This past series against the White Sox was a split but I thought the Red played pretty good.  They ran into some tough pitching but played each game competitively and, had they been able to score some runs against the bullpen, this could have been a 4 game sweep for Boston. I think people are worried about Josh Beckett but he just hasn’t been getting run support.  Clay Buchholz is a different story; Clay needs confidence to hit spots because he has live fastball and good breaking ball.  The problem is that he gets rattled when pressure’s on causing him to guide the ball the ball to the plate.  When the velocity is not there his pitches hang. Clay has the ability and talent but his is still a little immature in his makeup.

Now Boston has a good opportunity to gain some momentum against Texas. Mike Lowell and Papi are both ready to go tonight (Lowell is here reading the paper).  They both appear healthy so this series looks good for Boston.

I just talked to Bob Montgomery and he said that Charlie Zink is not quite as good as Wakefield in terms of movement on the knuckler, but that he has the ability to get outs regardless.  What Zink needs to do is hit his locations and get swings and misses from last minute movement.  If Zink can keep the team in the game and keep the ball in the ballpark, the Sox have a good chance of getting a win tonight.

Find some momentum in this series and get some confidence going into what could be a tough series at the end of the week against Toronto.

The Patriot’s Day baseball game is always a special event.  I know that as a player, the team always looked forward to this game because we knew it was special: the early start time, the Boston Marathon, as well as the fact that it was always a home game and a tradition in Boston.

The atmosphere of this day has been enhanced in recent years by some of the wives and girlfriends getting involved and running in the marathon for charity.  I don’t remember anything like this back when I played; I think it might have started when Curt and Shonda Schilling came to town.  This has made the Marathon Monday game even more of a family event.

The team will be motivated today, and they played great through the weekend, capitalizing on every mistake the Rangers made.  Let’s hope Buchholz can bounce back after his last outing and that this ball club keeps winning.