The Boston Red Sox re-signed reliever Matt
Albers to a one-year contract on Monday.

Albers, 28, went 4-4 with a 4.73 earned-run average over 56 relief appearances
last season, his first in Boston.

The right-hander is 19-29 with a 5.04 ERA in 237 career appearances — 23
starts — with the Astros (2006-07), Orioles (2008-10) and Red Sox (2011).

Boston also announced it will not tender a contract to left-handed reliever
Rich Hill, who underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Hill is now a free agent.

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BOSTON – This time, Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers put up the big numbers in a strange season series of blowout games against the Boston Red Sox.

Hamilton capped Texas? seven-run sixth inning with a bases-loaded triple and Matt Harrison had a solid start, carrying the Rangers to an 11-4 win over the Red Sox on Sunday.

Ian Kinsler homered, drove in three runs and made a stellar defensive play for the AL West-leading Rangers, who took two of three in a weekend series that continued the trend of lopsided scores between the teams.

?You?ve got two teams that are potent offensively,? Rangers manager Ron Washington said. ?But, once again, it?s about pitching. You go against teams like the Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees and you better bring your pitching – or it can happen like it did today.?

The Rangers took the season series 6-4, outscoring the Red Sox 51-15 in games they won. Boston had a 42-14 edge in its victories.

There wasn?t a game decided by less than four runs between the teams, and six times the winning team posted double figures in runs.

?It seems like one of us is whooping each other?s butts from one night to the next,? Hamilton said. ?No close games. They have a good offense and we have a good offense.?

Boston went 4-5 on its nine-game homestand and fell to 1 1/2 games behind AL East-leading New York, which beat Toronto 9-3 on Sunday.

Marco Scutaro had a two-run single for the Red Sox.

YANKEES 9, BLUE JAYS 3: Derek Jeter tied a career high with five RBI and CC Sabathia earned his 19th win as New York polished off a three-game home sweep of Toronto.

Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher all homered for the AL East leaders, while Sabathia (19-7) struck out 10 in 7 1/3 innings to win his seventh consecutive start against Toronto.

ANGELS 4, TWINS 1: In Anaheim, Calif., Joel Pineiro posted his first victory in almost two months and Bobby Abreu homered for Los Angeles. Pineiro (6-6) gave up a run and five hits over seven innings.

The Angels remain 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West behind Texas.

RAYS 8, ORIOLES 1: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Jeremy Hellickson threw a four-hitter and Reid Brignac had three RBI as Tampa Bay beat Baltimore. Hellickson (12-10) has two complete games this season, both against the Orioles.

Adam Jones hit his 23rd homer of the season for the Orioles. Jeremy Guthrie (6-17) gave up seven runs – three earned – and seven hits over five innings en route to his major league-leading 17th loss.

ATHLETICS 8, MARINERS 3: David DeJesus and Ryan Sweeney each drove in two runs and Hideki Matsui doubled three times as Oakland completed a three-game home sweep of Seattle. Kurt Suzuki, Brandon Allen and Josh Willingham also drove in runs for the A?s, who won their third straight.

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The Boston Red Sox and New York
Yankees remain one game apart for the American League East
title after both were crushed last night by teams near the
bottom of the league’s rankings. The Red Sox fell 15-4 to the
Oakland Athletics while the Baltimore Orioles spanked the
Yankees 12-5.

Hurricane Irene, which is battering the East Coast as it
moves through the mid-Atlantic today and into New England
tonight, forced the Yankees to cancel today’s doubleheader
against the Orioles. One game will be played tomorrow in a
doubleheader at Camden Yards, while the second is scheduled for
Sept. 8.

The Boston Red Sox canceled tomorrow’s home game, and will
instead play a doubleheader today.

At Fenway Park in Boston, Scott Sizemore drilled a two-run
homer and Josh Willingham added a second in Oakland’s six-run
fourth inning as the Athletics took an 8-1 lead last night at
Fenway Park in Boston. Five Athletics blasted doubles.

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs
in the bottom of the fourth for Boston (80-51).

