Wonder whatever became of the Pats? Well, they missed their target of 38 points, but still comfortably routed the Bengals last night, 34-13. On paper, it looked like the Bengals hung around - it was 10-7 until late in the second quarter - but it never felt like they were any closer than a long arm's length. With Laurence Maroney sidelined due to a groin injury, the spotlight shone on Sammy Morris, who made the......

Forget for a moment the questions still lingering around the Red Sox. We know about those. Let's take a brief look at the angst-ridden article in today's LA Times about the myriad questions swirling around our first-round opponents, the AnaheimOrWhatever Angels. They don't know who's starting when (OK, neither do we). Two of their key sluggers, Vlad Guerrero and Gary Matthews, are nursing injuries and may not be 100% (hey, just like Manny!). Will their......

Dare we say things are starting to click at the right time? The Red Sox finished off Oakland with an 11-6 win. Now only a monumental collapse (look upward; no lightning) will keep the Red Sox from celebrating an AL East clinchin' party in the next day or two. The Sox smacked Oakland largely due to the bat of Mike Lowell, who collected five of his 116 RBIs (a Red Sox 3B record) on a......

The Red Sox didn't play yesterday, so of course they were more successful than usual of late, picking up half a game on the Yankees (thanks, Toronto!). Now they face their final homestand, against Oakland and Minnesota. This looked at the beginning of the season like a rough end to the season, but both those clubs have been surprisingly bad this season. Remember, all the Red Sox have to do is win five of the......

It occurred at 7:29 PST on Saturday, after Padres pitcher Clay Hensley unleashed a first-inning fastball with a 2-and-1 count and the resulting shot soared 382 feet to a point beyond left field. And that was that - Hank Aaron was no longer the sole holder of baseball's most hallowed record. Barry Bonds had joined that club by tying the home run record with his 755th blast. Kudos to the Globe's Nick Cardofo, who neatly......

Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox decided to add a little drama to their regularly-scheduled win over the Devil Rays. The Sox gave Jon Lester, in his second start returning from his cancer surgery, a 5-2 lead going into the seventh-inning stretch. The lead was built on a well-balanced sprinkling of hits and timely run-scoring offense, exactly the kind of thing we were constantly yearning for a few weeks ago. Was there really a time......

Were we really worried last season that Josh Beckett wouldn't be able to cut it as a member of the Red Sox rotation? Were we really concerned about his history of injuries, his adjusting to the American League, his anything? Well, we're not worried now, brother. Beckett's 11-1, sailing along, and making the Padres (admittedly not an AL lineup, but still an NL power) look as docile as the critter pictured here. With all of......

It happens to the best of teams. Every so often, you're just going to run into a good pitcher having a great game, and all of the stats, controversy and wishful thinking in the world won't help you get men on base or drive them home. Such was the fate of the Red Sox last night, who were introduced to a 6'10" buzzsaw named Chris Young, who carved his way through the Sox lineup to......

Jerry Remy summed it up perfectly last night: "Both are terrible." The Rem wasn't talking about the play on display Saturday night at Petco Park in San Diego (although at times, he wouldn't have been far off), but was discussing the throwback uniforms worn by the Sox and Padres last night. Memo to both teams: burn those uniforms now. It looked as if "The Wizard of Oz" had thrown up all over Petco Park. Boston......

This should be fun. The best team in the American League against the best team in the National League. Two of the greatest pitching matchups we'll see all season. A glimpse of old friend David Wells. It's not that crazy to say the Red Sox and Padres will be eyeing each other with visions of an October rematch dancing in their heads. Daisuke Matsuzaka goes tonight in the first game. So this will be his......

The Red Sox are facing the Yankees tonight for the first time in this 2006 season and of course there is the usual hype. (See the Herald's tribute on the left. Please note unfriendly photo of Mrs. Damon.) But tonight's game has nothing to really do with baseball itself, but what the spectators will do when Johnny “I’m an Idiot” Damon steps to the plate for the first time as a Yankee. Since joining the......

It’s been an eventful week for the Sox at baseball’s winter meetings. Already, 2 deals have been made by the Sox as the 2006 squad starts to shape up. Earlier in the week, the Sox sent backup catcher and fan favorite Doug "The Belly" Mirabelli to the San Diego Padres in exchange for second baseman and former All-Star Mark Loretta. Loretta is a career .301 hitter over 11 major league seasons and is expected to......

Last week Bostonist was all in a tizzy over the idea that the Red Sox wouldn't be able to work out a deal to keep General Manager Theo Epstein here in Boston. His contract for the past three years was going to end today, but there was lots of negotiating the past few weeks to have Theo stay with the Sox. Well, Bostonist awoke this Monday morning to see a nice article stating that according......

No way in hell was there going to be a celebration like this without Bostonist being on hand to witness it. By this point, a full day after the celebration and game has gone by and there's nothing that can be said or written that wasn't already put to paper, or typed on a keyboard. For an entire afternoon the masses at Fenway basked in the air of an absolutely perfect day for both......