Whom should the Sox pursue this offseason? Review the possibilities and vote.

Now begins the intriguing case of Jason Bay, a man whose contract negotiations with the Red Sox are, in some ways, unprecedented. Players have continued to come and go during the current Red Sox administration. Yet now the Sox are faced, perhaps for the first time, with a potential fight for a player they truly want to keep.

One day after the 2009 World Series concluded, baseball’s offseason officially began yesterday with the first day of the free agency filing process. Bay was one of the players who immediately declared his freedom. Most everyone agrees that Bay and outfielder Matt Holliday (who also filed) are the best positional players available on the market this offseason, and both are obvious fits for a Sox club that has both a gaping hole in left field to go along with a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup.

The questions today are the same questions that have existed throughout Bay’s tenure in Boston, during which Bay has led the Red Sox in home runs and RBI while finishing second in runs scored and OPS.

How much is he worth on the open market?

Will the Red Sox be willing to pay it given the manner in which they have approached free agency during the last seven years?

During the tenure of general manager Theo Epstein, three free-agent pursuits stand out above all others: J.D. Drew, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Mark Teixeira. Beyond that trio, the Red Sox generally have not offered any player more than a four-year deal in the range of $40-$50 million. The Sox have shown a willingness to spend big only when their preferred factors were in complete alignment, and in those cases they were at least willing to blow most everyone out of the water.

In the case of Teixeira, the Sox obviously lost out to the New York Yankees, but that’s not the point. The club still offered him the biggest contract in club history. At the time, Teixeira was a 28-year-old, switch-hitting, two-time Gold Glove winner who could hit for average and power. In terms of long-term investments, he was about as safe it gets. No one should be surprised that this Red Sox administration was willing to go to unprecedented lengths (for them) to secure his talents.

Matsuzaka, meanwhile, came with greater risk given that he had never played in the major leagues, but the other factors were otherwise in alignment. He was 26 when the Red Sox invested $103 million in him over six years. Technically speaking, Matsuzaka is on the Red Sox payroll for an average of $8.67 million per year from 2007-2012, but the $51.11 million posting fee was absolutely part of the cost for him. The reality is that the Matsuzaka deal cost the Red Sox an average of $17.17 million per year.

All of this brings us to Drew, who is easily the most comparable case to Bay given that both are corner outfielders. Following the 2006 season, Drew was precisely the same age (31) that Bay is now. The Red Sox gave him a five-year, $70 million contract that opened eyes through the baseball world and that Epstein still is defending. In late September, Epstein invited discussion on Drew on 98.5 The Sports Hub, pointing out that Drew had "the second-highest OPS" among all American League outfielders, a particularly relevant characterization given who finished the year ranking first.

That would be Bay.

Here’s the other reason the Red Sox valued Drew: defense, an area in which Bay is, on the whole, mediocre, and also one on which the Sox are likely to place undue emphasis (some media types are already taking the bait on this) for the purposes of driving down the price. But then, negotiations are all about leverage. Drew’s ability to play right field at Fenway Park – one of the bigger areas in baseball – prompted Epstein to suggest last winter that Drew had greater value to the Sox than he did to other teams, and whether one agrees with the GM is irrelevant. The important thing to remember is that the Red Sox have certain philosophies and formulas that they believe in, and they have shown a willingness to pay for it when their criteria are met.

With regard to Bay, part of the problem is that the Sox don’t appear to have any better options to replace him, be it through trade or free agency. They don’t have a hitter like him ready in their minor league system. Holliday would cost at least as much or more, and his brief stint in the AL (let alone Boston) left a great deal to be desired. A trade would require further forfeiture of young talent from a Sox system that has hit somewhat of a developmental hole, particularly after a flurry of necessary, in-season trades this year.

The bottom line is that the Red Sox seem backed into a corner here.

While representatives for Bay and the Sox have remained remarkable tight-lipped during negotiations that began last spring, it’s hard to imagine Bay settling for anything less than what the Sox awarded Drew, be it in years (again, five) or dollars ($70 million, an average of $14 million per). The likelihood is that Bay will command closer to $16-$18 million per year given his elite status on the market, which could place his final cost somewhere in the range of $80-$90 million over five years. (In case you’re wondering, that is purely an opinion.)

For what it’s worth, during his major league career as a starter (2004-09), Bay ranks in the top 10 of all major league outfielders in OPS, a statistic on which the Sox have placed great emphasis and in which Bay and Drew have been a virtual dead heat over the last six years. Bay beats Drew handily in games played (892-749), home runs (181-120), runs scored (564-497) and RBI (596-425), though the latter is a statistic, according to Epstein’s same radio interview, that the Sox generally discount entirely. Whether that disclosure is 100 percent fact or merely served as initial posturing for the Bay negotiations remains to be seen, largely because Bay’s representative (Joe Urbon) is not likely to deem his player’s run production irrelevant.

During Bay’s career as a starter, only five outfielders in the game have knocked in more runs: Carlos Lee, Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Adam Dunn, the last of whom is a defensive sinkhole and whose recent free-agent contract (two years, $20 million) badly skews the data. All of the others, in the primes of their careers, earned average annual salaries between $15 million and $20 million.

Regardless, there is more pressure on the Sox to keep in Bay in Boston than there ever has been on them ever before, with possible of exception of Jason Varitek, who filed for free agency for the first time following the 2004 season. Even then, most everyone in baseball knew Varitek’s priority was to remain with the Sox – to the point where he all but spurned other suitors. In the other major free agency filings during the administration of John Henry, Tom Werner, Larry Lucchino and Epstein, the Sox either have happily let aging players depart (Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe, among others), traded them before the fact (Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez) or reluctantly re-signed them (Mike Lowell).

But Bay? The Red Sox want him and they need him.

We just don’t know if they’re going to pay him.

"In that game, he topped out at 86 mph. We had some pretty good hitters in our lineup and he took the bats out of our hands. After watching that, in that situation, there was no doubt in my mind that Pedro could pitch without the velocity."
-- Mike Hargrove, former manager of the Cleveland Indians, commenting earlier today on Pedro Martinez’s performance in Game 5 of the 1999 American League Division Series between the Red Sox and Indians.

Pedro Martinez was at the peak of his greatness then, his legend growing with every single pitch. Ten years have passed since a wounded Martinez came out of the bullpen that night at Jacobs Field and shut down the mighty Cleveland Indians. Five days later, as if to prove that the game was not a fluke, Martinez similarly mystified the eventual world champion New York Yankees, relying largely on guile.

And so, yet again, we all are reminded that the past is merely prologue.

Pedro goes to the mound for Game 6 of the World Series tonight at Yankee Stadium, and here is the absolute, indisputable truth as the baseball world focuses in on him yet again: He really hasn’t changed at all. For all of the recent talk that Pedro, now 38 years old, has reinvented himself, that he has morphed from the power pitcher of his prime to the craftsman of his age, he was always the most adaptable and versatile of tacticians. Martinez always had the mind of Maddux to go along with the arm of Marichal, a combination that ultimately made him the Koufax of his era.

"If you look at some of the games he pitched against us [in the late '90s], he went entire innings throwing nothing but changeups and breaking balls. It was almost like he was rubbing our face in it,’’ said Hargrove. "The great ones can do that.’’

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who served as Hargrove's hitting coach on those Indians teams, explained to reporters yesterday how Pedro still gets it done. "First of all, he's got a tremendous feel to pitch. He knows how to pitch. He knows more about hitters than probably people give him credit for because he'll sit there and study the game, and he'll study the hitters and he'll sit there and talk to you sometimes. That's one thing I like about Pedro: he'll come over and talk to you, and he don't listen when you tell him how to pitch somebody, he'll tell you how he's going to pitch somebody.’’

And then Martinez executes the plan as if it were all so simple.

While acknowledging that there is simply no way to know how Martinez will perform tonight, the fact is that it does not really matter. Truth be told, Pedro probably should have been done already. Martinez was too small to hold up, as Tommy Lasorda warned years ago, and the Red Sox were convinced it was only a matter of time before his shoulder exploded. Between the warnings and the inevitability, Martinez built a Hall of Fame career and won three Cy Young awards. Now he is simply reaffirming the fact that he is one of the smartest pitchers of all-time in addition to being one of the most gifted.

Martinez was the losing pitcher in Game 2 of the World Series last week, but that was through no fault of his own. Even now, he can captivate a crowd like an aged McCartney can. Martinez threw 107 pitches in his Game 2 loss to loss New York, leaving the game with a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning of an eventual 3-1 Yankees win. According to the game log on mlb.com, only four of Martinez’s pitches climbed as high as 90 mph. Pedro altered speeds -- he threw one curveball to Melky Cabrera that registered 67 mph -- and changed locations, making the Yankees often look as if they were trying to swat away bumble bees.

Said Hargrove, "He’s the kind of guy who, when he’s pitching against you, you just want to go out there with a bat and start beating on him. He can make you look that bad."

Said Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira to reporters yesterday, "You’re not going to out-think Pedro. He’s one of the smartest pitchers in baseball.’’

Ever.

All of this brings us back to October 1999, when Martinez all but told us then to prepare for what we are seeing now. His manager (Jimy Williams) and his pitching coach (Joe Kerrigan) outright predicted that Pedro would be able to pitch well beyond his prime. After Pedro's performance against the Indians in Game 5, his brother and teammate Ramon, a former flamethrower who had been forced to change his style after an injury, revealed a bit of advice he shared with his sibling: "I told him, 'You don't have your fastball so you have to use your head.' When you feel 100 percent you can go right through the hitters. When you're not 100 percent, you have to pitch, not just throw. Tonight, he pitched."

Did he ever. Combined, in Game 5 of the AL Division Series that year and Game 3 of the AL Championship Series, Martinez barely cracked 90 mph (if at all) thanks to a strained shoulder suffered in Game 1 of the ALDS. He worked mostly in the mid-to-high 80s. In those two games, against two of the most prolific lineups in baseball, Martinez pitched 13 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits, striking out 20 and walking five. His matchup against the Yankees and Roger Clemens was a first-round knockout. His blanking of the Indians triggered the firing of Hargrove and the subsequent hiring of Manuel.

Don’t you see? Manuel, too, recognized this all a long, long time ago, when Martinez changed his stripes without skipping a beat in the midst of one of the great pitching seasons of all-time. That is undoubtedly why he remains so confident in his righthander now. Martinez’s arm is not what it once was, but his mind has not diminished at all.

"He's got a tremendous feel for the game, and he's still got talent when he executes his pitches as a pitcher should,’’ Manuel said yesterday. "He's definitely capable of throwing a very good ballgame, a real good ballgame. I'd look for him to definitely put us in a place where we can win the game."

But then, regardless of whether Martinez had a fastball, we all knew that a long time ago.

I am rooting for the Yankees. Under the circumstances, you should, too.

As the World Series begins tonight in New York, let us all acknowledge that the Red Sox have started to grow a little stale. Many of us have grown complacent, if not downright spoiled. The large majority of us now treat the postseason as a birthright more than a blessing, a once unthinkable development for a franchise that made four trips to the postseason from the start of the 1919 season through the end of the 1987 campaign.

Last year, during a season immediately following a world title, local television ratings for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN dropped nearly 20 percent. This year, they dropped an additional seven percent. The Sox are producing fewer golden eggs than they have at perhaps any other point during the era of John Henry’s ownership, which cannot help but make you wonder if the Sox need a crisis the way a depressed nation might need a war.

Be honest with yourselves, folks.

The fire is not burning quite as hot as it once did.

Enter the Yankees, who went out last offseason and did precisely what the Red Sox need to do now. They reloaded. New York brought in CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett while outmaneuvering the Red Sox for Mark Teixeira, adding three players who shared more than just talent. Combined, the new Yankees had never really won anything before. Even Burnett, who was injured during the 2003 Florida Marlins’ run to the world title, recently admitted that he was nothing more than another bystander when Florida upset the Yankees that season.

Translation: The Yankees are hungry. If it wasn’t enough that the Yankees have gone eight full seasons without winning a world title -- in New York, those add up like dog years -- the Yankees brought in even more players in search of fulfillment. The combination of talent and desire produced 103 regular season victories, and it now leaves New York just four wins from a record 27th world championship.

For the Red Sox and their following, nothing strikes a nerve quite like another parade down the Canyon of Heroes. Nothing. The irony is that another such celebration could be the best thing to happen the Sox at this moment in team history, with the Sox in the midst of a stretch during which they have made six playoff appearances in seven years. Things in Boston have reached the point where we all but write in the Sox for 95 wins every year, a terribly presumptuous and downright arrogant gesture. The Red Sox, as much as any team in professional sports, should know better.

The truth, of course, is that it takes more than talent to win. It takes some luck and some hunger or greed, too. (Greed is good.) Part of the reason the Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series last season was because the Rays were healthier. Part of the reason was because the Rays were hungrier. The disturbing reality for Bostonians this year is that the Red Sox really ended up no better than the Rays did -- neither team won a postseason game -- and that the only difference entering 2010 is that the Sox have more money to spend.

As for the relatively new "Moneyball" theory that postseason success is arbitrary, be careful what you wish for. For starters, the Yankees qualified for the postseason every year from 2001 to 2007, but failed to win a single World Series. Was it arbitrary then? Were the Red Sox’ world title years of 2004 and 2007 a statistical fluke? Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein himself called such thinking "a crutch" after the Los Angeles Angels wiped out the Sox in the American League Division Series earlier this month, and even that assessment was conservative. In a market like Boston or New York, at this point in time, justifying postseason failure by pinning it on a roulette wheel is an absolute cop-out, a symbol of the ultimate loser’s mentality.

Nobody ever said sports were entirely fair and nobody ever said winning was easy. But more often than not, in baseball especially, you get what you deserve.

In this World Series, in particular, the Yankees will encounter a fitting opponent. The Philadelphia Phillies are the reigning world champions. While the Phils have a suspect relief corps, they have (at least on paper) the hitters to match up with the Yankees and the left-handed starting pitching to take on the New York lineup. The Phillies are more than capable of winning this series, and logic suggests that many New Englanders will be rooting against New York out of pure instinct and emotion once the games begin.

Here’s a tip: use your head. We all could use a dose of reality and humility here. The Yankees are loaded, they aren’t going away anytime soon, and maybe it’s time we all remember what the Red Sox are against every year. A restoration of the Yankees’ rule may be as grotesque and incomprehensible to you as the existence of Col. Nathan R. Jessup, but do not underestimate the impact of another world title in New York on the passion and competitive fire in this region.

You want them on that wall. You need them on that wall.

It gives you something to fight for.

The most promising aspect, going forward, is that the Red Sox have money to spend again. And even if the Red Sox elect to spend it all this winter, the even better news is that they project to have just as much financial flexibility during the winter of 2010.

In the end, the bottom line is this:

Over the next two winters, while the heralded prospects in the lower levels of the Boston farm system presumably continue their development, the Red Sox should have the financial flexibility to reconstruct a big league team that has aged in some key areas, deteriorated in others.

And given the shortage of talent available on the free agent market this offseason, the process might take the full two years.

UNDERSTANDING PAYROLL

Accounting can translate into very fuzzy math, of course, so let’s start with this: in the world of professional sports, there basically two kinds of payroll. The first concerns the actual outflow of cash that takes place during any season; the second results from the formula used for salary caps and or luxury tax, the latter of which is known in baseball as the collective bargaining tax (CBT). No matter how you slice it, the Red Sox generally project to be in the range of $140-$150 million annually as it pertains to their major league roster -- and that is basically where the Sox ended up in 2009.

Here’s an example: Before this season, the Sox signed Jon Lester to a guaranteed five-year, $30-million contract that averages out to exactly $6 million per season. The deal included no signing bonus and called for a base salary of $1 million in 2009. In terms of actual cash outflow, the Sox only paid Lester $1 million this year. But with regard to the CBT, his salary stands at the average of $6 million per year through 2013, even when the Sox are paying Lester an actual base salary of $11.625 million in the final year of the contract.

What you save now, you pay later.

Here’s the flip side: When the Red Sox acquired Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates last year, he was in the middle of a four-year, $18.25 million that averaged roughly $4.55 million per season. For purposes of the CBT, that is the number the Sox were charged for Bay this year. Yet, the Sox actually paid Bay a base salary of $7.5 million this year because Bay’s original deal with the Pirates was backloaded. (This explains why the Pirates traded him when they did.)

Here is an estimated comparison of the Sox’ commitments to their players in 2009 and 2010, separated by actual payroll and the formula used to calculate CBT payroll:

(Key: FA --free agent; ARB -- eligible for arbitration; 0-3 -- player has fewer than three years of major league service and is under team control but ineligible for arbitration, so salary has yet to be determined. Salary figures are in terms of millions.)

(Notes: With regard to the CBT, Matsuzaka’s average of $8.67 does not include the $51.11 million postion fee the Sox paid for his rights late in 2006; also, though it is not reflected in the CBT calculation here, each club is required to contribute roughly $10.2 million to play benefits. That figure increases the Sox’ 2009 CBT to roughly $158.6 million.)

THE SHORTER TERM

Though the Red Sox have no major free agents other than Jason Bay, their financial flexibility this offseason is similar to that of a year ago, when the Sox offered a whopping eight-year, $170 million contract to Mark Teixeira, who eventually signed with the New York Yankees. In lieu of acquiring Teixeira, the Sox effectively spent their money on John Smoltz ($6.9 million after bonuses), Takashi Saito ($6 million after bonuses) and Brad Penny ($5 million). Those three players alone cost the Sox a combined $17.9 million, not much less than the $21.25 million annual average the club offered to Teixeira.

The bad news? Smoltz was an enormous bust, Penny was a moderate bust, Saito was grossly overpaid. The good news? The Red Sox aren’t on the hook for any of them anymore, something of which Bay’s agent (Joe Urbon) is surely to remind the club if and when negotiations between the player and team reach a critical stage.

At the moment, after all, Bay seems the best fit and solution -- at least on the free agent market -- for a Sox team that has some offensive questions after a collective .224 team batting average over the last two postseasons. Aside from Bay, the only other relatively young elite run producer on the open market is Matt Holliday, whose brief history in the American League is suspect. The Sox always could opt for a shorter-term solution like Bobby Abreu, but Bay and Holliday seem to be the most obvious place where the Sox could utilize the estimated $40 million (annually) they have to spend this winter.

If neither of those players ends up in Boston, general manager Theo Epstein may have little choice but to focus on a stopgap measure like Abreu, though he will have other options, too. Thanks to their financial picture beyond 2010, the Sox may have great flexibility in a trade.

THE LONGER TERM

Following the 2010 season, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett all will be eligible for free agency, shedding another $35-$37.5 million from the Red Sox payroll, depending on the precise calculation. Jason Varitek ($3 million in 2010) could be gone. Tim Wakefield ($4 million, assuming the Sox exercise his 2010 option) could be gone. This could allow Epstein great flexibility to make a blockbuster trade in much the same way that interim Sox executives Bill Lajoie and Craig Shipley executed the deal for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell in November 2005.

That year, in order to acquire Beckett, the Sox took on Lowell’s contract. The Sox subsequently re-signed both players, though Lowell would have been set free following the 2007 season had his career remained in a funk.

So, depending on what the Sox do this winter, Epstein could have an absurd amount of money to spend next year at this time, giving the Sox the chance to go on a spending spree like the one the Yankees ventured on last winter. At the moment, the Sox have an estimated $50-$65 million committed in player salary for the 2011 season. Even when adding the team contribution to player benefits, the commitment stands in the range of roughly $60-$75 million, roughly less half of the team’s projected number in the last few years.

And remember: Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard, Daisuke Matsuzaka and J.D. Drew, among others, all are under team control through that year.

For all of the concern about the Red Sox’ offense going forward, the pitching staff is in excellent shape. That fact should allow Epstein to focus his efforts on offense this winter, particularly with prospects like pitcher Casey Kelly already making waves in the Boston system. The biggest question Epstein may be faced with this offseason will result if he fails to sign either Bay or Holliday, leaving the Sox with a fistful of money and no marquee free agents to spend it on.

When that happened last year, Epstein signed a handful of pitchers to one-year contracts and rolled the dice that the Sox could pitch their way to a world title. And though that plan ultimately fell a few steps short, the Sox essentially are right back where they started.

With a roll of cash in their pockets, faced with the decision of spending it now or spending even more later.

With regard to Jonathan Papelbon, the ultimate question is this: after three years of absolute dominance, was the 2009 season at all a warning of things to come?

"Absolutely not,’’ Red Sox pitching John Farrell said yesterday. "He set a standard for himself. There’s a guy about four hours south of us that he might be in the same area with."

Five days have passed since the closer's improbable implosion ended the Red Sox season last Sunday, but this is not about the final appearance of Papelbon’s 2009 campaign so much as it is the entire body of work. For the first time in Papelbon’s career, there existed cracks. In the much bigger picture, those imperfections were nothing more than hairlines on what his been an extraordinary major league career to date, and yet enough questions surfaced about Papelbon -- particularly amid the emergence of heir apparent Daniel Bard -- that one cannot help but wonder if the Red Sox have at least begun contemplating a changing of the guard.

In Sunday’s outing against the Angels, Papelbon threw 32 pitches, four of which came during the intentional walk to Torii Hunter that led to Vladimir Guerrero’s game-winning single. Of Papelbon’s remaining 28 offerings, according to the game log on mlb.com, all 28 were fastballs. Further examination revealed that Papelbon actually threw one off-speed pitch, a split-fingered offering that was called a ball on his first delivery to Bobby Abreu, but the general point was unchanged.

In 2009, at the most pivotal time of the year, the horse who has served as the Red Sox closer became a one-trick pony.

Farrell, for his part, focused on execution rather than selection, which is to say that he places the root of Papelbon’s difficulties Sunday on where the righthander threw his pitches instead of what he chose to throw. Regardless, during a season in which he paced himself after feeling worn down late last season, Papelbon did not consistently pitch with the same velocity, which seemed to result in a convergence of elements that ultimately made him more vulnerable.

On the one hand, to avoid the late-season fatigue, Papelbon was wise to back off. On the other, in the absence of a reliable second pitch, his fastball became more hittable on those days when Papelbon was not operating with peak precision.

In the bigger picture, it is interesting to note the difference in Papelbon’s performance from 2007 to 2008. During the 2007 season, operating with a delivery that gave him more power but less command, Papelbon pitched 58.1 innings. He struck out batters at the rate of 13.0 per nine innings but he also issued walks at the rate of 2.3 per nine. In 2008, operating with a delivery that allowed him better command of his fastball, his workload increased to 69.1 innings. Papelbon’s strikeouts (10.0 per nine) and walks (1.0) both went down, his ERA creeping up from 1.85 to 2.34.

The simplest explanation is that Papelbon sacrificed some velocity for command with the hope that he would be more durable. Along the way, he became slightly more hittable, too.

This year, upon reporting to spring training, Papelbon and the Red Sox examined the pluses and minuses of '07 and '08, coming to the following conclusion: he would go back to his '07 delivery. The result was a first half of the season during which Papelbon’s walk rate more than quadrupled (to 4.15 per nine) from his pinpoint 2008 campaign, which led to longer outings and more vulnerability. The Red Sox responded by doing the logical thing. They shifted back to the delivery Papelbon used last year, a change that produced dramatic results over the final six weeks of this season.

In his final 14 outings of the regular season covering 15 innings, Papelbon struck out 18 and did not walk a single batter. He allowed just nine hits, only two of which (both doubles) went for extra bases. His ERA was 1.20. Opponents batted .170 against with a microscopic .404 OPS. Papelbon threw nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes, an increase of roughly five percent compared with his performance before the All-Star break.

"His walk totals dropped and his overall command improved,’’ said Farrell. Added the pitching coach, "We were deeper into the season [then] and in a better place from a physical standpoint."

The Red Sox, it seemed, had the best of both worlds for their previously impenetrable closer, who was peaking at the right time.

So what happened Sunday? Be it the result of adrenaline or just dumb luck, Papelbon’s delivery got out of whack. The fastball command he demonstrated during the final six weeks deserted him, leaving an aggressive and talented Angels lineup with far too many opportunities. On an 0-2 count to Erick Aybar, Papelbon was supposed to come up and in; he missed belt high and away. On a 1-2 offering to Abreu, Papelbon again was supposed to come in; Abreu hit a fastball away off the left field wall for a double.

In that inning, Papelbon allowed nearly half as many hits (four) as he did during the final six weeks of the regular season (nine); walked two more batters (two) than he had since Aug. 24 (none); issued as many intentional walks as he had in the last three regular seasons (one); and gave up three more earned runs (three) than he had in his entire postseason career to that point (zero).

Maybe that is why Farrell is not worried about the bigger picture with his closer, who could nonetheless benefit from refining a second pitch to go along with a fastball upon which he has become far too reliant. After all, when he sensed that opponents were starting to solve his devastating, trademark cutter, even Mariano Rivera began refining a two-seam fastball that turned in the opposite direction, solely to keep hitters honest.

Following Sunday’s defeat, Papelbon said he would use his Game 3 outing as "motivation" for next season. Given the fact that Papelbon is two seasons from free agency and without a long-term deal -- and given, too, the presence of Bard -- logic suggests the Red Sox would be wise to explore all options involving Papelbon, including trade. The great likelihood is that Papelbon will be back with the Sox in 2010, when the Sox currently project to be even more reliant on their pitching staff.

And the hope, of course, is that he is able to glean something valuable from the entire 2009 campaign, no matter how improbable the events of Sunday, Oct. 11.

In the much bigger picture, maybe it is worth remembering that the Red Sox have a relatively good outlook. They just won 95 games. They have qualified for the postseason six times in the last seven years. They have a baseball operations staff that is committed to long-term sustainability more than short-term success, and they will take one step backward to ensure two steps forward.

At the moment, the problem is that the 2010 season looks like it will be a step back.

Here’s the big question: Is it likely that the Red Sox can win the 2010 World Series?

The obvious answer is no. Despite a deep pitching staff that should be very much intact -- let’s not forget that -- the Red Sox at the moment have an aging lineup that will steal from the poor and give to the rich, which creates a problem come October. Like the Bruins of the '80s and '90s, the Red Sox suddenly seem good enough to make the playoffs, flawed enough to ultimately fall short.

Here are five suggestions on how the Sox can cure their ills:

1. Re-sign Jason Bay or replace him with Matt Holliday. Obvious, right? The free agent market is thin, and the reality is that the Sox need more offense even if they keep Bay or replace him with Holliday. If they get neither, the likelihood is that the 2010 lineup will be even worse than 2009. The Sox may be forced to rely on stop-gap measures like Bobby Abreu, who will be a free agent again after a very productive year for the Los Angeles Angels.

Holliday (.394) and Bay (.384) had virtually identical on-base percentages in 2009, but they got there in very different ways. Holliday hit almost 50 points higher. The Red Sox of 2010 batted just .257 on the road, a number that ranked ninth in the American League behind teams like Cleveland, Oakland and Chicago. Unless the Sox are expecting opponents to repeatedly issue walks with the bases loaded, they need to re-sign Bay or replace him with someone who hits for a high average.

2. Beyond Bay or Holliday, add another big bat. We know what you’re thinking -- why not Bay and Holliday? The reason is that there really isn’t enough room for them in the outfield, though one of them certainly could serve as the designated hitter given the decline of David Ortiz. Still, the reality is that the Red Sox will have a hard enough time signing one of those guys, let alone both. There is also the matter of getting a little too righthanded in the lineup.

At the trading deadline this year, the Sox seriously explored the possibility of acquiring slugging Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a career .281 hitter. A lefthanded batter, Gonzalez hits to all fields (with power) and would almost certainly gain a bump in batting average by playing at Fenway Park. If the Sox can pry Gonzalez away from San Diego by trading some pitching (Clay Buchholz) and some of their lower-level prospects, they should do it. That could give them a middle of the lineup that includes Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, Gonzalez, Bay, J.D. Drew, and even Mike Lowell.

3. Upgrade at shortstop. As we've learned through the years, this is easier said than done. These days, finding a shortstop who can produce offensively is almost as hard as finding a catcher who can do the same. But given the nature of the Red Sox lineup now, the club really can no longer afford to carry a shortstop who provides them with below-average offense. The best way for them to thicken out their lineup is to find a shortstop who can get them in the top five in OPS at the position.

As terrific as Alex Gonzalez was for the Sox this year, he is almost exclusively a defensive player. While re-signing him is not entirely out of the realm of possibility, the Sox need to explore every possible avenue for a shortstop who can give them something offensively, even if they sacrifice some defense. Maybe that means bidding on a free agent like Toronto's Marco Scutaro. Maybe it means inquiring about Milwaukee's J.J. Hardy.

With regard to Hanley Ramirez, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the chances of acquiring him are virtually non-existent. Still, there was some indication this year that the Marlins grew at least a little tired of Ramirez’s immature behavior, which means the topic (as always) is at least worth revisiting.

4. Explore the idea of trading Jonathan Papelbon. This has nothing to do with Game 3 of the AL Division Series. Papelbon is still one of the elite closers in the game and has played a huge role in the team’s success since becoming a closer. At the same time, assuming the Sox have little interest in re-signing Papelbon once he is a free agent following the 2011 season, he is, perhaps, one of their more valuable and expendable bargaining chips.

In 2009, the obvious strength of the Boston team was pitching, particularly in the bullpen. Daniel Bard looks like a closer in the making and Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen, among others, are under team control. The Sox even hold an option on Takashi Saito for roughly $6 million, which the club almost certainly will decline -- unless there is a reason to keep him.

This year’s free agent class includes, among others, Octavio Dotel, Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, Fernando Rodney, and Jose Valverde, among others. All have at least some experience closing. If the Sox could sign another setup man/closer for relatively short dollars and get something of value for Papelbon -- even prospects that could replenish the Boston system or be flipped in a deal -- it might make sense for them to do so.

5. Sign another starting pitcher, assuming the price is right. At the moment, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield (option) are all under team control. The problem is that the Red Sox don’t have a lot of depth behind them with regard to 2010, at least based on what we saw this year. Michael Bowden can’t be counted on yet. Everyone else is at least a year away. The Sox need some starting pitching depth and this might be a good market to find it.

Remember: Unless the Red Sox re-sign him, Beckett will be a free agent following the 2010 campaign. Wakefield will be a year older. The pitching market of 2010 could be deep -- Brandon Webb, Cliff Lee, Tim Hudson and others, including Beckett, could be available -- and the Red Sox will have money to spend then. In the interim, the Sox might be able to strike gold with someone like Justin Duchscherer or Erik Bedard, depending on the value of the contract. Given some of the issues with those pitchers, the Sox might be able to lock one of them on a one-year deal.

If this sounds a lot like last year’s plan, it is. Certainly, the Sox would be wise to explore a deal for someone like Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, but their prospects would be put to better use for offense given the shortage of hitters in the Boston organization. A stopgap at the end of the rotation would serve the Sox well for 2010 and leave them with ample money to spend following next season, when the contracts of Beckett, Ortiz and Mike Lowell will all expire.

That winter, any remaining problems should be easier to fix.

In the Red Sox clubhouse, after the most devastating home loss since October 1978, there were questions. Questions for Jonathan Papelbon. Questions for Jason Bay. Questions for a Red Sox organization that now seems to be heading backward.

And so, in the aftermath of a 7-6 Sox defeat to the Los Angeles Angels that ended the 2009 baseball season in Boston, we wonder: are the Sox closer to being like their championship clubs of 2004 and 2007, or are they closer to being like the Oakland A’s of this early millennium - a team that seemingly could win in every month but October? Was this merely a momentary setback or a sign of a more long-lasting deterioration? And regardless of the answers to those questions, can the Sox quickly repair what ails them, particularly with regard to an offense that has been exposed in each of the last two autumns?

"I don’t think anything that happened in this series completely came out of the blue,’’ a candid Sox general manager Theo Epstein said after his team was unceremoniously swept out of the first round. Added the Sox GM, "We got outplayed in this series. They deserved it. They outplayed us fair and square and they deserve to move on.’’

Indeed they do. As for the Red Sox, the teams of the last two Octobers have differed greatly from those of 2003-2007, when the Sox won a pair of world titles. When it comes right down to it, the Sox simply do not tax opposing pitching staffs the way they used to, at least at that time of year when the competition intensifies and the games grow in magnitude.

From 2003 to 2007, when the Red Sox made four playoff appearances in five years, they batted a collective .279 in the postseason with a team OPS of .822 and averaged 5.7 runs per game. During that time, whether making one postseason appearance or five, no other team in baseball produced more runs per game or hit for a higher average. When it came time to face the Red Sox in the postseason, opponents were downright afraid of pitching to the Red Sox.

Over the last two seasons, that has changed entirely. In this series, especially, the Angels attacked most everyone in the Boston lineup. In 2008-09, the Red Sox have batted a woeful .224 with a .681 OPS and averaged 3.8 runs per contest. During that span, they have gone 6-8 and lost two of the three series in which they have played. The only series win during that stretch was last year’s American League Division Series against the Angels, a four-game set during which the scores entering the ninth inning were 2-1 (Sox), 5-5, 4-4 and 2-2.

Given all of those realities, the easy thing now is to attribute all of this to the departure of Manny Ramirez or the failure to sign Mark Teixeira – or both. The truth is far more complicated. Obviously, David Ortiz (1 for 12, no walks in this year’s ALDS) is not the same hitter anymore. Mike Lowell (2 for 10) will be 36 in February. And for as much as Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez and Jason Bay have given the Red Sox lineup in the last 15 months, the Red Sox are not nearly as deep or as thick as they used to be.

In the last two seasons, the Red Sox have finished a respective second (in 2008) and third (in 2009) in runs scored, yet been completely shut down in October. All of that suggests, at least offensively, that the Sox are paper tigers who pad their resumes by beating up on bad pitching and then get sand kicked in their face when the playoff start.

Admittedly, thanks to the run the Sox enjoyed from 2003-07, our expectations here are absurdly high. When the Sox had Ortiz and Ramirez in the middle of their lineup, even in a tainted era, their offense was built around a truly historic tandem. As such, maybe we have unreasonable standards. But when the Sox started playing musical chairs with their lineups late in the year – five players for four spots, including Jason Varitek at the time – it was probably an indication that they didn’t have enough cornerstone players anymore.

As a result, manager Terry Francona had perhaps his most trying year in Boston, left with the unenviable challenge of trying to satisfy an assortment of aging veterans who probably aren’t everyday players anymore. That can create an absurd amount of tension and stress. Meanwhile, the Red Sox were adding players to their bullpen and their lineup – all necessary moves, mind you – because the Sox came to the same midseason conclusion we all did: specifically, that they were not good enough.

So where do they go from here? Excellent question. At the moment, the 2010 season looks to be more like 2006 (when the Sox missed the playoffs) than 2007 (when they won their most recent world title). After all, the last time the Sox were swept from the postseason, they missed the playoffs the very next year. Even if Epstein is able to re-sign Bay – and that is a big if at the moment – the Sox appear to need another centerpiece bat, which could be tough to acquire given the shortage of talent available on the free agent market and absence of a stud bat in the Boston organization. (Where have you gone, Lars Anderson?)

"I’ve said all along that if something makes sense, I’d be stupid not to look at it,’’ Bay said yesterday when asked if the Sox had any chance of re-signing him before he officially files for free agency in November. "But since we got this far, it would have to pretty good [for him to sign] – put it that way.’’

Translation: Bay is headed to free agency because, at this point, he owes it to himself to take offers. And once that happens, all bets are off.

Said Bay, "I need to make something clear: everyone says it, but it’s not all about the money. It’s about the situation and about being comfortable. Obviously, at some point, it becomes about the money, but there are other factors.’’

For what it’s worth, Bay regards his experience in Boston as "a huge, huge positive,’’ but we all know that free agency is a tricky business. As quickly as Bay got comfortable here, he could get comfortable somewhere else. If and when that happens, the Red Sox will need to have a Plan B in place. The Sox generally have taken a conservative approach with regard to signing their free agents in recent years, but this one could come back to haunt them if a suitable replacement is not found.

All of this brings us back to the A’s of 2000 to 2006, who made the postseason five times and won one playoff series, prompting the increasingly popular belief that success in the postseason is, well, arbitrary. To his credit, Epstein yesterday cited that explanation as "a crutch,’’ which is the right answer for a big-market team like the Sox that can outspend most anyone else in the game. Like those A’s, who built their success around Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, the Sox have Josh Beckett and Jon Lester under contract through at least next season. But the lineup now looks rather ordinary – at least against good teams – which cannot help but make you wonder if the Red Sox are starting to turn into the Bruins of the 1980s.

Good enough to make the playoffs, flawed enough to fall short of a championship.