At Camden Yards in Baltimore, A.J. Burnett (9-11) gave up
nine hits and nine runs in five innings to the Orioles, who are
at the bottom of the five-team AL East division.

Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters hit home runs
for the Orioles, who had a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning.

Jorge Posada put the Yankees’ first run on the board with a
home run in the fifth, followed by homers by Alex Rodriguez and
Nick Swisher in the seventh.

Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 17 games with
a single in the seventh inning.

The Yankees (78-51) trail the Red Sox by a game, with the
Orioles (52-77) 27 games off the lead. Oakland (60-71) is three
games ahead of cellar-dwelling Seattle in the four-team American
League West.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

The Associated Press

Posted:

Aug 25, 2011 11:40 PM ET

Last Updated:

Aug 25, 2011 11:40 PM ET

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The Boston Red Sox acquired
infielder Mike Aviles from the Kansas City Royals as the Major
League Baseball trade deadline approached today.

The Red Sox sent infielder/outfielder Yamaico Navarro and
pitching prospect Kendal Volz to the Royals.

Aviles, 30, is hitting .222 with a .261 on-base percentage
and five home runs in 185 at-bats.

“He’s a guy I think our organization has kind of liked
afar for a while,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said on the
MLB website. “He came up, he was that guy that could really hit
left-handers, actually both.”

Aviles was taken by the Royals in the seventh round of the
First-Year Player draft in 2003.

Pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, 27, who has thrown the only no-
hitter in Colorado Rockies’ history, was traded to the Cleveland
Indians for four prospects.

“We believe the timing of this deal allowed us to maximize
the value we were able to get in return,” Rockies General
Manager Dan O’Dowd said in a statement.

The Indians will send pitchers Alex White and Joe Gardner
and first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride to the Rockies
immediately. Lefthander Drew Pomeranz can’t join Colorado until
August, the one-year anniversary of his professional career.

Indians-Giants Swap

The Indians also sent 15-year veteran Orlando Cabrera, 36,
to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Minor League
outfielder Thomas Neal. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Cabrera
will become the team’s primary shortstop.

The Baltimore Orioles completed two deals, sending pitcher
Koji Uehara to the Texas Rangers and first baseman Derrek Lee to
the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Rangers will send pitcher Tommy Hunter and first
baseman Chris Davis to Baltimore.

“Koji is one of the most effective relievers in the game
this year and the past couple of years,” Rangers General
Manager Jon Daniels said. “He’s battle-tested, he’s done it in
the American League East, he’s a strike-thrower and he has
swing-and-miss stuff. We felt he was the right fit for the
club.”

Uehara, 36, has pitched in 43 games for the Orioles and is
1-1 with a 1.72 earned run average while holding opponents to
a .152 batting average. In 47 innings, he has allowed 25 hits
and eight walks while striking out 62.

Baker for Lee

The Pirates are giving Class A first baseman Aaron Baker to
the Orioles in exchange for Lee, 35, who has batted .309 with 11
extra-base hits and 16 runs batted in during the past 18 games.

The Detroit Tigers acquired pitcher Doug Fister and
reliever David Pauley from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for
four prospects.

Fister “gives us that solid guy to go out there, a six- or
seven-inning-type guy that gives us a chance to win every time
he takes the ball,” Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski said.

The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Minor League shortstop Zach
Walters to the Washington Nationals in exchange for pitcher
Jason Marquis.

Marquis, 32, was 8-5 with a 3.95 earned run average in 20
starts for the Nationals this year.

“He’s a guy that knows how to pitch, how to eat up innings
and keep his team in the game,” infielder Willie Bloomquist
said. “He’s a good sinkerball guy, which will fit well in our
ballpark.”

The Milwaukee Brewers obtained utility fielder Jerry Hairston, 35, from the Nationals in a trade that sent outfielder
Erik Komatsu to Washington.

Hairston is hitting .268 with a .342 on-base percentage and
four home runs.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

That’s all for today.

(Sports Network) – One reason the Boston Red Sox are immune to prolonged slumps at the plate is because of the depth in their lineup. They showed that while Adrian Gonzalez went through his first rough patch in a Boston uniform.

