ESPN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For the second consecutive game, the Boston Red Sox were visibly upset with the umpiring crew during a two-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez spoke his mind after Wednesday's 2-1 loss, saying it's tough to put together a professional at-bat when the plate umpire is inconsistent.

During the Sox's 5-3 win on Thursday, Gonzalez's teammates Mike Aviles and Dustin Pedroia also took exception to certain calls, and manager Bobby Valentine had their backs, too.

"You can't fight the umpire and the other team," Valentine said. "We're a highly competitive team and I'd like to be given a chance. A lot of guys had complaints tonight and I was with them. We've got to fight through it, that's for sure. We're trying our hardest and I think they're trying their hardest, too."

In the top of the seventh inning, Aviles was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Dan Bellino after he struck out looking. It was the first time in his career Aviles has been ejected.

"It was just frustrating, I guess," Aviles said. "I really wasn't questioning if it was a ball or strike on the last one. It was more of the fact that he had called two [other pitches] very similar balls, so I kind of shut off that pitch and when it got called a strike, I thought he gave me the hook prematurely, but at that point I definitely lost my cool and I apologize for that. It was definitely a little frustrating."

Pedroia, who went 2-for-5 with three strikeouts, was called out looking in the top of the ninth inning and gave Bellino the stare-down, too.

"They have a tough job," Pedroia said. "It's not easy. The game speeds up and I thought it might have sped up a little tonight, but it happens. It's tough, these games because we're fighting, trying to play well and facing some good pitching. It definitely affects your at-bats, but it's not an excuse. We are trying to have quality at-bats and hopefully the bat doesn't get taken out of your hands."

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaway from the Fort, where the Boston Red Sox were clubbed, 10-5, by the Philadelphia Phillies, in a split-squad game at JetBlue Park:

Alfredo Aceves was lit up for 10 hits, including 3 home runs, and 9 runs in 3 innings. He walked a batter, hit another, and threw a wild pitch. His pitches were up, he had trouble locating, and when he did throw a strike, it caught too much of the plate -- and Phillies' bats.

"He looked out of sorts from the get-go," said bench coach Tim Bogar, who managed this split squad of Sox players while Bobby Valentine was in Jupiter.

What does it mean? Well, neither Valentine nor pitching coach Bob McClure were here -- they were watching Felix Doubront, who was terrific in Jupiter -- so if they needed to make up their minds on Aceves, that wouldn't have happened.

Bogar called it a "hiccup," a rational notion given the superb way Aceves has pitched most of the spring, adding that "we haven't seen that since last August."

"A guy like Aceves, you should look at his track record,'' Bogar said. "He's shown us he can pitch.''

Aceves adopted a similar posture: "One outing is not going to tell you the value of a pitcher," he said.

Aceves walked leadoff batter Shane Victorino on four pitches to open the game. Juan Pierre swept a ground-rule double into the right-field corner, and after Aceves got away with a high slider to strike out Hunter Pence, he threw a wild pitch to Laynce Nix to score a run. John Mayberry Jr. lined a 400-foot single off the center-field fence for another run, Pete Orr and Freddy Galvis opened the second with back-to-back home runs, and Carlos Ruiz hit another home run to lead off the third.

"This is one of those days nothing went good," said Aceves, adding after his news conference, "I wasn't on the same page with myself."

Aceves wasn't alone. Dustin Pedroia dropped an easy throw at second, something that may not have happened since he played at Woodland High.

Darnell McDonald and Jacoby Ellsbury both made off-target throws to cutoff men, with shortstop Mike Aviles lunging to spear Ellsbury's throw, then losing a footrace to Juan Pierre to second base while Victorino strolled home from third. Michael Bowden relieved Aceves and gave up hits to three of the first four batters he faced, a run scoring.

Good news? Vicente Padilla made his first appearance since straining his hamstring, and looked dynamic in a scoreless inning of relief, his first since Valentine told him he was out of the mix--for now, anyway--for a starting job. Franklin Morales and closer Andrew Bailey also had a scoreless inning apiece.

Shortstop competition: Aviles had two hits, including a double, and is batting .293, while the rookie, Jose Iglesias, 0 for 3 in Jupiter, is now 1 for his last 13 and batting .174.

Check back later to read my thoughts on the rotation.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- How concerned was Bobby Valentine when Dustin Pedroia was hit by a pitch above the right wrist by Yankees nonroster pitcher Adam Warren?

"His hand was shaking,'' Valentine said after the teams' 4-4 tie. "I was really worried about it, very worried. I'm glad the X-rays were negative.''

