Mike Lowell was the talk of the town last year and netted the World Series MVP award. He was also bestowed with the most famous award of all time, the 2008 Fire Brand of the Year Award. And yet, he’s not engendering the same amount of chatter this year. He may not be having as good a year as he did last year, but did you realize he’s having a better year than two years ago, his first in a Sox uniform?

Manning the hot corner this year, Lowell’s hitting for a more than respectable .282/.344/.481 line and his Value Over Replacement Level Player (VORP) is 15.1, good for 14th out of 52 third basemen. He’s on pace to crank 22 homers and get 101 RBI. Pretty good considering he missed 19 days in April.

While he’s not back to his 2006 defensive level, he’s much better than last year. He has six errors on the year, good for a .974 fielding percentage (.961 last year) and a 2.91 Range Factor (2.51 last year) and a .834 Zone Rating (a career high excluding his seven-gamer as a rookie with the New York Yankees).

The one knock against Lowell is his first- and second-half splits, a reputation that’s starting to circle around Kevin Youkilis as well. In his career, he has a .850 OPS in the first half of the year and .763 after the All-Star Break. Part of his success last year was staving off that decline — he actually posted an OPS 20 points higher than the first half last year at .889. It’s a small sample size so far for this year, so I’m not too concerned about his .356 (yes, .356) OPS in five games after the Break (that statistic doesn’t include his two-hit game last night’s game, one of which won the game).

Taking into consideration his historic trend of going down post-All Star Break plus factoring in the righty/lefty split, I think it makes sense to put J.D. Drew in the five-hole when David Ortiz returns (tomorrow! Yay!) and either a) push Lowell and Youkilis down a spot or b) put Youkilis in the two-hole and Jacoby Ellsbury in the seventh spot. Either way, the addition of David Ortiz to the lineup means a top-notch bat will be hitting seventh. Ahh, shades of 2003.

Whether or not you think Michael Almanzar or Will Middlebrooks will be ready to take over the hot corner in 2011, Mike Lowell’s shown himself to be far more than a salary dump in the Josh Beckett trade. Who would have thought he would ink a contract that was more expensive than the one that got him shipped out of Florida?

He’s shown that he certainly loves Fenway, and I remember my first impression of him being that he sure liked to bang doubles off the Green Monster. Hitting .309/.374/.510 in Fenway for his career, he certainly hasn’t shied away from the Monster. Lowell’s got a .868 OPS in Fenway this year and a .797 away, which would be concerning only if last year hadn’t been an even bigger disparity: .993 home (that’s Hall of Fame caliber) and .767 away.

Believe it or not, the home-road disparity may actually have undervalued Lowell so far on the year. He’s played 12 more games on the road than at home, and with nine home games coming up against the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics, we’ll certainly need his bat bashing doubles off the Monster (and if we’re lucky, homers over the Monster). If he stays true to form and produces better at home, his slash stats of  .282/.344/.481 may go nowhere but up. That’s assuming, of course, that he doesn’t have a second-half tailspin, which is a distinct possibility.

So far, Lowell’s three-year contract is looking pretty good, as he’s locked up through age 36. Considering Chipper Jones is hitting .372 at age 36, I don’t think we have too much to worry about. What do you think?

Boston Red Sox podcast for MVN Radio Episode 16 where a week off brings back the team’s A game and we go back to school for Stats 101 with MVN’s own Eric J. Seidman.

Episode #16
Hosts: Paul Testa, Tim Daloisio
Guests: Eric J. Seidman, author of Bridging the Statistical Gap and writer at MVN’s Statistically Speaking

It may be summer vacation and Paul and I may a little further past scholastic age than we care to admit, but in today’s episode that doesn’t prevent us from going back to school for Stats 101 with Eric J. Seidman. Eric previews his new book, Bridging the Statistical Gap, and breaks down a few of our own to demonstrate how statistics aren’t as overwhelming as they might seem.

