2009 September callups and that Kazmir trade

With their grasp on the AL wild card tightening, the Red Sox can take a slightly less accelerated route for prospect promotion this September. So you may not see Michael Bowden or Josh Reddick up here again this season. As of today, they have recalled OFs Brian Anderson and Joey Gathright (remember that backup CF trade I mentioned at the July 31st deadline? Here they are.) SS Jed Lowrie and C George Kottaras will almost certainly join the club, now that rosters have expanded. Lowrie was recently given the all-clear to play.

Jays and Rays: For real?

If you’ve been following along in the standings recently, you might be alarmed to see that the Toronto Blue Jays just keep winning. Not only that, but the Tampa Bay Rays are playing really good baseball after a less-than-stellar beginning to 2009. Heck, even the Yankees are doing well again. Comparatively, it seems like the Red Sox keep scuffling, playing .500 ball in May. If this keeps up, we may be in trouble. Let’s take a look at some of the numbers and see who we should fear and how much.

Is something wrong with Papelbon?

Two nights ago, Jonathan Papelbon came in, walked Akinori Iwamura, allowed him to take second on a bad pickoff throw, then gave up a single to Jason Bartlett. Runners at the corners, no outs, Carlos Pena pinch-hitting. With the game hanging by a 4-3 margin, I’ll admit it; I was nervous. Explaining exactly why I was nervous goes beyond this particular situation, though. Let me bore you with the details:

2008 ALCS: Wow. Game 7 tomorrow.

I don’t know how many times I have to see it before I’ll believe it, but our Sox have come back yet again from a 3-1 deficit against a good team. No matter what the situation, Boston has stayed loose and played their way into game 7 of a series where they looked totally lost just two games ago. Heck, before THE bottom of the 7th at Fenway, who thought they could pull it off?

38-25: Sox reclaim 1st with sweep of the Rays

Tampa has become a pretty solid team, but I still think it’s clear who the best team in the AL East is. The Red Sox completed another three-game sweep of the Rays at Fenway, running their winning streak at home to 13 games and retaking the lead in the division.

15-12: Offense wastes Beckett’s dominant return, 3-0

The Red Sox got another dominating outing from their starting rotation, but it went to waste for the second time within 24 hours, as James Shields (3-1) tossed a two-hit shutout at the Sox, 3-0. The Rays swept the three-game series in Tampa, moving into a tie for first place with (gasp) Baltimore.

15-10: Tampa Bay defense downs Sox, 5-4

It would have been nice to come away with an easy win in game 1 of this series in Tampa, but Tim Wakefield just didn’t have it tonight. Still, the Sox rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the 6th inning, and the bullpen did their job admirably. With 10 hits and 5 walks, the Red Sox threatened several times, but stranded 24 baserunners in this one. Tampa Bay took away hits with good defensive plays, and Boston hit into inning-ending double plays in the 10th and 11th innings, letting this one slip away, 5-4. Our defense did a good job too, as Tampa left 23 men on base; it was a frustrating game that way.