Pedroia was hit by a pitch that ran in on him with two outs in the third inning. He was called out on the pitch by first-base umpire Tim Tschida, who said Pedroia went around with his swing. Pedroia came out of the game, replaced by Pedro Ciriaco, and will not make Friday's scheduled trip to Sarasota, where he had been penciled into the lineup against the Baltimore Orioles.

Pedroia texted former manager Terry Francona, who was working the game as an analyst with ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" crew, that he was OK.

A few other tidbits from the Fort:

* After Daisuke Matsuzaka threw two simulated innings Thursday, Valentine was asked if it was realistic to expect Matsuzaka by July 1.

"I think that that’s more than realistic,'' Valentine said. "We have it mapped out before then. Closer to June 1. Potentially.''

* Here is where the club stands on shortstop Jose Iglesias, two weeks from the start of spring training:

GM Ben Cherington has said that Iglesias may benefit from more time in the minor leagues but that the club would keep an open mind on the competition. That hasn't changed. Iglesias has played well this spring. So has Mike Aviles, whose experience gives him an advantage. Valentine has not yet gone to the front office to say he prefers one or the other, but there has been plenty of discussion about the relative strengths and weaknesses of both players, as with all players still in camp.

Aviles had a double in four trips Thursday night. Iglesias is scheduled to play short Friday in Sarasota.

* A good time for Ryan Sweeney to start showing what he can bring to the table. Sweeney has been slowed by a strained quad, until returning to the starting lineup Tuesday. He had just one hit in his first 15 at-bats until delivering two hits, including a leadoff single in Boston's two-run ninth.

* Jason Repko continues to make a compelling case for a spot on the Opening Day roster with a double, run scored and a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt that brought home the tying run in the ninth.

* Aaron Cook, a dark horse for the starting rotation after he was held back at the start of camp to make sure his shoulder was healthy, gave up a couple of runs in the fourth inning on an RBI triple by Curtis Granderson and RBI single by Andruw Jones. But he also picked off two baserunners, Eric Chavez and Jones. Cook left after four, his sinkerball having produced six ground-ball outs. He gave up four hits, struck out two and did not walk a batter.

“I feel great. Looking back, it’s definitely the smartest thing we could have done,” Cook said of the delayed schedule. “It was a little aggravating at the time because you were coming into a new camp, new organization, and you want to get out there and show them what you can do. But in the long run, I think it’s really going to pay off. My shoulder’s felt great. I’ve had my legs underneath me all spring, and that’s really paying off with the action on my fastball moving down.”

Cook is very much in the mix, either for a spot in the bullpen as a starter, even if he starts the season in Triple A.

* Valentine said Vicente Padilla, sidelined for a couple of days by a strained hamstring, is OK to resume pitching. Valentine told the ESPN crew that Padilla was out of the running for a starting spot for now.

* Valentine said that Daniel Bard would pitch again in four days. Asked if it was a start, Valentine said: "Right now it is.'' Later, it was announced that Bard will start Sunday, with Alfredo Aceves scheduled to pitch Saturday.

* Valentine also said he was misconstrued regarding his comments after Mark Melancon's last outing.

"That Melancon comment was instigated by him. Do we all know that? He came in and said, 'Hey, I got all my running in.' Then I came in to our conference and said, 'Yeah, he got his running in, he backed up the bases well.' That wasn't a negative comment. Anyone who wanted to make that a negative comment, you have to retract that right now.''

Valentine had not offered that context at the time. Melancon mentioned to WEEI.com that is indeed what he said to the manager.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Fort, where the green-clad Sox beat the Orioles, 7-4, in a split squad here while tying another batch of O's, 3-3, in 10 innings in Sarasota:

The Red Sox released pitcher Carlos Silva, who was coming off shoulder surgery and was shut down with shoulder inflammation this spring, taking him out of the competition for a starting spot here. GM Ben Cherington said the team elected to give Silva a chance to catch on with another club.

Cody Ross had a double and a home run, his first since hitting two in the college games, and Lars Anderson had a double and two-run single for the Sox in the Fort. Ross is hitting .450 this spring, Anderson .429.

Aaron Cook made his second spring appearance, giving up a hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles in Sarasota.

"It's what I was looking for," Cook said upon his return to the Fort. "Groundball outs, and short innings. Four fly ball outs, one strikeout, rest were ground balls."