While the rest of the Red Sox have been there to pick up their first baseman, the whole lineup will need to be at its sharpest on Friday night when the club returns home to begin a three-game series against Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.

Boston is the top run-producing club in baseball and Gonzalez has been a big part of that. The prized offseason pickup is hitting .343 with 17 homers and 78 runs batted in over 95 games, but has just one homer this month and two in his past 26 games.

Gonzalez went 0-for-4 in Tuesday’s 6-2 setback at Baltimore, putting him in a 2-for-24 skid.

“I’m just getting ready late and not recognizing pitches and swinging at pitches I don’t normally swing at,” Gonzalez said after the defeat.

The All-Star first baseman did return to form in Wednesday’s finale with the Orioles, contributing four hits in a 4-0 victory. He failed to drive in a run for the seventh time in eight games, but Jacoby Ellsbury picked up the slack with his second career multi-homer game. The speedy outfielder has four homers since last Friday and has already surpassed his career-high total of nine set in 2008 with 15 this season.

“He kind of put us on his shoulders today,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Ellsbury. “He has a way of doing that from time to time.”

Dustin Pedroia had an infield single in the fifth inning to extend his career- high hitting streak to 18 games. He has also reached base in a personal-best 30 games in a row and is batting .367 over his hit streak with seven homers and 16 RBI.

While Gonzalez has a good chance of contributing to the offense in Friday’s opener given he is 9-for-30 in his career against Hernandez with a homer and four RBI, things are less certain for Ellsbury and Pedroia.

Boston’s second baseman and 2008 AL MVP has six hits in 22 career at-bats versus the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, while Ellsbury is just 2-for-14 when facing Hernandez.

Those three won’t be alone in facing Hernandez as designated hitter David Ortiz is eligible to return from his three-game suspension earned for his role in a July 8 melee versus Baltimore. He has one homer in 19 career at-bats versus Seattle’s ace.

While Boston is slated to throw its ace Josh Beckett in Saturday’s game, the Mariners will give the Red Sox the best they have to offer in Friday’s opener. Hernandez is an excellent 4-1 with a 2.87 earned run average in nine career starts versus the Red Sox, including a perfect 3-0 with a 1.49 ERA in five games at Fenway Park.

The right-hander got a no-decision in Boston on May 1 despite allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings with 10 strikeouts. The Red Sox won that game, 3-2, but it was the lone win over the M’s in that three-game set.

Hernandez (8-8, 3.26) is winless in his past four starts, going 0-2 in that span. The 25-year-old lost to the Rangers on Saturday, yielding four runs on nine hits and two homers. He has yielded four home runs over his drought, including the first leadoff long ball of his career last time out, but remains among the leaders in the AL with 146 strikeouts.

Boston enters this series ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East and winners in 14 of its past 17. It hopes John Lackey (7-8, 6.70) can continue that success as he comes in having won two straight starts since a personal three-game losing streak.

The righty got on track with 6 2/3 scoreless innings to beat the Orioles on July 9, then picked up a victory over the Rays on Saturday. Lackey allowed four runs — three earned — on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven for a second straight start.

Lackey, who is pitching to a horrid 7.68 ERA in eight home starts, lost to the Mariners on April 30, but gave up only two runs over six innings. The 32-year- old long-time Angel is 13-10 with a 3.62 ERA versus the club lifetime.

He won’t exactly be facing a club playing its best baseball right now after the Mariners lost their 12th straight game on Thursday. The season-high losing streak is their longest since a 12-game slide in 2008.

Seattle failed to win a game in its three-game set with Toronto, losing the finale by a 7-5 margin. Miguel Olivo had tied the game for the M’s with a grand slam in the eighth inning, but the Blue Jays’ Rajai Davis came through with a two-out double in the home half of the inning that brought home two runs.

The Mariners have lost 16 of their last 20 overall.

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BALTIMORE (AP)—There have been times this season when Jeremy Guthrie(notes)
pitched well and didn’t get much support. There have also been occasions when he
was admittedly lousy.

