RoyNHSox

This is brutal. :thumbdown

That sucks. Lester doesn't escape this time.

WMP's HR was 451 feet.

I hope they give the distance for it.

WMP crushes another. THANK U!

Nice job Youk. Edit: except for that...

Manny's hitting streak continues.

Stat from NESN: Coco is .236 batting 1st and .375 batting 7th…before that AB

The Sox were interested in Shealy recently. I wonder if they’ll continue after the season is over.

Lopez continues his 0-as a Red Sox streak.

I feel like I’m reliving every Lester 1st inning with tonight’s so far.

Time for Youk to deliver Papi and Manny. Edit: not this time

From the Globe’s Extra Bases: It sounds like Tito would like to go back with Youk leading off, but due to injuries (to Tek?) he feels Youk is needed to bolster the middle of the lineup. I wish Tito would check Tek’s offensive numbers while batting in the #5 spot.

Tonight's lineups: Red Sox 1. Coco Crisp CF 2. Loretta 2B 3. David Ortiz DH 4. Manny Ramirez LF 5. Kevin Youkilis 1B 6. Mike Lowell 3B 7. Wily Mo Pena RF 8. Javy Lopez C 9. Alex Gonzalez SS -- Jon Lester, SP Royals 1. David DeJesus CF 2. Mark Grudzielanek 2B 3. Mike Sweeney DH 4. Reggie Sanders RF 5. Mark Teahen 3B 6. Emil Brown LF 7. Ryan Shealy 1B 8. John Buck C 9. Angel Berroa SS -- Luke Hudson, SP

My take on the whole long term plan idea of being competitive and financially responsible is a laudable philosophy and I hope it does bear out over the next few years. I did read parts (intro) of “Feeding The Monster” that does shed more insight on Theo’s plan, and I can buy into the idea that there will be one year (this year I guess) where the transition of being more financially responsible to financially prudent will take place during this rebuilding. I guess what frustrates me is the timing of the plan. Up until a month ago the Sox were steamrolling through the season with one of the best records in MLB. By all signs they had an excellent chance of winning the AL East. Then after the ASB we saw the team playing a more .500 level of play. There were clear needs that could be addressed, mostly in the pitching department. But the trade deadline came and went and no moves to improve the team were made. The reasons have been discussed at great length in other posts and threads. So again my frustration is that why did the transition year have to be this year, when there was/is an excellent chance the Sox could have done some serious damage in the postseason, given their good start. By no means do I think that is now impossible, or that the Sox don't have what it takes to make it to the postseason and beyond. But maybe a move at the trade deadline, albeit costly, could have enabled this goal to win the WS. I feel that Curt's clock is running out of time, that Papi and Manny are peaking, that the team defense has been spectacular, and for the sake of bad timing (?) that this season was somehow written off (bad choice of words, maybe) as more of that transitional rebuilding year instead. I sound like a typical fan that wants to have their cake and eat it too I guess. I still feel the Sox's chances are excellent to make the postseason with the current personnel, but deep down I wish more could have been done this season in terms of improvement and take advantage of everything that is/was going the Sox way. I still hold out hope that the Sox make it to the postseason until it's mathematically impossible, so I hope nobody thinks I'm giving up the ship...never.

I hope Foulke can come back and bring something to this pen, because right now they look horrible.

f*** you Tavarez and the rest of the pen that crapped out today.

IBB to Papi to go after Manny. Please, please, please make these f***ers pay.

Nice steal Coco. Keep up the pressure.

f*** the Rays. The Sox can win this game and then on to KC.

The Sox can beat the lousy D-Rays bullpen.

NO f***ing way!

Hansen, MDC, and Timlin…the go-to guys have been shaky lately.

Timlin has had some gopher problems since the ASB.

Great D...hahaha Edit: Manny's hit streak continues.