Cook has been hurt each of the last two seasons -- a broken leg in 2010, and a broken finger and an inflamed shoulder last season -- and was placed on a slower progression than the other pitchers in camp this spring. That's not a concern, he said.

"I don't worry about it," he said. "I threw three and a third today, they keep putting up innings and I'll just go out there and keep pitching. There are no issues."

Cook has a May 1 opt-out of his contract. "I want to start,'' said Cook, who pitched 10 seasons for the Rockies, winning a career-high 16 games in 2008, before signing a minor-league deal with the Red Sox. But if asked to go to the pen would he do so? "Definitely,'' he said.

Josh Beckett had an easy time of it Saturday, pitching against an Orioles team that had just one regular position player, Chris Davis (possibly two if you project Wilson Betemit as the team's DH). Beckett worked five innings in which he threw 59 pitches, an impressive 40 for strikes. Beckett gave up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out two. The game was completed in a snappy 2 hours 37 minutes, which should give you a sense of the pace at which he worked, and the results he achieved.

(Read full post)

BOSTON -- Set aside, for the moment, whether you thought Dustin Pedroia was safe or out on his third-inning double Saturday afternoon. (I thought he was safe. A couple of my ESPN colleagues said that super-slo-mo replays showed Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano tagging Pedroia’s hand an instant before he grabbed the bag.)

Consider instead, what a remarkable play that was, Pedroia somehow switching hands in the middle of a headfirst slide to try to elude Cano’s tag -- he looked like a swimmer doing the breaststroke.

“There’s not a lot he doesn’t do that isn’t remarkable,’’ manager Terry Francona said. “He’s just such a baseball player. He does things like that all the time. His feel for the game is phenomenal.

“How about the other day when the guy bunted past Wake, Wake went down and Pedey [fielded the ball and threw him out]. Nobody makes that play. He does that kind of stuff all the time.’’

Pedroia downplayed the slide.

“I know, being out there, it’s tough because you can’t see the runner, you can’t see where he’s going to go,’’ he said. “I was just trying to slide around him. I didn’t even know what happened. It happened pretty fast. We were lucky it worked out for us.’’

Appearing on "Jim Rome is Burning" on Tuesday, Dustin Pedroia talked about his current hot streak, the Red Sox's awful start to the season and the camaraderie of the team.

Pedroia attributes his recent torrid pace -- he extended his hitting streak to 23 games Tuesday night -- to simplifying the game. He also said the screw in the foot he broke last season took some getting used to, but that the foot has felt better recently and that he has calmed down (yes, he said "calmed down").

Of the 2-10 start, Pedroia admitted players were "looking around, like 'Who's going to be the guy to get us out of this," then citing Josh Beckett and Jon Lester as playing key roles. "It feels like it was last year," he said.

Pedroia also said the players in the Sox clubhouse have each other's back, mentioning John Lackey in particular.

"Lackey is one of the best teammates I've ever been around," he said. "Anyone on this team would do anything for him."

BOSTON –- The Red Sox gladly welcomed pitcher Jon Lester back to the starting rotation Monday night against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park.

The left-hander, who had been on the disabled list with a lat strain since July 6, showed no ill effects and worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

He threw 89 pitches (55 for strikes) and had to settle for a no-decision. Lester exited with the game tied at 1-1 and it remained that way until top of the 14th inning when Kansas City pushed across a pair of runs en route to a 3-1 victory.

The start of the game was delayed 2 hours 21 minutes due to inclement weather and it ended with the Royals playing small ball to produce the winning runs.

Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer led off the 14th inning with a double to left and reached third on a single by Jeff Francoeur. With runners on the corners, the Royals’ Mike Aviles provided a sacrifice bunt that resulted in the winning run. Kansas City added an insurance run on Alcides Escobar’s sacrifice fly.

The Red Sox could not respond in the bottom of the 14th.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN: Boston had a golden opportunity to end it in the bottom of the 12th. The Sox’s Josh Reddick led off with a single to right, and with one out, he reached third on a two-base error by Royals reliever Louis Coleman, who threw the ball away trying to pick Reddick off first.

This is where it gets interesting.

With the potential winning run 90 feet away, Red Sox manager Terry Francona called for a squeeze play. Reddick broke for home on a pitch that was a bit inside on batter Marco Scutaro, but it appeared Scutaro missed the sign and Reddick was caught 2-5.

"We just missed a sign," Francona said. "Thought it was an opportunity after action like that. We got half of it right, but we didn't get the whole thing right. Red got it and Scoot didn't. We had some other opportunities too. We kind of let them off the hook. I know there won’t be much sleep, but it'll be a tough one tonight."