Again, it is important to remember here that we have all grown spoiled. This year, there were 22 major league teams who failed to make the playoffs; the Red Sox now have played in October during six of the last seven years. The downside of great success is that anything less seems like a disappointment, particularly when failure comes in the way it did for the Sox yesterday. When they blew leads of 5-2 (in the eighth) and 6-4 (in the ninth). Still, before anyone focuses too much on a previously impenetrable closer who was introduced to his mortality this year – is Jonathan Papelbon something else to worry about? – let’s remember that the Sox played three games in this series and lost them all.

Their problems, it seems, run far, far deeper than just yesterday’s top of the ninth.

As it turns out, the Red Sox need Josh Beckett to be their ace after all. And yet, four years into Beckett’s career with the Red Sox, he is as great an unknown as he has ever been.

So what are we going to get tonight, Sox fans? The Beckett of May, June and July, who went 11-2 with a 1.93 ERA over 16 starts, or the Beckett of late August and early September, who allowed a whopping 14 home runs in five starts? Will we get the Beckett of April, who had a 9.14 ERA in his final our outings of that month? Or will we get the Beckett or October, who, when healthy, has proven to be among the most dominating pitchers in the history of postseason play?

Please place your bets.

Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.

"Well, there's no issues physically at all," Beckett said during his press conference yesterday at Anaheim Stadium before the Los Angeles Angels wiped out Jon Lester and the Red Sox, 5-0, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. "Obviously, last year was a little bit different. So as far as physically coming in, it's a lot better. Last month, it's been better than it was two months ago, so I'm just looking forward to going out there and doing what I'm supposed to do."

The Red Sox now find themselves is a situation similar to that of the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday morning. The Cardinals fired the first of their two big guns, Chris Carpenter, and lost Wednesday. They were preparing to fire the second, Adam Wainwright. The challenge for the Sox now is to avoid ending up where the Cardinals are today, one game from elimination and with their season resting on the shoulders of their No. 3 starter.

In between stands Beckett, who has won more regular season games during his time in Boston (65) than any pitcher in baseball but Roy Halladay (69), CC Sabathia (67), and Justin Verlander (65). Along the way, he all but carried the Sox to a World Series title, too. Beckett’s performance in October 2007 was one of the great postseason pitching efforts of all-time -- he went a perfect 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four starts -- and only added to the pitcher’s mystique.

To that point in his career, Beckett was 6-2 with a 1.73 ERA in 10 postseason appearances. Of all major league pitchers with least 70 postseason innings, only Mariano Rivera (0.76) and Christy Mathewson (1.06) had a better ERA. Statistically speaking, Beckett was better than Curt Schilling or Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson or Whitey Ford. And along with the two career World Series rings to prove it, Beckett had Most Valuable Player Awards in the 2003 World Series and the 2007 AL Championship Series.

Until last year, any team with Beckett on its roster had never lost a postseason series.

"He works really hard every day of the week, so when his day comes, he can go out and be ready to rise to the occasion. He doesn't have to try to push a button. He's prepared for what he's supposed to do,’’ Sox manager Terry Francona said when asked of Beckett’s ability to succeed in big games. "Because of his talent, he put that together in a lot of big situations. He's come up big."

Last year? With regard to Beckett, most of us toss it out. Just before the end of the regular season, Beckett strained an oblique muscle that hindered him throughout the playoffs. He had trouble cracking 90 miles per hour and was a shell of himself. Beckett still ended up pitching the Red Sox to a win in Game 6 of the ALCS before Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays shut down the Sox and Lester in Game 7, but were all left to wonder whether the Sox might have been able to repeat had they boasted a healthy Beckett in the most important games of the year.

This year? Lester and Beckett are both healthy, as far as we know.

Nonetheless, the Red Sox interestingly decided to alter things. Lester’s strong finish coupled with Beckett’s late-season struggles prompted club officials to give Lester the ball for Game 1, though the Sox have made it clear that there were other factors involved in moving one of the best big-game pitchers of all time to Game 2.

"This way Lester gets an extra day, Beckett gets an extra day -- not one guy on regular rest and one guy on eight," said Francona, speaking for a Sox organization that generally has made decisions for the greater good. "It has as much to do with possibly being able to bring Beckett back for Game 5, too. We might be able to use these guys for four games. So that's part of it also."

Tonight, with the Red Sox facing a 1-0 series deficit and the Boston offense having failed to advance a runner to third base last night, they turn to Beckett for Game 2. A Boston win tonight evens the series at 1 and helps ensure that Lester will get another start, in Game 4, albeit on three days' rest. Clearly, that is the way the Red Sox are leaning. The Sox have Clay Buchholz lined up for Game 3 and have not named a Game 4 starter, as strong a statement as any on how they feel about Daisuke Matsuzaka.

In recent years, the Sox have dismissed any notion of bringing back any starter on three days' rest.

Four years ago, when the Sox acquired Beckett and Mike Lowell from the Florida Marlins, the idea was to replace the deteriorating Curt Schilling as the ace atop the Boston staff. As it turned out, with regard to October, the Sox replaced one big-game pitcher with another.

With the emergence of Lester, Beckett is here to win the big games more than he is to do anything else, particularly at a time when the Red Sox risk losing control over a series.

Tonight, with the Red Sox suddenly needing him as much as ever, Beckett gets his chance.

The Tigers are out. The Twins are in. And now, finally, the American League playoffs are set to begin.

While Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels will go through final preparations today on the West Coast, the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins will kick off the 2009 AL postseason tonight in New York. The Yankees seem the obvious favorite to go to the World Series. New York won 103 games during the regular season and went a preposterous 65-27 in its final 92 games, suggesting that the Yankees are absolutely, positively, indisputably the team to beat.

Or are they?

As was the case just before the start of the season, when we ranked the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays in four key areas, so it is now with the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, and Twins entering the playoffs. But in this case, unlike an AL East race that produced two playoffs team, only one club can advance to the World Series.

The breakdown:

OFFENSE
During the regular season, the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, and Twins finished -- in that order -- first, second, third, and fourth in the league in runs scored. Interesting, eh? And for as much concern as there was for the Red Sox offense in the middle of the season, the Sox actually ranked first in runs after Aug. 15.

Still, nobody should be under any illusion here. Top to bottom, the Yankees have the best lineup in the postseason. The Red Sox and Angels are quite comparable -- the Angels possessing a little more speed, the Red Sox possessing a little more power. The Twins have arguably the best hitter in the league in catcher Joe Mauer, but the absence of injured first baseman Justin Morneau leaves a sizable hole in the middle of the batting order.

Here’s another interesting tidbit: Though the Yankees are stacked with lefthanded hitters, the Red Sox actually were the highest-scoring team at home in the AL this year. New York ranked second. Still, the Yankees have home-field advantage throughout the postseason, meaning that postseason opponents would be well-served to throw left-handed pitching at the new Yankee Stadium. In Game 1, the Twins will throw young lefty Brian Duensing, who has not allowed a homer to a lefty this year, albeit in a mere 82 at-bats.

Rankings: Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, Twins.

DEFENSE
Here’s one thing you can almost always take to the bank, with or without a salary cap, no matter what direction the game goes in: the Twins will be fundamentally sound. This season, Minnesota tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the fewest errors in the league. Of course, the Red Sox (third fewest), Angels (fourth) and Yankees (fifth), rounded out the top five.

For what it’s worth, the Angels, Yankees, and Red Sox all have apparent strengths and weaknesses. The Angels are strongest on the left side of the infield, weaker on the right, weak at the outfield corners; they are also far better with Jeff Mathis behind the plate. The Red Sox allowed more base stealers than any team in baseball, but ranked first in the majors in fielding percentage after Aug. 15. (Thank you, Alex Gonzalez.) The Yankees are also weak at the outfield corners and can be vulnerable with Jorge Posada behind the plate, but their defense on the right side of the infield had improved tremendously with Mark Teixeira at first base.

As for the Twins, the absence of Morneau hurts them some here, too, but they have good range and speed all around -- and Mauer is the most complete catcher in baseball.

Rankings: Twins, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees.

STARTING PITCHING
Here are the regular season rankings: Angels (4.44 ERA, fourth), Yankees (4.48, fifth), Red Sox 4.63, eighth) and Twins (4.84, 12th). Now you can throw them out the window because they mean less than any other of the areas in which these clubs currently are being rated.

For example: Since Sept. 1, Angels starters have a 2.83 ERA that generally coincides with the resurgence of John Lackey and the addition of Scott Kazmir. In the first round, at least, the Yankees will be operating without Joba Chamberlain, who had a 7.80 ERA in his final 11 starts. Take away John Smoltz, Brady Penny and the early-season Daisuke Matsuzaka -- none of whom will be pitching in the playoffs -- and the ERA of Red Sox starters this season drops to 4.10.

Ultimately, only the Twins have real questions here because Minnesota does not have the front-end pitching to match up with any of the other three teams in the postseason. Against the Yankees lineup, in particular, the Twins will have their hands full in the first round.

Rankings: Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, Twins.

RELIEF PITCHING
In the playoffs, especially, the bullpens make all the difference in the world. The more power arms the better. On paper, nobody seems to match up with the Red Sox in this area, but don’t take anything for granted. The margin may not be as great as many would like to believe.

During the regular season, the Red Sox, Twins, Yankees and Angels ranked a respective second, fourth, fifth and 11th in the league in relief ERA. New York relievers (and not those of the Red Sox) ranked first in strikeouts per nine innings. The Red Sox added Billy Wagner in the second half and look positively dominating on paper, but Wagner has a suspect postseason history and right-handed phenom Daniel Bard has allowed 13 runs (a 6.50 ERA), 12 walks and five home runs in 18 innings covering his last 22 outings.

At the very least, the Red Sox are better than the Angels, who have easily the worst closer (Brian Fuentes) in an elite postseason group that includes Mariano Rivera (Yankees), Joe Nathan (Twins) and Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox). The Twins have an unheralded set-up crew that includes lefthander Jose Mijares, and righthander Matt Guerrier. The emergence of Phil Hughes has given the Yankees and elite set-up man.

The bottom line? The Red Sox, Twins and Yankees can close out games, meaning that the team with the lead through six innings will have an advantage.

Rankings: Red Sox, Twins, Yankees, Angels (but the first three are close).

PREDICTION
The first-round pairings are obvious: Yankees vs. Twins, Red Sox vs. Angels. As inspiring a story as the Twins have been of late, they went 0-7 against New York this year and look badly overmatched. New York seemingly has too much power and balance for Minnesota, particularly in the first six innings of the game, when the Yankees should be able to do damage.

The Yankees should win that series in no more than four games. That will earn them the right to face … whom?

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the Red Sox’ playoff history against the Angels this decade. Last year, entering the ninth inning, the scores of the four games between the clubs were 2-1, 5-5, 4-4 and 2-2. The Red Sox won Games 1, 2 and 4 to advance. The Angels obviously play in an inferior division, but these are two very evenly-matched teams, save for the bullpens.

If the Red Sox forfeit that advantage through poor pitching from their relief corps, the Angels will win this series. Overall, the Red Sox are the slightly better club, which why we’re picking them in five games.

Should that script play out, we all know what that means: a Boston-New York matchup in the AL Championship Series for the third time in seven years, first since 2004.

And as for a prediction on that one, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

And so just a day or two after manager Terry Francona spoke of the Red Sox getting their "house in order," the fall cleanup officially begins. There will be guests coming in October. How long they stay depends entirely on the Red Sox, who will now spend the next five days tidying up.

Specifically as it pertains to their pitching.

Winners of the American League wild card berth by virtue of the Los Angeles Angels’ victory over the Texas Rangers last night in Anaheim, the Red Sox scattered last night following an 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Some players stayed and some players went. A few hours later, when the Angels had completed a 5-2 win over the Rangers, the Red Sox had qualified for their sixth playoff appearance in seven years, no small feat even for a team with a sizable payroll and a productive farm system.

Give the Red Sox their due. In baseball, especially, there is really no such thing as backing in. The Red Sox this year had to work for the right to play in October, something that should never, ever be considered a birthright.

Lest anyone think the next five games now have been rendered meaningless, think again. The Red Sox still have plenty of work to do this week. The fact that the Sox now have lost 7 of 9 is not nearly so alarming as the manner in which it has happened, which is to say that the Red Sox' starting rotation has not had a great week. Jon Lester was getting knocked around by the Yankees on Friday before he took a line drive off the right leg. Josh Beckett was scratched on Tuesday with back spasms. Then Clay Buchholz went out and surrendered five home runs last night, digging the Red Sox an early deficit for the second consecutive night.

"That’s a tough way to play when you’re down that much,’’ Francona said after the loss. "It’s happened a couple of nights in a row.’’

Fine, so Monday’s loss came behind Michael Bowden, who won’t be pitching in October. But Bowden was pitching only because Beckett was scratched. That happened only a few days after Lester hobbled off the mound at Yankee Stadium. Just like that, the Nos. 1, 2, and 3 starters in the Boston rotation have encountered some unexpected glitches on what amounts to the eve of the postseason.

With regard to Lester, he will take the mound tomorrow night lined up to pitch Game 1 next week. Beckett is slated to go Saturday and Buchholz is scheduled to go Sunday. The important thing now is for the Red Sox to get their pitchers back on the mound, beyond any physical issues or concerns, and feeling good about themselves. Poor outings over the balance of this week won’t do anything to help their cause. The Red Sox don’t need to win games between now and late Sunday so much as they need to pitch well, just to ensure that they are firing on all cylinders when take the field against the Angels next week.

Last night, for whatever reason, Buchholz looked nothing like the starter who went 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA over his previous six starts. Rather, he looked far more like the pitcher who allowed seven runs to the White Sox on Aug. 24. Francona and Buchholz both made reference to the Jays "sitting soft’’ during Buchholz’s outing last night, meaning that Buchholz either is getting quite predictable -- he loves that changeup -- or that he was poorly executing what is his best pitch.

Given that Buchholz’s changeup, especially, was consistently up in the strike zone, maybe it was a little of both.

"If you sit on it and you get it on the thigh, it’s a tough pitch to miss," Buchholz admitted. "I got to the kill counts and I didn’t throw the pitches where they needed to be.’’

As a whole, of course, the Red Sox have been in kill counts for more than a week. After sweeping the Orioles in Baltimore on Sept. 20, the Red Sox were 30 games over .500 and on the verge of closing out yet another postseason appearance. During the nine days since, they have won just twice and experienced some unforeseen instability -- even if only a little -- while seemingly going into cruise control. The games this week will have positively no bearing on the ones next week – again, it’s not about the results – but the Red Sox now have five days to do some fine-tuning before making a run at their third World Series title in the last six years.

Because of the front-end pitching on this team, we all know the Red Sox have as good an opportunity as anyone this October. Once the Rangers succumbed last night, Dustin Pedroia succinctly told reporters, "I like our chances.’’ All the Sox need to do is use the next five days to get their legs back under them, eliminate any residual doubt, polish off the edges.

Come next week, after all, there will be decidedly little margin for error.

In the perfect world, what we have this weekend is a foreshadowing. Five years have passed since the Red Sox and Yankees met in the historic 2004 American League Championship Series. Many of the names have since changed, but the story remains the same.

Boston meets New York.

May the best city win.

And so, after a season’s worth of games and maneuvers, the Red Sox and Yankees today are precisely where many expected them to be: atop the American League. Boston and New York will begin their final regular season series of the year tonight with the two best records in the AL, seemingly on a collision course for October. The Yankees already are in the playoffs. Certainly, the Red Sox will be soon. And if all goes according to script, the Red Sox and Yankees will resume acquaintances again in the middle of next month for the right to go to the World Series.

Of course, the Los Angeles Angels may have something to say about that. So may the Detroit Tigers or, perhaps, the Minnesota Twins. But after a season of extremes in which the Sox and Yankees have taken turns beating up on one another, Boston and New York look relatively even entering the only time of the baseball calendar year that truly matters in either city.

In retrospect, this year has broken down into three pieces:

PHASE I
(Opening Day through June 24)

Back then, the Red Sox looked like the obvious class of the American League, if not all of baseball. They had a season-high, five-game lead in the American League East. They were 44-27 -- New York was 39-32 -- with a deep pitching staff and productive offense. While the Red Sox and Yankees had scored a virtually identical number of runs -- New York 386, Boston 382 -- the Red Sox had a decisive edge in ERA, 4.12 to 4.62 while the remodeled Yankees struggled to find their stride.

The Sox were a perfect 8-0 against the Yankees to that point. Many of us openly wondered whether New York’s acquisitions of CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett would ultimately mean anything at all.

PHASE II
(June 25 through Aug. 23)

As if experiencing a breakthrough, the Yankees caught fire. While the Red Sox settled into a problem-plagued, 52-game stretch during which the Sox went a perfectly mediocre 26-26, the Yankees caught fire. New York went 39-14 over a 53-game span to make up a whopping 12.5 games in the standings and assume control of the division. They have not relinquished it since. During this span, New York outscored the Red Sox by 43 runs and the pitching completely flip-flopped -- New York posted a 4.02 ERA, Boston 4.51 -- while the Yankees went 6-1 in head-to-head meetings between the teams.

With his club losing ground at an astonishing rate, general manager Theo Epstein went about the business of fortifying his roster. While relying on internal pitching depth to augment the starting rotation, the Red Sox improved their lineup, defense and bullpen by acquiring, in order, Victor Martinez, Alex Gonzalez and Bill Wagner.

PHASE III
(Aug. 24 to present)

A funny thing has happened in the last month or so: the Yankees haven’t slipped so much as the Red Sox have caught up. During this span, the while scoring a virtually identical number of runs -- Red Sox 172, Yankees 171 -- the Red Sox have gone a major league-best 21-8 while New York has gone 19-10. The Boston pitching has stabilized. While the Yankees experienced some instability in their starting rotation, the emergence of Clay Buchholz fortified a Boston staff that has a 3.98 ERA in the last month. (The Yankees’ ERA is 4.23.)

As a result, there is the very real possibility this weekend that New York will clinch the AL East while the Red Sox similarly wrap up a playoff berth, a fitting bit of symmetry given the way this season has evolved.

Since the last time the Red Sox and Yankees have met in the postseason, a great deal has changed. Boston and New York have substantially modified their rosters, the likes of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Sabathia and Burnett being thrust into a rivalry that may be unparalleled in all of sports. The identities of both franchises have been altered -- on the field and off -- and new tension exists. Kevin Youkilis has Joba Chamberlain to despise. Joe Torre is gone. Johnny Damon wears pinstripes. Alex Rodriguez has handed off his role as the rivalry’s central to figure to Teixeira, the latest Yankees who might have been a Red Sox. Meanwhile, there are still enough holdovers from the old days -- Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek -- to remind us that New York and New England are forever connected by more than just Interstate 95.

This weekend, in the big picture, the games between the Red Sox and Yankees really won’t mean much.

But as the teams bid farewell to one another Sunday, we can all hope that they will soon meet again.

With 11 games to go, the magic number is six. Despite what has happened the last two nights in Kansas City, the Red Sox should soon secure another playoff berth, their sixth in seven seasons during the reign of Theo Epstein.

No matter what the Red Sox say publicly, rest assured that the wheels are in motion for Boston’s return to the postseason.

Tonight, remember, Josh Beckett will return to the mound for his team-leading 31st start of the season. Counting this outing, Beckett could have as few as two starts remaining in the regular season. At the moment, the more significant point is that Jon Lester absolutely, positively has just two starts remaining, which raises the first of today’s five questions as the Sox close in on a playoff spot:

1. Is Lester the favorite to start Game 1?

Match them up. In Lester’s last nine starts, entering Friday’s game against New York at Yankee Stadium, he is 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA. The Red Sox have won each of his last seven outings. For all of the talk about Beckett’s candidacy for the American League Cy Young Award earlier in the year, Lester now has emerged as Boston’s best candidate for the award, which will likely go to either Zack Greinke or Felix Hernandez.

Based on how the Sox have set up their pitching rotation, Lester would pitch Friday at New York and either next Wednesday or Thursday. (Expect the latter as the Sox are likely to back everyone up once they clinch.) The playoffs will open on either Wednesday, Oct. 7 or Thursday, Oct. 8, depending on which series setup the Yankees elect to play (more on that in a second). There is the very real possibility that the Sox already are lining up Lester for Game 1.

For what it’s worth, Lester in 2009 has not faced the Los Angeles Angels, who almost certainly will be the Sox’ first-round opponent. Beckett is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA against the Angels.

2. How many starters will the Red Sox need in the first round?

The likelihood is four, though that depends on which series the Yankees select. As was the case last year, the American League team with the best record -- in this case, New York -- will have the right to choose its schedule for the first round. If the Yankees choose Series A, that series would begin Wednesday, October 7, and there would be an additional day off between Games 1 and 2. Series B begins Thursday, October 8, with no day off between Game 1 and 2.

So what’s the difference? Because of the additional off-day in Series A, the participating teams would need only three starters. In Series B, four starters are necessary unless a team opts to pitch someone on short rest. Last year, the Angels had the right to choose the series schedule and opted for Series A. Whether the Yankees would do the same remains unclear, particularly because such a decision might allow a team like the Detroit Tigers to throw ace Justin Verlander twice in the first four games.

This season, Verlander is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA against New York. Allowing him to pitch two of the first four games of a series -- any series -- might be risky. As such, there is a chance the Sox would need only three starters in the first round, in which case Lester and Beckett would each get to pitch twice in a five-game series.

3. Assuming a matchup with the Angels, does Lester or Beckett have a decisive advantage over the other?

Overall, Beckett and Lester have had staticically similar years, though Lester’s ERA is now nearly a half-run lower. When both pitchers are at the top of their games, each can retire lefthanders and righthanders with relatively equal efficiency. Beckett has given up more home runs, especially of late, and Lester has a slightly higher walk rate.

One other thing to consider? This year, opposing basestealers have been successful in 14 of 16 with Beckett on the mound; they are 15 of 21 against Lester. As we all know, the Angels like to run. If the Red Sox continue to have difficulty scoring on the road -- this has been especially true in the second half -- controlling the opposing running game could be a critical factor in their ability to win. On paper, at least, Lester would seemingly give them a better chance to restrain an Angels team that is always aggressive on the bases.

4. How will the catching situation work in the playoffs?

Time will tell, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona typically has not strayed from the plan in the postseason. For example: When Tim Wakefield was in the Boston playoff rotation, Francona made a point of continuing to start Doug Mirabelli behind the plate. That suggests that Francona will continue to pair Jason Varitek with Beckett with Victor Martinez assigned to both Lester and Clay Buchholz. So far, Varitek has handled Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Regardless, even if Varitek does start, it became clear last postseason that the Red Sox will hit for him in the later innings when necessary, which could allow for a third catcher on the Boston roster. Even if the Sox do not carry a third catcher, the versatility of Martinez and Kevin Youkilis give Francona great flexibility to adjust his lineup, which could prove quite valuable during the inevitable shuffling that takes place during the playoffs.

5. How will the bullpen shake out?

Based on how Francona has done things in recent weeks, the plan seems clear in the event that things line up precisely how the Red Sox want them: Billy Wagner in the seventh, Daniel Bard in the eighth, Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. Francona obviously reserves the right to flip-flop Wagner and Bard depending on the composition of the opposing lineup, but the Red Sox have indisputable firepower at the end of the game.

On those occasions when Wagner is not available -- again, an additional off-day in the schedule might benefit the Sox here -- Hideki Okajima is likely to figure into the mix, despite his recent struggles. Of the remaining relievers, Ramon Ramirez is likely to get the nod over Manny Delcarmen in any middle-inning situation of consequence given how each has performed in recent weeks.

One final note: the Sox are likely to carry one starter in the bullpen as an "anchor man" in the event they get into a long, extra-inning game that exhausts the bullpen. If the Sox need four starters in the series, the identity of that starter could be in question depending on the health of Wakefield and the performance of Paul Byrd.

Six games up with 17 to play, the Red Sox once again seem destined for October. Under the circumstances, at the risk of jinxing them, maybe it is time to give the Red Sox their due.

Despite a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last night at Fenway Park, the Sox left Boston last night on the heels of a brilliant homestand that all but solidified their place in October. Over a span of eight games, the Sox went 7-1.

They outscored opponents 49-20, an average score of roughly 6-3. The Sox batted .311 while posting a 1.99 ERA, outhomering their opponents, 12-2. In the marathon that is the major league season, while the Texas Rangers were floundering against the Oakland A’s, this was how the wild card was won.

Still, make no mistake: The 2009 season has been an extraordinary test of talent, grit, leadership and perseverance.

Naturally, for the general manager, it always feels that way.

Asked by e-mail whether this season has been more of chore than any other during his seven-year tenure, Sox GM Theo Epstein yesterday countered with a rather succinct reply.

"It seems like it’s always a grind,’’ Epstein wrote.

And he’s right. In baseball, given the length of the season and inevitable challenges, nothing ever comes easily and nothing should ever, ever be taken for granted.

This year, especially, we all should have learned that. Let’s remember that the American League East this season was hyped as a three-horse race -- but with room for only two horses. The only guarantee was that at least one team among the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees would be squeezed out.

The surprising emergence of the Texas Rangers as a wild-card contender complicated things, particularly during that midseason stretch when the Red Sox appeared to be unraveling, and Boston’s problems were not imaginary. The Red Sox had holes on offense and defense, as well as in their pitching staff, and the Sox weren’t looking to patch holes so much as they were in need of a renovation.

Given where the Sox are now, this all reflects quite well on the organizational leadership, particularly Epstein, whose in-season acquisitions have paid off enormously. Victor Martinez has been an absolute godsend. Alex Gonzalez has stabilized the defense on the left side of the infield. And while Billy Wagner has been a luxury, Epstein’s decision to build pitching depth -- and hold onto it -- has proven critical given the issues with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield as well as the timely development of Clay Buchholz.

While Terry Francona’s eyebrows were falling out, the Sox similarly were stressed to the point where their collective mettle was tested. Along the way, from Epstein to Francona to the clubhouse, the question wasn’t whether the Sox had the character or the makeup so much as it concerned whether they had the necessary talent.

Said Epstein modestly when asked specifically of imports Martinez, Gonzalez and Wagner: "All three guys have fit in to the team concept and made us a better overall club."

And this year more than most, the Red Sox needed to get better in order to be where they are today. Matsuzaka and Wakefield were sidelined. Mike Lowell was coming off hip surgery. David Ortiz traveled to Hades and back -- twice -- while J.D. Drew vanished for a time. Jonathan Papelbon labored. Jason Bay slumped. Jed Lowrie couldn’t get on the field. Meanwhile, the Yankees took control of the division, effectively leaving the Red Sox with no cushion in their pursuit of the postseason.

This year, by mid-August, it was the wild card or bust. To their credit, the Red Sox are continuing to choose their words carefully, unlike, say, the look-at-me New York Jets. The players in Fenway's home clubhouse recognize that actions speak louder than words. Simply put, the Sox know they have not won anything yet.

At the moment, for those who believe in formalities, the key number for the Red Sox is 97, the number victories the Sox currently need to guarantee a playoff spot. Entering tonight, the Rangers and Los Angeles Angels have seven games remaining against one another, meaning the Sox are guaranteed a combined seven losses from those two teams. In the worst-case scenario for the Sox, the Rangers can still win 97 games and the Angels can win 96. If the Sox get to 97, there is absolutely, positively no way for them to miss the playoffs. By the end of the weekend, that number is likely to dwindle to 96 … or 95 … or 94, particularly as the Sox embark on a road trip against the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals and Yankees before returning to Fenway Park for the final week of the regular season.

By now, we all know and understand the Red Sox’ formula and idea for success under current ownership and management: shoot for 95 wins every season, make the playoffs eight out of every 10 years, take your chances in the postseason. The championships will come. That plan so far seems to be working to perfection. If and when the Sox lock up their latest playoff berth in the coming days, it will mark their sixth postseason appearance during the seven seasons of Epstein’s tenure. Already, they have won two World Series and been to four League Championship Series.

And while the ultimate success of this Sox season depends on the team’s ability to win a championship -- the standards have changed, after all -- we should soon be able to state that 2009 was not a failure.

This year, after all, the Red Sox got themselves here the old-fashioned way.

They earned it.

As surely as Daisuke Matsuzaka shaved off between 10 and 15 pounds, the Red Sox' pitching staff once again looks thick. As a result, your beloved baseball team is closer to the New York Yankees than the Texas Rangers this morning, offering probable cause that there will be fall baseball in New England this year.

In their grandest of grand plans, this is how Theo Epstein, Terry Francona and John Farrell drew it up last winter: the Red Sox would come at you in waves. Since dropping 3 of 4 to the Chicago White Sox in a disappointing stretch that ended with Josh Beckett’s loss to Mark Buehrle on Labor Day, the Red Sox have returned to their Camelot, posting a perfect 6-0 record at Fenway Park. With 19 games left in the regular season, their advantage in the wild card race is now a whopping six games. During that span, the Red Sox pitching staff -- starters and relievers -- is 6-0 with a 1.26 ERA. In 50 innings, the Sox have held opponents to a .204 average while failing to allow even a single home run, collecting 43 strikeouts against just 16 walks.

"Regardless of who it is [pitching] right now, it doesn’t matter,’’ Red Sox left field Jason Bay said following night’s 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. "You show up at the ballpark and you feel like you have a legitimate chance to win.’’

Said Farrell: "We feel like every night we take the field the pitcher’s got a chance to keep the game in check and get to the final third of the game, and then turn it over to a group of guys [in the bullpen] that are throwing their tails off."

So Tim Wakefield is out. So tonight’s starter is Paul Byrd. So what? Minus those two men, assuming Matsuzaka remains healthy, the Red Sox pitching staff is currently comprised of what baseball people like to call "stuff guys." At the moment, the soft-tossing but savvy Byrd is the ultimate square peg. From Beckett and Jon Lester to Clay Buchholz and now a recharged Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have the kind of stuff in their rotation that can break bats and produce weak outs. Then, as Farrell noted, the Sox can entrust games to the stormtroopers in their bullpen, an increasingly rare group in which everyone suddenly seems to be throwing in the mid-90s or faster.

Given all that has happened with Matsuzaka this year, last night’s performance was downright eye-popping. Physically, Matsuzaka looked like the man who arrived in Boston in 2007. Tactically, he looked like someone we have never before seen. Matsuzaka attacked the strike zone with a fastball that exploded through the strike zone, making it even more effective than the 92-93 mph he routinely registered on the radar gun. If this is what Matsuzaka can be for the balance of this year -- and, admittedly, that is still a very big if -- the Red Sox just found a fourth starter to join their front three of Beckett, Lester and Buchholz, which could prove invaluable in October.

"It’s not very common,’’ Farrell said when asked of the likelihood that Matsuzaka could make such a contribution after having his season effectively derailed. "We were talking the other night -- 'What’s the blueprint for getting a guy back like this?’ -- and I don’t know that there really is one.’’

Appropriate, don’t you think?

At this stage, Matsuzaka is truly a wild card.

In retrospect, maybe we all underestimated the significance of Matsuzaka’s absence this season. For all of the criticisms over the last years -- too many pitches, too much nibbling, not enough innings -- the Red Sox went 23-6 in his 29 outings last year. Because the Red Sox have so much pitching, Matsuzaka doesn’t need to be a horse. What he needs to do is give them a reasonable chance to win every five days, something the club desperately needed from the middle of July through the middle of August. Back then, the Red Sox were mired in what Farrell called "a little bit of flux."

But now? Suddenly the Sox pitching staff seems to be firing strikes like a finely tuned pitching machine: just reload, turn on the power, let it go. As if the addition of Billy Wagner hasn’t given the Sox additional dynamite in the late innings, Ramon Ramirez now seems to be reclaiming the form he demonstrated early in the season, when his first 22 appearances produced a 0.74 ERA and an opposing batting average of .139. Last night, after Matsuzaka walked Kendry Morales to start the seventh, Ramirez retired Juan Rivera, Erick Aybar and Gary Matthews, the last of whom struck out on a changeup that disappeared as if it were a hologram.

"He wants to be the guy and he wants to be thought of when matchups or game planning is taking place,’’ Farrell said of Ramirez. "He’s a fierce competitor.’’

Will all of this carry over to October, where the Red Sox currently seem headed for the sixth time in seven years? That is impossible to say. If the last two months have taught us anything, they have reminded us that no team is ever as bad as it looks during a losing streak, or as good as it looks during a winning streak. The real Red Sox are probably somewhere in between. But as we all know, the air becomes drier and the temperatures cool at this time of year, and almost always, the game goes back to the pitchers.

And at the moment, the Red Sox sure do seem to have a lot of 'em.

The ballpark is one thing. The competition is quite another. And at this stage, we can only wonder where the Red Sox would be without the generous assistance of the Baltimore Orioles.

Shut down by the mediocre Chicago White Sox over the weekend, the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park last night and took out their frustrations on the Uh-O's, pounding Baltimore by a 10-0 score in a game that wasn't nearly that close. The Sox hit five homers before making nine outs, improving to 12-2 against the Orioles this year. Nonetheless, the Sox saw their lead dwindle to two games in the American League wild card race thanks to the Texas Rangers' doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians.

Incredible as it seems, we are now 24 games from the end of the regular season and we still don't know if this Red Sox team is truly capable of making a spirited run at another World Series championship.

Or maybe we do and we just don't want to admit it.

If last night's resounding victory surprised or inspired you, it shouldn't have. There is too much else to consider at this point. No team in baseball has more wins over one opponent this season than the Sox do over the Orioles. Last night's win made the Sox a sterling 12-2 against Baltimore this year, a record that includes an unforgettable 11-10 loss on June 30 in which the Sox somehow blew a 10-1 lead. This year, the Sox have not lost a game to the Orioles in which the Boston starter was anyone other than John Smoltz.

The Orioles have not been the Sox' only punching bag. The Sox are 11-4 against Toronto (another doormat) and went 11-7 against the inferior National League. That leaves the Sox at 46-45 against everyone else. All of this suggests the Sox are far closer to being a mediocre team than they are an elite one.

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck.

In retrospect, the clearest line of delineation in this Red Sox season is June 11. That was the day the Sox defeated the Yankees to improve to 8-0 against New York this season. Since that time, the balance of power in the American League has completely flipped. The Red Sox have mauled teams with bad pitching and failed miserably against teams with above-average pitching, particularly as it pertains to starters.

Let's get to the math: At the moment, the Sox currently rank seventh in the league in ERA. Since June 11, against the six teams in front of them in ERA, the Sox are 12-21 while batting .243 and averaging 4.7 runs per game. Against the seven teams behind them, the Sox are 30-12 while batting .277 and averaging 5.6 runs per contest. The Sox take from the poor and give to the rich, which is the truest definition of mediocrity.

Should you believe that every team in baseball follows this pattern, think again. The New York Yankees currently rank sixth in the AL in pitching, though their ERA (4.31) is essentially identical to that of the Sox. Including the head-to-head meetings with the Red Sox, the Yankees are 24-9 against the top pitching teams in the league since June 11. In those games, they have batted .298 while averaging 6.1 runs per contest. The obvious point is that the Yankees have demonstrated an ability to beat everyone, which suggests a far more balanced and potent roster than the one currently occupying the home clubhouse at Fenway Park.

Of course, we all know that the playoffs are a different game. The Red Sox won't need as many starters as they do during the regular season, which will help conceal some of their weaknesses. Since the trading deadline, general manager Theo Epstein has improved the bullpen (Billy Wagner) and the lineup (Victor Martinez) as well as the defense (Alex Gonzalez). Still, the Sox went to Chicago over the weekend and were completely shut down by a White Sox team that had all but packed it in, which was reason to be discouraged.

If the Red Sox make it to the playoffs, assuming health, we all know they have the kind of character and pitching firepower to beat just about anyone. Josh Beckett and Jon Lester alone give them as formidable a 1-2 tandem as there is in the game. But we're now 138 games into the 162-game marathon, and we still have no evidence that the Sox of late 2009 can compete with the big boys.

After all, if the Sox do make it to October, they won't be facing the Baltimore Orioles.

Somewhere in his wildest of wild dreams, this is how the manager draws it up: Wagner in the seventh, Bard in the eighth, Papelbon in the ninth. Opponents beware. Contents are highly flammable.

And so what we have here, potentially, is precisely what the Sox envisioned two years ago when they acquired Eric Gagne in a midseason deal with the Texas Rangers. This time, it might actually work. Possessors of a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning last night at the dungeonesque Tropicana Field, the Red Sox closed out a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays that gave them their first road series win at The Trop since 2007. In the final three innings, Sox manager Terry Francona used Billy Wagner, Daniel Bard, and Jonathan Papelbon for an inning each, giving the Sox greater closing power than either Secretariat or Seabiscuit.

Now that was impressive stuff. Unofficially, of the final 44 pitches thrown by Sox pitchers last night, 35 were fastballs that averaged a shade under 95 miles per hour. During the two victories in Tampa, Sox relievers recorded 10 of the final 18 outs by strikeout -- they went 5 of 9 in each game -- to bring a decisive and emphatic close to what might very well have been the end of the baseball season in Tampa Bay.