From Josh Hamilton and his All-Star game feats to Manny Ramirez and his never ending circus, Paul and I make up for a lost episode last week with an extended episode of Fireside Chats for your audible pleasure.

All that and more on Episode #16 of Fireside Chats at MVN!

A few odds and ends:

• Call in a voice mail to be played on the air…just dial 360-450-MVN3 and mention that this is in response to Fireside Chats!
• Become a Fireside Chats fan on Facebook.
• Listen, subscribe to us on iTunes, review the show, tell your friends, spread the word. (This will launch iTunes)
• Own a Zune or anything else that doesn’t start with “i”? The raw RSS feed can be can be accessed here if you want to subscribe via any other feed reader or podcast player.
• Email any questions/comments to be read on the air to redsoxnation [at] gmail.com.

Thanks for listening!

It took a little longer than most would like, but the Boston Red Sox completed the three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners on a two-RBI single by Mike Lowell.

Sean Casey added an RBI single to make it 6-3 in the top of the 12th for added measure.

Jonathan Papelbon earned the win improving to 4-3 and Craig Hansen notched his second save.

Star of the Game: Lowell

A clutch hit when this team needed it most.  Hats off.  I think he should rub Jerry Remy’s shoulders before every game.

Next Game: Bring on JOBA

Yeah thats right.  If you are not pumped for this series than you should become a Kansas City Royals fan.

According to Danny Knobler of CBS Sportsline, the Red Sox are deep into negotiations with the Chicago White Sox to acquire former starting shortstop Juan Uribe.

Uribe, 29, is wrapping up a one-year deal worth $4.5 million. He is hitting .225/.273/.364 on the season and has started six seasons, two with the Colorado Rockies before moving to Chicago. His best year came in 2004 with the White Sox when he hit .283/.327/.506 with 23 homers. He hit 20 homers last year as well but had an anemic .234/.294/.394 line. Clearly, he’s a power hitter, but only when he actually hits the ball.

As Knobler points out, Uribe’s three homers on the year off the bench are more than all Red Sox shortstops have hit this year. Holy cow! (It must be noted that Uribe started the year as the starting second baseman before losing the job to the “Cuban Missile,” Alexei Ramirez.)

Uribe would most likely back up Jed Lowrie at short and also see time at second base. He would not take the starting job away from Jed Lowrie, according to Rotoworld.com. If Uribe gets off to a hot start in Boston and Lowrie stumbles, Uribe could pick up more playing time. He’s also known for his stellar defense.

One interesting side note is that Alex Cora could be shipped to Chicago for Uribe, and Cora’s brother, Joey, is the third-base coach for Chicago. Another note by Knobler is that Cora “has fallen out of favor in Boston.” I’m not sure that’s true, but he is on pace for his lowest at-bats as a major leaguer spending the majority of the year in the majors. He’s hitting .279/.380/.361.

I’m not entirely positive of what to make of this rumor. It’s a bit out of left-field to me because I had no idea the Red Sox were unhappy with Alex Cora, and I’m not particularly clear on what Uribe brings to the table that Cora doesn’t, as Cora’s OBP offsets Uribe’s power, in my opinion.

Boston Red Sox (59-43) @ Seattle Mariners (38-62)
Clay Buchholz (2-5, 5.67) @ Felix Hernandez (7-6, 2.95)
4:35 PM EDT | Safeco Field (Seattle, WA)
TV: NESN RADIO: WRKO 680, SBN 1150

GAME NOTES: Red Sox up 2-0 in the 3rd on a Youkilis RBI single + Ichiro error. Discuss here.

Each week, I am participating in the 2008 MLB Blog Poll at RotoJunkie.com. Below are my current votes for the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards. These votes will be tabulated among other votes from other blogs to create a running master list of voting as the year progresses.