"I didn't see the sign. It's my fault. Just missed the sign," Scutaro said.

"It just feels bad, man. It feels like your teammates, manager, the fans, just want to kill you. It's a bad feeling. But just come back tomorrow and win the game."

Scutaro followed with a two-out single, but was thrown out at second base trying to stretch the hit to end the inning.

INJURY WATCH: Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis was removed in the top of the eighth with right hamstring tightness. He was replaced with Yamaico Navarro. Youkilis suffered the injury in the sixth attempting to leg out an infield hit, but was thrown out 6-3. He limped into the dugout and immediately sat on the bench and was examined by team trainer Mike Reinold and Francona. Youkilis hobbled out to his position in the top of the seventh, but did not return after that.

Youkilis was examined after he was removed from the game.

“The exam was really good,” Francona said. “We’re fortunate. His heel hit the bag and it kind of gave way a little bit. He felt it in his hamstring and I think we’ll stay away from him [Tuesday]. It hopefully won’t be more than that. He had full range of motion, so he should be OK. He’s just beat up in a lot of areas.”

Navarro had an opportunity to end the game in the 13th inning with one out and the potential winning run on third base, but he popped out in foul territory to Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer.

K-RAWFORD: Carl Crawford entered Monday’s game with a four-game hitting streak, going 7-for-15 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs during that stretch. But he went 0-for-6 against the Royals, including four strikeouts. Crawford struck out with two runners on in the ninth and 11th innings.

DEFENSIVE GEM: Right fielder J.D. Drew is scheduled to land on the disabled list Tuesday, but replacement Josh Reddick has been spectacular of late both offensively and defensively. He turned in the defensive play of the game with a highlight-reel diving catch in the top of the 10th to rob the Royals’ Alcides Escobar of a base hit. Escobar lifted a lazy pop up to shallow right field just out of the reach of Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Reddick came charging in and made the dramatic grab.

CATCH 22: Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a two-out single to right-center field in the bottom of the third. He finished the night 1-for-6. He’s now 36-for-97 (.371) with 16 RBIs during the streak.

MORE ZEROS: Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard extended his scoreless streak to 25 innings. The right-hander allowed one hit, was called for a balk, but retired the side in the top of the eighth. He’s allowed only 16 baserunners and 10 hits, while posting 24 strikeouts during his streak.

UP NEXT: The Red Sox send lefty Andrew Miller (4-1, 4.65 ERA) to the hill on Tuesday against Royals southpaw Dan Duffy (2-4, 4.58). Miller went 5 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the win in his last outing, a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles last Wednesday. He allowed only two hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Despite Monday's 14-inning game, Francona believes the Sox will be fine from a pitching standpoint on Tuesday. Reliever Alfredo Aceves, who did not pitch on Monday, can be stretched out to fill the void if necessary.

In light of Sunday's induction of former big league second baseman Roberto Alomar into the Hall of Fame, Joe McDonald wonders if Dustin Pedroia's career could see him headed to Cooperstown some day?

Also, Dan Szymborski from the Baseball Think Factory looks at under-28 players that are currently on Hall of Fame career tracks. Szymborski (Insider access required) puts Pedroia on the fence (25-50 percent chance) and writes:

Once we get into the 25-50 percent range, you're looking at players who have very good odds for the Hall early on, but could see their chances drop with a decline in play.

Dustin Pedroia is at 23 WAR at 27, but second basemen have a hard road in general; not only do they need more WAR to get into the Hall, but they have pretty steep aging curves that shorten their careers. Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker are two of the biggest snubs, and ZiPS puts Pedroia in the range (58 WAR) where it's not a slam dunk. Pedroia is at 48 percent odds now (a lot can go wrong in 10 years), but playing for the Red Sox won't hurt him.

Click HERE to read the rest of Szymborski's analysis

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Forget the Laser Show.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has a new nickname: the Muddy Chicken.

After Boston’s 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 16 innings Sunday night/Monday morning at Tropicana Field, every Red Sox player kept yelling “Muddy Chicken” in the clubhouse.

Pedroia delivered the winning RBI single in the top of the 16th inning. He also made two tremendous defensive plays earlier in the game.

“We don’t know his real name anymore. He is now the Muddy Chicken,” Sox starter Josh Beckett said. “The Muddy Chicken is definitely the player of the game. He got it done when we absolutely needed it.”