At this time of year, we all know that life in the major leagues quite literally becomes a day-to-day existence. Unless or until the Sox pull far enough ahead of the Texas Rangers (or anyone else) in the American League wild card race, every game is critical. We still do not know where the Red Sox are going yet, what is hindering Josh Beckett, or who will start Game 3 of the playoffs, though Clay Buchholz certainly is making his case.

In the interim, here is what we do know: Assuming health -- particularly as it pertains to Wagner -- the Red Sox might actually have more potential closers than they do viable starters. There is not a team in baseball who can match the Red Sox in terms of firepower in the final three innings of any game. Last night, beginning with Wagner’s strikeout of Carl Crawford to end the seventh inning, these were the velocities (in miles per hour) of the fastballs thrown by Wagner, Bard, and Papelbon, enforcers in that part of the game that might now be known as Gasoline Alley: 91, 93, 91, 93, 91, 92, 97, 96, 99, 98, 97, 98, 97, 97, 98, 96, 98, 97, 98, 92, 93, 93, 93, 93, 94, 93, 93, 95, 94, 93, 94, 93, 94, 94, 95.

Oh, and one other thing: If you think those 91s and 92s thrown by Wagner are akin to the 91s and 92s thrown by Daisuke Matsuzaka, think again. Even coming off of Tommy John surgery, Wagner’s ball has life. He has some deception in his delivery. Earlier this week, Wagner also suggested that the radar gun at the Trop was a little slow, which cannot help but make one wonder if his 91s and 92s are closer to Papelbon’s 94s than they are Matsuzaka’s 90s.

Regardless, the bottom line is that the new-and-improved Red Sox are effectively shortening games, and we have yet to even discuss Hideki Okajima, who has a career ERA of 2.63 and has averaged 8.38 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Particularly in the postseason, when the presence of travel days allows for managers to exhaust (and recharge) their bullpens with greater regularity, this will take a great burden off Red Sox starters like Buchholz, who needed go only six innings last night for his most important win in a big league uniform.

In relatively recent baseball history, we all have come to learn the potential impact of a dominating bullpen, particularly in the postseason. In 1990, behind the Nasty Boys trio of Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble, and Randy Myers, the Cincinnati Reds did not merely upset the Oakland A’s in the World Series; they swept them. The 1996 New York Yankees had only two dominating relievers instead of three -- Mariano Rivera and John Wetteland -- but Rivera’s ability to pitch multiple innings at that stage of his career allowed then-Yankees manager Joe Torre to turn the game over to his bullpen after the sixth inning. And in 2002, Angels manager Mike Scioscia was able to mask the deficiencies of a relatively thin starting rotation with a relief corps built around Troy Percival, Brendan Donnelly, and Francisco Rodriguez, the last of whom burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old, late-season call-up to serve as the ultimate secret weapon.

In 5 2/3 innings during his five regular season appearances that year, Rodriguez amassed a preposterous 13 strikeouts. In 18 2/3 additional postseason innings, he whiffed another 28. Rodriguez was aided by the fact that he was young and relatively unknown, factors that similarly could help the Sox down the stretch.

Think about it: If the Red Sox were to get to the World Series, how much experience will, say, the Los Angeles Dodgers have had facing Bard? Meanwhile, many American League hitters are now getting their first look at Wagner, who has heretofore spent his entire career in the National League. The Red Sox bullpen has power and it has newness, and it now has the ability to do precisely what it did in St. Petersburg, Fla. this week in the recently completed three-game series with the Rays.

It has the ability to extinguish opponents with pure, high-octane gas.

This is when the Red Sox would miss him, of course. This is when the absence of Jonathan Papelbon would haunt them the most. This is when Terry Francona trusts Papelbon as much as any manager trusts any pitcher in baseball, when the competition intensifies and the games take on additional meaning.

The Red Sox opened an important three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with an 8-4 win in the juice box known as Tropicana Field last night, and the final score suggests a victory easier than it really was. The Sox held a 7-2 advantage when Francona summoned Hideki Okajima for the bottom of the eighth, when an apparent blowout victory started to get slippery. Okajima faced five batters, allowing four hits and a walk, and the next thing you knew it was a 7-4 game with the bases loaded and nobody out.

That is when Francona summoned Papelbon for the first two-inning save of the closer’s career, an event that served as a timely reminder of just who Papelbon is and what he means to the Red Sox.

"You get his best stuff in those situations," Francona later told reporters of his closer. "He’s able to still execute all of his pitches because he throws strikes. He’s really good, but you get the best of him in those situations."

The Red Sox seemingly have a lot of elements in their favor as they continue to angle towards October, so maybe it is time to remember perhaps the single best thing they have going for them: Their closer is virtually bulletproof in big games. Among major league pitchers in with at least 285 innings pitched -- Papelbon now has 287.2 -- Papelbon has the third-lowest ERA in history behind only Al Spalding and Ed Walsh, neither of whom pitched after 1917. As we all know, the baseballs used in games back them might as well have been beanbags.

And then there is this: Papelbon has never allowed a run in the playoffs. Among pitchers with at least 25 career postseason innings, Papelbon has both the lowest ERA in history, a number that just happens to match the grade point average of one John Blutarsky: Zero point zero zero. When the going gets tough . . . the tough get going.

Bluto comes with some flaws; everyone does. In the midst of the Billy Wagner flap, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein made the surprising, amusing and spot-on remark that Papelbon isn’t exactly "a Rhodes Scholar." With regard to closing, maybe that is an asset. During his brilliant career, Papelbon frequently has pitched as if entirely unaware that defeat was a possibility. He is nothing short of a baseball Green Beret, an entirely fearless and skilled combatant who embraces true confrontation. When people like Francona speak of players who like to "compete," they are talking about men like Papelbon.

Lest there be any doubt, Francona, too, is more competitive than many assume. The Red Sox entered last night’s game with a four-game lead over the Texas Rangers and five-game lead over the Rays in the American League wild card race, and yet the Sox treated the series with a certain urgency. Over the weekend, the Sox shuffled their pitching to get last night’s starter, Jon Lester, into the series. Even with Lester on the mound, Francona chose Victor Martinez as his starting catcher. Then he relied on Papelbon for six outs in a save situation, something that has not happened here since Papelbon became the closer at the start of the 2006 season.

The Red Sox took this game seriously. They sure did. And with one or two more wins over the next two nights, they could effectively crush Tampa Bay’s windpipe. In the process, they might even pick up a little more ground on the Texas Rangers.

For Papelbon, last night was important in so many ways. Roughly a week after he questioned whether Wagner could help at all, let the record show that Wagner pitched a scoreless, dominating seventh before Papelbon recorded the final six outs. Okajima may have struggled in between, but Wagner and Papelbon collectively faced nine batters and struck out five. They did not allow a baserunner. Together, they threw first-pitch strikes to seven batters on what effectively amounted to one trip through the Tampa lineup, and they threw 29 of 41 pitches for strikes.

In the words of Dick Vitale: Totally awesome, baby, with a capital A.

This year more than any other, Papelbon has shown his mortality. The walks and homers are up; his fastball hasn’t had quite the same explosiveness. The rapid ascension of Daniel Bard has perhaps given the Sox and their followers a glimpse at the future, and there has been some speculation throughout the game that Papelbon could be available by trade as early as the approaching offseason. The Red Sox still have Papelbon under their control through the 2011 campaign -- he is eligible only for arbitration until then -- and the general history of closers suggests that they are more like meteors than stationary stars, the kind of floating bodies around which teams cannot plot their direction.

And yet, last night, Jonathan Papelbon issued us all a reminder:

As you look up at that same sky, be careful what you wish for.

Were we talking about the Josh Beckett of June, there would be positively no cause for concern. But at the moment, at least, the Beckett of late August is something altogether different, and the Red Sox currently appear more vulnerable than they would like.

The circus was in town at Fenway Park last night, the Sox dropping a 9-5 decision to the Chicago White Sox in a game that felt far more like the 13-0 drubbing against Tampa Bay on April 30. Before last night, that was the last time a Boston positional player -- in that case, Jonathan Van Every -- had been forced to pitch. The Sox subsequently took the field the next day behind Justin Masterson, who gave up six runs in six innings of an eventual 6-2 loss that left the Sox at 14-9 for the season with a whopping 139 games to play.

But this?

This is late August. The games have a far different feel now and the playoff races are at a virtual boil. The Red Sox tonight will send Beckett to the mound against a Toronto Blue Jays outfit that that has been stripped down in recent weeks, and they will do so following a game in which manager Terry Francona opted for Nick Green as his reliever of choice in the eighth inning of what was a 9-2 game. Even after the Sox scored a pair of runs in the eighth to make it 9-4, Green took the mound for the ninth.

"That’s not an easy decision," Francona said of his choice to pitch Green in a game that was not appropriately lopsided. "If we went to [Jonathan Papelbon], he wouldn’t be available [tonight]. If we went to [Hideki Okajima], he wouldn’t be available [tonight]. [Takashi] Saito is not available. He slept on his neck wrong, so he’s out of the picture. [Billy] Wagner was unavailable.

"It was a rough night, right from the beginning," Francona said. "As bleak as the game was looking, it looked worse from where we were."

Translation: In the early innings of last night’s game, Francona and pitching coach John Farrell knew they were on a crash course for Green. Very few others did, which is why the move seemed so surprising.

All of this brings us back to Beckett, whose last two outings have produced an 0-1 record and 10.12 ERA. In 13 1/3 innings, he has allowed 18 hits, 15 runs, and 8 homers. Opponents have batted .316 against him with an .807 slugging percentage and a 1.129 OPS. All of that damage has come while Beckett has issued one walk, which is to say that there has been nothing fluky about this. He has been getting pounded.

Following his last start, an 8-4 defeat to the Yankees in which he allowed five home runs, Beckett seemed so annoyed that he strained to censor himself. And as we all know, this is a man who never stops short in criticizing himself when the situation calls for it.

More than anyone, Beckett knows this is a bad time of year for a slump, especially with the Red Sox having relatively little consistency in their starting rotation.

For all of the debate and discussion surrounding the Sox lately -- should Victor Martinez catch more? Is Junichi Tazawa being rushed? -- we almost all agree on one thing: Without Beckett in top form, the Sox will have no chance at winning another world title. None. Maybe the Sox would make the playoffs, maybe they would not. Regardless, they are not winning a championship without him in peak form. We learned that last October, when Beckett pitched with an oblique strain that stripped him of his explosive velocity. And we learned it in 2006, when Beckett slogged through his first year in the American League, issuing 74 walks and serving up precisely three dozen homers as if they were glazed donuts.

Since that time, Beckett has gone 46-22, a .676 winning percentage that ranks second among all qualifying pitchers to only Jon Lester (30-13, .698). He has more wins in the AL than any pitcher but Roy Halladay (49-25, .662). Given that Lester did not begin to fully blossom until May of last year, Beckett has been the block of granite on which the Red Sox pitching staff has been built. Lester has developed into a front-line pitcher under his wing. The bullpen routinely has been spared on those days Beckett has pitched. The Sox have won with consistency every time Beckett has taken the mound.

Now, following a night on which Green was far more effective than Tazawa, the Red Sox cannot afford another clunker from their ace. The last time Beckett allowed 15 earned runs in consecutive starts -- in his final two outings of April -- he responded by going 12-2 with a 2.17 ERA over the span of 18 starts. That run thrust him into the thick of AL Cy Young Award contention and helped carry the Red Sox into the middle of playoff contention. Now the Sox are playing the most important regular season games they have played in years -- from here on out every contest becomes more and more like a playoff game -- and this is that time for which they pay Beckett more than any other pitcher on the Boston staff.

Starting tonight, the Red Sox need their ace to get back where he belongs.

Out in front.

Billy Wagner is 38 years old and recovering from major elbow surgery, and tonight he will join a Red Sox team in the heart of an intense playoff race. The Red Sox believe Wagner can help them, a determination they were forced to make quickly and one requiring far more than a simple trip to New York.

In many ways, the scouting of Billy Wagner has been going on for years.

"Actually, I had my wife get an old report because I saw him in college," said Allard Baird, a special assistant to Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein who was among a group of club officials involved on the decision to acquire the veteran lefthander. "I saw him in the minor leagues and I saw him in the big leagues, too. I saw him last year before the injury.

"In this particular situation, you look for differences," Baird said. "That’s not being negative, but you go in looking for differences and hoping you see consistencies."

So this is how it worked on Wagner, from Baird to Epstein to Galen Carr, Ray Fagnant and Jamie Bane, all (and more) of whom were involved in an aggressive and risky roll of the dice to add a power lefty to the Boston bullpen. Carr and Fagnant were in New York when Wagner made his return to the majors last Thursday.

And in evaluating whether Wagner was worth a gamble requiring the Sox to part with $3.5 million for six weeks of service -- the players who will be dealt to New York are a far lesser and relatively inconsequential price -- the Sox relied on a scouting history that began roughly 15 years ago, when Wagner was firing bullets for Ferrum College.

For Baird, formerly the general manager of the Kansas City Royals, scouting Wagner was not merely as simple as looking at radar gun readings and assessing the sharpness of Wagner’s slider. He collected information on Wagner’s pregame routine and watched him stretch. He paid attention to Wagner’s warmup sessions, taking particular note of how long it took him to get loose, how he stretched, what pitches he focused on. He compared all of that information to his own personal reports and those compiled by Red Sox scouts over the years, all in an attempt to answer a few simple questions.

How close is Wagner to being the same man who has amassed 385 career saves? Are his fastball and slider still good enough to be effective at something less than 100 percent? How is Wagner’s psyche in the wake of elbow surgery, specifically as it pertains to his aggressiveness and intensity?

And ultimately: Can he help?

"You look at past video before he had the surgery, you look at past reports, you look at all those things before you even see the player perform," Baird said. "A lot of those things are subjective, but they can be useful. …Theo is an extremely detailed guy. We took the approach where we had people in the office looking at video, scouts in the field, everything.

"The thing is, he is coming back from rehab, but the arm strength is there and the aggressive with that arm strength is there. That’s a big factor, too. There’s no reluctance to be aggressive in the strike zone. The last outing [on Monday], you could tell watching him warm up that he was antsy to get in the game."

Whether all of this will pay dividends for the Red Sox is anybody’s guess, though it should be stressed that the cost here for the Sox seems relatively small. After all, it’s only money. The Red Sox have a deep bullpen. Their success or failure does not hinge on Wagner’s health nearly as much as it does on several other factors, from the depth of their starting rotation to the consistency of their lineup. For the Sox, Wagner is a luxury.

So why did the Sox make this move? Because even with 5 mph shaved from his fastball, Wagner still throws harder than the large majority of lefthanded relievers in the major leagues. Because he gives the Red Sox another potential weapon. Because the Red Sox are a big market team that can spend $3.5 million on a player for six weeks of service and be none the worse for wear, and because the Sox came away convinced that Wagner still has enough juice -- even after Tommy John surgery -- to be far more effective than most big league relievers.

Even so, rest assured that this was an unusual acquisition for any major league team, even one with a big payroll and more than its share of issues. As the Red Sox learned with John Smoltz, players rehabilitating from injury are a great risk, even if the potential reward is high. Wagner’s elbow could flare up at any time and the Red Sox could be out another $3.5 million. But as Billy Wagner joins the Red Sox tonight at Fenway Park, know that the Red Sox have been watching him a long time on the odd chance that he might someday be able to help them win a world title.

Now you know why your parents always urged you to do your homework.

With regard to Billy Wagner, there is really just one question: What’s the downside? The Red Sox are giving up two players to be named, neither of which is expected to a prospect of any consequence. They get a lefty reliever who can throw in the mid 90s, even after elbow surgery. And they have the space in their bullpen, despite the initial concerns of closer Jonathan Papelbon.

In the end, all this is going to cost the Red Sox is $3.5 million, a paltry sum for a team with an annual payroll in the range of $150 million.

Yes, Wagner comes with limitations. He cannot pitch on back-to-back days. He has a career postseason ERA of 8.71. Maybe he will be a bust. But the Red Sox gave up virtually nothing here for the chance to add, at worst, a situational lefty with strikeout power who could help them now and in the playoffs -- especially against a left-handed lineup like the one in New York -- while preserving their right to offer arbitration and regain talent through draft picks.

That latter point, in particular, should not go overlooked. Had he remained with the Mets this season, New York likely would have offered Wagner arbitration over the winter so that the Mets qualified for compensation. The Red Sox knew that, which is why they called Wagner’s bluff. When push came to shove, Wagner had to choose between pitching for the Mets in 2009 or pitching for the Red Sox, and the latter opportunity does not afford him solely the chance at a world title. It also affords him the opportunity to prove that he can still pitch when it matters, something New York could not give him.

So how will the Sox use Wagner? Instantly, he gives them a second lefty to go along with Hideki Okajima. He has closing experience. Sox manager Terry Francona can use Wagner for one out or for three, depending on the opposing lineup, depending on the workload on other Sox relievers. The Red Sox bullpen is deep enough that the Sox can carry someone like Wagner -- just as they are carrying Takasho Saito -- because the Sox long ago learned the golden rule of baseball.

You can never have too much pitching.

Barring a return trip in October, the New York Yankees will not return to Boston this year. And so as Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter led a roster of New Yorkers pulling roll-away bags through the cavernous concourses at Fenway Park late last night, there was no doubt where the Yankees were headed.

October.

As for the Red Sox, there is still a great deal of work to do following a three-game weekend series that played out like a "Seinfeld" episode. In the end, it was all a show about nothing. The Yankees extended their lead in the division to a whopping 7 1/2 games. Boston preserved a one-game lead over Texas in the wild card standings while whittling three more days off the schedule. And the Red Sox are no longer competing with the Yankees so much as they are with the rest of the American League.

Truth be told, the next four games against the Chicago White Sox are far more important to the Red Sox than the three games they just completed with New York.

"We’re okay. We don’t need to reassess our team or anything like that," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said following an 8-4 defeat in which the Yankees teed off against Josh Beckett as if he were John Wasdin. "We know it’s a late night. The White Sox are already sitting there waiting but we’re okay. We just need to come out and play. Our guys do a good job of that."

Indeed they do. Right now, it’s the winning that’s giving them trouble, at least on a consistent basis.

With that in mind -- and with exactly 39 games remaining for each team -- here is an overview of the wild card race between the Red Sox, Rangers, and Rays entering what amounts to the fourth quarter of the Major League season:

RED SOX

Odds to win wild card: 2 to 1.

Record: 70-53.

Schedule: Moderate. Beginning with tonight’s series opener against the White Sox, the Red Sox will play 20 of their remaining games against teams with winning records (Chicago, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, New York) and 19 games against teams with losing records (Baltimore, Cleveland, Toronto, Kansas City). The six games against Tampa obviously will provide Texas an opportunity to gain on at least the Sox or Rays, provided that the Rangers win their games.

Greatest assets: Experience and front-end pitching. Despite Josh Beckett’s struggles in his last two starts, the Red Sox still have the best 1-2 punch in the American League, particularly in the postseason. In fact, as one Sox player noted before last night’s game with the Yankees, the Sox might be built more for the postseason than the regular season thanks to a deep bullpen as well as the presence of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the front end of the rotation. If the Sox get in -- and if they can set up their pitching -- would you really want to play them?

Biggest weaknesses: Rotation depth, lineup. Tim Wakefield is set to return to the rotation Wednesday, but what if he has problems? Then what? Clay Buchholz stands as an obvious key and the return of Daisuke Matsuzaka could prove huge, but there is still instability beyond Beckett and Lester. Meanwhile, there is pressure on manager Terry Francona to make the right lineup choices on a nightly basis. Once the Sox get beyond the No. 5 spot in the lineup, it’s a game of musical chairs.

TEXAS RANGERS

Odds to win wild card: 2 to 1.

Record: 69-54.

Schedule: Favorable. Generally speaking, the Rangers have a similar schedule to that of the Red Sox -- 19 games against teams with winning records (New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay) and 20 games against teams with losing records (Minnesota, Toronto, Baltimore, Cleveland, Oakland). So why is this better news for Texas than for Boston? Because the Red Sox and Rays still have to play one another six times. For the Rangers, that’s six guaranteed losses combined for the clubs they are competing against. Big advantage there.

Greatest assets: Pitching, speed, defense. The Rangers may not have a candidate for the Cy Young Award, but they have depth through the rotation and bullpen, especially with the arrivals of Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz. The addition of rookie Elvis Andrus at shortstop has improved the infield defense and the Rangers have an ability to manufacture runs when they need to. Texas pitching has been one of the great surprises in baseball this year, but do not be deceived: There’s nothing fluky anymore. The Rangers rank ahead of both the Red Sox and Rays in team ERA.

Biggest weaknesses: Inexperience, offensive inconsistency. With regard to the Texas youth, it’s really not a question of whether the Rangers will succumb to pressure. Rather, the question is whether some of the club’s younger arms can withstand the grind of the longer season. Adrenaline alone might solve that. Offensively, the Rangers not a great team anymore and they rank near the bottom of the league in on-base percentage. If the Rangers are pitched properly, particularly on the road, they often will get themselves out.

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Odds to win wild card: 4 to 1.

Record: 67-56.

Schedule: Difficult. The Rays have just four series remaining against teams with losing records -- two against Toronto, two against Baltimore. Beyond that, the Rays have to play the balance of their games against the Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers, Mariners and Angels. Excluding the Sox, against whom the Rays are 8-4, Tampa is just 21-28 this season against teams with winning records. The Rays have cleaned up on clubs like the Royals and Jays -- they’re 18-4 combined against those teams -- but have looked ordinary against anyone other than Boston.

Strengths: Speed, bullpen, character. At their best, the Rays can beat anyone. Tampa’s lineup has improved significantly this season -- the Rays essentially have scored as many runs as the Sox -- and the bullpen currently leads the AL in ERA. Over the last year or so, the Rays seem to have played their best at the most important times -- especially against the Red Sox -- and the team has good makeup and leadership. Last year, aside from being hungry, the Rays proved they are feisty and downright tough.

Biggest weakness: Rotation depth. Once you get past James Shields, Matt Garza and Jeff Niemann, the rotation is thin. David Price and Scott Kazmir certainly have the potential to be dominating, but the inconsistencies of each have held the Rays back. If Price and Kazmir can click over the last several weeks, the Rays could easily string together a long winning streak. But given the Rays’ schedule from here on out, one can’t help but wonder if Tampa already has blown its chance.

Nothing comes easily for them now, from the top of the rotation to the back of the bullpen, from the first out to the last. Even the wins are a struggle. The best things the Red Sox have going for them are resiliency and determination, attributes that have been hallmarks during this remarkable stage of their history.

Holding on for dear life against the Toronto Blue Jays while the Texas Rangers were losing to the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox eked out a 10-9 decision last night at the Rogers Centre in a win requiring every last bit of their energy. The wildcard is a dead heat now. There are precisely 44 games to play. Unlike the nouveau riche Rangers, the Red Sox have a considerable wealth of experience and success to draw from at the moment, and they may very well need every last bit of it.

"One of those days, you just say, 'You know what, I don't have my best stuff, I don't have my best delivery, got to grind it out and do what I can to preserve the win,"' Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon told reporters after yet another white-knuckle finish. "Those situations, you take whatever you can get. Doesn't matter how you get the outs, doesn't matter what happens."

So long as the end result is a win.

Beggars can't be choosers, folks. Right now, the Sox are in no position to ask for style points. Four games into a six-game road trip through Texas and Toronto, the Sox are 2-2. They could easily be 0-4. On Friday night, the Sox needed a six-run ninth inning to escape with an 8-4 win.

Last night, despite staking their ace to several leads and handing over a three-run advantage to their once-impenetrable closer, the Sox turned blue from holding their breath. When Jays catcher Rod Barajas ended the game by fouling out to first baseman Kevin Youkilis with two men on in the ninth, all of New England was desperately waiting to exhale.

Entering last night, the Sox were 17-6 in Beckett's 23 starts this season. Since the start of the 2006 campaign, they were 195-40 in Papelbon's 235 career regular-season appearances. The combination of those factors should have made this game about the closest thing the Sox can get to a slam dunk, and yet the club had to fight, scratch, claw and grind its way to a win.

For all of those who believe there are simple answers to the Red Sox' issues at the moment, think again. Precisely one week after Mike Lowell came off the bench to hit two homers in a 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers -- Lowell entered after Kevin Youkilis was ejected for charging the mound -- super Tuesday this time belonged to Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who was not in manager Terry Francona's original lineup.

Ortiz was inserted only after catcher Jason Varitek was scratched with a neck/shoulder ailment that he has been fighting for much of the season, forcing Victor Martinez to become Beckett's batterymate and dropping Ortiz back into the Sox lineup.

As Beckett struggled -- coincidence or circumstance? -- Ortiz had a double, home run and three RBIs in his first two plate appearances. The Sox are now 16-2 this season when Ortiz hits a home run. Ten days after the Sox left New York having been swept by the Yankees, the team still seems to be conducting a fire drill and the lineup looks like a game of musical chairs. That is hardly anyone's fault. Yesterday, just as the Sox were preparing for the return of Youkilis from a five-game suspension, Dustin Pedroia flew back to Boston to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

On the road to October life just keeps getting in the way for the 2009 Red Sox.

In many ways, more than anyone else, Ortiz stands alone as the poster boy for this current Sox edition. No one else on the team this season has experienced anything even remotely comparable to Ortiz' roller-coaster existence. He looked finished during the first two months. Then he got hot. Then he was identified as being on the government list of those connected to the 2003 survey testing for performance-enhancing substances. Then Ortiz went cold again, batting .156 over a span of 17 games through last week's home series against the Tigers.

Over the weekend, prior to the series opener with Texas, Ortiz vented about the way he has been treated by some members of the local and national media. Since that time, he has been nothing short of a one-man wrecking crew. In the last four games, Ortiz is 5 for 11 with three home runs, two doubles, six RBIs, seven runs scored and seven walks. The Red Sox have needed every bit of it to merely tread water and keep pace in a playoff race that seems destined to go down to the wire.

Of course, Ortiz was a member of the 2004 Sox team that came back against the Yankees and a member of the 2007 team that came back against the Cleveland Indians. He has been through more difficult times than this. For that matter, so have Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield. Many of the current Sox were members of the '07 club.

One of the best things the Sox had going for them then was what they have going for them now, an ability to plod along, to march on, to compete and to fight.

What we do not know is whether that will be enough.

Elvis Andrus steals second base vs. the Sox Saturday in Texas. (AP)

They can't stop the run and they just got passed. Now the Red Sox are in a dogfight with the Texas Rangers, of all teams, and history has taught us that simply squeaking into the playoffs probably won't be good enough.

Precisely 45 games now remain for the Red Sox in this regular season, but do not be deceived. The relevant number is actually slightly less. To some degree, the Red Sox lost control of their own fate by dropping 2 of 3 to the Rangers over the weekend, slipping a half-game behind (a full game in the loss column) in the American League wild card race with seven weeks to play.

But even if the Sox make the playoffs, there is now sufficient cause to worry about what kind of shape they will be in when they get there.

Remember 2005? That was the year the Sox were forced to play the final weekend against the New York Yankees while the rested Chicago White Sox patiently waited for a dance partner. The Red Sox were swept in the first round. Meanwhile, in the two most recent years that produced world titles -- 2004 and 2007 -- the Sox were willing to sacrifice a division title for the safety net known as the wild card, largely because it would allow them to get their team in order for the start of the postseason.

This year, with the division all but gone, the Sox seemingly have no choice but to fight to the finish -- and without a net. That could strip them of their ability to prepare for the playoffs, specifically as it pertains to their pitching.

Let's turn back the clock to 2007 for a moment.

"It means a lot, but it means nothing as far as winning a World Series," manager Terry Francona said that year while the Red Sox were seemingly losing grasp of the division title. "It means a lot for what you set out to accomplish, I think. I don't think there's any getting around that, and I don't think we want to. But when it's all said and done, it won't have any bearing on how far we get into the postseason."

Translation: The Red Sox were willing to sacrifice the division for the greater good, which was the world title. They saw far more benefit in entering the playoffs as a rested-and-ready wild card than as a tired-and-taxed division winner. Remember, they could have pushed for the division title in 2004 as well. They chose not to. They subsequently began the playoffs on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, whom they wiped out in three games.

Oh, and did we mention that those same Angels were forced to play for their postseason lives on the final weekend of the regular season in Oakland, against an A's team similarly scraping to get into the playoffs? As it turned out, that series meant nothing. One week later, both the Angels and A's were gone, partly because they were in no shape to compete against better, more prepared teams.

Jon Lester (AP)

For these Red Sox, lest anyone misunderstand, this is all about the pitching. With the weekend results in Texas, the Sox are now 32-15 in games started by the tandem of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, 34-36 in games started by anyone else.

We all understand the potential impact of Boston's top two starters in any short series. Combined, Beckett and Lester could start as many as three games in a five-game series or as many as four games in a seven-game series, assuming the Red Sox are properly positioned to make that happen. If that scenario were to unfold, nobody in his (or her) right mind would discount the Sox from any competition.

But what happens if Beckett or Lester -- or both -- have to pitch on the final weekend of the season to get the Sox into the playoffs? The Sox then might end up like their 2005 ancestors, who were forced to open the playoffs against the White Sox behind Matt Clement. Chicago won Game 1 by a preposterous 14-2 score and Boston never recovered.

At this point, a considerable 117 games into the schedule -- more than 72 percent of the season -- we know what the Red Sox are: an excellent team on the days Beckett or Lester pitches, a generally mediocre one on the days anyone else takes the mound. At the moment, the one potential exception in this argument is Tim Wakefield, behind whom the Sox are 13-4. The only questions are whether Wakefield will pitch again this year at all, and, if he does, how effectively he will pitch. That makes him as big a variable as any other.

At this stage, we know what the Sox are. If they don't maximize every chance with Beckett and Lester, they're cooked.

"We haven't played up to our capability, that's for sure," Mike Lowell told reporters following Sunday's loss. "If today was the last game of the season, I think we'd all be crying right now. But we still have a month and a half of baseball left and a chance to turn it around. I think we've got to look at it as that. But we can't keep playing the way we are. We have to improve in more than just one area.

"We're not going to trade nine guys. We have to do it with the guys we have. We're capable of it. We've just got to get more hits."

Whether the Sox can do that is difficult to say, particularly following a couple of recent moves that have changed the roster. Victor Martinez came and Justin Masterson went. Alex Gonzalez is now the shortstop. The Sox played much of the weekend with a makeshift group thanks to the suspension of Kevin Youkilis and a groin injury to J.D. Drew -- and it showed. While the Rangers ran wild against Brad Penny -- that's 27 of 29 in steal attempts against him this year -- the bottom third of the Boston lineup was a shallow as a kiddie pool.

Beginning tomorrow, the Sox will play a three-game series in Toronto. Then they will begin a 10-game homestand against the Yankees, White Sox, and Jays. After that, they have a seven-game road trip to Tampa and Chicago. The midseason creampuffs have been erased from the Boston schedule and now the Sox are doing the chasing, all at a time when the Rangers will be playing the bulk of their games against the A's and Mariners.

The point?

If the Red Sox don't get a lead -- and soon -- it may not matter in the long run. Because they will have no more games to play.

First, you need to understand who Josh Beckett is. He takes credit for nothing. He takes responsibility for everything. And he is not at all interested in pounding his chest so much as he interested in thumping the competition, mostly because he believes that self-promotion is for losers.

"I feel like I did my job," Beckett said following last night’s 8-2 win over the Detroit Tigers that left him with a 14-4 record and 3.10 ERA this season. "It’s not that I’m not happy with myself. I just don’t let myself look back and I don’t look forward. Looking at the results is something I’ve done in the past and it’s something I generally don’t let myself fall back into."

So he focuses on the here and now, on the only time that matters, on the moment.

Lose yourself.

Beckett made his 23d start for the Red Sox last night, which is noteworthy on a number of levels. With five more starts, he will trigger the $12 million option on his contract for next season, though the Red Sox were certain to exercise that anyway. And why not? Since May 1, a span covering 18 starts, Beckett’s 2.17 ERA is the best in the American League. During that stretch, he is 12-2 while holding opponents to a .208 average. He has done it all while averaging 14.9 pitches per inning, efficiency nearly unheard of for a man who averages better than eight strikeouts per nine innings.

Beckett has been so darned good that last night, he actually sounded happy with himself, which is to say that he was not dismissive or contemptuous when the conversation turned to him.

"He’s never complacent," pitching coach John Farrell said of his ace. "I think anything less than seven innings is not good enough for him. On a night like [last night], when he turns the game over to the bullpen and the game is in control -- not over, but in control -- I think he takes some satisfaction in that. But it would never affect the next four days and how he prepares for the next start."

Again using May 1 as a starting line, Beckett has averaged better than seven innings per start, never pitching fewer than six. He has three complete games and two shutouts. The Red Sox have outscored opponents 90-48, a ratio of roughly 2–to-1. Take away Beckett’s one bad outing during that stretch -- an 11-6 Sox loss at Philadelphia on June 14 -- and the Sox have taken apart opponents by the count of 84-37, an average score of roughly 5-2.

Following last night’s game, Sox manager Terry Francona would not go so far as to say that he can plan his bullpen around Beckett’s outings every five days, but he effectively admitted that, at this stage, Beckett could only be derailed by an unforeseen happening.

"We certainly know he’s coming and we have expectations when he’s pitching," Francona said. "But I don’t think we can ever [plan] that with anybody. All it takes is for someone to take a ball off the shin. If you’re not prepared for something fluky, you can get yourself in a bind."

At the moment, make no mistake: if Beckett were to get knocked around in his next start -- against Toronto on Tuesday -- it would qualify as fluky.

Last night, particularly without slugger Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers never really had a chance. Beckett retired the first 11 batters of the game before walking Clete Thomas with two outs in the fourth. He did not allow a hit until Carlos Guillen’s leadoff homer in the fifth. Detroit went just 3 for 23 against him and had only two at-bats with men on base, the first producing a strikeout by Marcus Thames, the second a double-play ground out by Magglio Ordonez. Of Beckett’s 97 pitches, 89 were from the windup. He threw a mere eight pitches from the stretch, seven of those came in the strikeout of Thames following the two-out walk to Thomas in the fourth.

With 49 games now remaining in this season, we all know where the Red Sox stand. Currently the possessors of a two-game lead in the wild card race, the Sox are 17-6 when Beckett pitches, 31-15 in games started by Beckett or Jon Lester. Behind anyone else, the Sox are 34-33. The inconsistency of the Boston rotation beyond the top two starters has made the outings of Beckett and Lester virtual must-win situations. Last week, though Beckett and Lester allowed two runs in 20 innings covering three starts combined, the Sox nonetheless lost six in a row to their two chief division rivals.

This week, of course, the opposite is happening. Because the Sox won behind both Brad Penny and Junichi Tazawa, they took the field last night behind their ace with a good chance at a three-game winning streak. If Clay Buchholz can somehow find a way to neutralize Justin Verlander this afternoon, the Sox will send Lester to the mound tomorrow night against the Rangers -- suddenly, that looks like a very big series -- with a reasonable chance to win five in a row.

"You come here everyday with the guys you have at the major league level, and you go out there and you except to win," said Sox outfielder Jason Bay. "And then there are those that Josh is pitching. You really feel like you have a chance, and sometimes it might only take one run. The way he’s been going, save maybe a couple starts early on, he’s been unbelievable. It’s a blast to play behind. It’s Cy Young stuff. Every team needs that guy, that stopper, that ace. Right now, he’s that and then some."

Nearly four years ago, when the Red Sox acquired Beckett in a landmark deal with the Florida Marlins, the young righthander was coming off a career-best 15-win season that seemed like a potential spring board for his career. Even though Beckett struggled in 2006, he still won 16 games. Today, beginning with that 15-win campaign in Florida, Beckett has more wins over the last five seasons (77) than any pitcher in the game but Johan Santana (79), though the two have the same winning percentage (.658). The Red Sox have yet another king in the royal line that has run from Roger Clemens to Pedro Martinez to Curt Schilling, and Beckett’s legacy in Boston is being etched right before our very eyes.

Every five days, it seems, the Red Sox can take a breath.

Right now, with regard to Beckett, even the man himself cannot find too much to complain about.

Mike Lowell watches one of his two home runs Tuesday night. (Jim Davis / Globe Staff)

At his worst, Mike Lowell is a dissatisfied, stubborn and proud man frustrated with his plight. At his best, he is a bona fide, qualified, and certified RBI man whose productivity speaks for itself.

Last night, he was a little of both.

"I’m grateful that I’m at least swinging a good bat," Lowell said last night following the Red Sox’ 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. "I don’t know why you wouldn’t want a good bat in your lineup."

