8/3 Online Seats Game Thread: Tribe and Tribulations

The Boston Red Sox will need to regroup after narrowly dropping the season opener to the Cleveland Indians and losing Kevin Youkilis to the disabled list. Both Josh Beckett and David Huff will be going for their third wins of the year.

Ellsbury goes 3-for-5 as DH in third rehab start

Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury took great pains Tuesday to explain how he feels about playing through pain.

“I’m willing to play through pain,” Ellsbury said after his latest rehab game (of a 20-day assignment) with the Pawtucket Red Sox who beat Durham, 5-4. “That’s never been an issue. That’s never been a problem for me. It’s just knowing that when I do play through it, it’s not going to make my situation worse.

“That’s the biggest thing - not making my situation worse. I’ll play through any kind of pain, just as long as it doesn’t jeopardize my career and make the situation worse where I’m not helping the team.”

Lackey’s Lack of Consistency

On Monday night, John Lackey took the mound looking to continue his stretch of 22.1 effective innings in which he had only allowed four earned runs and posted a 13/3 K/BB ratio.

Going up against a lackluster Cleveland lineup that ranks twelfth in the American League in OPS seemed to be just the ticket. Instead, Lackey struggled through 5 1/3 innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits while striking out seven and walking five.

8/2 Online Seats Game Thread: Tribe Heads to Red Sox Nation

The Tribe will head to Red Sox Nation to face the Boston Red Sox coming off a series win versus the Tigers. John Lackey will lead the charge against Fausto Carmona.

Ramon Ramirez, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and the Trade Deadline

In one of Boston’s quieter trade deadlines in recent years, the Red Sox came out as modest sellers when the deadline expired at 4:00 pm July 31st.

The club’s biggest move - the selling of middle reliever Ramon Ramirez – served more to show the front office’s expectations for the post-season as it was a strategic move.

Though trading a non-descript middle reliever may seem innocuous, it was quite the strong signal from a team that is used to adding – not selling – Major League pieces.

Ellsbury nearly steals homer in second rehab start

If there was a defining moment during the second game of Jacoby Ellsbury’s rehab assignment with Pawtucket, it occurred during the fourth inning yesterday against the Durham Bulls at McCoy Stadium.

Durham’s Chris Richard crushed a Ramon Ramirez pitch over the fence in right-center for a solo home run.

Ellsbury, who again batted leadoff and played center field, scaled the fence and came within inches of making a spectacular catch.

Jacoby Ellsbury goes 2-for-4 on bobblehead night

In the nine years Pawtucket has held a Bobblehead Doll Night promotion, never before had a former PawSox who’s been with Boston played in a rehab game the night his Bobblehead was being given to fans who entered McCoy Stadium.

Jacoby Ellsbury put his name in Pawtucket’s “record book” last night when he played six innings in the first of two games against the Durham Bulls and went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Ellsbury, who batted leadoff and played center field, lined an off-field single to left -- on a 3-2 count in the first inning -- off right-hander Virgil Vasquez, who pitched last season for the Pirates.