Pedroia continues to be locked in at the plate, extending his season-high hitting streak to 15 games. He finished the night 3-for-7 and is hitting .384 (25-for-65) during the streak.

“I wouldn’t trade Pedey for anybody in the league right now,” David Ortiz said.

Not only is Pedroia excelling at the plate, he’s playing even better defensively.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, he robbed the Rays’ Casey Kotchman of a possible base hit. Kotchman lined a hard grounder up the middle, but Pedroia ranged to his right, made a diving stop, quickly got to his feet and made a strong throw for the out to end the inning.

He did it again in the sixth on a similar play, this time taking a possible hit away from Tampa shortstop Reid Brignac. Brignac had robbed Pedroia of a hit with a highlight-reel play in the top of the inning.

As the game dragged on, when Pedroia stepped to the plate in the 16th, even Red Sox manager Terry Francona had a feeling the Muddy Chicken would deliver.

“By that time, it’s not just physical. It’s mentally draining and he’s probably the one guy you know who will figure out a way,” Francona said.

As the Red Sox quickly packed their bags for Baltimore, the Muddy Chicken said he has no idea how, or who, created the name.

“It sounds awesome, though, doesn’t it?” he said.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were involved in a classic Sunday night at Tropicana Field.

It started as a pitchers’ duel and ended with a 1-0 Red Sox win in 16 innings. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia provided an RBI single in the top of the 16th and closer Jonathan Papelbon earned his 21st save of the season to help Boston to victory.

It was a gem by both starters as the Sox’s Josh Beckett and the Rays’ Jeff Niemann battled it out, each working eight scoreless innings.

When both starters were done, the respective bullpens -- a total of 13 relievers -- kept putting up zeros until Pedroia provided his heroics off Tampa pitcher Adam Russell.

The time of game was five hours, 44 minutes, making it the longest game in Rays history.

“It was a great game. We’re just happy we won,” Pedroia said.

“I was pretty tired in the 16th, I’m not going to lie. It was more of a ‘I don’t care what happens feeling’ when you step up there, but you’re playing to win and it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he had a feeling Pedroia would be the one to come through.

“By that time, it’s not just physical. It’s mentally draining and he’s probably the one guy you know who will figure out a way,” Francona said.

“I wouldn’t trade Pedey for anybody in the league right now,” David Ortiz said.

Not only did this marathon feature solid pitching, both teams traded defensive gems all night and into the early morning.

By the time the game ended at 1:54 a.m. ET, it seemed like the starters’ performances occurred ages ago.

“This was a pretty wild one and it was fun to be a part of,” Beckett said. “I looked over at [Jon] Lester when I came out and said, ‘Man, this is a fun game.’ I didn’t realize at the time it was going to go that long, but it was fun to be in a game like that with another guy who is putting up zeros.”

Beckett allowed only one hit over eight scoreless innings with no walks and six strikeouts. He threw 106 pitches, 71 for strikes and retired the final 22 batters he faced. But all he had to show for it was his seventh no-decision in 18 starts this season.

Beckett tossed a complete-game one-hitter here on June 15, which was the same night the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

Beckett was removed from his last start, on July 8 against the Orioles at Fenway Park, after five innings due to a hyperextended left knee. At the time he didn’t think it was much of an issue and after throwing a side session a few days later, he was given medical clearance to pitch in the All-Star Game. But on the day of the game in Phoenix, his knee tightened up on him and he was scratched for precautionary reasons.

Beckett obviously showed no ill effects on Sunday.

Niemann finished eight scoreless innings and allowed only two hits with two walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts. He tossed a season-high 118 pitches with 75 for strikes.

It appeared the Rays would have a chance in the bottom of the 10th, but a tremendous catch at the wall by Red Sox left fielder Josh Reddick stifled any possible momentum.

With two outs and Matt Albers on the mound for the Red Sox, the Rays’ Justin Ruggiano crushed a ball to deep left-center field. Both Reddick and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury closed on the ball before Reddick made a leaping catch at the wall just to the right of the 370 mark.

“Unbelievable,” Beckett said of the defense. “I had great defense behind me today. I think there were about seven hits taken away from them, balls that they squared up. The defense was awesome today.”

Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the 11th inning, but could not capitalize as Reddick and Jason Varitek struck out and Marco Scutaro popped out to the catcher to end the threat.

FIRING BLANKS: After Beckett’s performance, Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard kept his scoreless streak intact in the ninth inning. The right-hander allowed only one hit and one walk, but retired the side to extend his career-high streak to 21 2/3 innings. He has thrown 14 scoreless innings over his past 13 appearances against the Rays, dating back to Sept. 3, 2009.

