The Boston Red Sox were already flailing when they got to Cleveland on April 6, the day Jason Varitek got his first start of the season.

Faced with a bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning, Varitek watched Kevin Youkilis field a ground ball, step on third base and fire home. Only problem was that Varitek failed to tag the oncoming runner for an easy double play that would have ended the inning. The next batter, Asdrubal Cabrera, hit a three-run home run. The Sox lost, 8-4, falling to 0-5.

Having delayed a decision on Varitek while they looked for another option to complement Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Red Sox might have been second-guessing their decision to re-sign the catcher, who started only one of the first eight games.

Not any more. Varitek, 39, has emerged as the competent veteran he’s mostly always been, save for several injuries and the natural ravages of age. But you’d never know it these days. His showing on Saturday – two-run home run and two hits in Game 1 of a doubleheader sweep of the Oakland A’s – was another in a continuing series of personal triumphs. It hasn’t always been easy, but he’s been there through 58 games as Saltalamacchia’s backup.

“There’s different spikes at different times,” he said of his condition as the season approaches its final month. “The thing is, in our position, we have to go out (and) if something happens we have to be ready in the games. You’re constantly grinding and warming people up and doing things, and at different times. I have to learn sometimes to back off, just because I’m not 22 anymore.”

You’d never know it, though. As many big moments as Saltalamacchia has provided in his 84 games, Varitek has been right there. On April 16, for instance, he hit his first sacrifice bunt in five years. On May 24, at Cleveland, he hit a two-run home run in a 4-2 victory while catching two runners attempting to steal. On June 30, at Philadelphia, he hit two home runs in a 5-2 decision. On July 5, he blocked the plate to keep Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion from scoring the tying run on the final play of the game. On Aug. 2, he had the first of three straight Sox hits in the ninth in a walk-off win over Cleveland. On the 21st he hit his first triple in more than four years.

Needless to say, Sox manager Terry Francona, who claims he never thought Varitek wouldn’t be back with the Sox this season, is tickled pink.

“I think he’s still got a lot left,” he said of the catcher, who’s batting .234 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.

“I think he’s proving that. What he does behind the plate, we’ve been saying for years. It’s nice when he chips in with some home runs like he’s been.”

Part of Varitek’s success this season has been due to good health. Both he and Saltalamacchia have been relatively unfettered by serious physical challenges, and Varitek has also settled into his backup role, catching one game for every two by Saltalamacchia.

“I think the playing time he’s getting is probably just about perfect,” Francona said. “He’s kept himself in such great shape, but he’s caught a lot of games. We don’t want to run him out there every day. It’s not fair to him, but the way he’s been catching has been really, really good. The production out of our catching has been tremendous.”

What had been something of a mockery in the past couple of years, with teams running rampant on the Sox’ catchers (and pitchers), has slowed. Varitek has caught 11 stealers, or 17 percent, but Saltalamacchia is up to 31 percent, having caught 29 more. It’s become a strong tandem.

“With scouting the way it is now, we’re seeing teams slow down a little bit,” Francona said. “Guys that are going to steal are going to steal. It’s just the guys that don’t run, you don’t want them trying to run all the time. That was what was happening to us last year, especially early.”

Varitek and Saltalamacchia also have been strong offensively, batting a combined .245 and falling either second or third among AL catching duos in home runs (22), RBI (75) and runs (70).

Through it all, Varitek has had one goal: winning.

“I have team goals,” he said. “I always have. What happens from there … I try not to spend too much time worrying about that stuff, just try to have competitive at-bats.

“It’s a day-to-day grind of just doing what you have to do that day to win. And then the further you get along in the season, you’re preparing or you’re communicating, you’re making adjustments with your pitchers of where you are or where you need to go. I think the basic goals are to win today and to prepare to win tomorrow and to get through and to learn and to see what goes on every day with the pitching staff, whether you’re playing or not. I mean, as you see what happened last year with Vic (Victor Martinez), who got hit in the toe and then, boom, I have to go in at the end of a game. I think that’s where you have to pay attention.”

Needless to say, he has.

Reach Mike Fine at mikefine@ledger.com.

 

BOSTON –

Jacoby Ellsbury never had a game-winning hit before this week.

Now he has two in as many games.

One night after his ninth-inning single drove in the game-winning run, the Red Sox center fielder homered with two outs in the ninth on Wednesday to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians.

“The guy’s got us two nights in a row,” said Indians reliever Joe Smith (2-2), who retired the first two batters in the ninth before Ellsbury hit an 0-1 pitch over the wall in straightaway center.

Asked if the pitch was where he wanted it, Smith said: “Four hundred and fifteen away to the middle of center? No.”