MVP:
1. 1B Albert Pujols, STL: This man is essentially single-handley keeping the Cardinals in contention.
2. 2B Chase Utley, PHI: Utley is going to be increasingly important to the Phillies’ hopes of holding the Mets off.
3. 2B Dan Uggla, FLA: See Pujols and Utley.

Cy Young:
1. SP Edison Volquez, CIN: Volquez isn’t pitching like he was, but he’s still good enough to be No. 1.
2. SP Tim Lincecum, SF: The young, thin guy from a terrible team is opening eyes everywhere.
3. SP Brandon Webb, ARI: He leads the N.L. in wins and has a more than respectable 3.11 ERA.

Rookie of the Year:
1. C Geovany Soto, CHC: The backstop is chugging along.
2. 1B Joey Votto, CIN: The reason the future is bright in Cincy is because of Votto, Volquez and Jay Bruce.
3. SP Jair Jurrjens, ATL: The Braves still think they’re in the race, and Jair is a big reason why.

What do you think? Did I do a good job picking the award winners if the season was to end today?

Daisuke Matsuzaka went 7 1/3 innings striking out six in the process leading the Boston Red Sox past the Seattle Mariners 4-2.

J.D. Drew drove in two - solo home run and sacrifice fly - to charge Boston’s offense on the night.

Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 30th save of the season in one inning of work.

Star of the Game: Matsuzaka

Dice-K was lights in early in the game especially in the second inning striking out Jeremy Reed on three pitches.  From that at-bat Matsuzaka looked like he was going to be dominant and he was to earn his 11th win of the season.

Next Game: Complete the sweep

Buchholz vs. Hernandez tonight looks to be a good game to watch.

The Red Sox signed Julio Lugo prior to the 2007 season mostly out of necessity. Sure, Theo Epstein long favored Lugo at an eventual replacement at shortstop when he hit free agency following decent years in a Rays uniform, and since the complete black hole of a bat Alex Gonzalez provided would not be sufficient in the long term, Epstein needed a shortstop and handed Lugo a contract Theo and Red Sox fans deeply regret. While his defense improved in 2007, it has greatly depreciated this season, and while the hitting aspect of Lugo’s game has improved slightly this season from a disastrous 2007, it is still nowhere near Tampa levels or what Theo could have expected. Julio Lugo has been, frankly, a gigantic bust.

While an injury to a player is never something to be applauded, Lugo found himself on the shelf last week, and the Red Sox could be without his services, or lack thereof, for 4-6 weeks. With Alex Cora as the only backup infielder on the roster and someone who should never, ever see an everyday job on a major league team at this point, the only proper move for the Red Sox was to promote Jed Lowrie. Long heralded as the shortstop of the future and the top infield prospect in the Sox system, Lowrie would finally be able to show his game for an extended period of time in the big show.

Lowrie, a switch-hitter, was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2005 draft out of Stanford, where he earned Pac 10 Player of the Year honors and earned First Team All-American from Baseball America. Lowrie has definitely made a splash in his time with the Red Sox minor league system, garnering a place on the Eastern League All-Star Team in 2007 and being named Portland Sea Dogs MVP in the same season before his promotion to Pawtucket. There Lowrie was tremendous- .300/.356/.506 with 16 doubles in 180 AB.

With Lugo experiencing a brutal campaign at shortstop with the big club, many Red Sox fans began pining for Lowrie to begin 2008 as the full-time starter. The Red Sox front office faced a tough situation. The Edgar Renteria disaster forced management to pay for a large chunk of his contract to play with the Atlanta Braves, and the entire front office really didn’t want to deal with the same type of quandary. So, because Lugo made nine million annually, he retained the job and was given another shot. It’s clear Lugo may never figure it out in a Red Sox uniform, and just as Lowrie was busy putting up a respectable .793 OPS in Pawtucket, Lugo went down with the aforementioned injury.