EXTENDED: Pedroia continues to be locked in at the plate and he extended his season-high hitting streak to 15 games. He finished the night 3-for-7 and is hitting .384 (25-for-65) during his current streak.

DEFENSIVE GEMS: Pedroia is not only excelling at the plate, he’s playing even better defensively. He made two tremendous plays Sunday night. In the bottom of the fourth, he robbed Casey Kotchman of a possible base hit. Kotchman lined a hard grounder up the middle, but Pedroia ranged to his right, made a diving stop, quickly got to his feet and made a strong throw for the out to end the inning. He did it again in the sixth on a similar play, this time stealing a possible hit from Tampa shortstop Reid Brignac. Brignac robbed Pedroia of a hit with a highlight-reel play in the top of the inning.

UP NEXT: As the Red Sox were preparing for batting practice Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, pitcher Tim Wakefield was heading to Baltimore a day early in preparation for his start against the Orioles on Monday at Camden Yards. The veteran knuckleballer is 5-3 with a 4.74 ERA in 12 starts this season for Boston. Baltimore sends right-hander Brad Bergesen (1-6, 5.65) to the mound. Wakefield has a career 16-3 record against the Orioles with a 4.13 ERA in 50 games (35 starts).

PAPI-LESS: The Red Sox are likely to be without Ortiz for the three-game set against the Orioles due to his four-game suspension for his involvement in a pair of bench-clearing incidents against Baltimore on July 8 at Fenway Park. Ortiz appealed his suspension and said he expects Major League Baseball will make its decision on Monday.

PHOENIX -- This week’s "State of the Nation" with Gordon Edes comes from the All-Star game in Arizona. Among the highlights and topics discussed:

-- The Red Sox enter the break red hot, but there is some concern about the health of the pitching staff as they come out of the break.

-- Talks to Tim Kurkjian about the Red Sox season so far. How they’ve rebounded from their 2-10 start and how concerned they should be about their pitching injuries?

-- What will happen with Josh Reddick/J.D. Drew when Carl Crawford returns?

-- Dustin Pedroia’s hot streak

-- Crawford’s expected return on July 18. He struggled in the first half of the season -- what the Sox can expect from him when he comes back?

BOSTON -- There were no bench-clearing brawls tonight between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles as a reaction to Friday’s melee, but the home crowd at Fenway Park witnessed a much-needed solid pitching performance by Sox starter John Lackey.

The veteran right-hander, who has been inconsistent for the majority of the season, worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed only three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts to help the Red Sox to a 4-0 victory. He tossed 106 pitches, 69 for strikes. Lackey also drilled two Orioles' batters and on the second one, he was given a warning, along with both benches.

His fastball had good life. He was locating, and his breaking pitches kept the Orioles off balance all night.

Lackey received a standing ovation when he exited the field with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.

With the win he snaps a three-game losing skid and improves to 6-8, while dropping his ERA to 6.84. It was no doubt his best outing of the season, and with the All-Star break coming up, it was a good way for him to end the first half.

ELLSBURY’S EN FUEGO: And it doesn’t appear he’s about to cool down anytime soon. Boston’s leadoff hitter went 3-for-4, including a single, double and triple. Ellsbury, a first-time All-Star this season, is batting .314 with 11 homers, 48 RBI and 28 stolen bases. On this current homestand, he’s 12-for-26 with 5 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 2 walks and 2 stolen bases.

YOOOUK: Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was added to the American League All-Star roster on Friday, went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run scored on Saturday.

PEDEY PILING ON: Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia went 1-for-3, but his double in the bottom of the seventh inning extended his current hitting streak to 11 games.

UP NEXT: The Red Sox send rookie right-hander Kyle Weiland to the mound for his major-league debut on Sunday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. He will face the Orioles’ Mitch Atkins (0-0, 1.50 ERA).

Weiland, 24, the former University of Notre Dame standout, is in his fourth professional season in the Red Sox organization after he was selected in the third round of the 2008 draft.

He’s 8-6 with a 3.00 ERA this season at Triple-A Pawtucket. In his last 10 starts for the PawSox he’s 6-2 with a 2.33 ERA and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14 of his 17 starts.

“He’s throwing the ball really well,” Francona said Friday. “He’s missing a lot of bats. He’s come up with a cutter, along with his breaking ball and fastball, he’s having a lot of success.”
Weiland has recorded 99 strikeouts in 93 innings this season, while walking only 37.