Jonathan Papelbon (4-0) pitched a perfect ninth for Boston, which won for the 10th time in 13 games. Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez each had two hits, and Tim Wakefield took a three-hitter into the seventh but could not collect career victory No. 200.

Jason Kipnis homered for the fourth straight day for Cleveland, which lost for the 10th time in 13 games to fall to .500 for the first time since the fourth game of the year. Starter Carlos Carrasco allowed three runs – two earned – and nine hits and three walks while striking out five before leaving with the game tied 3-all in the eighth inning.

Tony Sipp struck out two in a perfect eighth, and then Smith retired pinch-hitter Darnell McDonald and No. 9 hitter Marco Scutaro before Ellsbury, who was 0 for 4 so far in the game, came to the plate. Ellsbury, who hit a one-out single to win it on Tuesday, drove it over the high wall in center.

“I realized it was the ninth inning and I had been 0 for 4 both games. I’m just trying to get on base,” he said. “The last two days have been pretty good.”

Wakefield took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning with a chance for his 200th win, but he gave up doubles to Lonnie Chisenhall and Ezequiel Carrera to tie it. Red Sox manager Terry Francona headed to the mound, leading Wakefield to pound his fist in frustration and drawing boos from the crowd.

The fans cheered Wakefield as he left the field, but he did not react. He allowed three runs and five hits and two walks in all, striking out six in 6 2-3 innings.

“It’s hard,” Francona said. “I knew what it meant to the fans wanting to see it – and so do I – and to him personally. But you do what you have to do to try and win the game.”

The right-handed knuckleballer, who turned 45 on Tuesday and is the oldest active player in the majors, will have another chance at becoming the 108th pitcher with 200 wins – the 89th since 1900 – is expected to come on Monday or Tuesday night.

Carrasco, who had lost five straight starts, was suspended six games and fined $2,500 for throwing at the head of Kansas City’s Billy Butler on Friday night. He said he would drop his appeal and begin the suspension after Wednesday night’s game.

Notes: The teams are back for game four of the series on Thursday night, when newly acquired starter Erik Bedard will face former Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson. Masterson is 3-3 with a 1.76 ERA in his past 11 games (10 starts). He was part of the deal that brought Victor Martinez to Boston at the 2009 trading deadline. In three career starts against his former team, he is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA. … Bedard only went 1 1-3 innings and gave up five runs in his previous start, for Seattle against Tampa Bay – his first start since coming off the DL (sprained left knee). … To make room for Jimenez on the roster, the Indians optioned LHP David Huff to Triple-A Columbus. … Indians OF Michael Brantley was given the night off to rest his sore right wrist. … Kipnis is the first Indians rookie to homer in four straight games since Al Rosen in 1950, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … Pedroia was the AL player of the month for July, with 46 hits in the month. … Boston SS Marco Scutaro was back in the lineup after sitting out Tuesday’s game with dizziness. … The Red Sox batter with game-ending hits on consecutive days of the regular season was Butch Hobson in 1978, though David Ortiz did it in the 2004 playoffs against the New York Yankees.

BOSTON — By the time he gets to pitch for the Indians, Ubaldo Jimenez might not be enough help.

On the day their prize deadline acquisition joined the team, the Indians had another last at-bat loss to the Red Sox.

Jacoby Ellsbury got the winning hit for the second consecutive night, homering with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday to send Cleveland to its 10th loss in 13 games, 4-3, to Boston.

Two swings and they’ve lost two games, dropping another two games in the standings.

“I don’t know if it’s slipping away,” said reliever Joe Smith, who allowed Ellsbury’s homer. “The last two days we’re playing a great team in Boston.”

Cleveland fell to four games behind the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers, who beat Texas, 5-4, on Wednesday. Jimenez is scheduled to start Friday against the Rangers, six days after he was traded. On Saturday, he pitched one inning before the Rockies pulled him.

Smith (2-2) got the first two batters on groundouts before Ellsbury hit an 0-1 pitch over the wall in center field. Ellsbury singled to center with one out to end Tuesday’s game.

“Smitty has lefties hitting .090 against him,” manager Manny Acta said. “(Ellsbury) got two of the best guys out in our pen. You tip your cap to him.”

Asked about the growing deficit in the standings, Acta said: “Not with two months left. I’ll say we’re out when we’re four games behind with three to play.”

Before Jimenez can start Friday in Texas, the Indians wrap up their four-game series with Boston today.

“We’ve done it to a few teams so far this year,” Acta said. “I’ve seen them bounce back.”

Cleveland fell to .500 (54-54) for the first time since opening the season 2-2.

