Manny In Taiwan

I am getting scores while on vacation, but have not been keeping up on the day-to-day details of the team.

So everyone reading this knows more about the slumping Red Sox than I do. But perhaps you have not seen what Manny Ramirez has been up to in Taiwan.

The EDA Rhinos, the team Manny now plays for, recently dressed in Halloween costumes for a road trip. (Manny also needs to work on his sliding.)

Spain

JoS is on vacation!

Laura and I fly tonight to London, where we will visit some old friends we know from our years in New York. Then it's on to Paris for two days. From there, we fly to Barcelona - and we will spend roughly two weeks driving around Spain. We return on May 28.

Laura will be blogging about our travels at wmtc (maybe not daily, but close to it).

G31: Rangers 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox - 210 000 000 - 3  5  0
Rangers - 001 002 001 - 4  9  0

Adrian Beltre's single off Clayton Mortensen in the bottom of the ninth scored Elvis Andrus from second base to give the Rangers a win, and a sweep of the three-game series.

Mortensen (who had been warming with Joel Hanrahan) got the nod in the ninth and struck out pinch-hitter Leonys Martin and leadoff man Ian Kinsler. But Andrus dumped a single into center and took second on a wild pitch. Lance Berkman was walked intentionally, and Beltre slapped a 1-2 pitch to the opposite field. Right fielder Shane Victorino's throw home was far too late.

Boston took an early 3-0 lead against Darvish (7-4-3-2-14, 127). David Ortiz crushed a two-run homer in the first and David Ross hit a solo shot in the second.

But the Rangers came back against Lester (6-5-3-3-7, 115) on a couple of dongs of their own. Mitch Moreland went deep in the third and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run jack in the sixth.

The Red Sox (now 20-11) got a runner to second base in four of the last five innings, but could not get anyone home. In the top of the ninth, they had runners at first and second and only one out. But pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out, waving at an outside curveball, and Jacoby Ellsbury - the only Red Sox batter not to strike out - grounded to first.

Jon Lester / Yu Darvish

Ellsbury, CF
Nava, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Carp, LF
Ross, C
Drew, SS
Ciriaco, 3B

G30: Rangers 5, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 010 000 000 - 1  7  2
Rangers - 100 200 02x - 5 10  0

Texas pitching - which leads MLB in team ERA - shut down the Red Sox for the second straight night. Ogando (6-6-1-2-4, 101) worked out of a few minor jams and a trio of relievers held the line.

Ian Kinsler belted Lackey's first pitch of the game to deep left for a home run. Left fielder Daniel Nava had no idea where the ball went; he was standing with his arms outstretched, confused, as the ball landed 15 rows deep beyond the high wall.

Boston tied the game when David Ortiz doubled and scored on Nava's single to center.

Lackey's control deserted him in the fourth. He walked three and allowed two singles, and was hurt by a throwing error by Will Middlebrooks.

The Red Sox had runners on base in every inning but the first and ninth. With one out in the third, and runners at first and second, Dustin Pedroia struck out and Ortiz flied to left. In the sixth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia fanned, stranding runners at first and second. And Boston had men on second and third with one out in the seventh, but both Shane Victorino and Pedroia grounded to first.

Texas added some insurance on Craig Gentry's two-run dong off Koji Uehara.

John Lackey / Alexi Ogando

Ellsbury, CF
Victorino, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Nava, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Middlebrooks, 3B
Drew, SS

In 11 games, David Ortiz is hitting .465/.489/.837:

I love beating up on the opposition. I love the pain on their face.

Cheating Epidemic Against Blue Jays Is Out Of Control

Let's look at the unassailable evidence:

On Wednesday night, Boston's Clay Buchholz beat the Blue Jays 10-1.

On Thursday night, Boston's Ryan Dempster beat the Blue Jays 3-1.

On Friday night, Seattle's Felix Hernandez beat the Blue Jays 4-0.

On Saturday afternoon, Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma beat the Blue Jays 8-1.

Obviously, every one of these pitchers is cheating. How long will MLB allow this anti-Jays conspiracy to continue?