“He throws hard. He’s got a live arm and always has,” Francona said. “We’re excited about this.”

BOSTON -- With regular Red Sox cleanup hitter Kevin Youkilis out of the lineup for Tuesday’s game with swelling and tightness in his left trapezius muscle after being hit in the back by a pitch in the fourth inning on Monday, manager Terry Francona put Dustin Pedroia into the No. 4 hole in the order.

As usual, it worked.

In eight career games (six starts) as Boston’s cleanup hitter, the second baseman is 15-for-29 (.517) with four home runs.

Pedroia crushed a solo shot over the Monster with two outs in the bottom of the third off Toronto starter Brett Cecil to give Boston a 3-0 lead.

“It’s crazy, man, that a midget can hit like that,” Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said. “He’s got so much pop it’s unbelievable. You see the Red Sox now, signing a bunch of little guys because they think they’re going to find another Pedroia, but I doubt it. You don’t see that every day. He’s special. He always wants to be out there. The love he has for this game is like nobody I’ve seen. He’s always ready to go.”

Don’t get used to it, however, because Youkilis is expected to be back in the lineup Wednesday night.

HOUSTON -- The beginning of Saturday night’s game could not have gone much worse for Red Sox starter Andrew Miller.

Michael Bourn clouted his second pitch for a triple to left-center. And then Miller barely escaped physical injury on line-drive singles up the middle by the next two Houston hitters, Angel Sanchez and Hunter Pence.

Thankfully for Miller, he had a 3-0 lead before throwing his first pitch. And thankfully for the Sox, Miller found enough rhythm to worm his way out of further trouble in the first inning and last six innings in Boston’s 10-4 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Miller did not have his best fastball, at least from a radar-gun-reading point of view. Instead of throwing in the mid-90s, the 6-foot-7, 210-pound left-hander was touching 88-89 mph for the most part.

But Miller was able to mix in his changeup and curveball to good effect, especially in getting Jason Michaels to bounce into an inning-ending double play in the first inning. That was one of three double plays turned by the Sox behind Miller.

Though Miller, who survived a bouncer off the back of his left shoulder in the fifth, gave up seven hits, only one other hit hurt him, a solo homer to left by Hunter Pence in the sixth.

The Sox offense, meanwhile, provided him with three quick runs in the first on an RBI single by Adrian Gonzalez, a bases-loaded walk to David Ortiz and a double-play grounder. Dustin Pedroia’s RBI double in the fifth, Yamaico Navarro’s pinch-hit homer in the seventh, Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s sacrifice fly in the eighth, Darnell McDonald’s three-run bomb in the eighth and Kevin Youkilis’ run-scoring single in the ninth gave the bullpen more than enough breathing room.

Miller’s record improved to 2-0 in three starts since being called up from Pawtucket.

It was the Red Sox’ third win in a row, boosting Boston to 4-4 on the road trip with one game remaining and to 9-8 overall in interleague play. The Red Sox had lost their last three series, but have won the series here in Houston and have a chance for the sweep Sunday.

LETTING OFF STEAM: Frustration got the better of the Sox’ David Ortiz in the third inning.

Ortiz grounded weakly to the right side, ending the inning. After his slow trot to first base, Ortiz grabbed his helmet with both hands, took it off his head and slammed it down on the dirt before handing it to first-base coach Ron Johnson.

The groundout stretched Ortiz’ hitless streak on the road trip to 0 for 9, though he had worked a bases-loaded walk in the first inning. He flied out to shallow left in the sixth, dropping him to 0 for 10 on the trip.

And that means he is now in an 0-for-20 slump. Ortiz hasn’t had a hit since June 20. He got two hits in that 14-5 win against San Diego, but whiffed his final two times up in that game and has been hitless since. His average has dipped from .326 to .302.

FINDING A SPARK? Manager Terry Francona decided to start struggling Darnell McDonald in left field over hot-hitting Josh Reddick Saturday night.

Part of the reason was that Houston starter J.A. Happ was a left-hander. McDonald is a right-handed hitter and Reddick is a lefty. There was another reason Francona opted for McDonald, who was batting an embarrassing .115.

“I really do want Mac to face a lefty because of what he can do. I want to get him going a little bit,” said Francona, alluding to McDonald’s solid season off the bench a year ago when he hit .270 with 9 homers and 34 RBI.

McDonald is one of the Sox’ few right-handed hitting options off the bench now that Mike Cameron has been designated for assignment.

