Day 89: Hey Guys! What About the Red Sox?

With all that's been happening in Boston sports the past few weeks, not much attention has been paid to the Red Sox. Sure... the Bruins were in the Stanley Cup and the Celtics just cleaned house in preparation for their rebuilding phase. Oh yeah... and then there's this thing going on with Aaron Hernandez. But the Red Sox are still in first place, folks—and they've officially passed the halfway point of the season!

The Sox lead the AL East by 3.5 games over the Orioles and continue to hold the second best record in baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are tied for the best. (Yes, I did say Pirates... are you as shocked as I am?) Over the last week alone, the top four in the lineup—Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia and Ortiz are ALL batting over .420 with 41 total hits. And Ellsbury and Victorino, after enduring early season slumps, are both inching closer to that .300 mark.

John Lackey had yet another great start against the Rockies earlier this week, notching his fifth win with a season high 12 strikeouts. Jon Lester also looked a lot better last night against the recently wicked hot Blue Jays after struggling through most of the month, but left the game when he jammed his hip early in the eighth. Oh dear. The bullpen still needs some work, but Koji Uehara appears to have settled nicely into the closer role. We shall see...

Last night's game was especially entertaining with the Sox sending 11 men to the dish in the second inning and scoring all seven of their runs. Magical, I tell you! The Toronto starter, who had currently gone 16+ innings without allowing an earned run, never finished the inning. If you went to bed soon after the second, you didn't miss much. That's the only scoring they did all night and fortunately, the Blue Jays couldn't catch up.

I've always been a glass half empty kinda girl when it comes to the Red Sox. For some reason, I just can't accept that they're actually good this season, especially when coming in to this year, no one had high hopes for them. Kudos to John Farrell for making it work! I'd really love to start believing in them again, but I'm afraid I might jinx it.

Day 82: It's Been a Wicked Wild Week in Sports

First of all... TGIF! Second of all... it's late and I may or may not have had a few beers. And third of all... holy cow, it has been a wild and wacky week in the world of sports. And with all that's happened, the Red Sox, who should be our focus this time of year, barely even make a blip on the sports news radar. Except their closer who has been stinking up the joint lately.

So without further ado, here's your wild weekly wrap up:

• Aaron Hernandez is a dumb ass. Do I really need to say any more? Expect him to be arrested any minute on obstruction of justice charges. And depending on what evidence they find—you know, evidence that Hernandez didn't destroy—it could be the difference between jail and, well, jail. Dumb. Ass. Can you even imagine how absolutely pissed off Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady must be right now? 

• The Miami Heat are the NBA Champions. Yawn. I don't like basketball and I don't care about Lebron James or the stupid Heat. Theoretically, if I liked this sport, I would've been obnoxiously rooting for the Spurs. This is the least exciting thing for me that has happened this week. 

• B-R-U-I-N-S. As much as I would've have loved to be up three games to one right now, it just didn't work out that way. The Bruins and Blackhawks are all square at two game a piece as the series shifts back to the Windy City. I'd be a freakin' liar if I said I wasn't worried. Especially after the six goals the Hawks scored in game four. But as long as the defense shows up for the next game, they should be ok. I hope. I'm getting anxiety just thinking about the game tomorrow night. 

• The Danny-Doc-KG saga. So Doc Rivers decides he may want to entertain the idea of coaching the LA Clippers. Oh and by the way, he's taking Kevin Garnett with him. And then he's not going. But then he might. Oh wait, now the deal is dead. The latest is Doc will take the weekend to decide his fate with the Celtics. I wish I cared. I don't. 

• And then we have the Red Sox. What can I say about the Red Sox? Well, they did take two of three from the Rays... and they've split the first two games of a four game series with the Tigers. Tonight's win coming on the back of a four-hit, five RBI game from Shane Victorino. But my real takeaway from this week: Andrew Bailey sucks. Three blown saves in five appearances. Sucks. The Sox need to find a new closer. The end.

See? Crazy week. I'm exhausted. Must rest up for the big Bruins game tomorrow night.

Day 78: Sorry I Can't Come to the Blog Right Now, the Bruins are On.

I know I should probably be writing about a lot of different stuff today. There was a big series between the Red Sox and Orioles and some serious US Open golf on this weekend, so there's a plethora of subject matter from which to choose. So why is it all I can focus on is the two teams skating around a sheet of ice on my TV? Because it's the Cup, that's why!