Lowell was not supposed to play in this game, of course. Once again, it was his turn to sit. Shortly after Lowell and his balky hip returned from the disabled list last month, the Red Sox executed a series of transactions as if they were trading shares on the floor of the stock exchange: prospects for Adam LaRoche, LaRoche for Casey Kotchman, prospects for Victor Martinez. When the closing bell sounded, the Red Sox were left with Martinez, Kotchman, Lowell, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis - "five or six position guys for four spots," as Lowell put it – in an attempt to bolster a Boston lineup that had been sagging.

Ten games later, Martinez and Youkilis are the only players among that group who have played every game. Martinez may not sit anytime soon. Youkilis will have no choice.

Which brings us back to Lowell.

In the aftermath of Youkilis’w ejection last night following his decision to charge the mound in bottom of the second inning -- a suspension is inevitable -- Lowell entered the game as a pinch runner. He ended up going 2 for 3 with a pair of homers, three RBI and three runs scored, prompting his manager to laud Lowell’s "professionalism." Like most everyone else in New England at this stage, Francona knows that Lowell is a full-time player who takes pride in being in the lineup everyday. He also knows that the Sox’ current surplus of bodies, coupled with Lowell’s recovery from hip surgery, has put some restrictions on his ability to serve as such.

At the moment, is there anything to be drawn from the fact that Lowell is batting .368 since the All-Star break, when the Red Sox decided to lessen his workload? Maybe yes, maybe no.

"I think that’s a good way to justify it because we have five or six position guys for four spots," countered Lowell. "I’ve always enjoyed being in a position where I can hit with guys on base because I’ve done it my whole career."

Said Francona, "I don’t think we need to take credit for him swinging the bat well. He’s been a good hitter for a lot of years."

You want to talk consistency? A year ago, with one game remaining before the All-Star break, Lowell was batting .301 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI in 78 games. In 85 games this season, those happen to be almost his exact totals (.297, 13, 57). That would hardly be surprising were it not for the fact that Lowell had his hip injury in between, a problem that effectively sidelined him for the second half of last season and has significantly limited his mobility this season.

At the moment, we all know that consistent run production, particularly against good pitching, appears to be one of the Sox’ greatest flaws. This season, when Lowell knocks in at least one run, the Red Sox are 25-8. During his Sox career, the team is 137-57 when he has at least one RBI. Two years ago, before the hip injury, Lowell knocked in a career-best 120 runs, and he was well on his way to another good season when the hip problem derailed his season.

Since that time, the Red Sox have had to deal with the reality of a 35-year-old third baseman with a bad hip. They pursued Mark Teixeira. They traded for LaRoche and Martinez. Lowell was affected by those maneuvers more than perhaps any other Sox player, especially considering his performance when healthy. If his ego has been bruised along the way, it is certainly understandable. As any manager will tell you -- Francona especially -- you would much rather have a player who wants to be on the field more than one who would prefer to be on the field less.

Clearly, Lowell would like to play more. His bat is making a good argument for him. Francona has been loyal to all of his players over the years, but independent of Youkilis’s suspension, the manager might soon be faced with a particularly difficult decision.

The Sox value Varitek behind the plate. They seem to regard Kotchman largely as a reserve. If Martinez is at first and Youkilis is at third, that leaves two players for one spot -- Lowell and Ortiz -- and the productivity of the former currently outweighs the performance of the latter. If the Red Sox were to get to the playoffs, when the schedule is spotted with days off, one can only wonder if Francona would be forced choose between two players who have meant a great deal to his team in recent years.

Meanwhile, despite his displeasure, Lowell is coming off the bench to hit two home runs in a game, something no Sox player had done since Joe Foy in 1967.

"Yeah, how about that?" Francona said of Lowell’s performance. "I do think that shows a lot of professionalism. That’s not an easy thing to do."

Said a sarcastic Lowell, "Is that a sign that they can sit me more?"

On the contrary.

After all, at the moment, the best argument he is making is with his bat.

Dave Magadan spent the weekend, like you, witnessing the occurrences in New York. But as the losses mounted, there was at least one thing Magadan did not lose.

Unlike a hitter, who only has to be concerned with his own performance at the plate, hitting coach Dave Magadan has an entire lineup of players to worry about, including David Ortiz. (Bill Greene / Globe Staff Photo)

His sense of humor.

"Are you calling to talk about [President Obama's] health care plan?" the Red Sox hitting coach joked when reached by phone yesterday.

Today, the Red Sox are winners again, finally, following last night's 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. The Sox scored two runs in the first inning against Tigers starter Edwin Jackson, two more in the second, and one each in the fifth and seventh. Overall, the Red Sox had as many hits (12) as they did over a stretch of 28 innings against the Yankees, bringing at least a temporary reprieve from a six-game stretch against New York and Tampa Bay during which the Red Sox went 0-6 while batting .174 and scoring a mere 14 runs.

Magadan suffered last week, as any major league coach would have. He knows too much about hitting not to have. Magadan batted .288 during a major league career that covered parts of 16 seasons, finishing third in the National League batting race with a .328 average for the 1990 New York Mets. He does not need anyone to explain to him just how miserable last week was for the Red Sox because his body did that for him.

"Oh, gosh. Ask me how much sleep I've gotten," Magadan said. "It's tough. It's so much different than when you're a player. Any hitting coach will tell you that, as a player, you're just worried about yourself. As a hitting coach, I'm worried about everyone. That game in Baltimore when we scored 18 runs [on Aug. 2], everything was good, right? But David [Ortiz] went 0 for 5 and so I'm trying to help him."

Of course, as Bill Parcells taught us and no matter what anybody else suggests, it's all about the groceries. You simply cannot make an extravagant meal without the necessary ingredients. The Red Sox suddenly seem to have a number of players in their lineup who are aging or underperforming, and there is only so much any coach can do. That is probably truer in baseball than in any other of the four major team sports, largely because of the division of labor.

Joe Kerrigan? He had a reputation here as a good pitching coach. In 1997, under Kerrigan's watch and the year before Pedro Martinez joined the Boston staff, the Red Sox finished 12th among the 14 American League clubs in ERA. In Martinez's first two seasons, the Sox jumped to second, then first. The Sox made a similar offensive jump from 2000 to 2002 after making Manny Ramirez the centerpiece of their lineup. During that span, the Sox went from 12th in the league in runs scored to seventh, then second. In each of the three seasons after that, the Sox ranked first.

During that stretch, the Sox changed hitting coaches from Jim Rice (in 2000), to Rick Down (in 2001), to Dwight Evans (in 2002), to Ron Jackson (2003-2006). Magadan is now in his third season. Up until this year the production generally has remained steady, offering further evidence that the drop in production (the Sox rank fifth in the AL in runs scored) has far more to do with the ingredients -- after all, Ramirez is gone now -- than it does with the chef.

Magadan knows what his job is. He is part researcher, part psychologist, part tactician. No one doubts his knowledge or his work ethic, and Magadan has merely continued the methods he always has employed.

"I'd like to think so," he said. "You certainly try to do the things you've done all year. You prepare the guys and you educate them on who's pitching that night. You give them extra [batting practice] and you give them the positive reinforcement they need. ... I don't underestimate any part of my job because you never know when you say something and, a month later, a player might come back and say, 'Hey, that really hit home,' and I won't even remember saying it. I think we have an advance scouting department that's second to none and that makes my job easier."

And then, lest anyone forget, the pitchers have something to say about the outcome, too.

Last week, against the Rays and Yankees, the Red Sox faced a succession of power arms: Matt Garza and David Price in Tampa; Joba Chamberlain, A.J., Burnett and CC Sabathia in New York. Andy Pettitte, who shut them down on Sunday, has a 1.87 ERA in his last five starts. All of that seemed caused for alarm entering last night's game, though maybe we all missed the far more relevant point: Jackson entered the game with a 5.44 ERA in his career against Boston with an 0-4 record and 7.14 ERA at Fenway Park.

Before the end of the season, the obvious concern is that the Sox will see as many good pitchers as bad ones, particularly in the American League East. Justin Verlander of the Tigers awaits them on Thursday. The Sox still have six more games with the Yankees, six more with the Rays, nine more with the Toronto Blue Jays. That means as many as three more meetings with Roy Halladay. They could see Mark Buehrle later this month and Zack Greinke in September, and, thanks to last week, now have virtually no margin for error.

"We have expectations for our team that it really doesn't matter who's pitching," Magadan said when asked if opposing pitchers had a lot to do with the Sox' difficulties. "I don't want to have a team that's going to feast on a No. 5 starter. If we're going to go deep into the postseason, then there are pitchers our team needs to succeed against.''

After all, that was something the Sox learned last October.

NEW YORK -- Lest anyone forget, the Yankees finished six games behind the Red Sox last season. New York is now 6½ games in front. The pendulum has swung, or, as former Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley once noted, the worm has turned.

Questions, questions, questions: Right now, the Red Sox have a million of `em. A week that began with concerns about the Boston rotation ended with questions about the Boston bullpen, not to mention a lineup that suddenly looks softer than a slice of New York-style cheesecake. From May 9 through Aug. 9, a span covering three months and precisely 80 games, the Red Sox rank eighth in the American League in runs scored behind, among others, the Oakland Athletics. The Sox haven’t consistently hit for a while now -- not really, anyway -- and the bullpen that was once the strength of the team is now faltering at critical times. Until that unforgettable June 30 meltdown at Baltimore, the Red Sox had lost just one game all season when leading after six innings. Beginning with that affair, they have now lost four more. In the recently completed six-game segment through Tampa Bay and New York, the Sox twice blew leads in the eighth.

"We have a long part of our season left," Red Sox catcher and captain Jason Varitek said following last night’s late-inning meltdown that produced a 5-2 loss to the Yankees. "We have too good of character on this team [to continue falling apart]."

No argument there.

The question is whether the Sox have enough talent.

Let’s be honest, folks. The Red Sox have a long way to go and they appear to be heading in the wrong direction at supersonic speed. From the end of last season until now, New York has blown right past them. For all of the talk about the depth of the Red Sox pitching entering this season -- and the Sox still have good depth long term -- the Yankees will return next year with a group built around CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and the ageless Mariano Rivera. Matched against a Boston lineup that suddenly seems to be aging at a tenfold rate, that looks like a mismatch. It was certainly a mismatch over the weekend, and it leaves Red Sox pitchers at an enormous disadvantage given a Yankees lineup that includes Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Robinson Cano, among others. Rodriguez has missed 30 games this season and, even in the wake of early-season hip surgery, still has as many home runs (21) as anyone on the Red Sox. For that matter, so does Johnny Damon.

And before anyone suggests that Damon has benefited solely from the laughable right field at Yankee Stadium, let’s remember that his game-tying home run last night was a laser that landed in the Yankees bullpen, just to the right of the 385-foot mark. Even fireballing young righthander Daniel Bard couldn’t get his fastball by Damon. Over the last three years of a contract during which Red Sox officials believed Damon would be grossly overpaid, Damon has more hits (424 to 311), runs scored (267 to 222), home runs (50 to 42) and RBIs (199 to 171) than J.D. Drew, who makes an average of $1 million more per season (edge Drew, $14 million to $13 million) and is signed for two more years. Damon, by the way, will be a free agent in the fall.

Oh, and did we mention that the Red Sox rank 13th among the 14 American League teams in on-base percentage from the leadoff spot since Damon departed? Damon might not be hitting leadoff for the Yankees anymore -- he bats second -- but he certainly could do it for the Red Sox.

Fine, so the Yankees bought a sizable chunk of their team. What else is new? No one in Boston was crying about that last year or in 2007, 2005, or 2004. This particular whine seems to come up only when the Sox lose. Going forward, the greatest concern about the competition between the Sox and Yankees is the matchup between Red Sox hitters and Yankees pitchers, largely because the Red Sox don’t seem to have a lot of options. The free-agent market is thin. The farm system is suspiciously devoid of impact hitters. The only way the Red Sox are going to get more bats is through trade, and that means giving up significant pitching talent at the majors or minors.

Think about it: Jason Bay is a free agent and Jason Varitek will be 38 next spring. Mike Lowell is 35 and still dealing with effects of hip surgery. The Sox have major problems at shortstop (good luck filling that one), and Drew and David Ortiz -- no spring chickens they -- are having disappointing years. Even with the addition of Victor Martinez, the Sox could have as many as five spots in the lineup in need of potential upgrading come November.

Now does everyone understand why the Sox should have thrown everything they had at Teixeira last winter?

Months ago, before this season even began, we all knew that offense could be a potential problem for this team. It’s one thing to score runs against the Baltimore Orioles of the world; it’s another thing entirely to score them against teams like Tampa Bay, New York or even Toronto. Including the Sox, all of those teams rank in the top eight in the AL in pitching. And though the Yankees rank precisely eighth, New York has a 3.78 ERA during the aforementioned three-month sample that began May 10. That number ranks first in the league during that span.

Admittedly, as both Varitek and Dustin Pedroia said last night, there is still a lot of baseball to be played this season. The Red Sox have 52 games remaining, which essentially qualifies as one-third of their season. The problem is that the Red Sox are going to see a lot more good pitching, beginning with Edwin Jackson tonight in the opener of a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. On Thursday, the Sox will oppose Justin Verlander. Between now and the end of the season, the Sox also will have 21 more games against the Yankees (six), Jays (nine) and Rays (six), which means more of Sabathia and Burnett, Matt Garza, David Price, and Roy Halladay, not to mention Chamberlain, James Shields, and others.

And for what it’s worth, the challenge isn’t going to get any easier next year, either.

NEW YORK -- This is when the manager of the Red Sox truly earns his money, when Terry Francona typically is at his best. His team and its season are unraveling, and Francona has been around long enough to know that there is really only one thing he can do.

Wait.

“If I go and tell ‘em to hit -- I think they’re already trying to do that,’’ Francona said early last night following a 5-0 loss to the New York Yankees that pushed the Sox 5 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East. “The energy level is there. We’ve just been putting up zeroes for a lot of innings now. I think sometimes you balance that. If I thought the effort was terrible I’d say something, but I don’t think that’s the case.’’

Screaming fits? Broken chairs? Turned-over tables? That is not Francona’s style and it never will be. It is one of the primary reasons he has lasted this long in Boston at all. Until Francona came along, the Red Sox had gone roughly 60 years without a manager who survived at least five full seasons. Francona did that while winning two World Series and making four playoff appearances, the kind of run that has made him the most successful manager in Red Sox history.

Yesterday, in particular, the manager had quite a day. Francona’s afternoon began with him attending the midday press conference conducted by David Ortiz. (Francona stood just off to Ortiz’s right and was the only uniformed member of the organization in attendance.) He shook Ortiz’s hand when the player concluded his remarks. Once the game started, Francona rushed out to the field to protect Dustin Pedroia when the player argued about a disputed foul tip. Then Francona was back on the field again after Ramon Ramirez was ejected by home plate umpire Jim Joyce, who believed that Ramirez deliberately threw at Alex Rodriguez.

After all of that, Francona fielded questions following another frustrating defeat, people wanting to know everything from the Sox’ overall level of concern to whether Francona regretted putting Kevin Youkilis in left field.

“If there’s a criticism about Youkilis playing in left field, it certainly needs to be directed at me, not him,’’ Francona said following a day on which Youkilis was involved in a pair of misplays (though neither led to a run). “He’s doing something to try to help us win games.’’

So is the manager. He’s trying to prevent any level of panic. He’s trying to keep his players upbeat and focused. He’s trying to take as much pressure off them as possible. Anyone who believes it is a manager’s responsibility to undress his troops probably does not understand baseball very well and certainly does not understand Terry Jon Francona.

Of course, this is precisely how it is supposed to work. Up until the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, former Sox skippers were all but strewn about the Mass Pike like the carcasses of broken-down cars. From Darrell Johnson to Grady Little, the job and the pressure got to them all. Then came general manager Theo Epstein, who hired Francona in the fall of 2003. Six years later, Epstein still has hired just one manager during his career -- Francona’s predecessor, Little, was hired before Epstein became GM -- and the Red Sox have unprecedented stability in the manager’s office. In Boston, when he climbs the ramps at Fenway Park to visit the front office, the manager is no longer a dead man walking to his execution; rather, he is a fully invested partner about to sit in on a planning meeting.

The manager isn’t going anywhere, folks. This year, remember, Francona is in the first year of a three-year, $12 million contract extension that runs through 2011 and contains a pair of club options through 2013. Francona didn’t panic when the Red Sox fell behind the Yankees, 3-0, in the 2004 American League Championship Series, and he didn’t panic when the Sox fell behind the Cleveland Indians, 3-1, in the 2007 ALCS. While baseball fans and pundits clamored for the Sox to alter their pitching rotation and shake up their lineup, Francona generally held steady. Largely because Francona was fully willing to accept defeat, the Sox came back to win both times.

His general philosophy: If you have to start doing desperate things to in an attempt to affect the outcome, it usually means you’re not good enough.

Three years ago, during a 2006 season that marks the only year of Francona’s Red Sox career in which the team failed to make the playoffs, the skipper of the Red Sox did what might have been his best managing job. The Red Sox were in the midst of a long August series against the Yankees, just like this team, when the wheels started to fall off. Just prior to the Yankees series, reliever Mike Timlin, in an attempt to defend Red Sox pitchers, effectively criticized the Boston offense. During the Yankees series, pitcher David Wells threw his hands up in disgust when Keith Foulke blew a save. Manny Ramirez went into Operation Shutdown and the Sox went into a flat spin, their season consumed by injury, ineptitude and frustration en route to a third-place finish.

Immediately after the Yankees swept the Sox in a five-game series, the Sox traveled out west. Prior to the road trip opener, the manager called a team meeting. Francona told his players that it was perfectly acceptable to lose so long as they continued to give effort, but that it was entirely unacceptable for them to lose with no dignity. The Sox continued their downward trend and finished 86-76, but the shenanigans stopped.

Now, three years later, the Red Sox are losing again. Incredibly, despite the current feeling around this team, they are currently a playoff team. The manager of the Sox is as frustrated as anyone else, but Francona refuses to point fingers, blow his top, lose his dignity. There is, after all, still a great deal of baseball to played.

Between now and the end of the regular season, Francona intends to learn the same thing he set out to discover when the season began in April.

He just wants to see if the Red Sox are good enough.

NEW YORK -- There is a difference between what we know and what we can prove, and so it is now with David Americo Ortiz. The players union has established its reasonable doubt. Our national pastime has suffered irreparable damage. And those of us on the outside do not know who or what to believe or trust in a web-like entanglement of legalities and constitutional rights.

And so, as Ortiz sat alongside soon-to-be union chief Michael Weiner at Yankee Stadium today, here is the only conclusion that some of us could come to: We cannot pick and choose anymore. We cannot decide which players used steroids and which did not, independent of test results and government lists. We have no choice but to indict all major league players or to set them all free, much to the chagrin of those of us who believe that everything should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

"It's a fair question," Weiner said a short time ago when asked why the union previously had not been so forthright with regard to the particulars of survey testing conducted in 2003.

"We decided that the cumulative effect of these leaks, with this last one, required us to try to set the record straight about 2003 testing. Almost all of what I said today was available in letters that we sent to Congress and has otherwise been publicly available, but it didn't seem to affect the way the stories were being reported. And we thought it was incumbent upon us to protect all the players in the union, those who have previously been tarred with this and any other players who are allegedly on the list, to set the record straight. So it really was the cumulative effect of this latest story and these latest leaks."

And so what is the record, at least that one defined to be "straight" from the perspective of the union? That there were 96 players who turned up positive during the 2003 testing, but that the current infamous government "list" of players contains 104 names. That the union disputed 13 of the 96 positives, and that Major League Baseball did not quibble over those 13 because there was no need. Once MLB got the 83 positive tests needed to reach the 5 percent required to implement a testing program -- think of it as a pass-fail exam -- the game's officials really did not care whether they advanced with a D- or a B+. Baseball had its testing program and the union had its way to protect the players who turned up positive.

Oh, and did we mention that Weiner introduced the possibility of some players being named twice on the list of 83 for having failed multiple tests? With that variable in play, there could actually be 82 players who tested positive in 2003. Or maybe 81. Or maybe 45.

For Ortiz and for anyone else who has been sucked into the eye this steroid storm, all of this allows for plausible deniability. Ortiz is a particularly warm, engaging, and likeable man who always has seemed extremely credible to us. He said today, in no uncertain terms, that he has never bought or used steroids. He admitted that he was "careless" with regard to using "supplements and vitamins." He apologized to fans, teammates, and his manager, the last of whom stood nearby in a visible show of support. If you didn't understand why players like Terry Francona, you certainly should now.

Now the question that every honest fan should ask himself or herself: Do you believe Ortiz because you want to, or do you truly believe he is telling the truth? There is a very big difference. You cannot condemn Roger Clemens and liberate Ortiz, at least not solely based on emotion. You need more evidence than that. This story isn't about Ortiz and the Red Sox so much as it about baseball and a steroids scandal that got wildly out of control, regardless of whether the actual number of positive tests constituted 5 percent or 85 percent of baseball's "tarred" player pool.

"I'm not here to make any excuses or anything," Ortiz said. "I used a lot of supplements and vitamins. I even had companies sending me supplements and things back then, but I never buy steroids or used steroids."

If he is telling the truth, Ortiz has nothing to worry about and some of us owe him an enormous apology. If he is not, he had better hope that we do not come to learn that he tested positive for Winstrol or Stanozolol, or even the Primobolan that took down Alex Rodriguez. If that happens, any credibility Ortiz possesses will be destroyed beyond any recognition and he never will be believable again. (About anything.) Red Sox officials Larry Lucchino and Susan Goodenow were also among those present at the press conference, and the Sox issued a statement effectively supporting their player. The Sox deserve every bit of credit for that, and they retain the right to be just as miffed if it is learned that Ortiz was guilty of far more.

As for the union, let's make a few things clear: Unlike a list of predecessors that has included Marvin Miller, Gene Orza, and Don Fehr, Weiner projects as a more open, honest, decent and reasonable man. He has the interests of his constituency to protect, too. But roughly six months after leaving Rodriguez hanging out to dry, the union now is offering an argument that might have helped A-Rod's case, too. Weiner said that the union has offered assistance to every player affected by this never-ending scandal, but if you are Alex Rodriguez or Sammy Sosa or even Manny Ramirez today, no matter what you say publicly, you seemingly have some right to be very, very angry.

Meanwhile, with regard to those players who never succumbed to the temptation of performance-enhancing substances, the union sold them out a long time ago. In order to protect the guilty, the union damaged the reputations of the innocent. Like we said, we have no choice but to doubt them all at this stage, from A-Rod and Ramirez to Greg Maddux and Derek Jeter. Reasonable doubt swings both ways. In the court of public opinion, innocence does not have to be presumed.

Way back when, during the historic home run race involving Sosa and Mark McGwire and the BALCO scandal surrounded Barry Bonds, those of us with any appreciation for baseball history argued that the game had become a joke. Baseball had turned into professional wrestling. Ordinary players became megastars and megastars became superhuman, and the fact that many of us have grown irretrievably cynical is not our fault so much as it is theirs.

Today, David Ortiz often looked and sounded as if he were telling the truth. Even those of us who are cynics truly hope he was. But given how many players have already lied to us over such a long period of time -- and the indisputable extent to which baseball's problems existed -- our skepticism is no less egregious than his carelessness.

With all due respect to Ortiz and everyone else, the doubt doesn't get erased because someone said some things and answered some questions before some television cameras and notepads in an increasingly image-conscious world.

At this stage, after all, we know way too much.

NEW YORK -- Two months ago, had these same teams played a similar game, Jason Varitek never would have made the walk across the clubhouse, as he did this morning, virtually his entire body wrapped in ice. Varitek never would have risen from his seat, the clock on the clubhouse wall reading precisely 1:02 a.m., to console a young man who had just surrendered a game-winning home run in the 15th inning of a 2-0 loss.

Back then, after all, the Red Sox would have won this game because the New York Yankees simply did not have the bullpen to match up with Boston’s vaunted relief corps.

But the Yankees do now.

"I just don’t want him to hang his head,’’ Varitek said later of Junichi Tazawa, the 23-year-old who made his major league debut as the Red Sox’ sixth and final reliever in last night’s draining loss to the Yankees. "His stuff’s too good and he’s too good for that to happen."

So Varitek ambled over to a seemingly catatonic Tazawa, who sat in a chair before his locker in a spacious and largely vacant clubhouse at the new Yankee Stadium. The catcher crouched and looked Tazawa squarely in the eyes, the young man nodding as the 37-year-old captain of the Red Sox spoke. And with his left arm wrapped so thoroughly in ice and an ace bandage that he might as well have been wearing a catcher’s mitt, Varitek gave Tazawa a soft, reassuring tap on the head.

In the end, the Red Sox now trail the Yankees by 4½ games with 55 games remaining on the Boston schedule entering today -- the Yankees have 54 games left -- and any Boston advantage in this year’s matchup seems to have washed away. That 8-0 record suddenly does not seem to mean much anymore. Entering this season, the one most glaring advantage the Red Sox had over the Yankees was their pitching, specifically in the bullpen, where Boston seemed to have as many capable arms as New York had questions. Now here we are, more than four months later, and the Yankees have sufficiently caught up that they could match the Red Sox, pitch for pitch, through 14 innings of a game that stayed scoreless.

Last night, after seven scoreless innings from Josh Beckett and before the debut Tazawa, Red Sox relievers pitched six scoreless innings and allowed one hit -- an infield single by Alex Rodriguez against Daniel Bard in the bottom of the ninth. The Red Sox still lost. The biggest reason was that the once-suspect Yankees bullpen neutralized Red Sox relievers (and then some) by finishing the night with 7 1/3 scoreless innings, meaning that the Yankees bullpen even nosed out Beckett, the ace of the Boston staff.

For every pitched the Red Sox send to the mound now, the Yankees seem to have an answer.

"It was a tough night offensively," conceded Sox manager Terry Francona. "It was a tough night for them, too."

Today, as we take stock of the Red Sox and Yankees as they effectively enter the final third of the baseball season, there is an important observation to make: the Red Sox don’t have any real advantages anymore. Through June 11, when these teams played their last game before the start of this series, Red Sox relievers had a dominating 2.88 ERA that made them the most formidable group in baseball; the Yankees, by contrast, had a bullpen ERA of 4.69. Head-to-head, Boston relievers had outpitched their New York counterparts by almost two runs per game -- a 3-0 record and 3.04 ERA for the Sox, an 0-2 record and 5.10 ERA for the Yanks -- giving the Sox an enormous edge in any reasonably competitive game entering the final three innings.

But now, as we enter what amount to the final three innings of this season, the numbers tell a different story. Since June 11, Yankees relievers are 11-4 with a 3.55 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 154 2/3 innings. Opponents are batting .212 against them. Meanwhile, Red Sox relievers are 8-7 with a 3.80 ERA while holding opponents to a batting average of .249 -- impressive statistics, to be sure, but ones that no longer provide the Sox the kind of edge they need to defeat a Yankees club capable of matching Boston in every other area, too.

Entering this season, of course, much was made of Boston’s pitching depth and of the Sox' productive player development system, particularly as it pertained to New York. As it turned out, things have broken far better for the Yankees than anyone ever could have imagined. While righthander Phil Hughes has taken to the Yankees bullpen the way that Jonathan Papelbon did for the Sox in 2005 -- Hughes has a 1.47 ERA as a reliever -- Alfredo Aceves has turned into New York’s version of Hideki Okajima. Aceves last night pitched three innings, more than any other reliever in this game, while strikeout out three and allowing just one hit. During that same length of time, from the 10th through the 12th, the Red Sox burned three relievers just to keep up.

Ultimately, that led to the major league debut of Tazawa, who might as well have spent last summer pitching in the Boston Park League. One minute Tazawa is pitching for a semipro outfit in Japan, the next he’s facing A-Rod with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the 15th inning of a scoreless game. The last Red Sox pitcher to make that kind of meteoric ascension was probably Craig Hansen, who went from the 2005 draft to the big leagues in roughly two months. Incredibly, that Red Sox team might have been more desperate than this one.

Today, thanks to their second extra-long affair in four days, the Boston bullpen looks cooked again thanks to another exhaustive effort gone fruitless. The worst part is that the Sox may need their relievers more than the Yankees do. While Boston sends Clay Buchholz to the mound, New York answers with lefty CC Sabathia, the 6-foot-7 ox who has pitched more innings than any starter in baseball since the start of the 2007 season. In the wake of last night’s marathon, the Yankees can lean on Sabathia heavily today to protect a relief corps that could probably use a rest.

Still, ask yourself this:

Even if Sabathia leaves the game early, will the Red Sox have the advantage over these Yankees that Boston once did?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Remember that these Red Sox were built on pitching, on a rotation so long it seemed to run up and down Interstate 95, on a bullpen so deep it rivaled the Quechee Gorge. The rotation is much shorter now, the bullpen more shallow. And as the playoff races begin to bubble, the Red Sox look disturbingly vulnerable.

Brad Penny struggled Wednesday night in Tampa. (Reuters)

Be afraid, Sox followers. Be very, very afraid. With last night’s 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, the Red Sox are 7-10 in their last 17 games. Not one of those victories has come against a team with a winning record. (Five against Baltimore, one against Oakland, one against Toronto.) The Sox don’t have the lineup they once did and they don’t have the necessary pitching to make up for that - at least 60 percent of the time - and there is now sufficient reason to worry.

How did this happen?

Where did all that pitching go?

"It’s a long year," said manager Terry Francona. "The way the success of your season can get interrupted is by not having enough pitching. People accused us - and I don’t know if accused is the right word - but they accused us of having too much pitching. I don’t think we ever felt that way."

If they did then, they certainly do not now. During the final innings of last night’s game, the Sox announced they had settled on a minor league deal with righthander Paul Byrd, who hasn’t pitched for anyone, anywhere, since October. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Red Sox clearly are desperate.

In many ways, last night’s loss was a worst-case scenario. Their bullpen depleted following Tuesday’s epic 13-inning loss, the Sox summoned Billy Traber from Triple A in the event they needed to take a bullet. They ended up being just competitive enough that Francona was inspired to use both Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima for a second straight night (albeit conservatively) despite some desire to stay away from them entirely, particularly with the reeling John Smoltz due to face the Yankees’ collection of lefthanded hitters tonight at the new driving range in the Bronx.

Barring a victory, the best case for the Sox would have been a 7-1 defeat in which Brad Penny gave the Sox six innings and Traber gave them two. Instead, the Sox stayed sufficiently close to merely compound their woes.

"That’s the concern we had going into tonight’s game - that we’d be close enough and that we’d be within striking distance [but still lose]," Francona said. "That’s tough [to manage]. It is difficult."

All of this takes us back to the trading deadline, when the Red Sox acquired Victor Martinez (2 for 4 with a double and homer last night) from the Cleveland Indians to boost a sagging offense. According to one baseball source, the Sox had serious discussions with the Indians for both Martinez and starter Cliff Lee, at least until Cleveland wisely broke the tandem apart and effectively sold them off as condos. The point is that the Red Sox wanted a hitter and a pitcher, or, more importantly, they felt they needed both. In the upper corners of Fenway Park, the inhabitants know this team has holes.

The good news? Tim Wakefield threw a side session yesterday and will take part in another tomorrow, with a simulated game scheduled Monday. If all goes well, he could be back in the Boston rotation by the end of next week. Daisuke Matsuzaka could be back to help in September. Martinez has added significant depth to a Boston lineup that entered last night ranked a mediocre seventh in the American League in runs since the middle of May.

Still, even with Martinez, the Red Sox do not have the kind of offense to beat good teams by scores like 7-6, particularly on the road, where they will continue to spend the majority of their time through Aug. 20. And that was true even before Jason Bay left last night’s game with continued tightness in his hamstring.

"He said he was fine to stay in the game, but if he said something, something is bothering him," said Francona. "He’s a tough kid."

As for the Sox as a whole, the question now is whether they can stay in the game entering (and exiting) New York. Suddenly, this is starting to feel a good deal like 2006. The Sox were 1 1/2 games out of first place that season entering a five-game series against the Yankees in mid-August; by the end of it, they were 6 1/2 back and in a precipitous fall. That was the last time the Sox missed the playoffs, the only time during Theo Epstein’s tenure as general manager that there was no real fall baseball in New England.

Obviously, there is still a good deal of baseball to be played. With 56 games remaining, the Sox still have slightly more than one-third of the season to go. But if the Sox do not start getting better performances soon from Penny, Smoltz, and Clay Buchholz, they may have little choice but to rely on youngsters such as Michael Bowden and Junichi Tazawa during the most grueling part of the schedule. The Sox will have exhausted all that depth, leaving them in a rather precarious position.

And they will be, indisputably, in the deep stuff where no one wants to be.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- And on and on it goes, the story nobody really wants to talk about and everyone wants to end. The Red Sox have just begun a pivotal stretch of games, the David Ortiz saga burdening them like a ball and chain, and everyone from Santo Domingo to St. Petersburg feels the same way.

Said manager Terry Francona when asked about Ortiz, "I think we’d all like to . . ."

"Move on?" it was asked.

"Well . . . yeah," the skipper said prior to last night’s game between the Sox and Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Wouldn’t we all.

Yet here we are, five days after it was reported that Ortiz was among the 104 players who tested positive for banned substances during baseball’s provisional survey in 2003, and we don’t know a blasted thing more. Ortiz has yet to offer his side of the story.

Prior to last night’s game, more than one Sox official indicated that Ortiz might be going through the legal process to obtain information about his own test results, something Francona alluded to in vague terms during his customary pregame briefing with reporters.

"This is not David right now [holding things up]," Francona said. "We’re waiting. We’re all on hold."

Here are the questions we all need to ask: Will anything short of a full admission from Ortiz be enough to satisfy those of us who generally are cursed with cynicism? Or is he simply doomed, regardless of what happened, because there are certain things we need to hear?

We all know the problem baseball has encountered in recent years. The game got so wildly out of control that everyone’s credibility was affected. That means everyone. Rightly or wrongly, the game’s biggest stars of the last 10-15 years will have their accomplishments called into question because MLB turned into WWE. Guilt became a presumption. That is not the fault of those of us on the outside. Players, owners, executives, and union officials did this to themselves.

Ortiz may not like that reality at the moment, particularly given his place in the game. For all of the players who have been sucked into the eye of the steroid storm, he is the first one universally liked by fans, teammates, opponents, and media. (And he still is.) That is the part of this story that makes it so difficult. Just because of his popularity, Ortiz cannot be treated any differently than Roger Clemens, who, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, has never failed a drug test.

And yet, because Red Sox fans have entirely different emotions about Clemens than they do about Ortiz, rational judgment goes out the window. Clemens is a scoundrel and Ortiz is an innocent victim. How can that be? How can one of Ortiz’s very best friends in the game, Torii Hunter, express disappointment and suggest that Ortiz’s accomplishments will be tainted, but Red Sox fans cannot?

For those of us on the outside, at what point does denial become an accepted line of defense?

Understandably, Ortiz seems like a very frustrated man right now. Over the last seven seasons, he has given a great deal to the Red Sox and the New England community. Prior to last night’s game, Ortiz tactfully waved off reporters and went about the business of preparing for the game. He is not the kind to kick and scream and point fingers.

The Red Sox need to put this issue behind them, as a team, and they certainly do not need to drag it into New York this week, though that seems inevitable.

As long as Ortiz is in a Boston uniform, it will not go away. The first time he steps to the plate tomorrow night in New York, he will get the kind of reception that Alex Rodriguez received in Boston this year.

All we can hope for, at this stage, is that Ortiz does not adopt Rodriguez’s approach when it came time to answer questions and fill in the blanks. We don’t need to know merely what Ortiz tested positive for and when he used it. We need to know what else he has taken, if anything, and we need to know why.

We have yet to hear a single player stand up and tell us the complete truth, that the game was out of control, that players felt the need to keep up, that things became twisted and out of control. That the line between right and wrong did not grow fuzzy - it disappeared entirely - and the game became one muddied mass.

That they were all wrong.

When Sports Illustrated first reported earlier this year that Rodriguez was on the list of 104, the magazine also reported that he tested positive for Primobolan and testosterone. The point is that whoever leaked Ortiz’s name may very well know the substance in question, too. Before he speaks, that is something Ortiz must consider. He must also consider the possibility that there is more evidence against him, somewhere, and that he can either control the release of that information or leave it up to fate.

Last week, when news of Ortiz’s failed test leaked, he said he was surprised. Within 48 hours, the Globe’s John Powers authored a story stating that all players who tested positive in 2003 were notified of that fact by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Many of us also believe that the union warned its members of upcoming drug tests, adding yet another level of deceit and making baseball’s steroids scandal look like a full-blown conspiracy.

Now, years after the damage was done, the game has taken significant steps to clean itself up.

Still, we’re waiting for someone to fully come clean.

Say goodbye to the Orioles, to the Royals, to the Nationals and to the A’s. The baseball season begins in earnest tonight in steamy St. Petersburg, Fla., where the Red Sox will open a two-game miniseries against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. After that, it’s on to the Bronx for four games against the first-place Yankees, out of the juicebox and into the sweatbox.