Jonathan Papelbon (4-0) pitched a perfect ninth.

Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez each had two hits for Boston, which won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Jason Kipnis homered for the fourth consecutive game for Cleveland, and starter Carlos Carrasco allowed three runs, two earned, on nine hits and three walks while striking out five before leaving with the game tied at 3 in the eighth inning.

Boston starter Tim Wakefield took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning with a chance for his 200th career win, but he allowed doubles to Lonnie Chisenhall and Ezequiel Carrera to tie it. Red Sox manager Terry Francona headed to the mound, leading Wakefield to pound his fist in frustration and drawing boos from the crowd.

The fans cheered Wakefield as he left the field, but he did not react. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks, striking out six in 6 2/3 innings.

The right-handed knuckleballer, who turned 45 on Tuesday and is the oldest active player in the majors, will have another chance at becoming the 108th pitcher with 200 wins Monday or Tuesday.

Carrasco, who had lost five consecutive starts, was suspended six games and fined $2,500 for throwing at the head of Kansas City’s Billy Butler on Friday night. He said he would drop his appeal and begin the suspension after Wednesday’s game.

Notes: Newly acquired Boston starter Erik Bedard will face former Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson in today’s game. Masterson is 3-3 with a 1.76 ERA in his past 11 games (10 starts). He was part of the deal that brought Victor Martinez to Boston at the 2009 trading deadline. In three career starts against his former team, he is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA. … Bedard only went 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs in his previous start, for Seattle against Tampa Bay — his first start since coming off the disabled list (sprained left knee). … To make room for Jimenez on the roster, the Indians optioned left-hander David Huff to Triple-A Columbus. … Indians outfielder Michael Brantley was given the night off to rest his sore right wrist. … Kipnis is the first Indians rookie to homer in four consecutive games since Al Rosen in 1950, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Red Sox selected University of Connecticut right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes with the 19th pick in the first round of the major league baseball draft Monday night.

Barnes, a native of Bethel, Conn., who turns 21 on June 17, was taken with the pick the Red Sox received as compensation from the Detroit Tigers for signing catcher Victor Martinez as a free agent.

Barnes posted a record of 11-4 with a 1.62 ERA in 16 starts. He has 241 career strikeouts, just two behind UConn all-time leader Ed Baird, who set the record in 1966-68.

With their second pick, at No. 26 overall, the Red Sox selected switch-hitting high school catcher Blake Swihart, from New Mexico. He has committed to the University of Texas.

The Red Sox received the pick from the Texas Rangers for signing free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Boston also picked Henry Owens, a left-handed pitcher from Edison High School in California, with the 36th overall pick and outfielder Jackie Bradley from the University of South Carolina with the 40th pick.

A wrist injury that required surgery slowed Bradley at the plate this season, when he hit .259 in 37 games.

“We’re real happy with how today went,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said.

“And you circle back in five or 10 years and see how you did, but certainly we feel like some things broke out way and we were able to get four players we feel really good about, two high school, two college, two pitchers, two hitters. The hitters are up-the-middle guys with strong defensive tools and bats that we really like. Both pitchers we feel project as starters in the big leagues. So we’re real happy with how it went.”

By Rob Neyer

– National Baseball Editor

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May 24, 2011 – In 2005, the Boston Red Sox used the 42nd pick in the amateur draft to select Clay Buchholz.

In 2006, the Red Sox used the 71st pick in the amateur draft to select Justin Masterson.

Three years later, the Red Sox coveted the talents of Victor Martinez, then employed by the Cleveland Indians. By then, Buchholz had joined the big club’s rotation and management wasn’t giving him up. Masterson was also pitching for the Red Sox, but he’d been consigned to relief duties.

The Indians almost certainly asked Theo Epstein about Buchholz, but settled for Masterson (and two Red Sox minor leaguers) and the deal for Martinez was done.

Since then? After joining the Indians, Masterson returned to starting and went 1-7 with a 4.55 ERA the rest of the way. Things didn’t get much better last season: 6-13, 4.70 ERA. Masterson probably deserved better, though, as his sinker was working and his peripheral stats were actually pretty good. He pitched particularly well down the stretch; in his last 11 games — including five relief outings, presumably to limit his innings — Masterson posted a 2.51 ERA and gave up just one home run in 46 innings.

Small sample size? This season he’s got a 2.57 ERA, and has given up just one home run in 67 innings.

That’s impressive. The ERAs, yes, but especially the two homers in 113 innings. Masterson’s not a strikeout pitcher, so to be successful he has to limit his walks while keeping the ball a) on the ground, and b) in the ballpark. Which he’s been doing, obviously. But two home runs in 113 innings is impossible to sustain, which is why you can probably bet on Masterson’s ERA winding up somewhere north of 3 this season.