I should be writing about how the Red Sox finally lost a series—a real heartbreaker of a weekend, losing three out of four to the Orioles. They started the weekend with a nice three and a half game lead over the O's. Now, just a slim one and a half game lead. Too close for comfort, if you ask me. I'm also starting to worry about Jon Lester. After jumping out to a strong 6-0 record in the first month plus of the season, he hasn't registered a W since May 15 and is now 6-4. What the hell?

I also should be writing about how the Merion Golf Club, called too short by many before the US Open started, completely kicked the asses of just about the entire field. Even the winner, Justin Rose, finished the tournament one over par. When was the last time you saw a major golf tournament with not one player posting a score under par? And poor Phil... second place again? Looks like he's got another bridesmaid dress to add to his collection. His closet must be getting real full!

But honestly, all I really want to write about is hockey hockey hockey because I've got Stanley Cup fever!! Wait... that's not right. I want to WATCH HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY! GO BRUINS!!

Goodbye!

Day 43: This is My Brain on Bruins

Watching playoffs in any sport is stressful—but what is it about hockey that keeps you on the verge of a heart attack for 60 minutes? Especially when it's Game 7. And even more so when your team is down by two goals with time ticking off the clock faster than it should. I'm starting to sweat a little and I'm just sitting on the couch!

The boys in black and gold are starting to look a little frantic. And the visiting team gains more and more confidence with each goal scored. I'd like to think it has something to do with the frequency of games played over the past four days—but then why would it only affect one team? Or maybe we can blame the plane trouble that kept the Bruins in Toronto and kept them from sleeping in their own beds?

Or maybe we can just blame the dark pall that has fallen over Boston sports since April ended. The badness started May 3rd when the Celtics were ousted in the first round by the Knicks. I don't think anyone was surprised. The Celts are an aging team that just looked exhausted by the end.

The Red Sox have kept the clouds dark this month by going 2-8 in their last 10 games. Yes folks, the team that had the best record in baseball and led the American League east at the end of April now have dropped to 3rd. Call it coming back to earth after being bolstered by Boston Strong if you want. Or just call it bad baseball. Whatever you want to call it, it sucks.

Now the Bruuuuuuuuuins, who were trailing by two goals just minutes ago, have tied up the game with 50 seconds left. Three goals in 10 minutes! Holy COW! And now... sudden death... in Game 7? I'm not sure my heart can handle much more of this. The anxiety is setting in. Overtime is going to send me over the edge.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod... my heart drops with every shot the Leafs take. Hyperventilating. There's a scurry around the Leafs net. Holy crap, holy crap...

AND THE BRUINS WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!

Hold on folks, May might be salvaged yet—at least in one sport!

Day 32: A Boston Strong Trio of Wins

I have a love-hate relationship with nights like last night—it's complete sensory overload for sports fans. The Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics all graced the airwaves and if you live in the northeast, your thumb got a real workout on the remote control. I didn't have a choice since I happened to be sitting in a bar with the Bruins on one tiny TV and the Celts on the other. I basically relied on my phone for score updates since I was too far away to see the scores! Not the best night to go out.

Remember that Tuesday night last week when the Sox got crushed by the A's 13-0, the Bruins fell to the Flyers 5-2, and the Celts dropped game #2 of their series with the Knicks, 87-71? Yeah, that didn't happen last night. Last night was the complete opposite and everyone was victorious!

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 10-1 giving Clay Buchholz his major league-leading 6th win of the season. He tossed seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball and struck out eight—his ERA now at a scant 1.01. The Sox offense exploded for 15 hits, five of those homeruns and two of those off the bat of Mike Napoli. Daniel Nava, Mike Carp and Stephen Drew (what?) hit the other three.

The Bruins also faced a team from Toronto as they took on the Maple Leafs in the first game of the playoffs at the Garden and taught them one important lesson—Don't Poke the Bear! After an early goal by the Leafs, the B's buttoned it up and Tuukka Rask stopped the next 19 shots on goal to preserve the 4-1 win. Wade Redden, Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Johnny Boychuk scored for the Bruins giving them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

I'll admit, I'm a big pink hat when it comes to the Celtics in the post season. They dropped the first three games to the Knicks to dig themselves a hole no other NBA team has been able to get out of. And last night, the Knicks made a key mistake—they all brought black clothing for game 5. The plan: win the game to eliminate the Celts and wear all black to mimic a funeral. Poor taste considering recent events in Boston, but they also completely jinxed themselves. HA! The boys in green won the game 92-86 and has NY shaking in their high tops.

Phew, what a night!