McDonald’s struggles continued in his first three at-bats -- two flyouts and a double-play grounder.

But in the eighth, McDonald absolutely crushed a 2-and-0 pitch from left-hander Fernando Abad for a three-run rocket high and deep to left that put the game away, giving the Sox a 9-3 cushion. It was McDonald’s second homer of the year. The 1-for-4 effort raised his average to .125 (7 for 56).

Reddick got in the game as a defensive replacement, and went 1 for 2, raising his average to .452 (19 for 42).

NO DAMAGE: The Red Sox did not get hurt by having two players playing out of position for the first five innings.

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez was not required to make a catch in right, though he did cleanly field a single hit his way and threw a strike to the cutoff man. And designated hitter David Ortiz did not have a ground ball hit to him.

With a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, Francona decided to shore up his defense and not tempt fate. He took out Ortiz, brought in Gonzalez to play first, shifted McDonald from left field to right field and inserted Josh Reddick in left field.

SUCCESSFUL IN A PINCH: Yamaico Navarro, called on to pinch hit for Andrew Miller in the seventh, launched his first career homer, a shot to left on a 3-and-1 pitch. Navarro had been promoted from Pawtucket on Thursday when the Sox designated Mike Cameron for assignment.

It was Navarro’s first at-bat. He went 6 for 42 (.143) for Boston in 20 games last year.

It was the Sox’ second pinch-hit homer of the season. David Ortiz clubbed the first one, on May 29 in Detroit. The last member of the Sox to hit his first homer as a pinch hitter was Juan Diaz on June 23, 2002.

With Sunday’s 14-1 demoralization of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox have won nine straight for the first time since April 2009. It’s a stretch powered by historic offensive success.

During their current nine-game win streak, the Red Sox have amassed 83 runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is tied for the third most runs over the first nine games of a win streak in the past 50 years. The A’s put up 95 runs during a nine-game win streak in 2000.

Over those nine games, the Red Sox are hitting .329 with 50 extra-base hits and a .966 OPS. That’s caused a team batting average jump from .267 to .276. Perhaps more impressively, Boston is hitting .373 with runners in scoring position during this stretch. That’s sent their season average soaring from .239 to .262.

The past six wins have all come on the road, and were powered by 60 runs. That’s the most scored by the Red Sox over six consecutive wins on the road since 1950 when they put up 65, culminating in s 22-14 win over the Philadelphia Athletics.

Boston’s 60 runs over their past six road games are eight more than they scored in 15 road games in April. The Red Sox scored 30 runs in their last two games in Toronto. Consider that it took 11 road games in April before Boston had 30 runs.

Overall, it’s the kind of stretch that gives the servers over at the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index a rather extensive workout.

Prior to this season, no team had won back-to-back games with 14 or more runs since the 2008 Phillies. The Red Sox have now done so twice in 2011, previously pulling it off on May 25 and 26 against the Indians and Tigers.

It’s the first time in the live-ball era that the Red Sox have done that twice in a season. The last team to pull it off was the 1999 Phillies.

On Sunday, the Red Sox completed back-to-back 17-hit performances for the first time since July 1998. Looking ahead to Tuesday, the Red Sox have only had 17 hits in three straight games once during the live-ball era (since 1920). That came in September 1938 with an offense led by Jimmie Foxx.

This is just the second time in the live-ball era that the Red Sox have had back-to-back road games with 14 runs and 17 hits. The other came in June 1988. Only one team (the 1928 Pirates) has done that in three straight games on the road.

Quick Hits
-- Adrian Gonzalez has at least one RBI in nine-straight games. He’s just the fourth Red Sox hitter to do that over the past 50 seasons, joining Manny Ramirez (2002), Dwight Evans (1989) and Butch Hobson (1978), all of whom did so in ten consecutive games.

-- A fun one from ESPN Stats & Information’s Jason McCallum: J.D. Drew went 0-5 with four strikeouts Sunday. The last position player to go hitless with four strikeouts in a game where his team scored 14 runs? J.D. Drew in 2005 for the Dodgers.

-- Marco Scutaro has hit safely in nine straight games, matching his longest streak in Boston. That’s most noteworthy because he missed 26 games in the middle of that stretch.

-- For just the third time in his career, David Ortiz has had back-to-back road games with a home run and at least three RBI.

-- Just how productive has the Red Sox offense been in June? Jacoby Ellsbury leading the AL with 13 runs. David Ortiz is next with 12, followed by Adrian Gonzalez with 11.