Time is dwindling.

Do you know where your Red Sox are?

A team in apparent disarray as recently as last week, the Red Sox are on a four-game winning streak as they enter the most critical week of their season. Though the Sox have slightly more than one-third of their season remaining, they will play the Rays (eight games) and the Yankees (10) a combined 18 times between now and Sept. 27. Of Boston, New York and Tampa Bay, at least one of those clubs will be absent from the postseason come October, and there is the ever-increasing possibility that two of those teams will be without a seat when the music stops.

Think of it: While the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays will be beating up on one another, the overachieving Texas Rangers (3 games behind the Sox in the wild-card race) will be frolicking about in the far less demanding American League West. From here on out, the Red Sox need to win, and they need to win against good competition.

As for this week, in particular, Boston’s pitching lines up about as well as it could have. With Jon Lester scheduled to pitch the bookend affairs against the Rays (tonight) and Yankees (Sunday), the Sox will get three starts combined from Lester and Josh Beckett. (Four would have been impossible because the Sox never work their starters on short rest.) The remaining three will go to, in order, Brad Penny (tomorrow night), John Smoltz (Thursday), and Clay Buchholz (Saturday), and there is sufficient reason to worry about each based on the particular matchup.

Lest anyone forget, Penny was the starter in a 5-3 Tampa win May 3, when the Rays stole six bases against him, eight overall. Playing the role of Usain Bolt, Carl Crawford alone swiped a half-dozen. Base runners are a mind-bending 18 of 19 in steal attempts against Penny, a fact Tampa is almost certain to exploit. The Rays currently lead the major leagues (by far) with 143 steals, and they have stolen more bases against the Red Sox (22 in 25 attempts) than they have against anyone else.

And so, tomorrow, the team with the most stolen bases in baseball (the Rays) will face the team that has allowed the most steals (the Red Sox, 103) with a man on the mound (Penny) who will be all but waving a green flag.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

As for Smoltz and Buchholz, they will be paired against their own form of Kryptonite, specifically in the form of lefthanded power. For all the debate and discussion about what has ailed Smoltz, the numbers tell a gruesome story. Lefthanded batters are hitting an eye-popping .397 against him with a .654 slugging percentage and 1.094 OPS, which doesn’t inspire confidence heading into Thursday night. Given the way balls have been flying out of Yankee Stadium this season -- especially to right field -- one can only wonder if Smoltz is running into a buzzsaw.

Consider: Of all the teams in baseball this season, the Yankees have the highest slugging percentage against righthanded pitching (.463). The only team with more homers against righthanders than the Yankees (108) is the Rangers (113), and we all saw how the Rangers fared against Smoltz at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington July 20. The Rangers homered three times in a five-run sixth inning -- two came from lefthanded batters -- en route to a 6-3 win.

The good news, thankfully, is that Beckett will take the mound before Buchholz does, which should allow manager Terry Francona some much-needed rest for his bullpen. Though Buchholz has not allowed a home run to a lefthanded batter, lefties have hit .366 against him. New York is likely to run everyone from Hideki Matsui and Mark Teixeira to Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada at the Red Sox, and we haven’t even gotten to Johnny Damon, who has a team-leading four homers against the Sox this season. (Teixeira has three and Robinson Cano has two.)

What this all means, in the end, is that unless the Sox win all three games started by Lester or Beckett, they will need to win at least one behind Penny, Smoltz, or Buchholz to go 3-3 on the final six games of a trip that began in Baltimore Friday. Sooner or later, particularly amid the continued absence of Tim Wakefield and, to a lesser extent, Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox will need someone to step up and take the pressure off their top two starters, especially at a time of year when the consequences become greater.

Truth be told, for the last seven weeks, the Red Sox have had one of the easiest schedules in baseball. During a 35-game stretch that began June 23, the Sox went 20-15 overall while playing 23 times against the Nationals, Orioles, A’s, and Royals. The Sox lost ground to both the Yankees (25-11) and the Rays (21-14). Now the teams are scheduled to go head to head in the wake of the trading deadline, which might as well serve as the starting line for the race taking place in the fiercest division in baseball.

Today, the Sox are essentially even with New York and six games ahead of Tampa.

From here on out, may the best team win.

Statistically speaking, based solely on run differential, the best three teams in baseball reside in the American League East. At least one of them will not make the playoffs. Today, the Red Sox took a major step in ensuring that they will not be the odd team out.

And so, on a deadline day in which the Sox swapped Adam LaRoche for Casey Kotchman while adding Victor Martinez for a package of three players (Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, Bryan Price), the other good news was this: The Tampa Bay Rays did nothing and the New York Yankees added only a role player. The Red Sox addressed one of their greatest weaknesses, in the short term and the long, while their primary competitors made no significant upgrades in what is sure to be a heated competition during the final two months of the season.

Depending on the precise tweaks by Sox manager Terry Francona, the Red Sox now can put together lineups that look something like this:

VS. RIGHTHANDERS
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Victor Martinez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz/Mike Lowell, DH
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. J.D. Drew, RF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Jed Lowrie, SS

Bench: Lowell (R) or Ortiz (L), Rocco Baldelli (R), Nick Green (R), Casey Kotchman (L), George Kottaras (L).

VS. LEFTHANDERS
1. Ellsbury, CF
2. Pedroia, 2B
3. Martinez, 1B
4. Youkilis, 3B
5. Bay, LF
6. Lowell/Ortiz, DH
7. Baldelli, RF
8. Varitek, C
9. Lowrie, SS

Bench: Lowell (R) or Ortiz (L), Drew (L), Green (R), Kotchman (L), Kottaras (L).

(Note: Kottaras could end getting squeezed off the roster if and when the Sox add a 12th pitcher.)

Take a good look at those lineups, 1 through 9, including the bench. There is depth and there is versatility. Kotchman can come in as a defensive replacement on those occasions when Martinez plays first. If Martinez catches, Varitek comes out of the lineup, Youkilis moves to first and Lowell plays third. If Ortiz sits, Lowell or Martinez can DH. And if the Red Sox have any kind of injury, specifically to Lowell, their depth and versatility affords them the luxury of turning to a player with everyday experience while still preserving their bench.

And then there is this: Of the players currently on Boston's 25-man roster, Bay is the only potential free agent of major concern. The others are Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Baldelli, and Green. The Sox have control over every other player either in the form of a signed contract or a club option, meaning that general manager Theo Epstein will have relatively little to do with regard to the 2010 roster.

And so next year, too, Boston will look like a championship contender.

Adrian Gonzalez? Roy Halladay? With regard to the latter, the Red Sox were never really close. As for Gonzalez, while the payoff would have been greater, the cost would have been, too. Strictly from the Red Sox' perspective, one of the beauties of today's dealings is that Epstein acquired the No. 3 or No. 4 hitter the club needed without sacrificing Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Casey Kelly, Junichi Tazawa, Michael Bowden or Lars Anderson, among others, which means the Sox will have depth next season, too. At the outset, it certainly appears as if Theo got the best of both worlds while maintaining the financial flexibility to re-sign Bay.

Admittedly, there are never any guarantees. The Red Sox still have 10 games remaining with the Yankees this season and eight with the Rays in what will be a barn-burning divisional race. In the last week or so, they have added two hitters (Martinez, Kotchman) who can help them against righthanded pitching. They have improved their bench while taking very little away from their bullpen, and they preserved the depth of starting pitching that should serve them for years to come.

Meanwhile, New York did very little and Tampa did nothing.

Come late September and beyond, we may look back on July 31 and identify it as the day that the general manager of the Red Sox officially got his team back into the playoffs.

For more than five full seasons, even when things were at their worst, the Red Sox always had Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz to fall back on. Manny and Big Papi formed the nucleus around which the new-age Red Sox were built. And now, one year after Ramirez was unceremoniously dismissed, the legacy of Ortiz is being tarnished.

Today, amid all of this, Theo Epstein remains focused on the trading deadline, on the chance to rebuild the center of the Boston lineup and provide the Red Sox with a new core to a batting order in need of a transfusion.

"Trading Manny was not an easy thing to do, but we feel we had a thorough process and made the best possible deal at the time," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein wrote in a text message earlier this week. "We are very happy with how Jason Bay has played as a member of the Red Sox."

Today, deadline day, the original intention was to focus on the post-Ramirez Red Sox, on how things have changed in the last year, if they have changed at all. Last season, before the Red Sox dealt Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the three-team trade that brought Bay to Boston, the Red Sox scored 538 runs in 109 games, an average of 4.94 runs per contest that ranked seventh in baseball, fifth-best in the American League. Since that time, in 154 games, the Red Sox have scored 827 runs in 154 games, an average of 5.37 that leads the majors. Things indeed changed once Ramirez left. They got better.

Though there obviously were other variables during that time -- Ortiz did not play last June while Ramirez was here, Mike Lowell was injured after Bay arrived -- the greater issue should not be overlooked. Sooner or later, Ramirez and Ortiz were going to fade away, leaving the Red Sox with a rather large hole in the middle of the lineup. The question all along was how Epstein would manage to fill it, over the short term and the long.

So far?

"From a run production standpoint, I don’t think there’s been a change," a longtime major league evaluator said Wednesday morning when asked about the difference in the Boston lineup with and without Ramirez. "I think Jason Bay, from a run production standpoint, gives them everything Manny did. If you look at it strictly from a baseball point of view, then you’d have to say the deal has been very good. Is there more of a fear in the pitchers [with Ramirez]? Yeah, there probably is. But you still have to make pitches whether it’s Bay or Lowell or anyone else."

Now, amid the news that Ortiz and Ramirez both turned up positive in the 2003 survey testing for performance-enhancing drugs, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the twin powers of the 2003-2008 Red Sox were an exception in every sense of the word. We will never see anything like them again. Whatever moves Epstein does (or does not) make between now and 4 p.m., there can be no comparison to the inflated production that came from Ramirez and Ortiz. All that ever matters is where the Red Sox stand in comparison to everyone else at that precise moment in time, which brings us to today, deadline day, baseball's greatest in-season opportunity to alter the future.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Long-term, the Red Sox are in desperate need of a lineup centerpiece and they know it. That’s why they presented the biggest contract in team history last winter to then-free agent Mark Teixeira. When the Sox lost that sweepstakes, they focused on the depth of their pitching staff and on winning a different, lower-scoring brand of baseball. And depending on what happens today, the Sox may need to implement that philosophy over the longer term, too.

Getting right to the point, looking at the bigger picture, the Red Sox offense is getting old. Lowell is 35 and dealing with ongoing hip issues. With or without performance-enhancing substances, Ortiz is not the same presence anymore. J.D. Drew is having his worst year with the Red Sox. Jason Varitek will be 38 in the spring. Shortstop remains a problem. Generally speaking, the only truly reliable offensive players in the Boston lineup are Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Bay, the last of whom is eligible for free agency in the fall. (Adam LaRoche will be a free agent, too.) Lest anyone think that Bay alone is a big piece, remember that he was under contract for this season when the Red Sox pursued Teixeira. In the end, the Sox need Bay and someone else.

Thus far, to anyone’s knowledge, the best hitters available on the trade market are San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and Cleveland catcher-first baseman-designated hitter Victor Martinez. For the Red Sox, for an assortment of reasons, Gonzalez is the far better fit. First, the 27-year-old Gonzalez is younger. (Martinez is 30.) Second, he is signed through 2011. (Martinez’s current contract has a club option through 2010.) Third, the lefthanded-hitting Gonzalez has more power, something the Sox have lacked from the left side since, well, the start of last season. (Martinez does get bonus points here for being a switch-hitter.)

As for the fact that Gonzalez is signed to an extremely team-friendly contract that will pay him an average of roughly $5 million over the next two seasons, that is a bonus. The Red Sox have money, though every extra penny certainly will help in re-signing Bay. On top of it all, Gonzalez is the reigning National League Gold Glove winner at first base, meaning the Sox stand to gain in a variety of ways if they can somehow convince the Padres to deal him.

If the Sox can get Gonzalez and re-sign Bay -- this is a critical piece, too -- the middle of the Boston lineup looks to be in a good shape for at least two years, potentially longer. Manager Terry Francona could go with a 3-4-5 of the right-handed-hitting Kevin Youkilis, the left-handed-hitting Gonzalez, and the right-handed-hitting Bay, giving him the kind of balance he so frequently speaks of. If the Sox can sign Gonzalez to any type of extension, that group would be in place even longer with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia batting before them. Epstein then could focus on shortstop and catcher, positions far easier to fill because they generally lack offensive firepower anyway.

Obviously, everything comes at a price. Because the strength of the Red Sox farm system is in the pitching, the Red Sox now are faced with the reality of having to trade for hitter, be it now or over the winter. At this stage, we can all agree that hitting prospect Lars Anderson is at least a year away (and probably two) from being any kind of real presence (if he ever becomes one). Bay currently looks like the best option on the free agent market. The good news is that Epstein knew this day was coming and that he has enough pitching to buy some offense and keep the change.

Over the last year, from trading deadline to trading deadline, the Red Sox have undergone some massive alterations, some more dramatic, some more gradual. Minus the Ramirez and Ortiz of 2003-08, the brand of baseball here has changed. Maybe it has changed everywhere. The Sox of today pitch first and hit second, which is fine so long as the balance generally remains intact. Long-term, the worry is that the future of Red Sox pitching looks far more promising than the future of the Red Sox offense, particularly as current Sox players age and, in the case of Ortiz, diminish.

On the one-year anniversary of the Ortiz-Ramirez breakup, the Red Sox, it seems are still searching for a new offensive identity. Today, there is a chance to find one. And there is a chance to make it real.

"You've often heard me say that we're in the Golden Era of baseball. David Ortiz -- Big Papi -- symbolizes that Golden Era. He's been such a great player on a grand stage, but it's his personality along with his ability that has made him an important part of this sport. I have enormous respect for David Ortiz. He's conducted himself so beautifully off the field as well as on the field. I'm very proud of David Ortiz for a myriad of reasons. It's everything about him. When you say `David Ortiz,' the first thing I think is 'Big Papi,' and that's a great compliment to him. He stands as a great symbol of the success of this sport -- and a symbol for all the right reasons.''
-- A comment made by baseball commissioner Bud Selig during the winter of 2005-06 that appears in David Ortiz's autobiography

And so now we know, with 99.9 percent certainty, what we have long suspected and feared: Big Papi is a myth. The rags-to-riches story is truly a fairy tale. David Ortiz is a symbol of baseball now just as he was then, though this time he is playing the role of yet another damaged superstar who succumbed to the pressures during the most tainted era in baseball history.

So what are we supposed to think now, fellow Sox followers? According to a report today in the New York Times -- it ain't exactly The Star -- Ortiz and Manny Ramirez both were on the list of 104 players who failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs during the survey conducted in 2003. That was the year the Red Sox set a major league record for slugging percentage. That was the year Big Papi was born. That was the year Ortiz came to Boston after being released by the Minnesota Twins as a 27-year-old underachieving slugger with 58 career home runs in 455 career games.

Three years later, in 2006, Ortiz hit 54 home runs in 151 games to set a new Red Sox record. By then, he already had become the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 American League Championship Series and the recipient of a four-year, $52 million contract extension that runs through next season. When the free-agent market exploded the winter after Ortiz signed his deal, Red Sox owners felt so guilty about the contract that they presented Ortiz with a new pickup truck the following spring.

As it turns out, we now have nothing but questions. Maybe Ortiz should give the truck back. Maybe the Red Sox were right to sit him behind fellow user Jeremy Giambi after all. Maybe the Twins released him for very good reasons and maybe the 2004 World Series trophy is nothing but a hologram, generated by science and appealing to the eye but quite literally impossible to touch.

After the game, Ortiz issued a statement saying he was surprised to learn of the positive test and that he was going to find out what he tested positive for.

"I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers," Ortiz said in the statement. "In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me - I will not hide and I will not make excuses."

Red Sox diehards are certain to know that Alex Rodriguez was identified as being on this same list during spring training. Within days, Rodriguez conducted his unforgettable press conference at the Yankees' spring training facility and Ortiz similarly held a press briefing in Fort Myers. Rodriguez claimed to be a foolish young man operating during "amateur hour." Ortiz suggested that any player who tested positive for steroids should be suspended for an entire year.

In retrospect, doth he protest too much?

Sooner or later, we all knew this was coming, if not Ortiz then with someone else. Earlier this year, when Ramirez served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's current substance-abuse policy, the most loyal Red Sox followers dug in their heels. There was no evidence to suggest Ramirez used PEDs in while in Boston. In a promotional ad that routinely runs on WEEI-AM 850, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said even Red Sox officials believed that Ramirez did not start using performance-enhancing substances until he got to Los Angeles and played the final two months of last season auditioning for a new contract.

But this? This leaves no doubt that the Red Sox had users during the most critical years of their recent history. After Ortiz became the MVP of the 2004 ALCS, Ramirez was named MVP of the World Series. From June 1, 2003 through July 31, 2008 -- the time Ortiz effectively became a starter to the time Ramirez was traded -- the Red Sox scored more runs (4,723) than any team in baseball but the New York Yankees (4,766). The Sox won more world titles (two) than any team in the game. The Red Sox had the most fearsome 1-2 punch in baseball, the Ruth and Gehrig of the modern era, a two-headed monster around which Bill Mueller became a batting champion and Johnny Damon became a cult figure.

Again, in retrospect, we now know that Ortiz and Ramirez seem have a great deal more in common with Big Mac and Slammin' Sammy than they do with the Bambino and the Iron Horse.

With regard to Ortiz, in particular, today's news is disappointing, damning, downright sad. More than Ramirez or Rodney Harrison -- local sports stars similarly tarnished by the use of performance-enhancing substances -- Ortiz was embraced by this region like few stars in New England sports history. He wasn't just a prolific slugger, he was a good guy, too. With regard to the latter, maybe he still is. But what Ortiz is, without question, is forever damaged by his own vulnerability and frailty, his inability to distinguish right from wrong, his careless decision-making, his suddenly empty rhetoric for harsher penalties against those using performance-enhancing substances.

Today, Ortiz is no better than Ramirez or Rodriguez or Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens or Rafael Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, or Jason Giambi.

With them, Big Papi stands as a symbol for everything that went so terribly wrong.

Editor's note: In the interest of full disclosure, Tony Massarotti collaborated with David Ortiz on a 2007 autobiography.

As it turns out, they have divas in Japan, too.

They have multimillion-dollar athletes who take all of the credit and none of the blame, and they have overpaid excuse-makers just as proficient at passing the buck. Apparently, at least in Daisuke Matsuzaka's house, they just don't have mirrors.

"I think we all share, in a word, that it's disappointing," Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell said a short time ago in the Boston clubhouse -- veins all but bulging from his neck -- in response to critical comments made by Daisuke Matsuzaka. Added Farrell when asked if he was frustrated, "The disappointment comes in airing his dirty laundry."

Disappointed? No, no, no. The Red Sox are not disappointed. They are downright angry. At instants during an impromptu gathering in the middle of the clubhouse prior to tonight's game with the Oakland Athletics, Farrell looked as if his head were about to explode. The truth is that the Red Sox were tired of Matsuzaka's high-maintenance act a long time ago, but they kept their mouths shut and put up with it because Matsuzaka won games.

Now that Matsuzaka is the possessor of a 1-5 record and 8.23 ERA, the gloves are coming off, though it should be stressed that Matsuzaka threw the first punch here. As the saying goes, you truly find out about a person's character during the bad times more than you do the good times. Matsuzaka returned from Florida on Friday to check in with Sox doctors and officials, a meeting after which Francona sat before assembled media and expressed optimism that the lines of communication were more open than ever with his struggling pitcher.

Within days, based on an interpretation that first appeared on WEEI.com, Matsuzaka told the Japanese media the following: "If I'm forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan. The only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years [in the United States] was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan. Since I came to the Major Leagues, I couldn't train in my own way, so now I've lost all those savings."

Is he kidding with this? Really? Last season, while going 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA, Matsuzaka became the first major league starter in history to win 18 or more games with as few as 167-2/3 innings pitched. He ranked fifth in the majors in run support. Matsuzaka threw the shocking average of precisely 17.3 pitches per inning in 29 starts and, on average, pitched roughly 5 2/3 innings per outing, which means he got support from than just the Red Sox offense. He got support from the Boston bullpen, too.

But ask him and Matsuzaka will tell you the only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years [in the United States] was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan.

What Matsuzaka did not say, of course, was that he showed up in camp this year looking like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. (What's the Japanese word for doughboy, anyway?) Asked about Matsuzaka's strength when the pitcher returned from the World Baseball Classic, Farrell said at the time that Matsuzaka graded out well when the club tested the pitcher's shoulder. In retrospect, what Farrell did not say was that Matsuzaka looked like he spent the winter eating bon bons, which the Red Sox believe contributed to the pitcher's problems.

"It's not just the shoulder," Farrell said tonight when asked about the importance of proper conditioning. "When the overall body is not in the condition necessary to support that, there has to be some responsibility taken [on the part of the pitcher.]"

Like we said, Matsuzaka apparently doesn't have many mirrors in his home.

Obviously, there is a great deal to consider here. When the Red Sox first acquired Matsuzaka for a total investment of $103.11 million, they reminded us of the cultural and baseball issues that inevitably would take place. They have bent over backwards to accommodate their pitcher. In the middle of this crisis, it is important to remember that Matsuzaka has no real allies or outlet in the American media and that this story is likely to be one-sided. American reporters have nothing to lose by criticizing Matsuzaka and taking the side of the Red Sox, regardless of whether the Sox have handled things in proper fashion.

In this case, by all accounts, the Red Sox have done everything to make Matsuzaka's experience in Boston a good one. Obviously, it is in the club's interest to do so. In retrospect, we can now state with certainty that the Red Sox are now far more frustrated with Matsuzaka than they ever were with the WBC, and they clearly feel now as if they cannot trust a pitcher in whom they invested a historic amount of money.

Said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, "For $102 million, if he were to go out there and do it his own way with his own coaches, if Mr. [John] Henry came down and said 'What's going on with Daisuke?' and if we said, 'We're just letting him do it his way,' that wouldn't be a good answer."

Said Farrell, "We'd like to think we're doing our best to put him in the best situation, and yet this is where the two worlds -- the two baseball worlds collide."

So, is this blowup now over?

"There have been a lot of conversations, a lot of discussions," said Farrell, who said the Red Sox spoke directly with Matsuzaka yesterday but declined to offer the details. "Whether he believes it -- I think that comes out in his article."

So there you have it.

Matsuzaka doesn't believe in the Red Sox and the Red Sox don't seem to believe in him.

Maybe it's just Dice-K being Dice-K.

Just a few feet from where Clay Buchholz spoke, as the notebooks and cameras clustered near the starting pitcher's locker, Daniel Bard stood in relative serenity last night. The annual major league trading deadline is now just three days away, but rest assured that no one will get within an arm's length of the Red Sox' latest phenom.

And so on and on it goes at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox posted an 8-3 win over the Oakland A's last night as the hype over Bard continued to grow: another night, another appearance, another pair of strikeouts. That's 19 whiffs in 10 1/3 innings this month. Boston's blossoming setup man has struck out 19 of the last 35 batters he has faced -- that is a whopping 54.3 percent -- and the oooohs and aaaahs are now coming from executive offices throughout the game just as surely as they are coming from the capacity crowds at Fenway.

On the field and off, Bard is blowing everyone away.

One thing about the trading season: teams get so entrenched in the bargaining that reality gets distorted. It's like an arbitration hearing without the money. One side pumps up the commodity it is trying to sell, the other picks it apart in hopes of bringing down the price. If the players in question ever had the luxury of overhearing the conversations, they'd emerge with either an even more distorted sense of self-importance or an incurable inferiority complex.

Last week, two of the game's executives, despite being hundreds of miles away from one another, were downright stereophonic in their assessment of the Red Sox. The Sox are growing arrogant, they said. They overvalue their prospects. The success of young Boston players from Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon to Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury has created an unrealistic outlook in the Boston organization, not to mention an inflation of the Boston farm system perpetuated by the Sox' subwoofers in the media.

Yes, with regard to drafting and player development, the Red Sox have been good. But they have not been that good because there is a great deal of luck involved, too.

All of this brings us to Bard, who is becoming to baseball what Ernie Els is to golf: The Big Easy. Listed at 6 foot 4 and 200 pounds, Bard looks like he's playing catch with a 12-year-old when he delivers the ball to home plate. The radar gun nonetheless lights up like a Roman candle. Every time Bard enters a game, fans at Fenway begin sliding forward in their seats as if preparing for the grand finale at the Esplanade on the Fourth of July.

Of course, because Bard is here and succeeding in the major leagues now, eyes are popping just as surely as Jason Varitek's catcher's mitt. The numbers support the prognosis. That was hardly the case last year with Buchholz, whom one of the two executives recently labeled as, at best, a middle-of-the-rotation starter with a questionable frame. And it is not the case now with Lars Anderson, the 6-4, 215-pound potential slugger who is batting .260 with a .389 slugging percentage this year in Double-A. Anderson, said the same official, is not quite the hitter the Red Sox are making him out to be.

But Bard? There are no real arguments about Daniel Bard or, for that matter, budding prospect Casey Kelly. The difference is that Bard is now vaporizing hitters at the major league level. The one question about Bard, conceded one of the two executives, is that his "makeup'' remains a question, which is to say that no one really knows yet if he has the inner stuff of a big-time closer. There really is no way to know that until Bard has to take the mound again after a badly blown save. On the field and off, Bard could be as pressurized as Jonathan Papelbon or as downright cool as Mariano Rivera, but what matters, in the end, is what is inside. None of us watching from afar ever should confuse perception with reality, personality with character.

In the end, what the Red Sox have here is perhaps their most valuable commodity in the hours leading up to 4 p.m. on Friday, when the baseball season effectively starts anew. Maybe Daniel Bard will be the next Kyle Farnsworth; maybe he will be the next Papelbon. At the moment, he looks far more like the latter than the former, a shiny new toy working absolutely perfectly after just being pulled out of the box.

Last night, just as Buchholz was preparing to leave the clubhouse in anticipation of his first start this year at Fenway tonight, Buchholz said he was "pretty confident'' he would remain with the Sox through the trading deadline on Friday. The likelihood is that he will stay. Meanwhile, the man who could be Buchholz's closer someday is continuing his meteoric ascension to cult-figure status, that rare kind of talent that can electrify nearly 40,000 people in the span of maybe 15 pitches.

Daniel Bard is going places just as July 31 nears, it seems, but you can be fairly certain that Red Sox have no intention of letting him go anywhere.

"If you don’t get immediate results, you don’t go the other way. We believe in what we’re doing."

- Red Sox manager Terry Francona when asked about John Smoltz on Friday

During any time but the trading season, the concerns might not be so great now, regarding John Smoltz or anyone else. There would be more time, less urgency, more comprehensive debate about who the Red Sox are and, just as important, where they are headed.

Yet, in the short term as well as the long, the answer now is the same as it might have been then: Even as the July 31 trading deadline rapidly approaches, the Red Sox do not need a pitcher as much as they do a hitter.

Six starts into his career with the Red Sox, Smoltz is 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA following yesterday’s 6-2 Sox loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. The Red Sox are now 8-2 against the Orioles this season, both defeats in games started by Smoltz. Overall, the Sox are 1-5 in Smoltz’s starts this year and 2-6 in games started by Daisuke Matsuzaka, the man whom Smoltz replaced in the starting rotation last month. Combined, in prorated salaries and posting fees, the Red Sox are paying those two men just short of $22.7 million (that’s Johan Santana money) while going 3-11 in their 14 starts.

Combined, Smoltz and Matsuzaka have a 7.68 ERA.

Meanwhile, the trade winds now are in full force, famous names being blown around as if they were grains of sand on the Cape: Roy Halladay, Adrian Gonzalez, Victor Martinez. Boston’s depth of prospects makes the Sox viable contenders for any of those players, each of whom could help the club at least this year and next. The question is what the Red Sox want to give up combined with how much money they are willing to spend, weighing both Boston’s title chances in 2009 and its long-term expectations of being a contender.

Smoltz? He really changes nothing because every team in baseball has at least one soft spot in the rotation. (Ask the Yankees where they would be were it not for Chien-Ming Wang.) The Red Sox still have Tim Wakefield on the disabled list, Clay Buchholz in their reserve tank, Justin Masterson in their bullpen. They have Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa, and Casey Kelly in their future. Organizationally speaking, Boston’s pitching is deep, with Josh Beckett under control through next season and John Lester signed through 2013.

The offense is another story, particularly over the longer term. Mike Lowell is 35 and having hip problems again; the Red Sox now are telling us that they knew Lowell might not be 100 percent again until 2010. (Can they bank on that?) We should all be able to agree now that David Ortiz has slipped. Jason Varitek is 37 and Jason Bay is eligible for free agency. Newcomer Adam LaRoche will likely be here for nothing more than a few months, depending on how far the Sox go in September and, perhaps, October.

As for the short term, the Sox rank a mediocre seventh in the American League in runs scored since May 9. During that span, there are also five National League clubs who have outscored what was once the most prolific offense in baseball.

During his time as general manager, Theo Epstein has refrained from giving up anything of consequence for the classic midsummer rental -- at least since the disaster that was Jeff Suppan during the summer of 2003. Even the Eric Gagne deal has not proven as costly as it might have, despite the relative success of David Murphy. At the time of the deal, too, the Sox they believed they would get two compensatory draft picks when Gagne departed via free agency, though they ended up with only one when Gagne failed so thoroughly that he affected his status as a free agent (and, thus, the compensation tied to him).

By Friday, if Epstein makes a substantive deal at all, the likelihood is that he will do so for a player who can help the Red Sox now and in the future. He might even be able to spin LaRoche (if he eats the money) in a package, allowing a team like the Padres or Indians to replace Gonzalez or Martinez, effectively for free, over the final two months. Epstein also would have to give up an elite prospect or two, of course, whether it be Buchholz or Kelly or Lars Anderson. (Note: According to a baseball source, the Indians offered to deal Martinez for Buchholz straight up, but the Sox quickly declined.)

With regard to Boston’s offensive needs, they are now quite clear. The Red Sox’ run production has slipped over the last two months and it is trending in the wrong direction. With or without Bay, if the Red Sox want a hitter between now and Opening Day 2010, they will likely need to trade for it. Anderson, just 21 and batting .259 in Portland, isn’t ready to become a full-time player in 2010. The free-agent market looks thin. And if the Sox are going to trade for a hitter over the winter, wouldn’t it benefit them to do so now, so that they can take another run at a World Series championship?

Yes, Smoltz is failing. Yes, Matsuzaka has been a bust this year. But Epstein has been careful about sacrificing elite prospects in one deal, let alone two, which the Red Sox have important choices to make before 4 p.m. Friday.

As best we know, Jim Rice never took banned substances, never secretly used a syringe, and never relied on performance-enhancers. Yet, when the definitive account of the steroids era is written, there may be no one remembered as a greater beneficiary.

James Edward Rice is making his official journey into Cooperstown this weekend, immortalizing a career that took far too long validate. As it turned out, the voters are the ones who needed the help of steroids this time. Rice was the most dominating hitter in baseball during the majority of a career that lasted 2,089 games and covered at least parts of 16 seasons, and we didn’t understand how good he was, how truly worthy of enshrinement, until his numbers were crystallized by those greedy, self-promoting body builders who all but engineered their careers in a test tube.

Shame on them, of course. Shame on us, too. Thank heavens that we recognized the error of our ways before it was too late.

With regard to Hall of Fame enshrinement, we all know the rules. A player presents his case over the course of thousands of games, and then he retires. Five years later, he comes up for election. He remains eligible so long as he gets 5 percent of the vote, for a maximum of 15 years, no matter who else joins the discussion. If and when he is named on 75 percent of ballots cast in any one year, he takes his place in baseball’s pantheon and is effectively frozen in time.

Rice needed all 15 years, right down to the very last day,. In 2009, his 15th and final year of eligibility, Rice needed to appear on 405 of the 539 ballots cast to make it into the Hall of Fame. He ended up on 412. Even eight fewer votes would have left Rice with an approval rate of .7495 that would have robbed him of the game’s greatest individual honor. In Cooperstown, there is no rounding off and there is no such thing as a close second.

In retrospect, there can be no disputing the impact of steroids on Rice’s career, which ended in 1989, nine years before Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa engaged in what has since proven to be nothing more than a long-drive contest. It all seems so silly now, doesn’t it? McGwire and Sosa hit a combined 136 home runs in 1998, precisely 35.6 percent of the total Rice hit in his career, and we celebrated them as superheroes. As it turned out, McGwire and Sosa were nothing more than superhuman, like the juiced-up Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV".

Five years later, when baseball’s dirty little secret exploded into a full-blown epidemic, the superheroes didn’t look so super anymore and the lumberjacks started getting their due. Rocky Balboa chopped wood on an abandoned farm in a snow-covered Soviet Union; Rice swung his axe in what was then our steroid-free national pastime. Rice went to eight All-Star Games and finished in the top five of the American League MVP balloting on six occasions. In 1978, the year he won the MVP, Rice batted .315 with 46 home runs, 139 RBIs and 406 total bases.

As it turns out, those numbers mean even more now than they did then.

By 2004, when the game’s steroids scandal was starting to mushroom, Hall of Fame voters were starting to recognize what many New Englanders learned during the summer of 1978. Back then, Rice hit the ball as consistently far as Big Mac or Sammy, and he didn’t do it in baseball’s version of the WWE. During the five-year period from 2000-2004, Rice appeared on the following percentage of Hall of Fame Ballots, in order: 51.5, 57.9, 55.1, 52.2, and 54.5. Some of those numbers resulted from an influx of candidates that included people like Eddie Murray and Gary Carter, some of whom took away votes from people like Rice. Some were a simple indication that many voters regarded Rice as the classic borderline candidate, a literal 50-50 proposition.

Then, beginning in 2005, the numbers started to go up, and they started to go up dramatically: 59.5, 64.8, 63.5, 72.2, and finally 76.4. Rice’s career accomplishments did not change during that span. He already had spent 10 years on the ballot. And yet, it was if someone had shed an entirely new light on the career of a man whose presence in the batter’s box, especially, should have been indisputable in the first place.

Like any voters in any election, the qualifying members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (who cast the Hall of Fame ballots) can be inconsistent and open themselves up to scrutiny. All of them have a responsibility to explain their decisions. Over the years, one of the greatest criticisms of the BBWAA has been the change in voting results from players like Rich Gossage all the way down to Rice. How can a player go from getting 29.4 percent of the vote one year (as Rice did in 1999) to getting 76.4 percent of the vote precisely 10 years later? How can voters explain such a glaring inconsistency when Rice did not have a single plate appearance during that span?

The final answer, of course, is that voting bodies change, standards change and even the game changes, the last of those all but coming in the form of a genetic alteration.

During those years, Jim Rice changed too, from a lumberjack into a baseball superhero.

Kevin Youkilis's versatility helped the Red Sox acquire Adam LaRoche (Reuters)

Today, especially, give thanks for Kevin Youkilis. Regardless of what you think about the Adam LaRoche acquisition, the Red Sox now appear to be a better team on paper. The new (and improved?) Sox will take the field for the first time tomorrow night against the Baltimore Orioles in a much-needed return to Fenway Park.

Let’s be clear on this: The only reason the Sox were able to even make this move is because they have arguably the most versatile and valuable corner infielder in the game.

Roughly four hours before last night’s 3-1 loss to the Texas Rangers -- that’s five in a row, if you’re counting -- Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein conducted a conference call to address the deal that brought LaRoche to Boston for minor leaguers Argenis Diaz and Hunter Strickland. Epstein kept referring to the "reasonable acquisition cost" of a lefthanded-hitter with power, which was an extremely tactful way of saying that LaRoche was all but picked up for nothing from Pittsburgh, baseball’s answer to Building 19. (Good stuff cheap.) As owner John Henry noted on Twitter last night: "[The] trading deadline hasn’t passed but don’t expect blockbuster(s); [we] like this club; [we] love the prospects it might take to do a blockbuster."

Capisce? The Sox had no interest in giving up anyone of consequence and they still don’t. If you think there’s a bigger gift than this coming before July 31, we’d advise you to don your jammies, put out a plate of milk and cookies, then wait for Señor Claus.

All of this brings us back to Youkilis, who has been the Red Sox’ answer to most every problem over the last two seasons. Entering this season, the two most potent lefthanded bats in Boston belonged to designated hitter David Ortiz and right fielder J.D. Drew. Combined, while counting for $27 million against the Red Sox payroll, they are now batting .230 with 161 strikeouts in 169 games. Overall this season, the lefthanded bats in the Boston lineup (non-pitchers, including switch hitters) are batting .242, a number skewed by the presence of Jacoby Ellsbury, whose .287 average qualifies as the only number above .233 among everyday players in that group.

