That gate with the socks.

A few other close calls, but that would be my only BP ball. Went over to the Reds' dugout, where there were a good amount of Reds fans. Lots of blue above on this totally-comfortable-for-May evening. Went with the short sleeves until mid-game.

A weird shot of a Red sipping a Toro Rojo.

The littlest Reds fan.

I don't get it.

Joey Votto.

Will and J-Her.

More Votto.

Billy Hamilton makes a face.

Blogger is doing that weird auto-brightening again. This is supposed to have the field mostly dark with the sign and the jerseys bright. Oh well.

Started out in the good seats. Not bad for having an $18 ticket.

Peavy pitched well for us, only had one bad moment, pretty much.

Pedroia up in the first.

Papi up.

Went to the back of the GS behind the plate. I guess the screen is easier to see through now--I don't notice that but I notice the new pattern in it. Here, Peavy is in the Y.

I showed you a picture of the new 3rd base deck bar a while back, but it was empty then. As you can see here, when it gets crowded, it ruins that SRO area, because the lines back up to the fans who are standing and facing the field. And it's just way too bright now. And all the people facing away from the field are being all loud and not watching the game. And it's hard to walk through.

Headed out toward RF and got this shot of the Pru and friends.

What?? The classic standing area that goes all the way down the right field line is no more! What the crud? They've been revamping the SRO at Fenway gradually through the years, but this is the worst change. I love standing along there. This must be a fire code thing or something. And with these hundreds of spots now gone, more people will be crowded into the other SRO areas. The whole thing is going in a bad direction.

Fortunately, once I turned the corner at section 4, those spots were still legal. In this pic you can see along the side there where there are no people standing, save for some security guards. And it was so perfect, that little ledge behind the walkway, just wide enough to stand in, and you could see over the heads of the foot traffic. Of course, you had idiots who would stand right in front of you up against the seatbacks of the last row, both blocking the legal standers and causing bottlenecks along the path. They should have stopped that practice, instead of removing everybody.

Royal Rooters club seen from inside the seating "bowl."

All that bullpen cop does now is pose. He points at whoever's taking his picture, then puts his arms up so you can take it.

Finally ended up back in the loge. Here's Middlebrooks as he's about to come up and give us the lead in the 8th...

[Video here--to reiterate, it won't let me embed]

We pulled a "Mike" (Yankee fan Mike, not ballhawk Mike), where you're behind going bottom 8, take lead, then suddenly you're three outs away. Koji in.

1-2-3, Sox win.

Red Sox beat Reds in 12 at Fenway, though Little Grady did not hit the foul pole. His double plated Papi with the game-winner, and the celebration was on.

Bottom 12 went like this: Ortiz singles through the shift. Napoli grounds one up the middle. Shortstop dives but it scoots by. He should have taken a much different angle, getting to the ball on the outfield grass and then having a legit shot at forcing Papi out at second. Sizemore comes up and hits one deep to left-center. NESN does the "follow the ball" thing so we don't see where the fielders are, and then when it hits low on the wall, they keep showing the outfield so we don't know where Papi is on the basepaths. But we could tell from the fact that the LF and CF stopped once the carom went between them into no-person's land that this game was over. Papi could have crawled home.

Great job by the pen post-Taz/Koji keeping this one tied. So we stay 1.5 back of the O's. Yanks tied 2-2 in 6th out west as I type.

And I still can't believe how Dennis Eckersley can sit there listening to both Don and Jerry say the Red Sox "walked off" and then hear Tom Caron in the chair next to him say it twice, without saying "you guys are using the phrase I coined completely wrong."

After blowing a bases-loaded, no outs situation in the top of the 8th with the game tied (capped by a Jeter DP), the Yanks walked in three guys in a row in the bottom half. Three different pitchers, too. How'd the Angels load the bases in the first place? Three walks. Angels win 4-1. But Girardi got ejected so the Yanks get to automatically say that the team is now somehow unified and therefore awesome, and that this is surely the catalyst to a championship run.


O's take over first. Sox 1.5 back along with Rays and Jays.

Sneaky move--the Red Sox said Green Monster tix for June and July would go on sale today at noon. They just did--along with the Yankee series on the first few days of August! I actually only see the Friday and Sunday games up there.

And the Tigers game on May 18th has been announced as the Sunday night game. Which means those tix in the batter's eye, sections 34 and 35, are on sale now. Great spot.

It seems like two teams wanted the A's to win today. From the 8th through the 10th, I was hoping that we could win this game so that I could forget about what I saw in the 7th, a free out given to the other team while knowing we'd get nothing in return with the go-ahead run on third. But incredibly, inCREDibly, another crazy thing involving the same player bunting happened in the 10th, and again, everything gets fucked up and we lose. We should be credited with two losses.

