The preliminary 162 are over. The Red Sox finished their regular season with a split, got to wave farewell to the Yankees, and now can head to Anaheim with a fresh start. Well, except for the daily agony that's keeping Mike Lowell on the shelf for who-knows-long, the nagging problems with J.D. Drew, and now the news that Josh Beckett pulled a muscle and won't start 'til Game Three. Other than that, we're ready. The......

Is anyone else a little fired up that the Sox could still win the East? If we sweep NY, and the Rays get swept in Detroit...wow! Or not. Whatever. The Sox kept their hopes alive by beating Cleveland, again, as Jon Lester took a no-hitter into the sixth en route to a 6-1 win. Lester wasn't going to get a chance for the complete game, said Terry Francona, who had a strict pitch count in......

Roy Halladay wasn't going to let the Red Sox celebrate on his dime. With the magic number at one, the Sox just needed to beat Roy and the Wild Card spot (at least; they're still not giving up on Tampa Bay) would be theirs. But as the Sox learned, you can't spot Halladay a 5-0 lead and expect to come back. Jon Lester was surprisingly un-automatic, as the Blue Jays touched him for one in......

Nobody's going to be boxing this one up and sending it to Canton. It was slow, grinding, methodical and (objectively, let's be honest) kind of boring. But it was also quiet and efficient. Coach Belichick doesn't want style points - not right now, anyway - and he got exactly what he wanted, which was a W at New York. The defense had a few shaky moments. Brett Favre led the Jets on a long opening......

Prior to last night’s game, the Red Sox were a game and a half behind the first place Devil Rays and a sweep would put the Red Sox back at the top of the division. In previous years, it was the Yankees the Sox were fighting for the top spot – the laundry might have changed, but the battle is still there. Last night, Jon Lester and the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil......

Dustin Pedroia. It's never gonna get old. Once again slipped into the cleanup spot due to Kevin Youkilis' absence, Dustin rose to the occasion again, homering and driving in five runs as the Red Sox torched Baltimore last night, 14-2. This was a nice gift for Jon Lester, as the Sox posted four in the third and six in the fourth off of hapless O's starter Radhames Liz. David Ortiz got the party started with......

Someone switched pages in the script. The Red Sox were supposed to leave Yankee Stadium for the last time yesterday flying high, having crushed New York's spirit and set their sights firmly on catching and dispatching Tampa Bay. And it was headed that way, with Jon Lester cruising on a 2-0 lead going into the seventh. But Lester gave up a double, Francona decided to trust in his bullpen, and before you could say "Seriously,......

It wasn’t too long ago when the Yankees came to town for a five game series that was a make or break situation for the Sox. But in historic Yankee fashion, they threw us over the proverbial barrel and violated us. But now the tables are turned and it feels good to be on top. Well, in second place and first in line for the Wild Card. But still, it could be worse. We could......

The bad news is, the Red Sox still face Toronto eight more times this year. The good news is, it can't get much worse than it did yesterday, when the Blue Jays enthusiastically pounded Jon Lester and scraped the Sox off their cleats, 11-0. Lester, who's been the island of competence in a Sox staff filled with injuries, control loss and a million question marks, didn't even make it three innings. Vernon Wells kicked off......

Did we promise we were finished with the Jason Bay puns? We don't think we did promise, technically. Anyway, it's appropriate, since Jason is now the King of Baltimore after slamming two home runs to help the Sox get back on track, 6-3 at Camden Yards. And if they don't name Maryland's most distinctive geographical after the kid, you can't blame us for trying. Bay hit a solo shot in the second and a 2-run......

Were the folks at Fenway disappointed last night? 24 hours after the zany madcap roller coaster 19-17 win, the Red Sox came back and dispatched Texas in a much tidier fashion. They did it by riding a Kevin Youkilis hit parade and a (mostly) solid Jon Lester start to an 8-4 win. Youk got three doubles, the big one coming in the third and scoring two runs to make it 4-0. Jason Bay and Jed......

For lack of a better term, Jon Lester has been the ace of the pitching staff this year. But last night Mark Buehrle and the Chicago White Sox, showed Lester and everyone else how it’s done. Buehrle’s performance helped lead the White Sox over the Red Sox 5 – 3. Buehrle gave up one run on four hits and he struck out eight, during his seven innings of work last night. Jon Lester also went......

We'll run out of Jason Bay-related headline puns soon enough, we promise. But we'll use them when we can, such as when reporting on Bay's first home run as a Red Sox, a three-run blast in the first that helped set the tone for the 12-2 massacre of Oakland yesterday at Fenway. Jon Lester had surrendered a two-run shot to Emil Brown in the first, but his offense gave him the leisure to cruise through......

If you can't work out a way to have the Mariners on your schedule whenever you've got a losing streak, you can at least take comfort seeing Sidney Ponson strolling out to the mound for your opponent. Despite having achieved knighthood by the Queen of the Netherlands, Ponson's name has to enter an conversation involving "Worst Pitchers Of Our Lifetime That Seem To Keep Getting Work Somehow". (Relax, though, Wasdin. You're safe for now.) He......

We at the Bostonist remember a time when many thought the Red Sox were babying Jon Lester. Before the cancer scare and before he had ever threw a ball at Fenway, we kept hearing how special this kid is and how they needed to make sure he was ready for Boston. Cut to this year and Jon Lester, some would say is the ace of the staff. He’s been spot on most of his appearances......