To wit: Minus Ellsbury, who is slugging .384, the Red Sox have a .226 average from a cast of lefthanded hitters that has included: Jonathan Van Every (4 for 11, .364, out for the year), Mark Kotsay (19 for 74, .257), Drew (.233), Ortiz (.228), Jason Varitek (.219 from the left side), George Kottaras (.213), Jed Lowrie (.095 from the left side) and Chris Carter (0 for 5, .000).

As a group, the Red Sox lefthanded hitters have been positively wretched this season, which is why the Sox were so focused almost exclusively on a lefthanded bat.

So, how does this relate to Youkilis? Given the issues on the left side of the infield, third base and shortstop were about the only two places the Sox could look for an upgrade. Finding a potent lefthanded hitter at either position is a virtual impossibility, particularly when factoring in the Red Sox’ desire to minimize the cost in terms of prospects. (Oh, but if only they had ponied up for Mark Teixeira last winter.) Adding in the dearth of overall power hitters at shortstop -- let alone lefthanded-hitting ones -- the Sox really were forced to seek an upgrade at one position, third base, where Mike Lowell’s ongoing health issues have created an opening.

Here’s the problem: There aren’t many lefthanded-hitting third basemen available. Since the start of last season, among players with at least 60 games at third base, only two (Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez) have a higher OPS than Youkilis (.922) at the position. Both are signed to long-term contracts that make them either unavailable or undesirable. (By the way, Ortiz is signed through next year for $13 million per and Drew is signed through 2011 at $14 million per, making each untradable given his current level of play.) The only third basemen on that list are people like Greg Dobbs (Philadelphia), Mark Teahen (Kansas City) and Carlos Guillen (Detroit).

So, if Youkilis couldn’t play third base as effectively as he does -- and seamlessly make the transition from one corner to the other -- the Red Sox might very well have been relegated to someone like Dobbs or Teahen, the latter of whom they expressed interest in. Youkilis saved their bacon by opening up an entirely new market of players that included lefthanded-hitting first basemen, which allowed them to acquire someone like LaRoche at that oh-so-important "reasonable acquisition cost."

For what it’s worth, other than Youkilis, there is not a man in baseball who has played 60 games at first base and 60 games at third base since the start of the 2008 season. Among third baseman, as mentioned, only Jones and Rodriguez have a higher OPS than Youkilis during that span. Among first basemen, Youkilis has the highest OPS in the American League (.986) and trails only the freakish Albert Pujols (1.113) in the majors.

Think about that for a minute. If the Sox put Youkilis at third, he’s one of the most productive players in baseball. If they put him at first, he’s one of the most productive players in baseball. And we haven’t even factored in Youkilis’s defensive skills or ability to move around the lineup, the latter of which proved similarly invaluable last season after the Sox cut bait with Manny Ramirez and asked Youkilis to be their cleanup hitter.

Oh, by the way, Epstein signed Youkilis to a four-year, $41.125 contract last offseason that translates into an average of basically $10.25 million per year. Compare that to the average annual salaries of people like Jones ($14 million through 2012), Rodriguez ($27.5 million through eternity) and Pujols ($16 million through 2011). Now that’s a "reasonable acquisition cost."

In the end, maybe you don’t like the LaRoche pickup. Maybe you wanted something more, which is particularly understandable given the Red Sox' long-term need for a power hitter from the left side because of the demise of Ortiz, the disappointment of Drew, and the delay of Lars Anderson. But when you consider the Red Sox’ approach of regarding their best prospects as the real world treats oil, the Red Sox weren’t going to give up much here. They still ended up getting an extremely serviceable player for an American League East race that suddenly looks as if it will be a fight to the finish.

For that, they have Kevin Youkilis to thank.

If you’re wondering what lefthanded first baseman Adam LaRoche will bring to the Red Sox, here’s an assessment from a respected, longtime major league evaluator:

"I like the move for the Red Sox. ... He’s real streaky [offensively] and an outstanding defender. ... Most of his bad at-bats come against lefthanded pitching ... He’s a rhythm hitter. If he’s a little off, he can look real ugly. If he’s right, he can get real hot. There’s no in-between with him. ... He plays the game with a very easy pace. Sometimes people criticize that because it can look lackadaisical. ... He’s not just a pull guy. He can go all over the field. There’s ability there. You can’t put up 25 [home runs] and 75 [RBI] every year and not have something.’’

As most everyone knows at this point, the Red Sox needed a lefthanded bat that could provide them with some thump from the middle of the lineup, whether it be from the No. 5 or No. 6 spot. In their last 21 games against righthanded pitching, the Red Sox are batting .221 with a .679 OPS. David Ortiz's overall decline, coupled with J.D. Drew’s sudden and worrisome ineffectiveness -- he’s batting .236 now -- left the Red Sox especially vulnerable against righthanders.

With LaRoche -- who is hitting .247 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs -- in the mix, you should expect Mike Lowell to get some time off against righthanded pitching with Kevin Youkilis shifting to third base. With lefties on the mound, LaRoche will likely sit with Lowell playing third and Youkilis remaining at first. If Ortiz goes into any kind of funk, the Sox could also work Lowell into the mix at designated hitter against certain pitchers, only because the time away from the field would take additional strain off Lowell’s hip. Youkilis also could DH if the Sox choose; ultimately, depending on matchups, the bottom line is that the Sox now have four players for three spots.

A few other notes from the deal:

• Financially speaking, LaRoche will cost the Red Sox approximately $3 million for the remainder of the season. LaRoche is slightly more than halfway through a one-year, $7.05 million deal, and he is eligible for free agency at the end of this year. The likelihood at this stage is that LaRoche is nothing more than a rental, meaning the Sox will likely allow him to leave following the season, after which they will be awarded some form of compensation in the draft.
• If you expected the Sox to make a blockbuster acquisition before the July 31 trading deadline -- and if you still do -- don’t hold your breath. While there may be a chance for another, lesser deal -- a lefty reliever, maybe? -- the Red Sox have no major needs beyond a lefthanded bat. An elite hitter or pitcher would require the Sox to part with a top prospect -- someone like Clay Buchholz, Lars Anderson, Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa or Casey Kelly, among others -- and the Sox have given no indication in recent years that they are interested in trading up to six years of service from a relative young, cheap player for one or two years of service an older and potentially overpaid one.
• LaRoche was quite outspoken when the Pirates traded Nate McLouth to the Braves earlier this season. That almost certainly had nothing to do with this deal, but it does indicate some passion from a player who has been criticized, as reported above for sometimes appearing "lackadaisical.’’ And we stress the word appearing.
• Of the two minor-league players the Sox gave up in the deal, shortstop Argenis Diaz has "a chance to be an everyday player,’’ according to the same evaluator from above. Diaz has a long way to go offensively but is seen as a gifted fielder who might give the Pirates some long-term insurance behind Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson, both of whom are free agents after this season. The question is whether he can hit, which evokes comparisons to Engel Beltre, the infielder whom the Sox sent to Texas in the Eric Gagne deal in 2007. The other player sent to Pittsburgh is a Class-A pitcher by the name of Hunter Strickland, on whom the above evaluator had little knowledge.

For the first time since June 7, first place now belongs to someone else. With last night’s loss to the Texas Rangers, the Red Sox now trail the New York Yankees by a game in the American League East. Since returning home for their final homestand of the first half, the Sox are 7-8.

A cause for concern? Or merely a bump in the road?

With both options in mind, we offer five reasons to panic . . . and five more to remain calm:

THE PESSIMIST’S TOP FIVE REASONS TO PANIC

1. The Red Sox can’t hit righthanded pitching.Don’t believe it? In their last 21 games against righthanders, beginning with the loss to Washington's Jordan Zimmerman on June 25, the Red Sox are batting .221 with a .679 OPS. This only reaffirms the point that the Sox’ biggest need is a lefthanded hitter because a righthanded pitcher can neutralize Boston’s best hitters -- Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis. As for the lefties, David Ortiz isn’t what he used to be; J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury again look inconsistent. (Note: A short time after this entry was posted, the Red Sox acquired lefthanded-hitting first baseman Adam LaRoche from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a pair of minor leaguers.)

2. The starting pitching isn’t as deep as the perception: With Tim Wakefield now on the disabled list, ask yourself this: Whom do you trust beyond Josh Beckett and Jon Lester? Minus Beckett and Lester, Red Sox starters this season have a 6.12 ERA. When you get right down to it, does this team have pitching to deal for the help it clearly needs on offense?

3. The Sox can’t beat good teams. Maybe this is a matter of semantics, but for the moment, let’s define "good teams’’ as ones with a winning record. While the Sox are 32-24 against clubs over .500, they are 24-24 against winning clubs other than the Yankees. Meanwhile, against winning clubs other than the Red Sox, the Yankees have gone 28-17. The Yankees of today appear like a completely different club than the one the Sox faced earlier in the year.

4. The Red Sox don’t have a leadoff hitter. Entering tonight’s trip finale against the Rangers in Texas, the Red Sox rank 27th in baseball -- and last in the American League -- in OPS from the leadoff spot. The Sox also rank 27th overall and 13th in the AL in on-base percentage. Manager Terry Francona has used six players in the leadoff spot and no one has proven capable of doing the job consistently.

5. The Sox are destined to break down. If you’re not worried about the Red Sox’ health, maybe you should be. Can Mike Lowell hold up? What about Jed Lowrie? Mark Kotsay has battled nagging injuries all year. Rocco Baldelli can handle only a limited workload. Tim Wakefield and Daisuke Matsuzaka are on the disabled list, John Smoltz is recovering from shoulder surgery. Historically, September is Jason Varitek’s worst month. And what are the chances J.D. Drew stays healthy?

Now for the positives . . .

THE OPTIMIST’S TOP FIVE REASONS TO REMAIN CALM

1. Beckett and Lester are the best 1-2 punch in the American League. Though each member of the Red Sox’ two-headed monster has lost his first start of the second half, that isn’t likely to happen much -- if at all -- the balance of the way. During the first half, Beckett and Lester lost consecutive starts just once -- on April 12 and 13 against the Angels and A’s, respectively. Bteween that occurrence and this one, the Red Sox went 52-29.

2. The bullpen is healed. Based on what we’ve seen so far since the break, you can put away any concerns about the Red Sox bullpen. In four games since intermission, Sox relievers have pitched 9 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out 10. Opponents are a mere 3 for 32 against them -- a paltry .094 average -- and closer Jonathan Papelbon, in particular, might be throwing as well as he has all season.

3. Jason Bay is going to hit sooner or later. In his last 22 games, Bay is 11 for 75 (a .147 average) with one home run, three RBI and a whopping 31 strikeouts, a slump bordering on the Ortizian. Bay has not hit righthanders or lefthanders during that span, and he is far too good a hitter for that to continue. Over the course of his career, Bay generally has been as consistent a player in the second half as he has been in the first. That shouldn't change.

4. The Sox pummel lefthanded pitching. Aside from the fact that the team’s three best hitters are righthanded -- Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay -- the Sox also benefit greatly against lefties because Jason Varitek and Jed Lowrie are far more productive players from the right side of the plate. Against lefthanded pitching, from 1 through 9, the Red Sox can trot out one of the very best lineups in baseball, which will help neutralize divisional lefties like CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, and David Price, among others.

5. The Red Sox aren’t pessimists. Freed from the burden of their past, the Sox aren’t negative thinkers anymore. Francona, in particular, performs at his best during times of crisis. Pedroia, Varitek, Ortiz, Beckett, Lester and Papelbon, among others, are all winning players and mentally tough competitors who will not come unglued during difficult times. Organizationally, from top to bottom, the Red Sox are downright unflappable, as they have proven in the postseason.

Are you worried, or remaining calm? Take our survey.

Clay Buchholz in the majors? It might be a a knee-jerk reaction. (Yoon S. Byun / Globe Staff)

Editor's note: This blog entry was published earlier Tuesday, before the news that Clay Buchholz would be called up to the Red Sox to take the place of Tim Wakefield, who went on the disabled list.

Presumably, the same people clamoring for Clay Buchholz now are the same ones who were clamoring for John Smoltz then. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. And in the world of major league baseball, the pitching is always better one stop before the major leagues.

Sole possessors of first place in the American League East less than a week ago, the Red Sox are now tied with the New York Yankees atop the division following last night’s 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox have begun the second half of this season just as they began the first, when they played .250 baseball (2-6) to start the year. Boston’s only win so far in the second half came behind Buchholz, who has one more career no-hitter than Smoltz to go along with 205 fewer victories and 154 fewer saves.

We know what you’re thinking: Why isn’t Buchholz here? On some levels, it is a legitimate question. On others, it is a knee-jerk reaction to what is, at the moment, nothing more than a slow start to the second half of a season that produced the best record in the AL through last weekend.

The AL East being what it is, the 2009 season had the makings of an especially long fight from the very beginning -- and an especially long fight it is shaping up to be. In some ways, the season has not really even begun yet. Boston, New York, and Tampa Bay looked to be the three best teams in the AL when this season began, and there has been little to dissuade us from that belief as we approach the 100-game mark.

If the season were to end today -- famous last words, we know -- the Red Sox would be division champions by virtue of their head-to-head record over New York; the Yankees would be wild card winners; the defending-AL champion Rays would be on the outside looking in.

So, is there really reason to be alarmed yet? The most worrisome development so far this half is that Red Sox have lost three of four this season to the Rangers, who are currently tied with the Rays, 4 1/2 games out in the race for the wild card. The Rangers suddenly do not appear as if they will be going away. Any win over Texas now could mean a great deal later, especially with unbalanced scheduling producing a bushel of intra-divisional games in the final two months of the season.

Nonetheless, before anyone gets too alarmed, rest assured that the Red Sox planned for this. Their entire strategy around the All-Star break was designed with the bigger picture in mind, which is to say that the Sox remained focused on August, September and, of course, October. The Red Sox don’t hope to make the playoffs any more so much as they expect to be there, and they have to plan for it. That means giving as much rest as possible to people like Brad Penny and Smoltz, each of whom took the mound in recent days on nine days of rest. Nine. If the Red Sox weren’t expecting a certain measure of rust and/or inefficiency as a result of that, they would have scheduled their pitchers for earlier turns.

Oh, and have we even mentioned that Boston’s two biggest winners from the first half -- Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield -- have yet to take the mound since the break?

For Buchholz, all of this has only resulted in another stint as Flavor of the Month, which is not meant as a criticism of his abilities or potential. By all accounts, the kid has a chance to be a very good pitcher in the major leagues. He is not necessarily one yet. Buchholz’s 2008 campaign was nothing short of a disaster, and the Red Sox understood better than anyone that Buchholz needed more time in the minors to develop his confidence and understanding of what it takes to be an effective major league pitcher.

Friday’s spot start was an acknowledgment that Buchholz could probably help them on some level now, so the club created a spot for him because it would simultaneously benefit everyone else -- in the long run.

After all, what's the rush? Why does Buchholz have to be here now? Smoltz was an investment designed to pay dividends late in the season, a stretch of time that has yet to commence; in his five starts with the club so far, the first and the last have been made on unusually long rest. From May 3 through the end of the first half, Penny posted a 3.79 ERA over the span of 13 starts. And there is not anybody in his (or her) right mind who would currently put Buchholz in the rotation over Beckett, Wakefield, or Jon Lester, the last of whom had the misfortune of squaring off with Roy Halladay on Sunday.

So, for the moment at least, the Red Sox are doing exactly what they should with Buchholz. They are waiting. Keeping Buchholz in the minors is not going to do him -- or them -- any harm. In fact, in the long run, it will only ensure that the Red Sox can keep Buchholz longer. As things stand, Buchholz is not eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season. (He had 154 days of major league service entering this season; a full year is roughly 180 days.) At this stage, if Buchholz spends roughly a month in the big leagues this year, he will instead be eligible for free agency following the 2014 campaign because he will have accrued enough service time to be eligible. By holding him a little longer now, the Red Sox could get another full year of service from him down the road, when they might not have a rotation, 1 through 5, as deep as any in the game.

If he plays now, they may pay later.

Sometimes those of us who are passionate about team sports or, more specifically, competition, focus on the individuals rather than the team. What difference does it make if Dustin Pedroia struggles in the leadoff spot so long as the Red Sox are winning? What difference does it make if Jacoby Ellsbury hits seventh and J.D. Drew first? What difference does it make if Penny and Smoltz start while Buchholz remains in the minors, an insurance policy for the short term and a cornerstone for the long?

The answer: None.

After all, it’s not about him as much as it’s about them.

Poking the air with his right index finger as if he were dotting a blackboard with a piece of chalk, Jason Varitek sat in front of his locker recently and marked the four corners of the major league strike zone. Within that same box routinely superimposed on television during most any game broadcast, Red Sox pitchers and their catcher attempt to execute their daily strategy.

Even in such a relatively small space, there are countless options.

"There are different ways you can go,’’ said Varitek, who will be behind the plate tonight when the Sox open the second half of the season at Toronto. "Take [Mike] Timlin: he could four-seam away, sink away, and cut away, so he’s created this.’’

Now, as if chopping the side of one hand with the other, Varitek formed an 'X’ to mark one corner of the plate.

"One [pitch] goes beneath the barrel [of the bat], one goes over the barrel and one goes across the barrel,’’ Varitek continued. "That’s basically three varieties of one pitch -- a fastball.’’

This is the game Varitek plays on a nightly basis, the variables being the opponent, his batterymate, and the effectiveness of any particular pitch at any given moment. There is almost always something to work with. Along with the man standing on the mound, Varitek’s job is to devise a strategy and execute it through information obtained from variety of sources -- scouts, coaches, pitchers, his own experiences -- a smaller-scale challenge akin to a football coach devising a weekly game plan.

Through the All-Star break this year, for those who believe in such things, Varitek has a catcher’s ERA of 3.80 -- the ERA of Red Sox pitchers when he is behind the plate -- a number that is the best in the American League among though who have caught at least 50 games. (By contrast, the catcher’s ERA of George Kottaras is more than a full run higher, 4.89, though he works almost exclusively with Tim Wakefield.) That number is not a commentary on Varitek so much as it a reflection of the harmony that generally exists between Red Sox pitchers and their starting catcher, a man widely regarded throughout baseball as one of the best in the game when it comes to handling a pitching staff.

It’s one thing to have the necessary artillery to get hitters out. It’s another to use it properly.

Varitek shook his head when asked if he had a general philosophy on pitching: "There’s no one way to get people out because every [pitcher] is good at something.’’

Or, more precisely, something different.

How Lester got his groove back
Let’s start with Jon Lester, who, beginning on April 29 of last season, has blossomed into one of the truly elite power lefthanders in the game. During that span, Lester is 23-10 with a 3.23 ERA, which ranks behind only CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, and Cliff Lee among qualifying lefties in the major leagues. Other than Lester, only Lee (22-12) has spent all of that time in the American League, where the presence of the designated hitter makes the challenge of pitching more difficult.

For the most part, Lester operates with five pitches -- a changeup, curveball, and fastball, the latter of which can come in the form of a two-seamer, four-seamer, or cutter, all of which move differently. In Lester’s case, because he is lefthanded, the two-seamer breaks in on a lefthanded batter, the cutter breaks in on a righthanded batter, and the four-seamer crosses the plate in what is closest to a straight line (but with the greatest velocity).

Generally speaking, Lester’s bread-and-butter pitch is the cutter, a pitch he can throw in the low 90s and with sharp, aggressive movement in on righthanded batters. With that pitch alone, he can make righties extremely defensive. (For hitters, hard inside pitches are often the most uncomfortable.) Lester's problems earlier this season came when he was unable to control the inside of the plate against lefties, which is to say he had trouble throwing, with velocity and movement, to the first base side (or, in his case, arm side) of the plate.

"A lot of pitchers get comfortable on one side of the plate,’’ said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who might also have used Timlin as an example. "Maybe a righty can throw arm side to a lefthanded hitter because [the plate] is open. Maybe a righty can’t throw inside to a righty because he’s afraid he might hit him or leave it out over the middle of the plate.

"Lester’s the one who, when he’s commanding both sides -- a hitter can’t just section off one part of the plate. It’s hard for them to know what’s coming.’’

In Lester’s first 10 starts this year, while the pitcher was going 3-5 with a 6.07 ERA, Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell "basically’’ attributed the pitcher’s problems to command of the two-seam fastball on the arm side of the plate (in this case, again, down and in to lefties). To that point in the season, lefthanded batters were hitting .300 against Lester with a whopping .614 slugging percentage, .965 OPS, and six home runs. In 2008, he allowed just three home runs to lefthanded batters all year.

Since that time, in eight games, lefties have hit .234 against Lester with a .255 slugging percentage, .530 OPS and zero homers. During that span, he is 5-1 with a 1.48 ERA, the only loss being a 2-1, rain-shortened five-inning affair against the Florida Marlins.

The day Lester reclaimed the arm side of the plate was the day his season changed.

'X' marks the spot
For any pitcher, the ultimate goal is to attack both sides of the plate from different points of entry -- inside out, outside in -- a skill that produces the same 'X’ that Varitek made with his hands. When Pedro Martinez was in his prime with the Red Sox, armed with an array of crisp pitches that could move in all directions, he could carve up home plate, against righties and lefties, as if he were serving pumpkin pie.

Hitters couldn’t focus on the outer half of the plate because Martinez would beat them in. And they couldn’t focus on the inner half of the plate because Martinez could pierce them away.

Of course, with regard to operating with sheer precision and movement on both sides of the plate, one name among recent pitchers stands out above all others.

"Maddux,’’ said Francona, referring to future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, the four-time Cy Young Award winner who could manipulate the ball as if guiding it with a joystick. "He could throw that one right there [two-seamer inside] and he could live away. When we came [to Atlanta] with Philadelphia, we would marvel at the way they would set their defense. They’d play the off-field outfielder almost on the line.’’

And so, as Maddux wore out the outside corner, opponents hit one weak opposite-field fly after the next.

Of course, Maddux, who won 355 games in his 23-year career, is an exception. For most pitchers, commanding both sides of the plate is far more difficult -- and it can take years (or infinity) to master. Remember the comeback two-seamer that Derek Lowe utilized to strike out Terrence Long for the final out in Game 5 of the 2003 AL Division Series between the Red Sox and Oakland A’s? A year earlier, while suffering through a miserable year as the Boston closer, Lowe could not make that pitch consistently. The result was a tumultuous season that eventually led to Lowe’s resurrection as a starter -- and one that made him a far better pitcher, too.

By the time the Oakland series ended, Lowe had used the pitch against a succession of Oakland lefthanded batters, striking out both Long and the lefthanded-hitting Adam Melhuse on called third strikes with the game, series, and season on the line.

"That was as clutch as you can possibly be,’’ Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said of Lowe at the time. "I don't know how many pitchers in the game have the guts to make those pitches.’’

Said Varitek, "That strike three pitch was the best pitch he's ever made.’’

To Melhuse or to Long?

"Both of them,’’ Varitek said.

This brings us to righthander Justin Masterson, the talented young pitcher who, stylistically, is the best comparison to Lowe among those currently on the Boston roster. Like Lowe, Masterson is a sinkerballer who relies largely on the movement of his two-seamer (or sinker) to produce groundouts. Like Lowe early in his career, he has trouble on the inner half of the plate against lefties (in this case, Masterson’s glove side). Sometimes, Masterson’s two-seamer tails back over the plate, where it gets pounded. Sometimes, it doesn’t tail enough and misses the plate. Masterson is thus left to combat lefties with a slider that darts down and in, albeit at a lesser velocity, but his overall inability to deal with lefties is an ongoing issue.

So far this year, lefties are batting .317 with an .864 OPS against Masterson, helping to explain why he has seemingly taken a step back in his development. He is still learning. He is still just 24 years old. Current Red Sox officials, in particular, have demonstrated great patience with their young pitchers, from Lester to Masterson and beyond, largely because the strike zone, as small as it seems, takes years to master.

After all, most pitchers struggle early in their careers. Even Maddux, who was 8-18 with an ERA over 5.00 in his first two big league seasons.

Strategy plus execution will equal success for Buchholz tonight
Tonight, when the Sox open the season half in Toronto, they will do so behind wonderboy Clay Buchholz, a unique talent by all accounts. Though last year’s rookie season produced an unsightly 2-9 record and 6.75 ERA, many agree that the 24-year-old Buchholz has the potential of a front-end major league starter. This year, at Triple A Pawtucket, the righthanded Buchholz is 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA. Lefthanded batters have hit .241 against him, righthanders a miniscule .142 with 54 strikeouts, just 9 walks and 27 hits.

Though Buchholz had difficulty with hitters of all kinds last season, lefties gave him particular trouble, which of course is not unusual for a righthanded pitcher. Because Buchholz’s repertoire of pitches includes a changeup that moves down and away from lefties -- this is a pitch he has great confidence in -- his success tonight may well reside on his "glove’’ side -- the inner part of the plate against lefties. Buchholz throws a curveball and slider to augment his changeup, along with a two-seam fastball (largely to the arm side) and a four-seam fastball (largely to the glove side). Once the game starts, it will be Varitek’s job to determine the youngster’s best plan of attack based on which pitches are working and which ones are not, Buchholz’s job to execute the pitches and engage in any give-and-take.

Together, armed with countless options, the pitcher and catcher of the Red Sox must negotiate their way through the imaginary box hovering over home plate.

Call me crazy, but on some level, I think the Red Sox actually miss Javier Lopez in their bullpen.

The Red Sox, who own the best record in the American League, will open the second half of the season tomorrow night in Toronto. Clay Buchholz will get the start. Behind him, manager Terry Francona will begin the most critical games of the year with a relief corps that recently has shown some signs of cracking, particularly in blowing leads of 10-1 (to the Baltimore Orioles on June 30) and 4-0 (to the Kansas City Royals) during the final two weeks of the first half.

Statistical aberration? Or a worrisome sign of things to come?

Now, nobody is saying that the Red Sox bullpen is a problem. The question is whether the Red Sox can do anything to improve a group that was darned near perfect as recently as two weeks ago. In 2007, as the Red Sox methodically marched toward another world title, Francona noted the considerable value, for any team, of winning the games "you're supposed to win.'' Francona was not speaking about beating inferior opponents so much as he was speaking of protecting late-inning leads -- particularly those of multiple runs -- something the Sox did with great efficiency during the first half of that season thanks largely to the unexpected emergence of Hideki Okajima.

So far this year, the Sox are a sterling 43-2 when leading after six innings, though that record does not include last week's meltdown against the Royals, when the Sox bullpen failed to hold a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning. The two losses include a 3-2 loss to the New York Mets on May 23 -- Jonathan Papelbon's first of two blown saves on the season -- and the infamous debacle at Baltimore, which ultimately produced Papelbon's second blown save of the first half.

Papelbon is not the concern here, even if he has seemed more mortal this season than during his first three years as the Sox closer. From 2006-08, Papelbon blew an average of 4.5 saves per season -- about two per half. In 2007, he blew three all year. Since the start of the 2006 season, his save percentage ranks fourth-best in baseball behind only Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Rodriguez, a group widely regarded as the best closers in baseball.

So long as the Red Sox are giving Papelbon save opportunities, they'll happily take their chances. He's right there with the best.

This year more than any other in recent memory, the Red Sox have uncommon bullpen depth, making them almost as dominating in the middle innings as they have been late in games. Against both Baltimore and Kansas City, the most significant damage was done against Justin Masterson and Manny Delcarmen, both of whom are effectively middle relievers. To this point, Delcarmen's inability to pitch late in games has relegated him to duty mostly in the sixth or seventh innings; in Masterson's case, his inability to handle lefthanded batters means that Francona must pick his spots with him.

As much of an oddity as the Baltimore game may have been, let's look at the specifics: against Masterson and Delcarmen, lefthanded batters in that game went 4 for 9, a .444 average. Roughly 10 days later, against the same pair of relievers in the KC meltdown, lefties went 3 for 4, bringing the total to 7 for 13 (a .538 average) with four extra-base hits (three doubles, one homer). Though Delcarmen's failures were unusual -- thanks to an effective changeup, he actually has been better against lefties than righties during his career -- Masterson's difficulties have been an ongoing issue since he first reached the major leagues. This season, lefthanded batters are hitting .317 with an .864 OPS against him.

So why was he in the games at all? Because the Red Sox had sizable leads at the time, and because a young pitcher like Masterson needs to face lefties at some point if the Red Sox want him to improve. Beyond that, utilizing someone like Okajima against lefties in the middle innings would strip Francona of one of his more effective set-up men in the seventh or eighth, potentially making Boston even more vulnerable.

This brings us back to Lopez, who enjoyed a fine season as the Red Sox lefthanded specialist in 2008. Last year, Lopez limited lefties to a .182 average in 70 appearances, posting a 2.43 ERA in the process. The early-season plan this year was to have Lopez in the very same role, at least until lefties belted him at a .429 clip (with a 1.110 OPS) and ushered him back to the minor leagues, where he has since posted a 4.20 ERA in 16 games. Triple A lefties are hitting .296 against him.

With Lopez out, the Sox subsequently turned to lefty Hunter Jones and, later, righthander Daniel Bard, the latter of whom is seemingly being groomed to be Papelbon's successor some day. That has made Okajima the sole lefty in the Boston bullpen, leaving Francona without a matchup specialist for the sixth and seventh innings. Last season, of the 218 plate appearances against Lopez, 130 of them came in the sixth or seventh innings.

With roughly two weeks now remaining before the annual July 31 trading deadline, the Red Sox appear to have a need for another lefty in their bullpen, something at least one Sox official privately has acknowledged. The problem is that two lefties are a luxury that many teams covet and few possess, particularly in a world where any lefthanded pitching already is at a premium. And so, the Sox are likely to go with only one lefty (Okajima) until at least Sept. 1, when roster expansion will allow them to summon at least one specialist from a group that includes Lopez.

Then, depending on what the Sox get from the spot, an already good Boston bullpen could get even better.

Editor's note: Check out the interactive version of Mazz's midseason report card, which allows you to grade each player and see the aggregate reader grades as well as Mazz's.

Midway through this season, the Red Sox are exactly who we thought they would be: playoff contenders with a remarkably deep pitching staff and an effective offense, factors that have made them as viable a championship threat as anyone in baseball.

Are the Sox perfect? Heck no. Depending on what happens with Mike Lowell, the Sox may need help on the left side of the infield. Regardless, they could probably use a lefthanded hitter. The No. 3 spot in the rotation remains a black hole and the bullpen, in a best-case, scenario, could probably use a lefthanded specialist.

Still, all things considered, the Red Sox concluded a solid first half with Josh Beckett's shutout of the Kansas City Royals and are on pace for 99 victories. With that in mind, here are this year's midterm grades (in alphabetical order):

POSITIONAL PLAYERS

Jeff Bailey (C) -- The classic platoon candidate, he is 10 for 25 (a .400 average) with a 1.220 OPS against lefthanded pitching, just 6 for 52 (a measly .115 average) with a .515 OPS against righthanded pitching. The Red Sox knew all of this coming into the season, though Bailey probably has played a little more against righties than they might have liked. Regardless, he has given them everything he should have -- nothing more, nothing less.

Rocco Baldelli (B) -- Signed to back up J.D. Drew and spot start against lefthanded pitching, Baldelli has celebrated his return to New England by batting .328 with a .900 OPS against southpaws. Availability really hasn't been too much of an issue, but only because the Red Sox have managed his workload quite carefully. Among players who essentially spent the entire first half with the team, no one has fewer at-bats against righthanders (27).

Jason Bay (A-) -- The last couple of weeks have been tough -- a .153 average and 25 strikeouts in 17 games -- but prior to that, he established himself as a candidate for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. During the break, the Red Sox are expected to talk with his agent about a contract for 2010 and beyond. At the moment, while earning $7.5 million, he is eligible for free agency and could be in line for something in the range of $15 million annually.

J.D. Drew (B) -- As improbable as it seems, the Red Sox rank third among all AL teams in OPS from the right field position, behind only the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. (Stuff like that makes you wonder if Theo Epstein knew what he was doing when he gave Drew $14 million a year.) On the whole, Drew has been healthy and involved, now assuming the role of leadoff hitter. Has he been All-Star-caliber? No. But all the way around, pretty solid -- as usual.

Jacoby Ellsbury (A-) -- Don't look now, but the dynamic young center fielder is now growing consistent. Ellsbury hit .287 in April, .308 in May, and .313 in June. Since the start of last season, nobody in the game has stolen more bases. For now, the Red Sox are quite content to have him providing offense from the bottom third of the lineup. Long-term, he needs to find his way back to the top of the order, or, perhaps, even the middle.

Nick Green (B+) -- Are you kidding? Given the injury to Jed Lowrie and the continuing defensive issues with Julio Lugo, shortstop could have been a train wreck. Green hasn't been great, but on the whole he's been very good. And since May 18, among all major league shortstops with at least 30 games at the position, no one has made fewer errors. Seems as if the Wes Welker look-alike has more than Welker's face; he has his hands, too.

Mark Kotsay (B) -- Kotsay missed much of the first half recovering from injury, but where would they be without him now? With Mike Lowell out, Terry Francona has the option to play Kotsay at first and Kevin Youkilis at third, especially against righthanded pitching. Against righties, Kotsay is .281, albeit with relatively little power, and the defense has been good, as usual. Again, the dropoff could have been huge here. What a luxury to have on the bench.

George Kottaras (C+) -- Admittedly, there hasn't been a heck of a lot of offense, but again, that's not the point. Thanks to the Josh Bard experiment in 2006, we saw what could happen when Tim Wakefield gets paired with a new catcher. Kottaras has seven passed balls and opponents have stolen successfully on 22 of 26 attempts against him -- but those numbers are a product of the knuckler. In the end, Wakefield has 11 wins. The catcher gets some credit there.

Mike Lowell (B) -- Make no mistake: The first two weeks after the break will be critical because the Red Sox need him healthy and productive. Among all AL teams, only the New York Yankees (Alex Rodriguez) and Tampa Bay Rays (Evan Longoria) have had a better OPS from their third basemen than the Red Sox. Lowell has lost half a step in the field, but his hands remain among the best in baseball. The long-term question for the Red Sox is obvious: Can he hold up?

Julio Lugo (D-) -- With or without the game-winning hit in Baltimore, his offense has been decent. The problem, obviously, is that the defense has been a disaster. Among all big league shortstops with at least 200 innings at the position, Lugo has the lowest fielding percentage in baseball. (Read that again.) The Sox finally may be forced to make a decision on him in the coming days, and we all know it's time. One thing: It's not always his fault.

David Ortiz (C-) -- Strange season, eh? At his lowest point, on June 2, Ortiz was batting .186 with one home run and 18 RBIs and a .566 OPS in 47 games. Since that time, in 34 games, he leads the Red Sox in home runs (11), RBIs (29), and OPS (1.011) while looking very much like the Big Papi of old. One good month does not undo two positively terrible ones, but Ortiz certainly is getting there. Looks like this could be a respectable year after all.

Dustin Pedroia (A-) -- The reigning American League MVP hasn't hit for quite the same power he did a year ago, though some of that has to do with the way teams are pitching him. Especially at Fenway Park, few dare to venture to the inner half of the plate against him. Still, Pedroia has been a catalyst for these Sox and ranks among the league leaders in runs, doubles, and hits. As usual, the defense has been rock solid. The love affair continues.

Jason Varitek (B+) -- Know where the Red Sox ranked last season among the 30 big league clubs in OPS from their catchers? That would be 26th (and 13th in the AL). Know where they rank this year? Fifth (and third). Varitek isn't quite the All-Star catcher who backstopped this team at the height of his career, but he's had a nice first half while giving the Red Sox more from the position than just about any team in baseball. Nice comeback. Nice story.

Kevin Youkilis (A-) -- Factoring in his stint on the disabled list, here's what his numbers project to over 162 games: 35 home runs, 116 RBIs and 123 runs scored -- and those come despite a recent stretch during which he batted .194 over the span of 28 games. Now Youkilis looks like he's getting hot again -- all while shuttling between first base and third base effortlessly. With a good second half, he will be in the thick of the MVP voting again.

INCOMPLETE -- Aaron Bates, Dusty Brown, Chris Carter, Jonathan Van Every, Jed Lowrie, Gil Velzaquez.


PITCHERS

Daniel Bard (B+) -- Can't you just see the confidence growing? After getting knocked around by the Phillies on June 14, Bard has 12 strikeouts and three walks while allowing just six hits (all singles) in his last eight appearances covering 10 innings. There has been some indication recently that Terry Francona may start using him in more important situations, which speaks volumes. If this kid gets it rolling, a very good bullpen will get even better.

Josh Beckett (A) -- After a shaky month to start the year -- Beckett had a 7.22 ERA at the end of April -- the last 13 starts have been sterling. During that time, Beckett is 9-1 with a 2.14 ERA while limiting opponents to a .204 batting average. He has been everything an ace is supposed to be -- and he has been healthy, which can only make you wonder what might have been in October 2008. With any luck, of course, the Sox will get to find out this year.

