Projo Sox Blog

If the Red Sox choose to accentuate the positive, there's plenty of positive to accentuate . . . most of it on the hitting side of the box score. If they decide instead to dwell on the negative, well, they're not going to have to look too far past the pitcher's mound. (Or the bullpen.) But none of it should obscure the fact that it was an electric night at Fenway Park, a night we'll always remember, and that it ended with another notch in the column marked 'W': 19-17 over the Rangers. Joe McDonald has the unenviable task of attempting to explain it all.

SIMPLE ENOUGH: Faced with the same assignment, Chad Finn -- to quote Albus Dumbledore -- opens at the close: With Kevin Youkilis, whose second home run of the night (above) -- a rocket that caromed off one of the Green Monster billboards -- sent everyone except the Texas Rangers home happy.

'IT GETS OLD': And, no, the Rangers weren't happy; they may not have lost any other games in which they overcame 10-0 deficits and had a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but they've fallen short in enough slugfests that this one had a here-we-go-again feel. "I just don't know how many times you can do this . . . [It's] just too mentally and physically draining. It gets old," said Marlon Byrd. (Dallas Morning News)

WELL-PROTECTED: David Ortiz may have put to rest the notion that the loss of Manny Ramirez will deprive him of adequate "protection" in the lineup. (McDonald in the Projo Sports Blog)

THIRD TIME'S NO CHARM: The fans who were thrown out of the park for allegedly interfering with his fifth-inning drive to the center-field wall say Ortiz hit three home runs last night, not two. (Boston Herald)

PROPHET: Jim Rice gave a fairly prescient pregame scouting report of Charlie Zink. McDonald reports Zink was sent back to McCoy immediately after the game; we'll tell you why in a moment. Even so, the 28-year-old knuckleballer called it "the best memory of my life" and hopes "there are more to come."

DAYS OF REST: That other knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, officially went on the disabled list yesterday. McDonald reports Wake hopes to return sometime in September.

REPLACEMENT ON THE WAY: But the Sox' pitching shorts became a little less severe yesterday when they made the surprise annoucement they had acquired Paul Byrd (right, AP Photo) from the Indians for cash or a player to be named, which eliminated the need to keep Zink around. (The Sox will pick up all of Byrd's contract, and Indians GM Mark Shapiro told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that any player the Indians receive in the deal will be "of little consquence.") McDonald has the news of the trade, along with the Sox' reaction and Byrd's happy-to-be-here comments to the Boston media. He was a little more reflective while saying goodbye in Cleveland, saying that he "wasn't a big fan of the Red Sox in the offseason" after the Indians lost the ALCS in seven games to Boston, but that he's always wanted to play in the World Series and it "will be nice to play for a team that has a shot." (Akron Beacon Journal) David Pinto of Baseball Musings thinks Byrd will help the Red Sox.

KEEPING THE FAITH: Byrd's acquisition was originally thought to have punched Clay Buchholz' ticket back to Pawtucket, though that seems unlikely now that Zink's back with the PawSox. Besides, McDonald reports that both Theo Epstein and Terry Francona still believe in him.

THE DREADED STRAINED OBLIQUE . . . may sideline Mike Lowell for a while. (projo.com)

OLYMPIC SPIRIT: The PawSox' George Kotteras, who played for Greece in the 2004 Games, tells Mike Szostak that the Olympics were "one of the most memorable events of my life."

REPORT CARD: FoxSports.com's Kevin Hench gives the Red Sox a B-plus for their acquisition of Jason Bay in a look back at trade-deadline moves. The Dodgers get an 'A' for picking up Manny Ramirez, though.

RAYS OF DESPAIR: The Sox are a game closer to the lead in the A.L. East because the undermanned Rays, playing without the injured Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford, were 2-1 losers last night in Oakland (St. Petersburg Times), falling behind in the second inning on a two-run homer by Bobby Crosby and never catching up. Longoria may return by Sept. 1 (mlb.com), but Crawford will undergo finger surgery that will sideline him for six to eight weeks, all but wiping out the remainder of his regular season. (Tampa Tribune) His place in left field will be taken by an Eric Hinske/Justin Ruggiano platoon. (St. Petersburg Times) In spite of all this, Joe Posnanski says Tampa Bay still reminds him of the 1969 Miracle Mets. And, toward that end, the Rays say they're confident they'll remain in the race. (Tampa Tribune) Or, to put it in the words of Cliff Floyd: "Let's just . . . keep it chill on the field."

