Thursday night’s first base umpire in Anaheim, C.B. Bucknor, can expect a vintage New England greeting when he is introduced before Game 3 at Fenway Park on Sunday. Having turned in a wretched performance in Game 1- replays on high-def TV gave him two clearly blown calls - Bucknor lived up to his reputation as [...]

Though the clinching’s circumstances merit such a disclaimer, don’t tell anyone from the Red Sox that they backed into the American League wild-card berth. Yes, they’ve lost five straight games, and yes, players left Fenway Park after Tuesday night’s 8-7 loss to Toronto and then returned to celebrate the Angels’ 5-2 win over Texas in [...]

Josh Beckett looked better than awful Wednesday night in the Red Sox’ 8-5 loss to Tampa Bay, so should we presume that The Ace is on the road to recovering his superior skills? After tumbling into a 5-1 hole, Beckett did manage to look more like his old self for the duration of his outing, [...]

The mating dance with aging Mets reliever Billy Wagner is ending, Daisuke Matsuzaka may actually be ready to pitch in September and October and Josh Beckett’s recent woes look fixable. Toss in Monday night’s thrashing of White Sox has-been Jose Contreras and there is nothing but good news this morning for the Red Sox.
Having claimed [...]

Now tangled in their worst offensive meltdown of the season, the Red Sox have a one-game deficit to show for their eight wins in eight tries against the Yankees. No wonder the mood in the visitors clubhouse in Arlington, Texas was so somber after Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss to the Rangers.
“I ain’t got (anything) to [...]

Now that Kevin Youkilis has landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle, one of the more maddening injuries a ballplayer can endure, it is worth recap just what the Red Sox have fought through to reach a 21-12 record, third best in the big leagues.
They lost their Opening Day starting shortstop, [...]

While still annoyed that Major League Baseball disciplined him at all, Josh Beckett accepted a deduction of one game from his six-game suspension and began serving his time Sunday, setting him up to work on Saturday afternoon at Fenway against the Yankees.
Beckett was suspended for his role in last Sunday’s fracas at Anaheim, though he [...]

Completely thumbing his nose at the umpiring crew who worked Sunday’s game at Anaheim, Major League Baseball vice president for discipline Bob Watson hit Josh Beckett with a six-game suspension, slapped the Angels’ collective wrists and called it a day. Apparently, Watson saw something in the video tape of Beckett’s encounter with Bobby Abreu that [...]

Well, there was an upsisde to Sunday afternoon’s game in lovely Souther California – Josh Beckett hasn’t lost his swagger. And Bobby Abreu won’t be stepping out of the box midway through Beckett’s windup again any time soon.
But if it seems as though the Red Sox 2008 playoff season has morphed into the 2009 regular [...]

In the least surprising news to come from Fort Myers this spring, Red Sox manager Terry Franconca confirmed this morning that The Ace, Josh Beckett, will get the ball on Monday afternoon, April 6, for the season opener at Fenway against the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays.
Right-hander Josh Beckett will start for the Boston [...]