Thud

The Red Sox opened the second half with that sound, as Clay Buchholz had a similar start last night against the Angels to his previous one against the Orioles last Friday.

He gave up three runs in the first to put the Sox in a hole, but settled down until he gave up a homer to Garret Anderson in the fourth. He put two on in the fifth with two out, but got what at first appeared to be an inning-ending grounder to Alex Cora, but he bobbled it, and a run scored and the inning continued. Two more hits and three more unearned runs later, the game was 8-3 and basically over. The LA Angels went on to an 11-3 win. The loss put the Red Sox back in second again by a half game, as Tampa Bay won at home over Toronto on Friday night.

Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez both hit home runs, but Buchholz' struggles and Cora's error made them basically irrelevant. I'm really beginning to wonder if the Red Sox should go out and get a veteran shortstop for the balance of the season. Cora gives them almost nothing at the plate, and has little range at short and his overall defense has been shaky at best. I like Jed Lowrie, but he may not be ready yet. Both Omar Vizquel and Jack Wilson should be available at the deadline, but both their teams are going to want some decent prospects in return.

In better news back East, David Ortiz had another terrific night in his rehab at Pawtucket, going 1-for-3 with another homer, 3 RBIs and two walks. His home run was an opposite field blast. He plays his final game with the PawSox tonight.

Josh Beckett takes the mound today at Angel Stadium, an afternoon game on Fox today. Tomorrow night's game is on ESPN, but it's on at 6:05 PM, because the throwaway, worthless ESPY Awards are on after it. (I won't be able to see the game because I'll be playing softball tomorrow night.) They can't put that crap on BEFORE the game? Oh yes, it has to be on in "prime time." Idiots.