CHILL ON THE SEASON: At the same time the Rays were bravely soldiering forward, Hank Steinbrenner appeared to be pulling the plug on 2008 (New York Daily News), as he a) blamed the Yankees' showing this year on injuries and b) all but guaranteed the Yanks would win in 2009. (On his LoHud Yankees Blog, Peter Abraham called it "the earliest nutty prediction in sports history.") Nobody's buying the injury bit, not the Post's Joel Sherman on his Hardball blog or the folks commenting on the story at the Baseball Think Factory. But to me, the most amazing part of it all was Hank actually having some kind words for the Red Sox: "I can guarantee you this; a lot of teams are riding high on the hog right now, but in the end, we're always going to be there as long as we're healthy - and so are the Red Sox. The others? They all go up and down."

UP -- SORT OF -- FOR A NIGHT: The Yanks had one of those good news/bad news nights in Minnesota, but it was the good news that showed up in the standings: A 12-inning win over the Twins. (New York Daily News) The bad news was virtually everything else: Mariano Rivera blowing his first save; Derek Jeter being taken out of the Metrodome on a cart after hurting his ankle (New York Post), though Joe Girardi says he'll be fine; a rehab shelling for Carl Pavano. (New York Daily News)

WHAT'S THE POINT? Steven Goldman, writing in the New York Sun, says if Monday night's lineup "is the best [the Yankees] can do in a key game, the season is already over."

GOING OUT STRONG? Rivera's blown save cost Mike Mussina his 16th win last night, but there's no question that the Moose has erased all doubts that he can still pitch. He talks to the New York Times' Tyler Kepner about the differences between this year and last, and says he still doesn't know whether he'll pitch again after this season.

GETTING CLOSER: Phil Hughes, who's about a start away from returning to the majors, pitched pretty well at McCoy Stadium against the PawSox. Mike Szostak has the details.

GOOD STRATEGY: Pinto, writing for sportingnews.com, thinks the Pirates' decision to acquire pitchers with low home-runs-allowed rates will pay dividends.

FINISHING THE DEAL: The Arizona Republic reports Micah Owings is headed to Cincinnati as part of the haul for Adam Dunn. In his first game with the D'backs, Dunn reached base three times as Arizona beat Colorado. (Arizona Republic)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Seating capacity in Kansas City will be limited to 27,000 for the rest of the year as the Kauffman Stadium renovation, scheduled to be finished by next Opening Day, gets into full gear. (mlb.com)

TAKING A HIT: Giants ace Tim Lincecum had to leave yesterday's game after being nailed in the leg with a line drive. (San Francisco Chronicle) They're calling it a bone bruise after X-rays were negative.

MUCH ADO: The baseball world was abuzz last night with word that Gary Sheffield had been placed on waivers -- especially coming a day after his war of words with Jim Leyland -- but the Detroit Free Press points out that such a move is routine at this time of year.

HERE AND THERE: The Tigers won the Freddy Garcia Sweepstakes (Detroit News) . . . They've also promoted Dontrelle Willis to Triple-A (mlb.com) . . . Chris Carpenter will miss his Friday start (mlb.com) . . . It looks like Jarrod Washburn-to-the-White Sox won't happen. (Chicago Sun-Times) Still, GM Ken Williams is looking to make at least one more move. (Chicago Tribune)

OLD FRIENDS: The Dodgers have activated Nomar Garciaparra (Los Angeles Times) . . . It looks like Tom Gordon's season is over (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Padres have placed Bryan Corey on the disabled list (rotoworld.com) . . . The Twins claimed Alan Embree on waivers last week but the A's pulled him back, choosing to keep him in Oakland (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . The A's have sent Lenny DiNardo back to Triple-A (San Jose Mercury News) . . . Bobby Kielty signed a minor-league deal with the Twins. (rotoworld.com)

AND FINALLY . . . It doesn't sound like Bobby Thigpen is too happy about his all-time saves record being threatened by Francisco Rodriguez. (Los Angeles Times)

-- ART MARTONE