So when Guthrie handcuffed the Boston Red Sox and received ample offensive
backing from his Baltimore Orioles teammates in a 6-2 victory Tuesday night, the
losingest pitcher in the majors was delighted with the rare sequence of events.

Guthrie allowed two runs in seven innings, and the Orioles got successive
eighth-inning home runs from Derrek Lee(notes) and Mark Reynolds(notes) in ending a seven-game
losing streak against the Red Sox.

“Good game there. The late runs were huge for us and we played great
defense,” Guthrie said. “This is a win that makes me feel really good, and I
think the team feels good about it.”

Guthrie (4-13) came in with the sixth-lowest run support in the AL, but he
also gave up 12 runs over 10 innings in his prior two starts. In this one,
Baltimore went ahead 3-0 after three innings and the right-hander made the lead
stand up.

It was Guthrie’s second win in 11 starts, but the drought appeared even
longer to some.

“It seemed like he didn’t have a win since ’07,” Orioles center fielder
Adam Jones(notes) said. “That’s what it feels like. We got him an early lead and he
was able to settle down, get comfortable.”

Guthrie gave up eight hits, struck out four and walked one. He had lost
seven straight decisions against Boston since May 13, 2008.

Jim Johnson(notes) worked two innings for his first save. Orioles closer Kevin
Gregg(notes) was unavailable because he was serving a three-game suspension for his
involvement in a bench-clearing melee at Fenway Park on July 8.

During its seven-game skid against the Red Sox, Baltimore was outscored
61-32, so this victory was particularly enjoyable.

“We needed a win against them. They’ve been wearing us out,” Lee said.
“Jeremy gave us just what we needed, a great pitching performance. He went
deep. It’s nice when you can hand the ball over to J.J. with a lead. You’re
feeling pretty confident at that point.”

The Red Sox lost for only the third time in 16 games despite getting a home
run from Jarrod Saltalamacchia(notes), his second in two nights. Josh Reddick(notes) had three
hits and scored a run.

Boston’s Dustin Pedroia(notes) beat out a grounder in the first inning to extend
his hitting streak to 17 games, tying a career high set in 2008. He has also
reached base in 29 consecutive games, which also matches his career-best run.

After lasting only four innings against Baltimore on July 10 in his major
league debut, Kyle Weiland(notes) (0-1) displayed far more poise in the encore. The
right-hander allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

“I did a better job of controlling my emotions, and the adrenaline,”
Weiland said. “I got a lot quicker to that comfort zone that I was talking
about last time.”

It was an outing similar to many by Guthrie this season.

“He pitched well,” Reddick said, referring to Weiland. “Unfortunately, we
didn’t give him the run support that anybody would want. But he battled his tail
off.”

Guthrie faced a lineup without Boston’s leading home run hitter, David
Ortiz(notes), who is also serving a three-game suspension stemming from the fight in
the previous series between the teams.

The game drew a crowd of 32,314, many of whom were cheering for the Red Sox.
It’s a common occurrence at Camden Yards when Boston comes to town, although
Orioles manager Buck Showalter wasn’t complaining.

“Well, we had a lot of Red Sox people here last night,” he said before the
game. “We’ll take their admission and put it towards keeping our players. Thank
you very much.”

Baltimore went up 2-0 in the second inning when Jones and Matt Wieters(notes)
singled, Reynolds hit an RBI double and Nolan Reimold(notes) followed with a
run-scoring grounder.

Weiland retired the first two batters in the third before Nick Markakis(notes) drew
a walk, Jones singled and Wieters bounced an RBI single off the glove of first
baseman Adrian Gonzalez(notes).

Saltalamacchia made it 3-2 in the fifth with a drive over the right-field
scoreboard after Reddick hit a leadoff double. Boston then put runners on the
corners with two outs before Pedroia grounded out.

The Red Sox didn’t get another runner past first base the rest of the way.

Lee hit a two-run shot and Reynolds added his 21st homer of the season in
the eighth. Both drives came off Alfredo Aceves(notes).