Is Jed Lowrie the answer at shortstop? Good question. Few argue Lowrie would be able to put up Lugo’s offensive numbers right away in the majors. Most would probably concur he could put up much stronger numbers with the pine. Lowrie possesses strong doubles power while Lugo has turned into plainly a singles hitter. Much like other Sox prospects, Lowrie’s plate discipline is excellent and he’s equally effective from both sides of the plate. The ability for Lowrie to put up .275/.360/.420 annually for the Red Sox is not out of the question at all, which is good offensive value from that position.

The question with Lowrie is his defense at the shortstop position. He’s always been intelligent, steady and reliable at short. His range is average and arm shows glimpses of being plus, but accuracy can be an issue. Scouts differ on whether Lowrie can last as a shortstop in the majors- some see him moving to second base because of his arm, while other see third base as a more adequate placement due to his somewhat limited range. Obviously the only chance for Lowrie to change positions and play with the Red Sox would be after the 2010 season, when Mike Lowell departs. From what I’ve seen out of Jed, I feel like he can handle the position well enough for it to not be a problem at all.

Lowrie now has an opportunity to keep the shortstop job his own for the rest of the season. Yes, Lugo’s contract is a difficult one to dump on the bench, but the clear upgrade won’t be overlooked by the team and Francona surely won’t have any problem making a permanent switch. Lowrie is hitting .300/.338/.417 with the big club in 60 AB with zero errors at shortstop. Lowrie might be able to make such an impression that the Red Sox pencil him in for their starting SS in 2009, avoiding spending money on a free agent and dumping the last two years of Lugo’s contract, even if it forces them to pay some of his salary.

With Lowrie in the lineup, you add another switch hitter with a viable stick and decent defense, definitely an upgrade over the struggling Lugo. If Jed can take the bull by the horns and contribute positively, you remove a near black hole from the lineup and a defensive liability, making the Red Sox already fearsome order even more fearsome. It’s fair to say Red Sox fans across the country are crossing their fingers that Lowrie is the answer at a position that’s been unstable since Nomar departed.

Boston Red Sox (58-43) @ Seattle Mariners (38-61)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-1, 2.65) @ R.A. Dickey (2-4, 3.73)
10:05 PM EDT | Safeco Field (Seattle, WA)
TV: NESN RADIO: WRKO 680, SBN 1150

GAME NOTES: Last night, Jon Lester took the mound and showed why he’s quickly forming into one of the top pitchers in the American League, outdueling Jarrod Washburn and getting contributions from the bottom of the order- Varitek, Crisp and Lowrie. Tonight, 10-1 Dice-K looks to clinch a road series win for the Red Sox. The pathetic Mariners or not, a road win series could go a long way to boost confidence. Former flamethrower turned knuckleballer R.A. Dickey opposes Matsuzaka. Win.

The last trivia question asked who were the three other pitchers besides Daisuke Matuszaka with at least 25 career wins at the All-Star Break of his sophomore season. The answer was Andy Pettitte, Jason Jennings and Justin Verlander. Leaderboard is updated. The new trivia question:

Who did Derek Lowe strike out to clinch the 2003 ALDS after starting in a 2 games to none hole?. HONOR CODE: Memory only. WINNER GETS: To create the new poll question.

Pepsi has launched Old School, New School, where you can use codes on Mountain Dew and AMP products to redeem prizes such as cars, kicks, and gaming systems.

Jason Varitek hit a two-run home run and Jon Lester pitched 7 1/3’s innings striking out six and walking none on eight hits to improve to 8-3 on the season.

Jonathan Papelbon earned his 29th save of the season.

Star of the Game: Lester

Boston needed a start like the one Lester gave last night.  Hopefully they take this momentum and run with it and get out of the funk they were in to start the second half.  They certainly are a step closer to beginning a big second half that I think will happen.

Next Game: Good chance

We grab this game tonight with Dice-K on the mound.  He just has to throw strikes early on in the game and watch his high walk total and we should be all set.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and then times got so good for Dustin Pedroia that even Yankee fans couldn’t remember the last time he made an out (at least it seemed).

