Boston Red Sox baseball team

BALTIMORE — The lefty was not at his overpowering best, but he didn't need to be. The Red Sox had Jon Lester's back in a number of ways on Saturday night, fueling an 11-5 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards. Lester (14-7, 3.33 ERA) did find the win column again, weaving out of traffic [...]

BALTIMORE — Somehow, in the span of less than two weeks, the Red Sox's starting rotation has gone from unpredictability to utter dominance. So as the Red Sox are surging toward the finish line, it's no surprise that the rotation has been the catalyst. Nothing stabilizes a team like five starters doing their jobs all [...]

BALTIMORE — The prospect has turned into a pitcher, one the Red Sox no longer hope for solid outings from, but bank on. There Clay Buchholz was again Friday night, lifting the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Orioles in the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards. Emerging as the No. [...]

BALTIMORE — Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield passed a vital test on Friday — throwing a 40-pitch side session. By getting through it without a hitch, Wakefield is now likely to return to the rotation Monday night against the Royals for what would be just his third start since the All-Star break. Wakefield was asked [...]

BOSTON — Josh Beckett was a pitch away from getting through the seventh inning with the lead still intact on Thursday, so he tried to, in his words, "bury" strike three on Chone Figgins. The breaking ball bounced just in front of the plate, exactly as Beckett planned, and Figgins swung through it for strike [...]

BOSTON — It's become an annual question for the Red Sox, one that, despite their best wishes, they'd rather not have to answer. The query: How can a team such as Boston, with aspirations of playing deep into October, have such a dramatic disparity between its home and road records? At first glance, the 34-37 [...]

BOSTON — They were a strike away from defeat, and had already seen two comebacks go for naught. They were also decidedly short-handed, missing two star hitters — Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez — and also ace closer Jonathan Papelbon. But by the end of a zany Wednesday night at Fenway, the Red Sox didn't [...]

BOSTON — Red Sox cleanup man Kevin Youkilis was reduced to one of his least favorite things — spectator status — for the second consecutive night. Back spasms again left the slugger out of Wednesday's game against the Angels. The discomfort is in the kidney area of Youkilis' back. "Youk is minimally better," said Red [...]

BOSTON — For most of Tuesday night, the difference was all about the pitches. They were faster, they were crisper and much less hittable than when Daisuke Matsuzaka was last seen in a Major League game. But when the Red Sox's right-hander exited following a sparkling effort — en route to a 4-1 victory over [...]

BOSTON — Why ease in to the rivalry. Or for that matter, why ease out of it? In 2010, the Red Sox will start and finish their regular season at Fenway Park against — yep — the New York Yankees. Major League Baseball released its entire schedule for next season on Tuesday, and the bookend [...]