Here's how it all went down in case you missed it: Bottom 7, AJ ties it at 2 on a homer. X walks, and Gomes flies one to right, and Reddick, who'd been having trouble with the wind out there, doesn't catch it. Second and third, nobody out. So we knock these guys in, and cruise to a sweep, right? Incorrect. Middlebrooks watches strike three, and then Bradley tries to surprise 'em with a bunt. Safety squeeze. He misses the ball. Okay, fine. Call that play off and let's get a fly ball and take the lead. Nope, they have him try to bunt again as the pitcher throws ball one. What? The A's have the first baseman charging, the third baseman halfway in, they've seen us try to bunt already...and...we're trying it some more. In other words, THERE'S NO BUNT YOU CAN LAY DOWN WHERE THE RUNNER ON THIRD WILL EVEN TRY TO SCORE. Bunting in that case is saying, "we'd prefer to just move on to the next batter, so we'll purposely have this one hit a tapper that you can field and throw him out on, at no cost to you." I'm goin', Where does he think he's gonna bunt this ball?? So he squares again, gets another ball. Then he squares AGAIN, and this time does exactly what you'd think, bunts it, pitcher fields, throws him out. FREE OUT! And I know people refer to sacrifice bunts as giving away an out, but at least with those, you're getting something in return!!!!!! Steve Zissou said it best: "You never say, 'I'm gonna fight you, Steve.' You just smile and act natural, and then you sucker-punch." As soon as he squared the second time, I thought, Maybe he's injured. Maybe he can't swing. But no, because surely they'd pinch hit if that were the case. Then I thought, Hmmm, maybe Farrell saw Bradley's two double plays earlier and didn't want him swinging....AND FORGOT THAT THERE WAS NO ONE ON FIRST. It's like Rusty said in Vacation after Aunt Edna was dead, "she's not gonna catch a cold now, mom."

So Pedroia follows with an inning-ending groundout. Second and third, no outs, tied, and we can't take the lead.

After having runners on base in the 8th and 9th and not scoring, we go to the 10th, where the A's get a two-out rally and score on a dribbler to third that Will makes a nice play on but just barely misses getting the guy at first.

Bottom 10, Will leads off with a single that Coco flubs in center, and he goes to second. And guess who's up? Jackie Bradley. Now there's no surprise, he's gonna bunt. But does he square around early and make sure he gets it down? No, for some reason, now he thinks it's time to surprise these guys! He doesn't get the bat around in time and fouls the bunt off. Square, Jackie, square! But no, he waits till the pitch is on its way, and this time, takes a ball way off the plate. But the ump calls it a strike, meaning it's two strikes, and we've blown the sac bunt chance! But hey, it's okay because Jackie does his job and grounds to the right side....except they pull a mind-scramble on us and throw to third! Where Middlebrooks is out! And much like the original run of the Sex Pistols, the inning, and the game, is over before you know it as Pedroia grounds into a 6-4-goddamn-motherfucking-3 double play. We deserved to lose and we did. Eff us.

Other bullshit: Remember I said Bradley had two GIDPs earlier? One was with the bases loaded to end an inning. Interestingly, Remy had said, "ya just need some contact here with the bases loaded." Right away he got contact, and the inning ended. That's not a "just make contact" situation, it's a "get some lift" situation, or fucking strike out but do anything in the world but hit a routine ground ball.

In the 6th, NESN's score box started the inning with 1 out. Where it stayed for a long time, until the first out. At which point it went to 2 outs. Before finally correcting back to 1. Needless to say, we the audience were really fucked up that inning.

Yanks were listless against the Rays at home today, with Aceves mopping up for CC. So yeah, we missed a chance to gain on them. But again, this division is so weird, we really should be able to start being normal and get a lead and go from there. Does Jeter have the same walk-up music as Papi this year? Can somebody confirm?

Jonny Wadd hit a grand dong in the first, and you could turn your sets off there, folks. But if you did, you missed a 15-strikeout performance by Jon Lester. Sox now 2 games out of first. Another chance to get back to .500 Sunday afternoon.

Every team in the A.L. East has given up more runs than it has scored. The breakdown:

Orioles -3
Red Sox -5
Blue Jays -5
Rays -11
Yankees -12

There are actually only three teams in the American League on the plus side:

A's +53
Angels +37
Tigers +15

We've beaten the A's by 9 total runs the last two days, so they had been at +62! George Newman would be proud.