In his first two seasons with the Boston Red Sox, a few things ring clear about Dustin Pedroia;

1. He’s never met a fastball he didn’t think he could turn on.
2. He swings at more high balls than most, but only because he’s so short
3. He must be sick of hearing about his height
4. He’s as rock solid a fielder as there is in baseball
5. He commands the respect of everyone that crosses his path even though he’s as cocky as it comes
6. When he’s cold, he’s cold
7. But when he’s hot, he’s smoking hot

Last season is a story etched in stone; gritty overachieving rookie gets the call, struggles mightily out of the gate, but a veteran manager sticks with the youngster and gets paid back in spades as the rook rakes for a month and settles in as a consistent .310+ hitter on his way to the Rookie of the Year award and a critical role in the Red Sox World Series run. Let’s not forget the lead off home run to set the tone for the eventual sweep.

(more…)

Boston Red Sox (57-43) @ Seattle Mariners (38-60)
Jon Lester (7-3, 3.38) @ Jarrod Washburn (4-8, 4.83)
10:05 PM EDT | Safeco Field (Seattle, WA)
TV: NESN RADIO: WRKO 680, SBN 1150

GAME NOTES: Okay, I’m serious. The road woes need to stop with Seattle, a 60-loss team that’s effectively thrown in the towel on their season. I don’t want to hear about the Red Sox record away from Fenway or about yet another sweep last weekend. Championship-caliber teams sweep series against the worst team in baseball, road, home or on the moon. Tonight it starts with Jon Lester back home against lefty Jarrod Washburn. Winning is a good idea.

Buster Olney today speculated that the Red Sox would acquire Damaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates before the trading deadline. Marte’s been on my radar for some time now and the 33-year old is enjoying a fine season. He has a 3.55 ERA in 47.2 IP and is the new closer with Matt Capps out for the year. Last year he had a 2.38 ERA and a 3.70 the year past, all with the Pirates. He has American League experience, spending four years with the White Sox and boasts an excellent 3.22 career ERA in 453.3 innings and a 1.25 WHIP.

What would Marte command? Two prospects, and they’ve gotta be pretty good prospects, too. Marte is going to qualify as a Type-A free agent, meaning that if he declines arbitration (as he will — he’s only making $2.6 million and can easily get a bigger deal), the Pirates will get two compensation picks for him, one in the first round and a supplemental first rounder (unless the signing team has one of the first 15 picks).

The Red Sox should absolutely chase after Marte and try to nab him because plenty of other contending teams are doing so and Marte would fill a specific need for the Red Sox. Going to three left-handers would be pretty nice, especially one of Marte’s caliber, and the Sox could always get those draft picks if Marte does indeed depart as a free agent. The return would have to be significant, something along a Craig Hansen plus a lower prospect (Jeff Corsaletti?) heading to Pittsburgh.

Would you do that deal? I would.

When Julio Lugo went down, it was almost as if an audible sigh of relief was heard across New England. No one, well most people at least, wouldn’t wish an injury on someone. But this was one that people weren’t broken-hearted over.

Add to that the .310 average and .816 OPS of Jed Lowrie in his first stint with the team in April/May and you get a good old fashioned “quarterback controversy”.

So when we posed the question, “How should the Red Sox address the shortstop vacancy created by Julio Lugo’s injury?,” should it really be any surprise that you responded loud and in mass that not only should Lowrie get a serious look at short, but that Lugo’s job shouldn’t necessarily waiting for him when he returns.

• Lowrie gets the bulk of playing time and a chance to “Wally Pipp” Lugo
  70% of all votes
• Lowrie and Cora mix-and-match until Lugo comes back
  22% of all votes
• The Sox strike a deal to bring in a shortstop out of the organization to start
  4% of all votes
• The Sox bring in a veteran shortstop (Omar Vizquel?) to split playing time with Cora until Lugo’s return
  4% of all votes

It looks like Terry Francona may have voted with the 42 of you who chose option number two above, and unless Lowrie improves on his one for nine start to his second stint with team this season that plan may stick regardless of Cora’s offensive deficiencies.