Manny Delcarmen (A-) -- Since the start of last season, there are just 17 relievers in baseball who have pitched at least 100 innings and maintained an ERA of 3.00 or better -- and the Red Sox have four of them. Along with Jonathan Papelbon (of course), Hideki Okajima, and Ramon Ramirez, Delcarmen is in that group. Maybe he's more of a middle man than a true setup guy, but the results generally have been good. And like the others, he has proven durable, too.

Jon Lester (B+) -- His struggles lasted about two weeks longer than Beckett's -- Lester had a 6.51 ERA on May 15 -- but what has happened since has been nearly Pedro-esque. In his last 10 outings, Lester is 6-2 with a 2.01 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 67 innings, the latter of which translates into 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Don't look now, but the Red Sox may have themselves the best lefthander in baseball.

Javier Lopez (F) -- OK, after a solid 2008, the early part of 2009 was a disaster and earned him a demotion. Lopez got used in some situations out of desperation -- he really isn't suited to face righthanded batters -- but he also allowed lefties to bat .429 against him with a 1.110 OPS. Still, in case anyone hasn't noticed, much of the damage against the Sox bullpen of late has been done by lefthanded batters. This team really could use a lefthanded specialist.

Justin Masterson (C-) -- What we have here, for lack of a better word, is a bit of a regression. Masterson was one of the keys to the bullpen last season, but recently he has looked like the most vulnerable reliever on the team. His problems against lefties are growing -- a .314 average, .370 OBP and .832 OPS -- and he's been a big part of recent bullpen meltdowns against Baltimore and Kansas City. These are probably just growing pains, but watch closely.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (F) -- However you want to slice it, Matsuzaka's 2009 season has been nothing short of a train wreck. In his eight starts, Matsuzaka went 1-5 and the Red Sox went 2-6. (Overall, the No. 3 spot in the rotation has produced a 6-12 record; the Sox are otherwise 47-22.) In 35 innings, he allowed an astonishing 78 baserunners. Let's hope this is all the result of a fatigued shoulder -- and not the sign of dwindling effectiveness.

Hideki Okajima (A-) -- Take away one wretched outing in the 11-10 implosion at Baltimore on June 30, and Okajima has a 2.17 ERA over the balance of the first half. Since the start of 2007 season, Okajima ranks in top 10 of all major league relievers in ERA (minimum of 150 innings). The point? Don't take this guy for granted. He's durable, reliable, and effective against both lefthanders and righthanders. Any team would love to have him.

Jonathan Papelbon (A-) -- OK, fine, so the performances have not been quite as pleasing to the eye as those in years past. We all have seen some slippage here. That said, Papelbon looked as sharp as he has all year during Friday night's 1-0 win over the Royals and he remains one of the truly dominating closers in baseball. As worrisome as some of his outings have been this year, ask yourself this: What would the Red Sox do if he were lost for any period of time?

Brad Penny (B) -- Expectations make all the difference here, but after a horrid April (8.66 ERA), Penny has settled into that No. 5 role quite nicely, posting a 3.79 ERA. Sure, the Red Sox would love to see him go a little deeper into games, but at the back end of the rotation, his primary responsibility is to give them a chance to win. He's done that. As Josh Beckett said, when you get right down to it, how many teams have five starters better than this guy?

Ramon Ramirez (A-) -- Ramirez has hit a wall lately -- he has a 5.02 ERA in his last 16 games -- but don't kid yourself. He's been one of the best setup men in baseball. Since the start of last season, in fact, only five relievers in the game (minimum of 100 innings) have an ERA lower than Ramirez' 2.53 -- and one of them is Jonathan Papelbon. In the Boston bullpen, nobody needs the All-Star break more -- and nobody is more deserving of time off.

Takashi Saito (B-) -- There was lots of hype when the Red Sox picked him up to be their third-day closer, but let's be honest. This hasn't turned out quite as the Sox hoped. In part because the Sox bullpen has been healthy Saito hasn't really been employed in any situations of consequence. The Sox are just 14-17 when he pitches, which tells you that Terry Francona is more comfortable using him when the team is behind. Overall, he's been fine. But he's expendable.

Tim Wakefield (A-) -- Went back and looked at the game logs, and he had two real clunkers: at the Angels on May 13 and at Toronto on May 29. Excluding those, Wakefield went 11-1 with a 3.53 ERA. Not bad for a 42-year-old guy, eh? Of course, all of the starts count and we cannot pick and choose, but the bottom line is that Wakefield already has won more games than he did during all of 2008. As Terry Francona says, he always seems to give the Sox a chance.

John Smoltz (C+) -- A bad one, a good one, a bad one, a good one. Sounds a little like the Curt Schilling of 2007, no? Remember, Smoltz is here for late August, September, and October, and the Red Sox are building him up with that in mind. There are going to be some inconsistencies along the way, but the club can afford that given the depth of its staff and rotation. Starting after the break, we should look for slow, steady improvement. The goal is to peak late.

INCOMPLETE - Michael Bowden, Hunter Jones.

MANAGER

Terry Francona (A) -- Well, here we are again, and the Red Sox are atop the division, looking like the class of the American League. There have been no flare-ups to speak of. The pitching staff has been handled well. Francona is in the first year of a three-year contract extension -- and he's the first manager in Boston to begin a sixth season in roughly 60 years. Some of us never thought this was possible, but have we reached the point where the manager has New England's complete confidence?

GENERAL MANAGER

Theo Epstein (A) -- His biggest test has yet to come -- that would be the trading deadline -- but let's examine his offseason moves: Smoltz, Penny, Ramirez, Green, Baldelli, Kotsay; meanwhile, Junichi Tazawa is tearing it up in the minors. The Mark Teixeira failure could have long-term implications -- was that his fault or ownership's? -- but Theo has scored big on the lesser investments. Now all he has to do is sign Jason Bay. After all, what are the alternatives?

With regard to Roy Halladay, to paraphrase former Sox general manager Lou Gorman, the question is obvious:

Where in the name of Willie McGee would they put him?

Four games from the All-Star break and 22 days from the July 31 trading deadline, the Red Sox are now 51-33 in the wake of last night’s 5-4 win over the Oakland A’s at Fenway Park. With a victory over the Kansas City Royals tonight, the Sox could climb to a season-high 19 games over .500. The Red Sox may have the deepest pitching staff in team history, last night’s win giving No. 4 starter Tim Wakefield more victories than any other pitcher in the American League.

By now, you know that Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi indicated earlier this week that he would entertain trade discussions on ace Roy Halladay, who has more wins than any pitcher in baseball since the start of the 2002 season to go also with the best winning percentage (.707). Since the start of the 2006 campaign, Halladay has more complete games (23) than any pitcher in baseball and has thrown more innings (807 1/3) than anyone but CC Sabathia (808 1/3). Halladay has one career Cy Young Award (2003) and has finished in the top five of the voting on four occasions.

His appeal is obvious, and if the Red Sox wanted to make a deal for Halladay today, they could.

But they won’t.

Let’s start this discussion with an obvious truth: Because of the depth of their farm system, their financial resources, and their status as the most successful team in baseball this millennium, the Red Sox can trade for just about any player they want. It is a question of how much they want to give up. No team in baseball currently can match the Red Sox’ combination of financial wealth and minor-league talent, which is a credit to the team’s baseball operation. Any time a marquee player becomes available, the Red Sox are part of the discussion.

Even when, as now, they have far greater needs (read: a hitter) than pitching.

As of late yesterday, the Sox had yet to inquire with the Jays about the price for Halladay. Two days ago, a baseball source indicated that Toronto officials would be shocked if the Sox met their demands for the player. Everyone in the game knows that the Sox love their prospects and their farm system, and they also know that the Sox are built for the long haul as a result of it.

Really, haven’t we been here before? Nearly two years ago, after the Sox won the 2007 World Series, Halladay was available, too, in a sense. The only difference was that his name was actually Johan Santana. The Sox engaged in discussions with the Minnesota Twins -- just enough, but not too much -- to jack the price for Santana’s suitors. In the process, the Sox were either going to keep Santana from going to the Yankees entirely or ensure that New York sacrificed its primary pitching prospects in order to get him.

In the end, Santana went to the Mets. By late October of last year, neither New York team had qualified for the postseason while the Red Sox came within one win of a third World Series appearance in five years.

In the short term, there is no question that Halladay could dramatically impact the balance of power in any playoff race. He is that good. According to one modern media item out of St. Louis today -- OK, it was a tweet from longtime baseball reporter Joe Strauss -- one Cards official suggested the team would be willing to let the Jays pick any five players from their minor league system for Halladay. While that may be construed as nothing more than hyperbole, consider that aces like Bartolo Colon (from Cleveland to Montreal in 2002 for Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips) and Santana have commanded as many as three or four top-level prospects. Using that as an outline, the cost for the Red Sox would be a package that might include a combination of at least three players from the group of Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Casey Kelly, and Lars Anderson, among others.

Some of us (guesses anyone?) would be more than willing to make a trade like that. To this point in his career, Epstein has all but formally identified those folks as fools.

If, indeed, the past is prelude, ask yourself this: What top-level prospect has Epstein ever traded? Freddy Sanchez was a Dan Duquette draft pick who went in the Jeff Suppan deal in 2003 -- and Epstein still regrets that one. David Murphy? The Red Sox saw him as an extra outfielder stacked behind, among others, Jacoby Ellsbury. Hanley Ramirez might still with the club if Epstein had not resigned following the 2005 season. Craig Hansen had long since become a bust when he went in the Jason Bay deal.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have drafted and developed Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, and Justin Masterson, to name a few. For all of the talk in recent years about how the Patriots have rarely been hurt by a player they elected to cut free, the same effectively could be said for the Red Sox with regard to their young players.

In the case of Halladay, in particular, there is a great deal to consider. At the moment, he is signed only for this year ($14.25 million salary) and next year ($15.75). With free agency looming, any kind of extension for him would fall in the territory of Sabathia and Santana, each of whom is making in the vicinity of $23 million a year. Then there is the matter of his age. Halladay will turn 33 at the start of next season, and the Sox typically have avoided making any type of major investment in pitchers in their 30s.

Again, let’s look at the past. When the Red Sox signed Lester, Beckett, and Daisuke Matzuaka to long-term deals, all of those players were in their mid-20s. As part of the trade negotiations, Curt Schilling got a two-year extension. Ever since signing Matt Clement to a three-year, $25.5 million deal that proved to be a flop -- even that might not be regarded as a major investment -- Epstein has spent more time investing in one- or two-year projects like John Smoltz, David Wells, Brad Penny, and Wade Miller (remember him?) than in anyone who would command a great percentage of the payroll.

The bottom line is that a guy like Halladay represents everything Epstein would run from because he would require both the forfeiture of significant talent and a colossal financial investment. That’s a lot of risk.

During their time as the operators of the Red Sox, Epstein and his staff have had their share of luck, too. They tried to give away Manny Ramirez and failed. Then they nearly acquired Alex Rodriguez. They had David Ortiz behind Jeremy Giambi, for goodness sake, and pursued, among others, Carl Pavano and Jose Contreras. Again, Epstein probably wouldn’t have made the Beckett deal, though he did sign him to a new contract.

If any or all those things break differently, we might look at the Red Sox far more differently today.

Nonetheless, the Red Sox are where they are today because of good talent and shrewd management, not necessarily in that order. No one player is valued too greatly. A productive farm system is clearly the best way to make consistent runs at championships. Augmented with free agency and trade acquisitions -- and not the other way around -- the Red Sox should be title contenders for years to come.

Halladay? Many of us would love to see him in a Boston uniform, a feeling that will morph to frustration if Halladay ends up with the Yankees. Epstein knows this as well as anyone. He also knows that the Red Sox have far more to consider than just the 2009 season.

Which is why you should be shocked if he ever made this trade.

A year ago at this time, Jacoby Ellsbury had long since begun his descent. Today, the man with the jets appears to have found his cruising altitude.

And so what the Red Sox have, in a manner of speaking, is baseball’s answer to The Concorde.

"I couldn’t be happier with him," Red Sox batting coach Dave Magadan said last night of Ellsbury, who went 2 for 3 with a double, stolen base, and run scored in the Sox’ 5-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. "Over the last five weeks especially, I think he really feels like he’s a dangerous hitter. It’s in there. He’s got it in him."

Now, on a nightly basis, it is starting to come out.

The Red Sox have landed on their feet again, folks. Last winter, Coco Crisp went to Kansas City for the rubber-armed Ramon Ramirez, thrusting Ellsbury into center field on a full-time basis. Now Crisp is out with a season-ending shoulder injury and Ellsbury is morphing into a consistent (key word there) everyday player, while Ramirez has become a key component in what looks to be the best and deepest bullpen in the major leagues.

The kicker? Crisp is being paid $5.75 million this season and batted just .228 (with a .714 OPS) before the injury. The Royals now hold an $8.8 million option on a player with a considerable rehabilitation in front of him, suggesting that Crisp might very well be a free agent come November and that the Royals gave up Ramirez for someone who wore the Kansas City uniform for a mere 49 games.

By contrast, the future looks brighter than ever for Ellsbury, who has been the most consistent Red Sox performer this year. Since going 5 for 10 over a span of two games from April 20-22, Ellsbury’s average has not dipped below .270. Since May 5, he has remained between .291 and .303, the latter of which is his team-leading average today. Ellsbury has run down balls in the outfield and created havoc on the bases, and he has the kind of impact on the Boston lineup that most everyone knew he could have.

Try this on for size: Last night, when Ellsbury stepped on home plate with the Red Sox’ fifth and final run in the bottom of the sixth inning, it marked the 100th game in which he has scored since the start of last season. The Red Sox are 76-24 in those contests, including 25-7 this year. (In those games, Ellsbury has batted .401 with 142 runs while going 64 of 68 in steal attempts.) Of the last 12 games in which Ellsbury has scored at least once, including last night, the Sox are 11-1, the loss coming in last week’s aberrational 11-10 loss at Baltimore that featured a historic bullpen meltdown.

Forget the leadoff spot. If Ellsbury can do this kind of consistent damage from the bottom third of the lineup, it gives the Red Sox a dimension that they did not previously possess. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the most underrated quality in baseball is the ability to contribute consistently on a day-to-day basis without suffering so badly in any one area that you become a liability.

"He’s not just a good young player. He’s a good player,’’ said Sox manager Terry Francona, speaking to Ellsbury’s maturity as a hitter. "He’s played a lot. He’s out there everyday and understanding his responsibility. He’s done a good job."

Last year? Not so much. After the whirlwind conclusion to 2007, Ellsbury got off to a terrific start in 2008. On May 23, in 45 games, Ellsbury was batting .297 with 37 runs scored, an .826 OPS and 19 steals. After that, he batted .242 with a mere 13 walks in his next 76 games. Ellsbury went from a budding Johnny Damon to a bumbling Johnny from Burger King. Like most things involving him, it all happened fast.

Late last year and early this one, Magadan worked with Ellsbury on his most obvious problem: getting to the fastball consistently. Because Ellsbury hit with a high leg kick, he frequently was late getting the ball, mostly because he was late in getting his foot planted and being in what Magadan likes to call -- fittingly, in this case -- the "launch position.’’

Late last season, the coach and player all but eliminated Ellsbury’s leg kick, leading to a season-ending 24-game stretch during which Ellsbury batted .369. He subsequently went a disappointing 6 for 32 in the postseason and 0 for 14 in the American League Championship Series. This year, with a full offseason and spring training behind him, Ellsbury has settled on a relatively small kick that has satisfied both him and Magadan -- this is what players mean when they speak of making "adjustments’’ -- leading to the kind of results that have made Ellsbury a menace to other clubs.

The power? The Red Sox believe that will come -- Ellsbury is slugging .410 this year. Were one to add Ellsbury’s steals (36) to his total bases (130) -- aren’t those really one and the same? -- his slugging percentage would jump to .524, the kind of number that, coupled with his defensive skills and current average, would make him one of the elite players in baseball.

"He’s got talent and he works hard," Francona said. "You don’t see too many players, regardless of their age, hit .280 or .300 the whole year. There are a lot of ups and downs through the course of the year."

Nonetheless, more than halfway through the 2009 season, Ellsbury seems to have found a comfortable, consistent level.

In retrospect, maybe this homestand isn’t going to be such a cakewalk after all. With six games to go until the All-Star break, the Red Sox suddenly seem to be holding on for dear life.

"We’ve not gotten a ton of offense [lately],’’ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said following his club’s 6-0 loss to the Oakland A’s last night at Fenway Park. "You don’t see too many teams win 125-130 games. We’ve just got to fight through it. We just haven’t gotten on track swinging the bat real well.’’

True enough.

Meanwhile, the American League playoff races are starting to get interesting again.

True confession: When the Red Sox left Baltimore last week following Wednesday’s dramatic come-from-behind victory, some of us -- foolishly, in hindsight -- thought the final homestand before the All-Star break would be tantamount to senior week. The Sox could show up drunk on Sunday and still graduate. All that stood between the Sox and, say, a 55-33 record at intermission was a 7-3 stroll through the mudroom that contained the Mariners, A’s, and Royals.

Of course, that was before the Sox dropped 2 of 3 to Seattle -- Boston’s first series loss since June 5-7 against Texas -- and lost last night’s series opener to Koufaxian lefthander Brett Anderson. Minus Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, and even Jeff Bailey -- who ever thought we’d be saying that -- the Sox managed just two hits and struck out nine times with a lineup that featured Julio Lugo, Nick Green, Rocco Baldelli, and Aaron Bates.

Not exactly the names Theo Epstein had on his menu last winter, eh?

Entering tonight’s affair behind ace Josh Beckett, the Sox are a completely illogical 6-13 against the AL West this season, going winless in six series pending the outcome of the current three-game set against the A’s. (They are 15-4-2 in series against everyone else.) Peerless gunslingers against most everyone in baseball, the Sox turn into the gang that couldn’t shoot straight when venturing into the new West.

So what is it? Are the Sox simply banged up? Are they looking ahead to a well-deserved vacation? Are they bored?

All of the above?

"I don’t see that happening here,’’ Francona said when asked if the Sox might have been taking anything for granted of late. "I think guys get excited having a few days off, but I don’t see that as a problem.’’

Nor should he. Nothing in recent history suggests that the Red Sox are the type of team to suffer worrisome lapses. Generally speaking, the Sox show up for work every day and take care of business against both the good teams and bad ones. Before last night’s game, despite an obvious need for a righthanded hitter -- this was true even before Bates checked in -- the Sox had an 18-10 record against lefthanded starters, the best record in the American League.

Nonetheless, with regard to the games against the AL West, offense has been the single greatest issue. In the 19 games against AL West clubs this year, the Sox have batted a woeful .225 and managed just 4.1 runs per game; the rest of the time, they’ve hit .280 and put up an average of 5.5 runs per contest. Were every AL club like the Seattle Mariners, who entered last night leading the league in pitching, such a discrepancy would be entirely understandable. But of the A’s, Rangers, and Angels, not a single one of them ranks in the top half of the league in pitching.

For those of us watching from the outside, at a time like this, nothing could be more maddening.

Whether there will be any long-term ramifications from all of this is unlikely, but in the interim, know this: a Red Sox division lead that sat at a spongy 5 games two weeks ago has been whittled to 1. Meanwhile, Boston’s lead over the AL wild-card leader has shrunk from 6 games to 3 1/2. As things stand, the Angels, Rangers, or Mariners could end up in the thick of wild-card contention, and the Sox are 5-10 against those clubs this season with six games remaining against the Rangers (all in Texas) and only three more against the Angels (in Boston).

Obviously, there is still a great deal of baseball to be played this season, and we have learned in recent years (and in other sports) that the toughest part of any season can be that time surrounding the All-Star break and the trading deadline, when routines and rosters are inevitably disrupted. It happened to the Bruins this year. It happened to the Red Sox last year. It can happen to most any team that has something to play for every night, particularly clubs with leads in the standings and that may be devoid of any urgency.

In the end, is there anything wrong with the Red Sox at the moment, beyond a couple of injuries?

Probably not.

But what could have and should have been an easy week-and-a-half has become a surprising grind, and the Red Sox need to remind themselves that there are still six games to go.

And so, just as Nomar Garciaparra makes his return, Rasheed Wallace is preparing for his arrival. The story lines intersect. Boston’s past and present are traveling along their respective courses offering nothing more than a brief wave, like ships passing in the night.

Welcome back to Boston, Nomah. We hope you still recognize the place. The Red Sox are now two-time World Series champions and Logan Airport is a final destination more than an initial port of departure. Wallace is only the latest example. From Corey Dillon to Randy Moss to Kevin Garnett and John Smoltz, the greatest athletes in America now come here for redemption, for one final chance to win, for the right to climb aboard the duck boats and negotiate their way through the nooks and crannies of Sportstown, USA.

Imagine that.

"Once [Wallace] had a chance to reflect on everything, and realizing what his objectives are, he just decided this was the best fit for him, all the way around," agent Bill Strickland, who represents Wallace, told reporters yesterday about his client’s decision to join the Celtics. "He has always wanted to be on a team that plays with a team effort, and Boston won the championship with a team like that. Boston has three potential Hall of Famers -- Rasheed has played with a lot of talent, but not with a concentration of talent like this."

And then there was this: "The group that came in -- Danny [Ainge] and everyone -- was quite thorough in bringing to his attention some things he already understood. He gained a greater appreciation for the fans in Boston and it will be an interesting change, to have them cheering for him instead of booing. …He was more concerned with the team, but the organization showed a lot of class. They came in and made him feel comfortable."

Of course, that is how it now works here, a place of which outsiders once steered clear while sensing the trepidation and uneasiness. You can’t win in Boston. It’s just too darned hard. Men like Joey Galloway and Sam Cassell and Mark Kotsay now serve as reminders of how enjoyable it can be to play here … just as Garciaparra was (is?) a reminder of Boston’s suffocating, frustrating past.

Really, is there a player in all of sports who more crisply illustrates the change in Red Sox culture than the man who was to be their next Ted Williams? Garciaparra played 7 1/2 seasons here, and he played the majority of them brilliantly. He won a Rookie of the Year Award and two batting titles. He finished second in the 1998 American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting. And yet Garciaparra’s career in Boston will be remembered as much for the failed contract negotiations and his apparent dissatisfaction with the organization and media, obstacles he was never quite able to overcome for whatever reasons.

The fans? Garciaparra generally embraced them, and they returned the favor. They are likely to embrace him tonight when he returns to Fenway for the first time as a member of the opposing team. But by coincidence or circumstance, the Red Sox changed forever the day they traded Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs, an event that that has proven even more cataclysmic over time.

"I wanted us to discuss the issue that we all seemed to be avoiding," Sox president Larry Lucchino said in Dan Shaughnessy’s "Reversing the Curse" of a meeting with Garciaparra and agent Arn Tellem that took place just days before the Sox elected to trade the face of their franchise.

"We needed to talk about how unhappy Nomar was. Why was he still so [ticked]? Was there anything that could be done to change his mental state of mind, his approach to the organization, the city, and the game? We were contemplating the possibility of trading him, and we wanted to see if there was any way to take steps within our organization to make life better. Try to bring him back into the fold. The meeting lasted just about 45 minutes, and at the end of it, we basically concluded there was no way we were going to have a happy Nomar Garciaparra for the last couple of months of the season. There was no way to improve the situation. It wasn’t a constructive session. What he told us was that the media was bothering him. He said we didn’t appreciate it how difficult it was to play here. He told us, 'I play three games every night. There’s the media before the game, then there’s the game, which is fun, then there’s the media after the game.’ He told us that the reason teams in Boston fade is because of the stress and strain brought on by the media. I tried to bring the conversation back to Nomar’s contract or trade rumors, but he was more focused on the symptomatic problems of playing in Boston. He didn’t want to talk about himself and his own situation."

Roughly a week later, the Red Sox traded Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs in the four-team deal that brought Orlando Cabrera (from Montreal) and Doug Mientkiewicz (from Minnesota) to Boston. Three months later, the Sox were World Series champions for the first time in 86 years. Garciaparra ultimately re-signed with the Cubs on a one-year deal and earned roughly $35 million in salary from 2005-08. He could have had a four-year, $60 million contract had he chosen to remain with the Red Sox.

During that same period of time, Garciaparra had 16 postseason at-bats, all with the Dodgers. He has never played in the World Series. He has never really been the same player since he left Boston and the Red Sox have never really been the same organization, though the Boston baseball franchise clearly has changed for the better.

Amid all of this, the volatile Wallace has revealed his desire to come to Boston, an ironic development if ever there was one. Like Moss or Dillon, Wallace comes to Boston with certain questions about his emotional maturity. He also comes with positively no questions about his ability. On the floor, Wallace is the perfect fit for these Celtics, a talented big man who can take much of the burden off Garnett (don’t forget about those knees) and play at both ends of the floor. Roughly two years after Ainge convinced Garnett to come to Boston, Wallace now falls in line behind Cassell, P.J. Brown, and Stephon Marbury as de facto Garnett disciples. Not so long ago, the thought of any of those players coming to Boston would have been nothing more than a fantasy.

As for Garciaparra, he is now a part-time player for an A’s team going nowhere, and there is no way of knowing whether he will be in the starting lineup tonight. In a perfect world, he would bat in the top of the very first inning. Garciaparra would stride from the on-deck circle toward the plate as his name is announced to the Fenway Park crowd, and he would receive a thunderous, appreciative ovation from yet another sellout. And then, having briefly engaged his past, Garciaparra would step into the batter’s box to re-enter the present.

And then, fittingly, he would face John Smoltz.

From here to the All-Star break, there are 10 games to play for the Red Sox. All of them will take place at Fenway Park. The opponents have been outscored by a combined 110 runs this season, while going a whopping 21 games under .500.

Clearly, now is not the time for Boston to let up.

Possessors of the best record in the American League and a 20-8 record beginning May 31, the Red Sox will return home tomorrow for the opener of a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners. After that, Nomar Garciaparra and the Oakland A’s will come to town for three games. After that, it’s the Kansas City Royals for four, a series in which the Sox already may have caught a break because they are scheduled to miss Zack Greinke.

Repeat: The Royals will be here for four days and the only KC starter whom the Sox are in line to bypass is the man in line to start the All-Star Game. Greinke is due to start Friday (vs. the White Sox) and Wednesday (at Detroit). This comes after a stretch earlier this season during which the Sox twice side-stepped Toronto’s Roy Halladay while somehow avoiding Detroit’s Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson, among others.

The moral of the story? It’s better to be lucky than good, but it’s best to be both.

Here is a preview of the homestand, broken down by opponent:

SEATTLE MARINERS (July 3-5)

The Mariners took 2 of 3 from the Sox in Seattle in mid-May, a series that began with Jon Lester’s one-inning meltdown and ended with a memorable throwing error by shortstop Nick Green. The Red Sox are pitching much better now than they were then and, as we all know, they are a completely different team at Fenway Park, where they thus far have posted the best record in the league.

While the Sox will send Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, and Jon Lester to the mound in this series, the Mariners will counter with Hernandez, Garret Olson, and Brandon Morrow. Hernandez (8-3, 2.54) has never allowed a run in two career starts at Fenway (2-0, 0.00), and he is one of the truly gifted young pitchers in the game. Thanks largely to Hernandez and a bullpen that ranks second to the Red Sox (3.18) in the majors with a 3.29 ERA, the Mariners have hovered near .500 despite scoring the fewest runs in the American League and ranking 29th in the majors in runs scored.

As a result, all signs this weekend point to low-scoring, relatively close games -- the scores in May were 4-5, 5-3, 2-3 -- especially with Mike Lowell absent from the Boston lineup and Jason Bay struggling. Given the strength of the respective bullpens, the team scoring first will likely possess a big advantage. On Saturday and Sunday, especially, the Red Sox would be well-served to score against the Seattle starters and take control of the games early.

OAKLAND A’S (July 6-8)

In a series that will mark Nomar Garciaparra’s first trip to Boston since the landmark 2004 trade that shipped him to the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox look to have a big advantage. At the moment, the A’s have the second-worst record in the league and, like the Mariners, a dreadful offense. In the Mariners, A’s and Royals, in fact, the mighty Sox pitching staff will face the three worst offenses in the American League.

Entering this season, many believed the potential success of the A’s hinged on the performance of their young pitching staff, which actually has been quite decent. Gio Gonzalez (0-2, 7.27 ERA), Dallas Braden 6-7, 3.13), and Trevor Cahill (5-6, 4.23) are scheduled to face John Smoltz, Josh Beckett, and Wakefield in a series that again should be controlled by the pitchers.

For the A’s, offense has been a major problem. Despite picking up Jason Giambi, Garciaparra, Orlando Cabrera, and Matt Holliday, Oakland ranks in the bottom three of the league in runs (12th), home runs (14th) and OPS (14th). That is likely to continue against a Red Sox pitching staff that is the deepest in baseball.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (July 9-12)

Along with an anemic offense, here is something else the Royals share with the Mariners and A’s: a wretched defense. Entering the final days of the first half, the Mariners have committed 59 errors, most in the league. The Royals (57) and A’s (54) are right on their heels, all three teams ranking among the bottom four in the AL in defense.

Should the Red Sox indeed miss Greinke, this four-game set could be a nothing more than a block party. Though the Royals rank ninth in the American League with a 4.30 team ERA, that figure balloons to 4.78 minus Greinke –- and that number would place the Royals among the bottom three teams in the league.

Get the picture? Take away Greinke and the Royals can’t pitch, hit, or field. In fact, when Greinke does not get a decision, the Royals are 23-41.

As any of the Red Sox would be eager to tell you, any type of lapse on their part would negate the many advantages they seem to possess entering the final homestand of the first half. Tuesday’s late-inning collapse in Baltimore is proof. But if the Sox can stay focused over these final 10 days, they could go into the All-Star break more than 20 games over .500 and with a firm grasp on a potential playoff spot, affording them invaluable margin for error approaching both the trading deadline and stretch runs.

As most everyone knows, the major league baseball season is like a golf tournament: you can’t win it on the first two days; you can only lose it. That said, as the Red Sox approach the cut with the weekend in mind, there are a few more birdies out there for them on the way back to the clubhouse.

Games like last night's are obvious flukes, baseball’s way of reminding us all that there are simply no guarantees. You have can have a nine-run lead. You can have the best bullpen in baseball. You can be entering the bottom of the seventh against the worst team in your division.

And you still could lose.

And so, if you’re Theo Epstein today in the wake of last night’s stunning 11-10 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, here is the message you take from the shocking result: hold onto your pitching. For the Orioles, last night’s outcome was akin to the winning lottery, albeit without the long-term implications. The Orioles are going nowhere this year. The Red Sox, on the other hand, currently look like the class of the American League -- if not all of baseball -- and most everyone else still wants what they have.

"We went through a period where I think we gave up 13 hits in two innings,’’ a disbelieving Terry Francona told reporters after last night’s game. "We just had no answer. We went through just about everybody. There were balls everywhere. ... When you give up 13 hits -- that was as bad as we’ve seen.’’

And, in all likelihood, it is far worse than anything else we will see again in this 2009 season.

This afternoon, the Red Sox will ask Josh Beckett to be their elixir in the wake of last night’s debacle, but that is not the only reason this game will be noteworthy. Today is July 1. The annual trading deadline is now precisely 30 days away. Baseball’s pretenders and contenders will veer away from one another in the coming weeks, and we all know the direction in which the Red Sox will be traveling. Once again, Boston will be among those at the very front of the pack aimed at October, eyeing a sixth trip to the postseason in the last seven years and, perhaps, a third World Series title since the start of 2004.

This club has many of the same concerns it did when it broke camp three months ago. David Ortiz has had two bad months and one good one. Shortstop remains a concern. Mike Lowell’s health is now up in the air. The Red Sox could probably use another hitter, with or without Lowell’s potential return, and their pitching staff remains the true strength of the team, top to bottom, from Beckett all the way through closer Jonathan Papelbon.

For this club, from the very beginning, the consistency and health of the positional players was a primary concern. How long could Lowell hold up? How consistent could Ortiz be? Were it not for the generally positive developments concerning Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, and Nick Green, the Sox might be far closer to the middle of the pack than the front, a team regarded as having the kind of offensive flaws that could prove fatal.

But the pitching? Deep. Talented. Downright awesome, particularly in the bullpen. Last night does not change that. The only issues the Red Sox have had this season have come in that spot of the starting rotation -- let’s call it the No. 3 starter -- that might have belonged to Daisuke Matsuzaka. Between them, Matsuzaka, Justin Masterson, and John Smoltz have made 16 starts in that space, the Sox compiling a 5-11 record. The rest of the time, be it behind Beckett, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, or Brad Penny, the Sox are a sterling 42-19, a pace that would produce 112 victories over the course of a 162-game schedule.

In the coming weeks, Epstein obviously will have some decisions to make, many of them concerning the Boston offense. The only real concern is what Epstein is willing to pay. Epstein generally has guarded his prized prospects in recent years, something that is becoming increasingly difficult to criticize him for. Brandon Moss, David Murphy, Craig Hansen? Other teams have acquired them all. In the interim, Ellsbury, Lester, and Clay Buchholz, among others, remained under lock and key in Epstein’s safest place.

Somehow, thanks to the world titles and the productivity of the Boston farm system, Epstein has completely flipped the manner in which midseason trades are conducted. The Red Sox don’t need the veteran players so much as other teams might need Boston’s prospects. Certainly, other clubs need the Red Sox’ pitching. Where the trading deadline was once a time when contenders like the Red Sox might add players for a run at the world title, now it is a time for the Sox to see what they can get for their elite young players, particularly the pitchers.

So what should Epstein do now? He should wait. The only teams that might want pitchers from Boston’s big league staff are contenders, teams (like the Texas Rangers) that might want to fortify their bullpens for the stretch run. All in all, they have relatively little to offer. At this moment, why should the Red Sox improve someone else’s bullpen while worsening their own, particularly following a game like last night’s, a reminder of just how fortunate the Red Sox have been to have all of their relievers firing on all cylinders all year long.

So the Red Sox had an ugly loss last night. Big deal. The Sox still have more pitching than two average big league clubs combined. If one of them wants to pay out the nose for a Michael Bowden or even a Buchholz, Epstein should listen. If no one does, Epstein should keep what he has, despite last night, and keep taking his chances.

With pitching, after all, you can never have too much.

Editor's note: This was published a few hours before Mike Lowell was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Red Sox.

On Sunday night, while the rest of the Red Sox were traveling from Atlanta to Baltimore, Mike Lowell began the trip back to Boston. Lowell journeyed with director of baseball operations Brian O'Halloran from Turner Field to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where the flights to Logan Airport were almost universally delayed.

Today, maybe it is only fitting that the Red Sox are currently in a holding pattern with regard to their dignified third baseman.

While the Red Sox were preparing for last night's series opener with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards -- a game the Sox later won, 4-0 -- Lowell yesterday had a procedure that the Red Sox are hoping will be a cure-all for Lowell's ongoing hip issues. Manager Terry Francona revealed late yesterday that Lowell had fluid drained from his hip in addition to getting an injection of Synvisc, a gelatinous lubricant that has become to human joints what WD-40 is to the squeaky wheel.

"Worst-case scenario, he goes on the DL -- just to buy us a couple weeks where he can kind of get a second wind for the second part of the season," Francona informed reporters yesterday afternoon. "We can also wait a few days and then just let him play. That's OK, too. We're just kind of in a waiting mode. We'll see. I think we have the ability to wait a couple days."

As such, inquiring minds want to know:

Will a trip to the disabled list solve most of Lowell's problems? Are there bigger concerns here? And if Lowell reaches a point, like last season, where his hip significantly affects his productivity, what would the Red Sox do?

A look at possible solutions and outcomes, beginning with:

• Lowell himself. For a man initially regarded as a sidecar in the Josh Beckett deal, Lowell has proven quite productive during his time in Boston. During Lowell's first three years here, the Red Sox ranked seventh in baseball in OPS from their third basemen. The teams ahead of them included the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, and Braves, which translates into a list of players that includes Alex Rodriguez, David Wright, Aramis Ramirez, and Chipper Jones.

  Of that group, only Rodriguez plays in the American League.

  What this means, in short, is that the Red Sox have an advantage over virtually every team in the league at third base. That remained true through the first half of last year, when Lowell batted .301 with 57 RBIs in his first 78 games. Then came the hip issues that ultimately helped trigger the arrival of Mark Kotsay, the pursuit of Mark Teixeira, and the necessity to utilize Kevin Youkilis more frequently at third base.

  Thus far, the Red Sox have given every indication that Lowell's current hip issues can be managed, that he has no additional structural issues that would prevent him from being a productive player. And yet, since the start of June, Lowell is batting .206 with a mere three extra-base hits and a .595 OPS in his last 19 games, the kind of dropoff that cannot help but evoke comparisons to the second half of last year.

