I don't think Youk has any serious injuries, he just has a few nagging things. They've been big leads, so why not take the chance to get a guy who's banged up some rest?

Re: nicknames, whatever happened to Tacoby Bellsbury?

Hopefully dead.

I've also decided to give Tim Wakefield the nickname "Iron Butterfly".

Wait a minute. This sounds like Rock and or Roll!

Mark Grace just hit another single!!!!

Damn, I thought Gonzo was gonna get off the schneid on his homer drought there.

Youks needs to rest as much as possible, he's really banged up.

Pirates in another extra innings game - hope they can steal this.

Yeah, I switched to the Pirates game after the Sox 7th.

hey plink - did you get a chance to hear the Fuqked Up Album?

Any word on the Upton situation? I can't find anything anywhere saying he's getting traded...

This is the latest

"The Indians, Nationals, Braves and Pirates are among the teams with interest in B.J. Upton, who isn't in the Rays' lineup tonight despite having rested Sunday. Here are the latest rumors on the center fielder:

* The Phillies think they can obtain Upton more cheaply than Hunter Pence, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
* Upton told teammates he had some quad tightness, according to Topkin (on Twitter).
* The Rays don't have a deal in place for Upton now, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter).
* Now that Colby Rasmus and Carlos Beltran are off of the market, the list of teams with possible interest in Upton is taking shape, Topkin explains. The Phillies and Reds are also possible destinations.
"

You have probably seen it mate - that was on mlbtraderumours

Thanks, Phil... Upton to Philly sounds... weird. What would they do? Slot him in LF, I guess?

I'm pulling for the Pirates this year; they deserve a miracle year and it would be way better than the 1991 worst-to-first Braves.

Yep, that Simmons column on Grantland must be the best thing he's written on baseball in years.

Oh, yeah, bought David Comes To Life, it's fantastic. Wife keeps asking me why I'm listening to the "screamy" music, though. It reminds me, oddly, of the better Sufjan Stevens stuff.

Game over, Red Sox win 12-5. Wheeler pitches last 1.1 innings of garbage time, after Williams covers Lackey's behind. Feeling good about post #1, all things considered.

By the way, Lackey os the only starting pitcher in baseball with 15 or more starts without a 1-2-3 first inning this season.

And the Red Sox are now 62-28 in their last 90 games. That's .689 ball for 90 games - a 112-win pace.

I really, really want them to win 100 this year. Possibly even more than I want them to win another championship.

If they just go 36-24 over the last 60 they'll get to 100 wins, right?

If they just go 36-24 over the last 60 they'll get to 100 wins, right?

1 vs. KC (1-0)
3 at CHW (2-1)
4 vs. CLE (3-1)
3 vs. NYY (2-1)
3 at MIN (2-1)
3 at SEA (2-1)
3 vs. TB (2-1)
4 at KC (3-1)
4 at TEX (2-2)
3 vs OAK (2-1)
3 vs. NYY (2-1)
3 vs. TEX (2-1)
4 at TOR (3-1)
3 at TB (2-1)
2 vs. TOR (2-0)
4 vs. TB (3-1)
4 vs. BAL (4-0)
3 at NYY (1-2)
3 at BAL (2-1)

Subtotal: 42-18
Total: 106-56

Summarized differently...

* 5-4 against NYY the rest of the way, with 6 of the 9 at Fenway.
* 4-3 against Texas
* 7-3 against Tampa, with 6 of 9 at Fenway
* 5-1 against Toronto
* 9-4 against CLE, MIN, CHW, OAK.
* 12-3 in 15 more games against the O's, Royals, and Mariners.

Now... Go through that schedule and find at least 7 more losses. One against Texas, one against Tampa, one against Toronto... maybe one against CLE/MIN/CHW/OAK... maybe one against the cellar dwellers? I mean, it's plausible they don't get to 100; there certainly are many ways in which they can fall to Earth. At this point, I'm not expecting it.

I'm the biggest Red Sox fan you're going to find, and I think the team's play ever since the 2-10 start has been nothing short of ridiculous. That said, your projection would have them, in their final 19 series of the season, win 17 of them, tie one of them, and lose one (@ NY).

To put how difficult that would be in context, take the Red Sox last 65 games. They were 17-20 at one point, and since then, they've gone 47-18 (!). That's a .723 winning percentage, which is crazy. There have been 22 series during those 65 games (a lot of rainouts). The Sox have won 18 of those series, and lost 4 of them. Now, there's a lot of sweeps in those series wins, and you don't have to sweep to win a three or four-game series. If the Red Sox were to do what you've projected above, that would mean that the team (assuming it wins today), would have gone...

...90-36 since they started off 17-20. That would be .714 ball over 126 games - a 116-win pace. If the starting rotation is healthy, and Crawford does anything well, the sky is the limit - but this would be a historic stretch if you are correct...