On to the next poll, from Fire Brand reader Sean.

Which, if any, current Red Sox
player should have their number retired by the team?

Vote away in the poll to the right and feel free to leave your comments/thoughts in the thread for this post below. We’ll highlight selected answers in an upcoming episode of the Fireside Chats Podcast.

As we all know, it’s a dawn of a new age in Boston when young, vibrant players don the Red Sox uniforms and play integral parts of being a defending world champion team. The roster is littered with Red Sox born-and-bred players, and there are plenty reinforcements on the way. Everyone’s heard of Jed Lowrie, now manning shortstop and being compared to Bill Mueller. Michael Bowden is a rising star on the mound and Lars Anderson is supposed to be our answer to the question of who our long-term power hitter will be.

That’s not all the Red Sox have, however. Following is a position-by-position glance at what the Red Sox have to offer past the prospects that get plenty of ink…

1. C: Luis Exposito, Lancaster — 21, Exposito may be the answer for the catching position long-term. He speaks English and Spanish, has a great arm and is a popular teammate. He was picked in the 31st round in 2005 and hit .283/.328/.508 for Greenville before moving up to Lancaster and hitting .272/.318/.494. He certainly needs work on plate discipline, but possesses the power and intangibles to be a major league starting catcher.
2. 1B: Mike Jones, Lancaster — Jones, 23, was drafted in 2004 and signed in 2005. He used to play the outfield before moving to first and is destined to be a DH at the major league level if he makes it. He’s young for Single-A at 23, and was only just promoted to Lancaster.  The left-hander may be a late-bloomer and could develop into a 40-homer hitter — his power ceiling is very high. The only question is if he can get to that ceiling.
3. 2B: Ryan Dent, Lowell — Dent, a first round pick in 2007, is at Lowell this year after a less than stellar 11-game swing in Lowell last year. He has questionable defense sans his superior range, and is working to come along with the bat. He is hitting just .162/.292/.333 in 99 at-bats for Lowell. As a first-rounder, however, Dent possesses the ceiling to make him a name to keep an eye on.
4. SS: Yamaico Navarro, Lancaster —Most of these names on this list are as young as Navarro, just 20. SoxProspects.com says that Navarro “has an Ozzie Smith-like electricity in the field.” He was just promoted to Lancaster. For Greenville, he was hitting .280/.341/.412, encouraging numbers for someone who put up a similar line in Lowell last year. Oscar Tejeda is another shortstop worthy of keeping an eye on.
5. 3B: Michael Almanzar, Greenville — Almanzar was perhaps the most coveted international free agent signing last year (quick aside: they really need to enter the draft and not be available to the highest bidder) and is the son of a former big league pitcher, Carlos Almanzar. He is 17 years old and is playing in Greenville. That is not a typo. This 17-year old is also hitting .348/.414/.472. This guy may make the big leagues before he turns 20.
6. LF: Jason Place, Lancaster — Place was drafted in the first round of 2006 out of high school, extremely raw. He projected as a power hitter and was supposed to pair with Lars Anderson to solve the future power woes. At age 20, his career isn’t doing so hot as he’s only at .246/.328/.426 in Lancaster. He’s still plenty young at 20, though, and has many more years to advance. He was considered a project when he was drafted, so it is unsurprising that he’s not raking. He also is apparently ultra-self confident and needs to work on his teamwork skills.
7. CF: Che-Hsuan Lin, Greenville — Acquired as an international free agent a year ago, Lin just won Most Valuable Player honors in the Futures game last week. He has incredible defensive talent but the 19-year old is still working out the bat, hitting .248/.344/.363 with 30 stolen bases. A 19-year old in Greenville putting up these numbers bodes for a special player.
8. RF: Josh Reddick, Lancaster — Drafted in the 17th round of the 2006 draft, Reddick is perhaps the one making the most noise and may have already graduated from this list to the names most bandied about when mentioning the Sox minor league system. He opened the year in Greenville but has seen most of his time in Lancaster and has a .343/.375/.593 line to go with 17 HR in 312 at-bats. And no, he’s not a Lancaster creation; he does most of his damage away. His away splits have him at .409/.458/.591. He could very well be the person to man right field when J.D. Drew’s contract expires.
9. SP: Brock Huntzinger, Lowell — Huntzinger, interviewed on Fire Brand last year, has made six starts for Lowell and has a scant 0.58 ERA in those starts, totalling 31 innings. He’s struck out 25 and walked only two, and goes roughly five innings a start. He may earn a promotion shortly, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll throw him in the fire at Lancaster or send him to Greenville. Thank god we’re moving to Salem next year.
10. RP: Richie Lentz, Portland — Lentz, 23, is the elder statesman of this lineup. He was a starter until Tommy John surgery derailed him in 2005 and was drafted in 2006. He didn’t dazzle with Greenville in 2007 but with the move to Lancaster in 2008, earned a promotion to Portland. For Lancaster, he had a 2.87 ERA in 53.1 innings, 77 strikeouts and a blemish with 30 walks. His debut in Portland has gone well as he has not walked any, struck out ten and pitched 5.1 innings of no-run ball.