Meanwhile, Buchholz is no longer the strikeout machine he was in the minors, and during his early action with the Red Sox. But he did go 17-7 last season with a 2.33 ERA. And while Masterson’s certainly been the better pitcher this season — Buchholz entered Monday’s start having given up seven home runs in 53 innings — the Red Sox are probably happy to have him. Just as the Indians are happy to have Masterson.

In the end, neither happy-monger figured in the decision.

Boston struck first, on Dustin Pedroia’s two-out single in the third inning that plated Carl Crawford; it was the slumping Pedroia’s first RBI since the 2nd of May. Asdrubal Cabrera evened the score with a leadoff homer — his 10th of the season — in the bottom of the fifth.

For quite a while, it looked like the difference in the game would be a hanging change-up and a great swing; the change-up was Masterson’s and the swing was Carl Crawford’s, which gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Masterson and Buchholz kept the score at 2-1 into the bottom of the eighth.

Masterson departed after 7-2/3 innings and 112 pitches.

Buchholz went 7-1/3 before giving way to Daniel Bard, with a runner on second base.

That runner — pinch-runner Adam Everett — was there as a result of Jack Hannahan’s leadoff single, which might well have been an out if second baseman Dustin Pedroia hadn’t earlier hurt his ankle while running the bases, and been replaced by Drew Sutton.

In the event, Bard retired pinch-hitter Carlos Santana before Michael Brantley ripped a two-strike, two out single into right field, with Everett scoring the tying run just ahead of J.D. Drew’s throw home. Worse for the Red Sox, the red-hot Asdrubal Cabrera was due next. With Brantley on second base, Terry Francona eschewed the intentional walk, and Cabrera sliced a double off the left-field wall to put the Indians ahead.

In the top of the ninth, Chris Perez got into serious trouble with one out, allowing a walk and a single, but induced a sharp grounder from Carl Crawford, right at second baseman Orlando Cabrera, who started the game-ending double play. Perez earned his 13th save in 14 chances, and the Cleveland Indians ran their record to 30-15, best in the majors.

For more about the Indians and Red Sox, please visit Let’s Go Tribe and Over the Monster.

Read More: Victor Martinez (DH – DET), Carl Crawford (LF – BOS), Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox

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BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Red Sox look to avenge an early season sweep at the hands of the Indians when they open up a seven-game road trip with three in Cleveland Monday night.

The Indians (29-15) have the best record in baseball and sport an 18-4 record at Progressive Field. They swept the Red Sox in the second series of the season, dropping Boston to 0-6 on the season at the time.

Now the Red Sox come in having won eight of their last nine and find themselves just half-a-game out of first place in the American League East.

“We’re a different club since the start of the season,” second baseman Dustin Pedroia said after Boston’s 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs Sunday night. “We’ve been playing better, we just have to continue to do so.”

Sports Blog: Red Sox Know How Good They Are

Pedroia is batting just .205 since April 10th, but other Red Sox have stepped up as of late. Adrian Gonzalez is 10 for his last 15, and hitting .481 over the last week. He leads the team in batting average (.341) home runs (9), and RBI (41, tops in the Majors).

“He’s just such a professional hitter,” manager Terry Francona said of his first baseman. “Hits the ball to left field, fights off pitches, gets something he can handle and he hits it off the wall. He’s a really good hitter and he’s in a really good period. I hope it lasts for awhile too.”

“I’m feeling good,” said Gonzalez after his four-for-four Sunday night. “Being able to swing at the pitches I want to swing at, I don’t chase too many pitches out of the zone. I just try to execute my game plan.”

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchi has been making the most of his plate appearances as well, going seven for his last 18, including three home runs, out of the nine spot in the order.

“He looks more confident and he should be,” Francona said of his young catcher. “He’s playing better.”

“It’s nice to go up to the plate wanting to hit the ball hard, getting a good pitch and being able to do it,” said Saltalmacchia.

The Red Sox will have their top three pitchers going in this series with Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester each getting a shot at the Indians. Buchholz starts the series, going against former Red Sox prospect Justin Masterson, who was traded to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez deal in 2009.

Pitching Matchups For Boston’s Three Game Set In Cleveland

Monday 7:05 pm

• Clay Buchholz (4-3, 3.42 ERA) vs Justin Masterson (5-2, 2.52 ERA)

Tuesday 7:05 pm

• Josh Beckett (3-1, 1.73 ERA) vs Fausto Carmona (3-4, 4.76 ERA)

Wednesday 12:05 pm

• Jon Lester (6-1, 3.68 ERA) vs TBA