Long live the Slutter! There was much to celebrate in Red Sox circles last night, but at the top of the list, we have Jonathan Papelbon's brand (spanking) new pitch. The Slutter - a name that will leave mothers gasping as they cover the ears beneath their children's tot-sized hats and the cast of characters at the Cask'n Flagon cracking up. The Red Sox vernacular has expanded by leaps and bounds this season. We learned......

If the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were smart (and we're not for a moment suggesting that's the case), they'd look seriously into Tim Wakefield's "rolling" contract extension with the Red Sox, and try to figure out how much money it would take to lure Wake down to St. Petersburg full-time. Because it's possible that Tim's 19-2 lifetime record against the Devil Rays, and 9-0 lifetime record at Tropicana Field, are solely a result of the......

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......

Oh, hindsight. What tricks you play on fans, coaches and baseball bullpens. It made sense, in some respects, for Tampa Bay pseudo-starter Jason Hammel to be pulled from Friday night's game during the sixth inning. Considering that Hammel, a reliever bumped up to starting rotation placement, had walked consecutive batters when the DRays were holding onto a precious 1-0 lead, the decision to turn to the bullpen was one that many baseball enthusiasts would support......

It may not have been as impressive as the fireworks display later in the evening, but the continued presence of actual offense - beautiful, productive, run-scoring offense - at Fenway Park warmed the hearts of Sox fans and good Americans on the Fourth of July. The immediate beneficiary was Tim Wakefield, who improved to 9-8 after pitching six very fine innings and one-third of a bad one. He fell apart in the seventh, but the......