Let’s hear it — who do you think will be a future major league regular for the Red Sox? I’d be tempted to say Exposito, Almanzar and Reddick are the best bets.

Bad enough we get swept.  Bad enough it was a come from behind victory by the Angels to complete the sweep.

Up by one in the eighth inning, Howie Kendrick hits an RBI double to left to tie the game then Boston loses the lead completely on a two-RBI double by Casey Kotchman.

Francisco Rodriguez strikes out the side in the ninth to earn his 40th save of the season and secure the sweep of the Red Sox.

Goat of the game:  I ask again:

Is Tim Wakefield left in there too long or can Tito not trust his bullpen as Manny Delcarmen also got whacked in that inning?

Your call, but my call is this: TRADE FOR SOME RELIEVERS WHO CAN WELL RELIEVE.

Next Game: Seattle

Wonderful another team we cannot beat out west.  Somethings got to give here for Boston with this slump already.  The starters have pitched well and got the wrong end of the job in back-to-back nights.  What gives?

On a sweltering Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium, Toledo’s Freddy Guzman “burned” the Pawtucket Red Sox on the base paths.

Guzman stole a team-record tying four bases and scored three runs as the Mud Hens salvaged a split of their four-game series with the PawSox by recording an 8-4 victory.

Guzman now has 26 steals on the season while Brent Clevelen stole his sixth base.

“We’ve got a few guys that can run and today the right guys got on base so we could do some things and try to create some runs,” manager Larry Parrish said. “We lead off Guzman because he’s a guy, who if he gets on base, helps out the guys behind him. Because of his speed, the other guys are going to see more fastballs.

“He can manufacture runs for you.”

Just as admirable as Guzman’s performance was that of Toledo starter Yorman Bazardo.

With the game-time temperature at 92 degrees and humidity almost so thick the 10,315 fans in attendance could see it, Bazardo (4-5) pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on only four hits.

He walked two, struck out five and threw a commendable 66 of 101 pitches for strikes.

“Bazardo had a better slider than he’s had all year,” Parrish said. “It was the best game he’s thrown for us in a couple of months.

“It was a hot, humid day and he was able to throw 100 pitches for us and really did a heck of a job for us. We felt fortunate to get that far with a starting pitcher today and this club, obviously, has a lot of left-handed weapons so we decided to make the switch and try to hold them down right there.”

Parrish summoned Ian Ostlund who combined with Francis Beltran to toss 2.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless relief. The duo also struck out a total of four PawSox.