NOTES: Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) hit into a DP for only the sixth time in 383
at-bats. … Markakis’ 11-game hitting streak ended. … It was only the fourth
win in 19 games for the last-place Orioles. … Reynolds broke out of a 5-for-39
skid with three hits.

What do you guys think about this.

After losing seven straight to their own personal bullies, the Boston Red Sox, the reeling Orioles badly needed a win Tuesday night.

Perhaps no Oriole needed it more for his own sanity than right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, whose hard luck had morphed into hard times recently in a season in which he leads the majors with 13 losses.

After two consecutive rough starts, the Orioles’ top veteran bounced back with a gutsy performance against a good offense in a 6-2 Orioles win before an announced 32,314 at Camden Yards.

“It feels really good,” Guthrie said. “This is a win that makes me feel really good, and I think the team feels good about it.”

The Orioles (39-55) have won three of four after dropping a season-high-tying nine straight this month. Tuesday was the first time they had beaten the first-place Red Sox (58-37) since April 27.

After combining for 25 runs Monday in a 15-10 Red Sox win, the sides scored just five through 7 1/2 innings before Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds hit back-to-back homers against Boston reliever Alfredo Aceves in the bottom of the eighth.

Lee’s opposite-field, two-run shot was his 10th homer of the season. Reynolds followed with his 21st, a 414-foot blast to left for the Orioles’ third pair of back-to-back homers of the season.

Much of the night, though, belonged to Guthrie.

Throwing his biting slider for strikes throughout the warm evening, Guthrie held Boston to eight hits and just two runs in seven innings. He struck out four and, more importantly, walked one — the first time in his past six starts in which he walked fewer than three batters.

“Throwing strikes obviously was the biggest difference, getting ahead of guys, being able to use the fastball to get people out as well as get ahead,” Guthrie said. “It was nice to be able to recover there. I had a few 3-0 counts but was able to come back on a couple of them.”

It was Guthrie’s second quality start in his past seven tries and just the third time in the Orioles’ past 32 games that a starter has lasted seven innings. Guthrie (4-13) has won one game in each of the four months he has pitched.

Reliever Jim Johnson threw two scoreless innings for his first save of the season. He retired all six batters he faced.

Guthrie wasn’t as perfect, allowing runners in six of the seven innings he pitched. But he continually minimized the damage — twice getting inning-ending double plays, including a nifty one started by rookie Blake Davis’ diving stop of a grounder in the first.

The Red Sox got to Guthrie in the fifth when Josh Reddick, who had three hits, doubled to lead off the inning. After a groundout to first, Jarrod Saltalamacchia followed with a two-run homer onto the flag court above the right-field scoreboard.

It was Saltalamacchia’s eighth homer of the season and the 17th yielded by Guthrie, tying him with Jake Arrieta for the team lead.

After another groundout, Guthrie walked No. 9 hitter Marco Scutaro on five pitches, then gave up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury. But Guthrie got hot-hitting Dustin Pedroia to hit a grounder to Davis.

He allowed just two more singles in his final two innings, the last one wiped out when catcher Matt Wieters threw out Scutaro trying to steal to end the seventh.

That sequence, and the two late homers, gave Guthrie his first win since June 26.

“You don’t do the things he’s done over his career without having some emotion and being passionate about what you do for a living,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, “so to think it hasn’t been frustrating for him, I think would be kidding all of us.”

The Orioles jumped out to the lead in the second on a two-run double by Reynolds, who entered hitting .192 with runners in scoring position. They added a third run in the third on Wieters’ two-out single.

All three runs came against Boston rookie right-hander Kyle Weiland (0-1), who was making his second big league start and second against the Orioles. His first appearance was July 10 in Boston, when he became the first Red Sox player to be ejected in his major league debut after plunking Vladimir Guerrero on the wrist after both sides had been warned.

Weiland allowed six runs in four innings before that ejection.

He didn’t bend nearly as much Tuesday.

He surrendered three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out two.

But it wasn’t near enough to match Guthrie.

dan.connolly@baltsun.com

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Gotta run!.