Hey, these are starting to look like the good Red Sox again! Except for one bad inning by Jon Lester, the Sox looked pretty good last night, beating the Twins 6-5. Lester pitched a mostly solid game, and the Sox once again found some clutch hitting and took advantage of another team's shaky bullpen. Lester, in fact, had some in the crowd buzzing early about a repeat performance of his May no-hitter (well, a few......

Jon Lester doesn't want to be known anymore as the guy who survived cancer. Jon Lester doesn't even want to be known as the kid who no-hit the Royals. Jon Lester, thank you very much, would like to be known as a lights-out pitcher and a cornerstone of the Sox' staff. And so shall we know him from now on. With the team reeling, losing five in a row and watching the Rays run out......

Is it possible the Celtics somehow transferred their Amulet of Not Being Able To Win On The Road to the Red Sox? True, the C's need it more right at this moment, but the Sox have to play better than they recently have in Minnesota, Baltimore, and now Oakland. Jon Lester's bid for his second straight no-hitter ended with the leadoff hitter, as Jack Hannahan singled to open things up. The shutout ended a few......

And just like that, the epic story of the Celtics' postseason road failures is over. The C's built a big lead, survived a Detroit run, built another big lead, survived another Detroit run, and walked out of the Palace of Auburn Hills up 2-1 with a 94-80 win. Home-court advantage is back, the haters and doubters are quiet, and all is more or less right with the world. Until we get to the Sox, that......

Last night will go down in history. Jon Lester, who in the last two years has battled cancer and pitched the clinching game in the World Series, threw his first complete game, and, by the way, it was a no hitter. Last night’s historic event was the first no hitter thrown since September 1st of last year. In case you forgot, that was thrown by Clay Buchholz against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway. Lester......

Because there's no footage like shaky blurry footage shot from the windswept Conigliaro's Corner. But we were there, man. We were there. The roars of the crowd, in order: Strike One, Strike Two, Foul Ball, Ball One, Strike Three, Pandemonium.......

Don't listen to the so-called experts. Kids LOVE pitchers' duels. Go up to any schoolboy and mention some of the great mound rivalries of the past - Koufax/Marichal, Gibson/Seaver, Palmer/Hunter - and, well, you'll probably get a blank look. But maybe you'll find a kid who knows what you're talking about, and chances are that kid appreciated the gem last night at Fenway. For the Sox, Jon Lester was throwing strikes (yay) and inducing groundouts,......

Maybe, in retrospect, it's not the best idea for a guy to mouth off before a game everyone know he's going to lose. In four years, remember, Freddie Mitchell went from Super Bowl trashtalker to disgraced Indiana substitute teacher. Who knows what the future holds for Atlanta Hawk point guard Mike Bibby, but you've got to wonder why he's still talking while he utterly and completely fails to back it up on the court. Not......

Nobody around here enjoyed last night very much. The Sox' listless loss to Detroit has us wondering where we chucked the Panic Button. The offense is anemic (did you catch Lugo coming six inches away from hitting into a triple play?). David Ortiz is off to a particularly wretched start, at .091. Mike Lowell jammed his thumb and we don't know how hurt he is. Jon Lester keeps digging holes for himself that he doesn't......

David Ortiz is back! That guy who went to Japan, kind of looked like Papi, swung with a handicap, and made lots of outs was replaced by the confident slugger we all know and love. The real Papi singled in the fifth for his first hit of the year, then put the Sox on the board with a 2-run homer in the seventh. The blast made a winner of Jon Lester, who pitched a great......

Does anyone remember what the preseason over/under for the Celtics was? Because we're pretty sure it was about 48 wins, but it seems like all evidence has been scrubbed from the Internet. If anybody thought back then that Ghidorah would take a few months to get used to one another and the C's would struggle, they sure wouldn't want it on their record now. Because last night was win #50 for the Green, who look......

That's right; we almost had to go in the closets for a rare winter activation of the Panic Button. The Patriots were struggling on offense, dropping passes left and right. The defense really struggled, allowing Raven Willis McGahee to run amok for three quarters. Don Shula was up in the booth with corkscrew in hand. But somehow, the game stayed close. And Tom Brady had a chance to go up the field with 3:30 to......

Well, the Twins aren't cooperating. Instead of being excited about the chance for yet another Minnesota star to come to Boston, they're dragging their feet on the inevitable Johan Santana trade. They now want Jacoby Ellsbury thrown in the mix, to counter Hank Steinbrenner's throwing-in of pitching prospect Phil Hughes. The Red Sox say maybe on Ellsbury, but that would mean no Jon Lester. The Yankees say if they don't hear from Minnesota soon, the......

We're not the biggest Japanese-movie-monster buffs in the world, but we honestly can't remember an entry in the series when the monster got to go home early because Tokyo didn't even make a token effort to defend itself. But Ghidorah was sent to the bench early last night; the "Big Three" were no longer needed amid the Celtics' utter annihilation of the listless Knicks last night. It was a 23-point lead at halftime, and when......

Well, the Red Sox proved that they can win even when Colorado finds its offense. So it's 3-0, and teams coming back from 3-0 is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. (We're engaging in a little post-2004 thinking, but don't think we're not engaging in all the superstitions, wearing the same cap, drinking the same coffee, wearing the same underwear, etc., in the meantime). The Sox came out blazing, slapping Rockies starter Josh Fogg around for six in......