The Mud Hens emulated their Saturday performance in that they jumped out to an early lead - in this case 4-0 after 2 1/2 innings - and relied on their pitching to keep the International League’s most potent offense under control.

Guzman set the tone in the first when he led with a single off David Pauley (11-3), stole second, advanced to third on Mike Holliman’s groundout to first and scored on Timo Perez’s single.

Guzman also figured in a second-inning run.

Kody Kirkland singled, Guzman drew a two-out walk and Holliman followed with an RBI single.

Toledo gave Bazardo some breathing room in the third when Clevlen walked, stole second and scored on Erik Almonte’s double. Almonte raced home moments later on Max St. Pierre’s single.

Pawtucket did get to Bazardo in the bottom of the third on a solo home run by Gil Velazques plus RBI hits by Joe Thurston (single) and Sandy Madera (double).

Toledo chased Pauley in the third due in large part to Guzman.

After Guzman drew a leadoff walk, he stole second and raced home on Perez’s double.

Toledo added two runs in the sixth, one on Clevlen’s single.

Clevelen capped the scoring by belting his 17th homer in the ninth.

Ironically, the Mud Hens beat Pawtucket’s top two pitchers — and two of the I.L.’s best in 24 hours.

After strafing Charlie Zink (11-3) in a 13-5 win on Saturday, they tagged Pauley for five runs (all earned) on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings on Sunday.

EXTRA BASES: Boston recalled reliever Justin Masterson from McCoy after Saturday night’s game and activated him before Sunday’s game at Anaheim … Masterson replaces David Aardsma who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin muscle.

Chris Carter is the answer to a trivia question:

Who’s the player Boston obtained from the Washington Nationals for strikeout-prone Wily Mo Pena?

But there’s nothing trivial about what Carter’s doing for the Pawtucket Red Sox this season.

Through games of July 19, the 25-year-old outfielder was hitting .297 with 21 doubles, 20 home runs, 68 RBI and a .523 slugging percentage.

Carter, who initially was a 17th-round pick by Arizona in the 2004 draft, ranks second in the International League in RBI, fifth in home runs and 10th in slugging percentage — which isn’t too shabby.

Then again, Carter’s always been productive.

Last season, for example, he was hitting .324 with 18 homers and 84 RBI in 126 games with Tucson before he was traded to Boston.

“He’s swung the ball well all season,” said manager Ron Johnson. “He’s lived up to what we heard about him when he came over here last year.

“He gives you a professional at-bat each time up and has good knowledge of the strike zone. He trusts his hands and his ability enough to the point where he’s not afraid to hit with two strikes.”

In a sense, Carter evokes memories of former Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in that he’s “perpetual motion” when he steps to the plate.

First, he emulates Garciaparra in that he loves to step away from the plate and “adjust” his batting gloves between pitches (which can drive pitchers crazy).

Then, he’s always waving his bat and never stops until he’s ready to attack a pitch.

And Carter even wears Garciaparra’s No. 5.

Carter also draws comparisons with former Boston third baseman Wade Boggs in that he invariably talks about hitting and studies it like Boggs.

“I work on it all the time,” said Carter, who was named to the International League Team for the Triple-A All-Star Game. “I have a lot of drills that I do… a lot of one-hand drills. I work on everything including staying back, especially with two strikes.

“I focus on staying on top of the plate, and not diving back, especially on a curve ball. Sometimes that curveball looks like it’s going to be more inside. I try to keep that front shoulder in.”

Given his results so far, Carter’s drills are paying off — big time.

Josh Beckett had blanked the Angels through six innings, but the seventh was a different story.

A solo homer by Vladimir Guerrero and a three run triple by pinch hitter Erick Aybar busted the game open for the Los Angeles win.

Goat of the game: Beckett or Terry?

It is tough because Beckett was cruising but where do you cut him short and allow your bullpen to go to work.  Your call on this one.

Next Game: Get going

Have to grab a win here for sanity sake.