(Sports Network) – Andrew Miller tries to bounce back from his worst outing
of the season this evening when the Boston Red Sox wrap up a three-game set
with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Miller had been terrific for Boston through his first four appearances, but
was roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in his first start out of the
break, as he allowed seven runs, five hits and walked five batters in just 2
2/3 innings.

“I just fell behind in some counts and a lot of deep counts, a lot of 3-2
counts,” said Miller, who fell to 3-1 on the year and saw his earned run
average swell more than two runs to 5.68. “I have to do a better job of
attacking the zone instead of trying to hit the corners the whole time. I felt
good coming in. I just went out there and didn’t do a very good job.”

Although Miller recorded just eight outs, he labored through 85 pitches and
failed to register a strikeout for the second straight start.

“The walks really hurt,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “The strike-to-
ball ratio, I don’t think was horrible, but when he threw his balls, they were
all bunched together. It was just a tough way to pitch. His pitch count was so
high. It was kind of obvious that something was not going right.”

Miller had beaten the Orioles in his previous outing, surrendering three runs
and six hits in five innings. He is 1-0 in two starts against them with a 3.00
ERA.

While the sample size isn’t much for most of the Orioles, Mark Reynolds is one
player who has given Miller fits, going 4-for-7 against him three RBI.

Miller should have plenty of support behind him, as heading into action on
Tuesday, the Red Sox had plated 63 runs over their last eight games, while
swatting 20 home runs in that same span. Their 64 home runs on the road this
season are also a major league-high

The Red Sox, whose 12-2 mark in July is tied with Texas for the best in
baseball, also lead the league during the month in runs (98), runs per game
(7.00), RBI (94), homers (26), walks (71) and OBP (.374), and rank second in
doubles (tied, 34), triples (tied, 4), SLG (.519), OPS (.893), extra-base hits
(64) and total bases (262).

Baltimore witnessed first hand just how potent the Red Sox can be on Monday
when the team erupted for 15 runs, eight of which came in the eighth inning.

Hoping to slow down that attack on Wednesday for the Orioles will be right-
hander Jake Arrieta, who is 9-6 on the year, but has been awful of late.
Arrieta was roughed up on Friday by Cleveland to the tune of five runs and
eight hits in five innings, but escaped with a no-decision.

In losing three of his last four decisions, Arrieta has pitched to a 6.92 ERA.

“Each time I go out I’m trying to win a game for the team, and not being able
to do that in my last three or four starts, it is not a good feeling,” Arrieta
said. “Pile that on top of the way that things have been going overall
collectively as a team, it doesn’t feel great.”

Arrieta absorbed the loss against Miller and the Red Sox on July 7, allowing
five runs (four earned) and six hits in 4 1/3 frames. He is 0-1 lifetime
versus Boston with a 6.75 ERA in two starts.

While Baltimore may be struggling, it can’t fault Nick Markakis of late.
Heading into action on Tuesday he had hit safely in 11 straight and 32 of his
last 34 games.

Boston will once again be without slugger David Ortiz and Baltimore will try
to get by without closer Kevin Gregg, as the two sit out the final game of
their three-game suspensions on Wednesday for their part in the wild weekend
at Fenway Park before the All-Star break.

With their victory in the opener of this series, the Red Sox have now beaten
the Orioles seven straight times and have won 10 of the last 14 encounters.

The Sports Network

What do you guys think about this.

Updated Jul 19, 2011 12:57 AM ET

BALTIMORE (AP)

The Boston Red Sox were coming off an exhausting night. They were missing their leading home run hitter and operating with a thin bullpen.

The Red Sox casually brushed aside those obstacles and cruised to another lopsided victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Leave your comments on the news below.

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 18, 2011

BALTIMORE — The Boston Red Sox were coming off an exhausting night. They were missing their leading home run hitter and operating with a thin bullpen.

The Red Sox casually brushed aside those obstacles and cruised to another lopsided victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Dustin Pedroia doubled in two runs to spark an eight-run eighth inning, and the Red Sox got home runs from Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick in a 15-10 rout Monday night.

Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Darnell McDonald had three RBI apiece for the Red Sox, who have won 13 of 15. The run includes a 16-inning victory at Tampa Bay on Sunday night in which Boston mustered only five hits.

Showing very little signs of fatigue, the Red Sox banged out 16 hits in rolling to their seventh straight victory over Baltimore. Boston has outscored the Orioles 61-32 during that span.

The Red Sox checked into their Baltimore hotel around 6 in the morning, grabbed some sleep and put a whipping on the last-place Orioles.

“You guys are putting more into that than we are. If had lost tonight, I wouldn’t have used that as an excuse,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “Everybody is a little tired tonight, but you do what you’re supposed to do.”

It was the first meeting between the teams since the Red Sox recorded a heated four-game sweep at Fenway Park immediately before the All-Star break.

Boston designated hitter David Ortiz and Orioles closer Kevin Gregg began serving three-game suspensions for their part in a bench-clearing incident during that series. Both players were initially suspended for four games before appealing the punishment.

The Red Sox didn’t miss a beat. Boston fell one run short of matching its season high and had six players with at least two hits, including Pedroia, whose 16-game hitting streak is one short of his career high.

“After getting a lot of guys on base and not being able to get the job done [Sunday], it felt good to come out tonight and score some runs,” Reddick said.

After the Red Sox loaded the bases against Mike Gonzalez (1-2) in the eighth, Pedroia hit a tiebreaking two-run double off Jason Berken to make it 9-7. Youkilis added a two-run single, Carl Crawford singled in a run and McDonald capped the uprising with a three-run double.

Asked if it was difficult to play after such a quick turnaround, McDonald said: “It’s not tough at all. This is what we get paid to do – to play baseball. It was nice to come out and get a win after having such a long night.”

Baltimore scored three runs in the eighth, but that just meant the Orioles lost when reaching double figures for the first time since Aug. 2, 2009. That was an 18-10 defeat against Boston.

J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones homered for the Orioles, who have lost 10 of 12.

“A couple guys on, we might have taken a roll at them in the ninth,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “But they pitched a little bit better than we did tonight.”

Dan Wheeler (2-1) got the win with 2 1-3 innings of no-hit relief for starter Tim Wakefield. His performance was particularly noteworthy because Matt Albers, Alfredo Aceves, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon pitched Sunday night.

“We didn’t have Albers, didn’t have Aceves, didn’t have Bard,” Francona said. “[Wheeler] comes in and shuts them down for a while. That’s what gave us a chance. He threw the ball really well.”

Wakefield gave up seven runs, three earned, and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He was undone by a particularly wicked knuckleball that produced a strikeout but resulted in a passed ball that fueled a five-run fifth inning that gave Baltimore a 7-6 lead.

Felix Pie opened the fifth by striking out, but he reached when the pitch eluded Saltalamacchia and went to the screen. Hardy, who signed a new three-year contract earlier in the day, hit a two-run homer and Jones drove a knuckleball an estimated 434 feet into the left-field stands.

Later in the inning, Nolan Reimold chased Wakefield with a two-run double.

Youkilis’ RBI single tied it at 7 in the seventh.

After Derrek Lee hit a two-run triple for Baltimore in the first inning, Boston took the lead against Brad Bergesen with a three-run third that began with Saltalamacchia’s seventh homer.

Boston made it 5-2 in the fourth, scoring two unearned runs after Lee let a grounder to first base go through his legs. The miscue ended a run of six straight errorless games by Baltimore.

Reddick homered off the foul pole in the fifth for a 6-2 lead.

Notes

• Crawford (back strain) was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game and went 2 for 5.
• Lee’s triple was his first since Aug. 17, 2009.
• RHP Mark Worrell, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Norfolk before the game, became the 900th player to wear an Orioles uniform. He was charged with three runs without getting an out in the eighth.
• Wakefield’s three strikeouts gave him 1,996 with Boston. Roger Clemens is the only player to have 2,000 strikeouts with the Red Sox.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

What are your opinions.