  Of course, every player has slumps during a season. As Francona said, the only way to determine the severity of this issue is to wait, particularly with a man who turned 35 in February.

• Kotsay and Youkilis. At the moment, the easy fix for the Red Sox is to do precisely what they did last night, when Youkilis started at third base and Kotsay started at first. This is the real benefit of having a player like Kotsay, a steady, sound and proven everyday player before arriving in Boston last year. Youkilis likes to play third base, anyway, and while Kotsay does not possess Lowell's power or run-producing capability, he has every bit of the grinder's mentality and work ethic.

  The Sox could do a heck of a lot worse.

  With regard to Kotsay, the biggest question concerns the impact on the Boston lineup, particularly against lefthanded pitching. Though Kotsay's career numbers against righties and lefties are reasonably balanced for a lefthanded hitter, there was a pronounced shift last season, when he had a .777 OPS against righthanders, a .629 OPS against lefties. So far this year, he has had just eight plate appearances against lefthanded pitching, suggesting that Francona is far more comfortable employing him against righties.

  Obviously, there are far more righthanded pitchers than lefthanded ones. But if Lowell is lost for any significant length of time, the Red Sox simultaneously become more vulnerable against lefthanded pitching while losing the benefit of a deep bench. Situationally, against righties or lefties, that could hurt them in the late innings of games, which brings us to ...

• Nick Green and Jed Lowrie. Given the performance of the former, the Red Sox may have very palatable options when the latter comes off the disabled list. So far this season, among the 14 American League shortstops with at least 150 plate appearances, Green ranks fifth in OPS behind only Jason Bartlett, Derek Jeter, Marco Scutaro, and Brendan Harris. (Interestingly, all but Harris are in the AL East.) As for his defense, which was erratic early in the season, Green has made just one error since May 23 while posting the seventh-best fielding percentage in baseball among shortstops to have started at least 20 games during that span.

  If Green can maintain a reasonably similar pace offensively and defensively, Lowrie could provide the Sox with another key option at third base, particularly against lefthanded pitching. In his (very) brief major league career, the switch-hitting Lowrie has a .914 OPS against lefthanded pitching, making him a very nice complement to Kotsay. (He has been a much better hitter from the right side, with more power, during his minor-league career as well.) He is also a sure-handed fielder.

  Though the Red Sox obviously would prefer to have a set lineup including Lowell every day, Green's impressive play and Lowrie's history against lefthanded pitching could allow Francona to employ a rotation of Kotsay, Green, and Lowrie for two positions -- Youkilis remains in the lineup regardless of whether he is at first or third -- while maximizing the strengths of each player. But if there is a breakdown in that system, the Red Sox could be forced to explore other options, including potentially risky ones like a ...

• Big trade. With regard to this sort of thing, Sox general manager Theo Epstein generally has been cautious, at least with regard to the players he has acquired. In 2004, of course, he dealt away Nomar Garciaparra. Last year, a deal that simultaneously brought Jason Bay to Boston, he cast off Manny Ramirez. A deal like the latter would qualify as a big move now, though the Sox would be trading away prospects rather than a centerpiece of their lineup.

  So, who are the kinds of players Epstein could look into? Colorado Rockies third baseman Garret Atkins, 29, has been rumored to be available for some time, and he recently has started to hit (17 for 41 in his last 14 games, albeit without much power) in what otherwise has been a dreadful season. Washington Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson is available, and the fact that he hits lefthanded might be appealing given the early-season struggles of David Ortiz. (This would make Youkilis a full-time third baseman.)

  If the Sox want to make a major deal, they might not have the luxury of being too picky about whether to pursue a lefthanded hitter or righthanded hitter. (Ideally, it would be best to replace Lowell with another righty.) The problem is that virtually every relatively major trade comes with increased risk, be it in the form of an underachieving player (like Atkins) or a potential free agent (like Johnson). The other alternative is take on a player with a sizable contract, something the Red Sox generally have avoided at all costs (Todd Helton, Michael Young, etc.).

  Of course, between now and July 31, the trade market could change significantly. Because the Rockies currently are in contention in the socialistic National League, a player like Atkins currently might be less available than he was, say, a month ago. The good news is that the Red Sox have the best record in the American League and ample resources, which will allow Epstein the luxury of waiting -- there's that word again -- until the final days of July. By then, the Red Sox should have a much better read on their needs, be it at third base or anywhere else. And by then, too, the trade market could include people like Adrian Beltre or Joe Crede, though it is debatable whether either would tickle the Red Sox' fancy.

  In the end, big trades always are harder to make. That means the Sox may have to explore a ...

• Lesser deal. Ultimately, the magnitude of a trade is subjective. Who qualifies as a major acquisition? Who qualifies as a minor one? The advantage of being the Red Sox in this day and age is the Sox can make most any deal they want because they have the money to take on contracts and the prospects to acquire elite talent. Internally, the only real issue at the moment is that the Sox don't necessarily have a big-time hitter ready to make the jump to the major leagues, which is why someone like Lars Anderson really isn't an option to replace Lowell at this point.

  As a result, Epstein ultimately may settle on making an acquisition similar to the one that delivered Kotsay last season. A perfect fit for the club might have been Mark DeRosa, recently traded from the Indians to the Cardinals. According to a baseball source with direct knowledge of the Indians' discussions concerning DeRosa, the Sox were never really a suitor for the player, surprising given DeRosa's ability to hit lefthanded pitching (a 1.020 OPS this season) as well as his ability to play multiple positions, including third base.

  Again, the market could change between now and July 31, and Epstein's patience has been one of his greatest assets. If Toronto fades, Marco Scutaro or Scott Rolen could become available. Maybe someone like Geoff Blum could help fill the Boston bench. And while many of those options may not particularly appeal to fans who want a bigger, more well-known solution, they could help the Red Sox address the potential loss of a third baseman who has been a consistent contributor when healthy.

  But then, that is why a healthy Lowell remains their best alternative.

An observation from Boston's 4-1 win over the Braves last night, improving the Sox to 17-6 in their last 23 games:

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens entered the game with a reputation of being tough on right-handed hitters, then manhandled the righties in the Sox' lineup through the first seven innings. During that span, righties went 1 for 13, the only hit being Dustin Pedroia’s high chopper that somehow turned into a double. By contrast, lefties went 4 for 11 with a walk against Jurrjens, totals that included David Ortiz’ ice-breaking homer in the fifth.

For the year, lefties now are batting .323 against Jurrjens while righties are batting .190.

For what it’s worth, Josh Beckett followed a similar pattern against the Braves. During Beckett’s seven-inning stint, lefties went 5 for 12 and reached once via a hit batsman, while righties went 1 for 14. Combined, in the first seven innings of the game, right-handed batters were 2 for 27 (again, Pedroia’s hit was one of the two) while lefties were 9 for 23 while reaching base in 11 of 25 plate appearances (an on-base percentage of .440).

What all of this underscores, obviously, is the need for left-handed bats in a game where the majority of pitchers are right-handed. While Beckett’s season splits are far more balanced (.217 vs. RHB; .253 vs. LHB) than those of Jurrjens, it is important to remember that Beckett is a frontline pitcher, the kind of talent that few teams possess. The point is that most righties have at least some difficulty with lefties, which is why a lefty who can also hit left-handed pitching has so much value.

This year, in the American League, the highest batting average of any matchup is with a right-handed batter facing a left-handed pitcher -- a .269 average with a .778 OPS in 16,406 plate appearances. Still, against right-handed pitchers, left-handed batters have a virtually identical .265 average and .773 OPS in 29,946 plate appearances, meaning the output is essentially the same in a matchup that takes place almost twice as frequently.

Let’s put that out there in more readable form:

Righty hitters vs. lefty pitchers this year: .269 average, .778 OPS, 16,406 PA.
Lefty hitters vs. righty pitchers this year: .265 average, .773 OPS, 29,946 PA.

Bottom line: To be good, right-handed pitchers need to get left-handed batters out. At the same time, teams would be wise to have as many productive left-handed batters in their lineup as possible without completely sacrificing their offense against left-handed pitching. For a club like the Red Sox, this further illustrates the importance of David Ortiz, whose impact on the Red Sox lineup can be especially important given that Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, and Kevin Youkilis are otherwise the most productive hitters in Boston’s lineup.

Of course, Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay are all right-handed, helping to explain why the Red Sox’ record of 18-8 against left-handed starters is tied for the best in baseball.

When you get right down to it, the only question that matters is this: What do the Red Sox do with Daisuke Matsuzaka? How do they solve the problem caused exclusively by a man in whom they have invested more than $100 million?

John Smoltz, Brad Penny, six-man rotations … it is all a smokescreen, really. At the end of the day, this is all about Matsuzaka. He's not hurt. He won't go to the minors. The Red Sox won't put him in the bullpen. And so tonight, again, the Red Sox send Matsuzaka out to start another game, this one against the Atlanta Braves, while crossing their fingers and holding their breath.

"My first thought was that if we tell him that we're putting him in long relief, that's probably not going to build his confidence a whole lot," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said during his weekly interview on WEEI. "You know, there's a lot of things to think about. When you put a guy in the bullpen, who comes out of the bullpen? When you send a guy to the bullpen, how does he react to the bullpen?

"Also, Daisuke is typically our guy who takes the longest to warm up. …He goes out there a good 45-50 minutes before the game and throws a lot, so is that going to work? If you put a guy in the bullpen and he hasn't pitched a lot in three weeks, and you need a starter, is he capable of throwing a lot of pitches? I think there's a lot of things to look at. We can't just get caught up in what the fans and [media] are caught up in because we'll make some poor decisions."

Ain't that the truth.

At the moment, Matsuzaka is the anti-ace. So far this season, the Red Sox are 2-5 when Matsuzaka pitches, 38-21 when he does not. When Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez were in their prime years as Red Sox pitchers, much was made of the fact that the Sox were a playoff-caliber team on the day they sent their ace to the mound -- the 1999 Sox were 26-5 when Martinez pitched, 68-63 when he did not -- and an astonishingly mediocre one on the remaining four. If the Sox could send Matsuzaka to Toronto right now, he might completely neutralize Roy Halladay and drag the Blue Jays out of contention.

Even more amazing is this: Among all American League pitchers with at least 30 innings, Matsuzaka ranks 13th in average run support. On the Boston staff, only nine-game-winner Tim Wakefield has benefited from a higher number. Matsuzaka has been losing despite the fact that the Red Sox have been scoring runs for him, which speaks to just how poor his performance has been.

In many ways, Francona is right about the bullpen. If the Red Sox were to send Matsuzaka there now -- or when Smoltz returns to active status next week -- they might be burying him for the balance of 2009. While some of us are willing to take that chance, the Red Sox know they may need Matsuzaka later in the season, be it the result of an injury to another one of their starters or the need to trade someone in order to address a deficiency.

So it seems the Sox are prepared to ride this out with Matsuzaka, on whom they have spent $103.11 million in a posting fee ($51.11 million) and six-year contract ($52 million). Matsuzaka's annual average salary of $8.67 million makes him quite affordable given his age and upside. At the same time, if the Red Sox dealt him now, he will have cost them the equivalent of $29.9 million a year for fewer than three years of service.

Has he been worth it? Yes and no. On the one hand, Matsuzaka won more games in 2007-2008 than any major league pitcher but Halladay, CC Sabathia, and Brandon Webb. On the other, of the 12 major league pitchers to win at least 30 games during those seasons, Matsuzaka ranks last in innings pitched. Last year, in what must be viewed as a statistical aberration, Matsuzaka pitched the fewest innings in history of any starter to win at least 18 games. (No small feat there.)

As always, the truth rests somewhere in between. Matsuzaka isn't as good as he pitched last season and he's not as bad as he is pitching now.

"I mean, we're talking about a pitcher who over the last two years has won, what, 33 regular-season games, three postseason games," Francona said. "That's 36 games. I don't care how you do it, that's a lot of games. We can't just put guys on a shelf when they run through tough times. I think a better way to go is to help fix 'em. We've got this guy signed for a long time. We want him to help us win games."

Of course, that is what everybody wants. Matsuzaka wants to pitch well, the Red Sox want him to pitch well. Fans want him to pitch well. The problem to this point is that Matsuzaka has pitched poorly -- far more poorly than anyone else on the staff -- and that the Red Sox have a starter ready to join the rotation next Thursday (on Matsuzaka's regularly scheduled day) in Smoltz. Clay Buchholz is waiting anxiously in the minors. The Sox currently have the highly unusual problem of having more capable pitchers than job openings -- don't you dare suggest they have "too much pitching" -- and Matsuzaka is not keeping up with the Joneses.

Last night, Sox pitching John Farrell told the Globe's Amalie Benjamin that the Red Sox were focused only on Matsuzaka's outing tonight. Farrell said nothing of next week, which certainly raises the question as to whether Matsuzaka is pitching for his place in the rotation. Regardless, the Red Sox need to see more from their $103.11 million man.

And they need to see it soon.

After tonight, the Marlins leave and the Braves come in. Then it’s on to Washington to face the wretched Nationals. Then they’re off to Atlanta to play the Braves again.

And then, the Red Sox finally can stop beating up on the little kids and return to the American League, even if it’s against the worst team in their own division, the Baltimore Orioles.

Interleague play is in full bloom in this 2009 season, and the results so far have been exactly as anticipated. The Red Sox are wiping the floor with the National League. Boston has outscored the Florida Marlins by a 14-3 count in this three-game set entering tonight’s series finale behind Jon Lester, he of the 2-0 record and 1.23 ERA in his last three starts. During that time, Lester has held opponents to an .099 batting average while piling up 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

With last night’s 6-1 win behind Brad Penny, the Sox are now 5-3 in interleague play this season, including a record of 4-1 in the last five games. Since the start of the 2003 campaign, Boston is 76-40 in regular-season games against the other league, tied with the Minnesota Twins for the best record in baseball. The Red Sox vs. the National League is baseball’s version of Godzilla meets Bambi, akin to watching a home winemaker stomp on a batch of grapes.

Here are five reasons the Red Sox rule baseball’s other world, starting with the most obvious.

5. The National League stinks.

Fine, so the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series last year. Big deal. Entering tonight, since the start of interleague play, the American League has a .521 winning percentage against the NL. Since the start of the 2003 season -- the year that coincides with the start of the Red Sox’ dominance -- the AL winning percentage is .542. And since the start of the 2006 campaign, the AL has a whopping .579 winning percentage, which translates into a 94-68 record over the course of a 162-game schedule.

Know what that means? It means that over the last three-plus seasons, if AL teams played exclusively NL teams, the AL teams would go an average of 94-68 while the NL teams would go an average of 68-94. Pennant races would be over by July 1. Send in the clowns.

Having already played the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies -- their only two scheduled interleague opponents currently possessing winning records -- the Red Sox look to have an easy schedule in the coming days, even without the use of a designated hitter in National League parks. And while the Mets did take two of three from the Sox at Fenway Park this year, there is evidence to suggest the series outcome was something of an aberration. One of New York’s two wins in that series came on a blown save by Jonathan Papelbon, accounting for the only loss this season in a game the Red Sox have led after six innings. In those situations, the Sox are 33-1.

4. Scouting.

As much as any team in baseball, the Red Sox are proficient at breaking down opponents and exploiting weakness. This was never more apparent than during the 2004 and 2007 World Series, both of which resulted in sweeps. (Yes, those are interleague games.) In those contests, the Red Sox went 8-0 while posting an aggregate 2.50 ERA against St. Louis Cardinals (2004) and Colorado Rockies (2007), who hit a combined .205 against Boston and were completely shut down.

It is one thing to identify an opponent’s deficiencies, another to exploit it. The latter speaks to execution, which is a reflection on the players and on their talents. Nonetheless, the Red Sox of today are as thorough as any team in baseball when it comes to melding philosophies of the old school and new school -- traditional scouting with sabermetrics -- and their advance scouts, in particular, know how to evaluate opponents.

The ultimate point here is that the Red Sox are prepared, from the front office to the man squatting behind the plate. They generally have all their bases covered, which is especially important when facing teams you see maybe once every few years.

3. Fenway Park

Sooner or later, doesn’t it always come back to the ballpark? During the Theo Epstein era -- that is, beginning with the 2003 season -- the Red Sox have the best home record in baseball (341-177) and have scored more runs at home (3,081 -- an average of 5.9 per game) than any team in the game. The Red Sox effectively have built their team to fit their ballpark, and the numbers prove it.

Against the National League, those numbers are even better. With last night’s win, the Red Sox are a major league-best 43-16 in interleague home games since the start of the 2003 season, a .729 winning percentage that translates into 118 wins over the course of a 162-game schedule. (Now that’s dominating.) During that span, the Sox have outscored opponents by a preposterous 133 runs, an average of roughly 2.3 per game.

But wait, there’s more. During those 59 games, the Red Sox have batted .312 as a team with a .388 on-base percentage and .512 slugging percentage. That’s an OPS of .900. In interleague games over the past six years, that is sort of like sending Hanley Ramirez or Ryan Howard to the plate -- for every at-bat.

2. Depth and versatility

When you look back, the funny thing is that the Red Sox were once atrocious in interleague play. From 1997-2002, a period that essentially encompassed the entire Red Sox managerial career of Jimy Williams, the Sox went 45-58 in interleague games, a .437 winning percentage that was seventh-worst in baseball and third-worst among AL clubs. When the National League teams showed up, the Red Sox got exposed.

While some of that difference had to do with the fact that the NL was a better league then -- even if only slightly better -- the greater problems concerned the one-dimensional nature of the Red Sox. Back then, the Sox were not the deep offensive club they are now. Losing the designated hitter hurt them badly. The Sox similarly lacked speed, making scoring even more difficult.

Indeed, from 1997-2002, the Sox went 25-28 in interleague home games, but a brutal 20-30 on the road. They scored fewer runs (201, an average of 4.0 per game) on the road in NL parks than all but six clubs. When the Red Sox travel to the NL now, they have a deeper lineup -- with or without David Ortiz -- more speed and generally play better defense. Since the start of the 2003 season, their interleague road record of 33-24 is third-best in baseball.

1. The lineup

The Red Sox simply are not easy to pitch to. This year’s lineup doesn’t have the same kind of punch that previous Sox clubs have had, but, by comparison, they still dwarf most anything in the National League. The Red Sox currently rank fourth in the American League in runs scored, but they have outscored the Phillies, who lead the NL.

When pitchers like Andrew Miller (last night) and Chris Volstad take the mound against the Red Sox, they are seeing lineups they are not accustomed to seeing. Since the start of the 2003 season, National League teams have a 5.89 ERA against the Red Sox. Toss in the two World Series blowouts and the number actually climbs a little to 5.95. Even the best teams in the NL have not been able to negotiate their way through the Boston batting order. Just ask those 2004 Cardinals and 2007 Rockies.

Tonight, for what it’s worth, the Marlins will send Ricky Nolasco to the mound against Lester. The possessor of a 15-8 record and 3.52 ERA last season, Nolasco has pitched better in his last two starts (a 2.77 ERA) but has a 7.62 ERA for the year. Now he has the challenge of facing Lester and the Red Sox in what could be a true indication of whether his rediscovered his groove.

Based on recent history, the odds are clearly stacked against him.

So tonight, it occurred to me: Kevin Youkilis made his major league debut more than five years ago, and he has never played a major league home game before anything but a sellout.

"I’ve never known a difference," Youkilis said a short time ago as the Sox prepared to play the Florida Marlins in what will be the 500th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park. "Hopefully, I’ll never have to play a home game that’s not sold out. Everywhere we go, even on the road, we have a lot of fans. You never even realize how some guys play in front of no fans.’’

Indeed, the Boston clubhouse is filled with players who know what it’s like to play in empty stadiums. Jason Bay came from Pittsburgh. Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett came from Florida. Ramon Ramirez came from Kansas City. In Youkilis’s case, he has played 307 regular season home games in his career, all sellouts, the longest such streak in baseball.

Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Daisuke Matsuzaka, George Kottaras, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson and Hideki Okajima also have played exclusively to home sellouts during their careers, but none of them has been in the majors longer than Youkilis, who debuted on May 15, 2004.

That year also marked manager Terry Francona’s first season in Boston, meaning Francona has never managed before anything but a sellout at Fenway.

"I do probably take it for granted," Francona admitted. "I probably shouldn’t because it’s pretty special.’’

This afternoon, on the day following his 380th career start as a member of the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield will report for work feeling relatively spry, presumably, and extraordinarily blessed, almost certainly. Wakefield is 42 years old, a father of two small children. Before long, he will have started more games for the Red Sox than any pitcher in team history.

That bears repeating.

Sometime in the next few weeks, Wakefield will have started more games for the Red Sox than any pitcher in team history.

"That’s pretty cool," Wakefield said last night following a six-inning stint that led to his ninth win and an 8-2 Red Sox victory over the Florida Marlins. "I think it says that maybe I’ve been able to endure some adversity through my career here, going from starting to closing and things like that. I say this all the time, but I feel lucky wearing a Red Sox uniform for my 15th season. That’s special to be able to be able to say that."

Here’s what else it says: He has taken the ball, unfailingly, which is no small feat in any age because it speaks of durability, consistency, and reliability. First, you have to stay healthy enough to pitch. Second, you have to be good enough to stay in the rotation. At the moment, the Red Sox’ current all-time leader in games started is Roger Clemens, who made 382 starts for the Sox from 1984-96. Depending on what the Red Sox do what their rotation when John Smoltz comes off the disabled list next week, Wakefield will either tie or overtake Clemens by the All-Star break.

At that moment, Wakefield will have thrown the first pitch of a Red Sox game more times than anyone who ever has worn the Boston uniform. More times than Clemens, Cy Young, Luis Tiant, or Pedro Martinez. More times than Lefty Grove, Mel Parnell, or Bruce Hurst. Wakefield has won his share (173) and lost his share (148), but he has always been there.

Indeed, when Woody Allen suggested that 90 percent of life is just showing up, he must have had baseball in mind. Consistency is the most underrated aspect of the game. For a manager like Terry Francona, being able to write Jason Bay's name on his lineup card every day provides an enormous amount of comfort and stability, independent of whether Bay’s production makes him an All-Star or a relatively mediocre performer. For the skipper, a guy like Bay is one less thing to think about. Since Derek Jeter came into the major leagues in 1996, he has played more games than anybody in baseball, providing the Yankees with both an identity and concrete footing.

In Wakefield’s case, he has faced 11,475 batters and thrown 41,906 pitches while wearing the Boston uniform. During that same period of time (from 1995-present) in the majors, only Andy Pettitte, Tom Glavine, Jamie Moyer, Mike Mussina, and Randy Johnson have exceeded Wakefield in both categories. None of those men has spent that time with one club. (John Smoltz also has exceeded Wakefield in both, but his career in Atlanta began earlier.) For all of the changes that have taken place in Boston, from the front office to the last locker in the clubhouse, Wakefield has continued to take the ball.

"He’s so consistent with a pitch that’s not consistent," Francona said last night. "You look up in the sixth or seventh inning and he’s got a chance to win."

In the early stages of Wakefield’s career in Boston, he was particularly vulnerable to streaks. He started his Red Sox career by going 14-1 with a 1.65 ERA in his first 17 starts, then went 2-7 with a 5.60 ERA in his next 10 outings. Subsequent seasons were equally unpredictable at times, Wakefield oscillating between long streaks of brilliance and borderline ineptitude, leading to the popular belief that Wakefield is "streaky."

The truth? Wakefield stopped being streaky a long time ago. His skids now are usually limited to two or three starts, making him no different than any other pitcher in baseball. Josh Beckett has thrown in the mid-90s for the better part of his career and he has those lapses, too. The 42-year-old Wakefield is different from the 32-year-old Wakefield in that he now knows how to grind his way through five or six innings on nights when his trademark knuckleball suffers from its schizophrenic tendencies, a sign of his growth and maturity as a pitcher.

Last night, Wakefield said he feels "unbelievable" physically compared to other years at this time. Given the injuries that have limited him at the end of the last two seasons, there is legitimate question as to whether he can hold up in late August, September and October. (The Red Sox plan for this out of necessity.) This year, in an attempt to combat the effects of age, Wakefield has altered his maintenance and conditioning program with the hopes of lasting longer. Following each start, he stretches more than he ever has before icing his arm. He is doing less work with weights, particularly on those days when he is scheduled to throw between starts, and more cardiovascular work. So far the results have been positive for both the player and team, Wakefield leading the club in victories (nine) while throwing essentially as many innings (82) as Beckett (82 1/3) or Jen Lester (81 1/3) in the same number of starts (13).

Somewhere along the line, someone developed the theory that the knuckleball puts less strain on a pitcher's arm than the conventional repertoire. That is a fallacy. For Wakefield, throwing his fastball at 74 mph takes every bit the toll on him that Beckett’s 95-mph fastball puts on Beckett’s arm, particularly at this stage of Wakefield’s major league existence. It is why the Red Sox no longer pitch him on short rest or between starts. The extended life of a knuckleballer’s career has more to do with the pitch’s movement than it does with the velocity, which is why men like Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough could continue to pitch well into their 40s.

So long as they stayed healthy, of course.

"He’s pitched a lot of innings in his career," Francona said of Wakefield. "And we want him to continue to do that."

A whopping 380 starts into his Red Sox career, Wakefield is chugging right along, thank you very much.

And on Sunday, for the 381st time in Wakefield’s Red Sox career, his manager will happily hand him the ball again.

What we have here, for lack of a better description, is baseball’s answer to the four-corner offense. The Red Sox are spreading things out and taking their time, using every second to their advantage.

So for the next nine days, at least, the Red Sox will remain in a five-man rotation. After that, with John Smoltz now due to start on June 25 against the Washington Nationals, a six-man rotation seems like a probability. If and when the Red Sox go to that scenario, the one thing we know for certain is that it will be a temporary solution pending a more permanent decision involving another member of their staff, probably Daisuke Matsuzaka or Brad Penny.

Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick.

"It might be for a time or two through. It could happen," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said today when asked about the prospect of a six-man rotation upon Smoltz’s return. "I don’t know that we need to make our rotation out a week ahead of time, but [a six-man rotation] wouldn’t be the worst thing for a short period of time."

And so, in the interim, we join the Red Sox in waiting.

For now, there is no doubt that Daisuke Matsuzaka is a lucky man. Nobody currently in the Boston rotation has been as ineffective as Dice-K, but his contract and major league rules will allow him at least one more start, on Friday, against the Atlanta Braves. After that, Matsuzaka’s next turn would have fallen on June 25, which just happens to be the date that Smoltz takes the mound.

What that means, in short, is that Matsuzaka might very well be pitching for his place in the rotation on Friday, though the Red Sox have not said that. Matsuzaka’s contract prevents him from being demoted to the minors without his approval. Meanwhile, the Red Sox do not need to activate Smoltz until he pitches next week -- only his rehabilitation stint ends this week -- so the Sox are stretching the limits to account for their surplus of starting pitchers.

Let’s make something clear here: the Red Sox know what they’re doing. Postponing Smoltz’s return another week allows them to keep more pitchers for a longer period of time. The Red Sox clearly feel that demoting Matsuzaka to the bullpen could alienate him -- they may need him, too, at some point -- and they obviously have not found a suitable deal for Penny yet. The question that now remains is whether the club’s reluctance to move Matsuzaka to another role (or place) hurts Penny’s trade value.

At the moment, there is certainly no need for the Red Sox to make a rush to judgment. But at some point soon, unless the decision is made for them in the way of an injury, one must wonder when a six-man rotation begins to hurt the Red Sox more than it helps.

Nearly four years later, if you had it to do over again, would you?

I would.

"I knew the guy could fly and that he could hit," Dan Duquette said of Hanley Ramirez, the Florida Marlins phenom signed by the Red Sox in 2000 (during Duquette's reign as general manager) and later traded to the Marlins in a deal that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston. "I didn't know he would play shortstop."

At the time of the trade in November 2005, the Red Sox really did not know it, either, particularly amid the organizational turmoil brought about by the dispute between Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino. Maybe Ramirez was a shortstop. Maybe he was a center fielder. But wherever Ramirez landed on the diamond, there was little doubt that he possessed unique talents, a combination of abilities that today make him perhaps the most dynamic all-around offensive player in baseball.

Since the start of the 2006 campaign that marked his award-winning rookie season, Ramirez -- who visits Fenway Park this week for the second time in his career (the first came with the Red Sox for one at-bat in 2005) -- is the only player in baseball to rank in the top 10 in the major leagues in aggregate runs (first), hits (fifth), extra-base hits (fifth), and steals (sixth). He also has made a whopping 77 errors, more than any player (at any position) in the game. Hanley is right up there with Albert, Ichiro, and Mariano as the game's most identifiable stars known almost exclusively on a first-name basis. And he is just 25 (albeit in Dominican years) while having just begun a six-year, $70 million contract that pays him an average salary ($11.7 million) only slightly more than what the Red Sox are paying Julio Lugo ($9 million).

All things considered, Ramirez may be the single most valuable commodity in the game, a young and supremely gifted player who is extremely affordable even in a time of economic crisis, particularly in the first three years of his contract ($23.5 million).

In retrospect, in the fall of 2005, that is what the Red Sox had to give up to get Beckett and Lowell, the latter of whom initially was forced upon the Sox but who has since turned out to be among the most productive third basemen in the game. And though the Red Sox sent three additional minor leaguers to Florida in the deal -- including righthander Anibal Sanchez -- the trade essentially has amounted to Ramirez for Beckett and Lowell, a positively sterling example of the play-now-and-pay-later philosophy that drives so many of the deals in sports today.

The Red Sox got exactly what they wanted from this deal. The Marlins did, too. Two years from now, if Beckett and Lowell are elsewhere -- both are under team control through only 2010 while Ramirez is signed through 2014 -- there may be cause to reevaluate the deal. But by then, too, the Marlins may have traded away Ramirez, perhaps back to Boston, unloading the $46.5 million he is due in the final three years of his deal.

After all, Theo never wanted to trade Ramirez in the first place (trust me on this one), but he already had resigned from the Red Sox when the team pulled off the deal under the watch of Lucchino, baseball lifer Bill Lajoie, and current Red Sox director of international scouting Craig Shipley.

Ramirez himself believes he would still be the with the Red Sox had Epstein not taken his hiatus.

[Epstein] didn't want to trade me," Ramirez told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for today's edition. "I got traded when he kind of quit. I would have been in Boston. It happens."

The Sox have made inquiries with the Marlins about the prospect of reacquiring Ramirez in recent years. The deal easily can be argued from both sides -- that's what made the trade so compelling in the first place -- and Epstein always has operated with the bigger picture in mind, making it clear he would waste no time trading one title for multiple championships down the line.

On this one, everyone can be right and everyone can be wrong.

"We gave up some things, but I think the Red Sox have benefited greatly from Beckett and Mike Lowell," Lajoie said in May 2007, before the Sox went on to win the World Series for the second time in four seasons. "The thought was right. It just happened a year later than sooner [that Beckett and Lowell fully blossomed in Boston]. … It was myself and Craig Shipley who were the proponents of that trade, who wanted to go for it. There were some last-second attempts to stop the trade, but we decided to go through with it."

Lajoie never specified who was behind those "last-second attempts to stop the trade," but the Red Sox obviously were fractured at the time, divided into schools of old and new. Epstein, despite his sabbatical, was speaking with some officials regularly to offer his thoughts on the proposed deal, and owner John Henry was among those who stated publicly that his preference was to sign A.J. Burnett rather than to trade for Beckett, a scenario that would have allowed the Sox to retain Ramirez. Had that happened, there is no telling where Beckett might have ended up -- what if he eventually had surfaced with the Yankees? -- and how he and Lowell might have affected pennant races in 2006 and beyond.

In recent Red Sox history, there has been no single decision to serve as an organizational crossroads quite like the Ramirez deal. It is the ultimate "What if?" scenario.

There is no doubt that the deal has worked out quite well for the Red Sox. Since the start of the 2006 season, only the Angels and Yankees (316 wins each) have won more games than the Red Sox (315). Lowell has knocked in more runs than any major league third baseman but Alex Rodriguez, David Wright, and Aramis Ramirez, and that is despite the fact the second half of his 2008 season was effectively wiped out. Beckett has won more games (55) than any major league pitcher but Roy Halladay (62), Johan Santana (58), or Brandon Webb (56), and he all but single-handedly carried the Sox to the 2007 world title.

And though Epstein might have been against acquiring Beckett and Lowell in the first place, let the record show that he has since signed both players to new contracts ensuring that each would remain under club control through 2010.

As for Ramirez, even Duquette admits that there was no way to project what he would become when the Sox signed him nine years ago on the advice of scout Elvio Jimenez. At the time, the Sox had partnered with the Hiroshima Carp to run an academy in the Dominican Republic, and Jimenez thought Duquette should take a look at a young shortstop whom Jimenez had likened to Jose Offerman. (Yikes.) Duquette made the trip and immediately decided that Ramirez had "more power than Offerman," similarly recognizing that Ramirez (again, like Offerman) may not have possessed the hands to play shortstop in the major leagues.

Years later, Duquette now compares Ramirez's skills at the time to other prominent major leaguers like Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Sheffield, who were signed or drafted by the Montreal Expos and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively, when Duquette worked for those organizations.

"He did show that he had a live bat like Vladimir Guerrero. He was tall like that, but a little better athlete than Guerrero," Duquette recalled. "Every time he swung he squared up the ball on his bat, but I didn't know he would have this kind of power. ... Sheffield played shortstop in high school but he had a little thicker body than this kid and Sheffield had a little more power."

Today, Guerrero and Sheffield are potential Hall of Famers in the final years of their major league careers.

In Ramirez's case, he is really just beginning.

Too much pitching? No, no, no. You can never have too much. You can have an abundance, perhaps. Maybe even a stockpile. But you can never, ever have too much.

Possessors of the best record in the American League, the Red Sox will encounter a most unusual problem this week when John Smoltz comes off the disabled list. The Sox will have 13 capable pitchers for 12 spots on the staff, a seemingly unthinkable problem in this age of expansion. And that excludes Clay Buchholz, who has a 1.74 ERA at Pawtucket and expressed his frustration with his situation to NECN's Mike Giardi over the weekend. While the rest of the baseball world doesn’t have two nickels to rub together, the Red Sox are showing up at flea market with a fistful of dollars.

So what are they supposed to do, give it away?

With Smoltz’s return on the horizon, here are five scenarios to solve the overstock problem, in order of preference:

Plan A: Reassign Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Bullpen, minor leagues or disabled list -- take your pick. Any way you slice it, Matsuzaka does not deserve to be in the starting rotation at the moment. All things considered, he does not deserve to be on the staff, either, but removing him from the active roster isn’t as simple as a demotion or a trip to the DL.

In both instances, the Red Sox would need Matsuzaka to sign off on the move because of specifics detailed in his contract or the bargaining agreement, something that does not seem likely to happen at this stage.

At the moment, Matsuzaka’s 7.55 ERA is fourth-highest in baseball among pitchers with at least 30 innings. Only Adam Eaton, Scott Kazmir, and Ricky Nolasco have been worse. If Matsuzaka is not willing to go to the minors or the DL to fix his problems -- opponents are batting .372 against him, righthanded batters an absurd .419 -- the best course of action for the Sox is to take their most ineffective starter, place him in the bullpen, and make him their mop-up man.

Should the Sox choose this route, they can create the roster spot by simply optioning Daniel Bard to Triple A. Despite his performance on Friday night, Bard generally was being used in a conservative role, anyway. Matsuzaka won’t like this, but the move allows the Sox to keep all of the pitchers in their roster while forcing Matsuzaka to work his way back to respectability. The bottom line here is that the other starters have been better than him.

Plan B: Make a trade, preferably involving Brad Penny.

Since May 1, Penny is 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA, not bad for a No. 5 starter. Last week, in throwing six shutout innings against the Yankees, he was as aggressive as he has been all year. Up until today, major league rules prohibited the Sox from trading Penny, a free agent who signed with the club over the winter.

Penny’s name obviously has been floated about in a number of trade scenarios in the last several weeks. The obvious question concerns the Red Sox’ needs, which still seem unclear. Until the Sox make a final determination on David Ortiz or Jed Lowrie -- assuming the Sox have not already -- they may need a designated hitter or a shortstop (or both). That could impact what they seek for Penny, be it in a straight 1-for-1 swap or a package deal.

At this stage, does it really make sense to trade Penny and keep Matsuzaka, at least based on effectiveness? Probably not. Again, the Sox could find an alternative route here and trade someone from their bullpen (Manny Delcarmen? Justin Masterson?) but that still would necessitate bumping Matsuzaka into a relief role. If the Sox are going to do that, they would be better off waiting and temporarily sending Bard to Triple A, allowing the trade market to further develop and thereby introducing competitive bidding as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

Plan C: Move Tim Wakefield to the bullpen.

Years ago, wasn’t this always the solution for everything? Wakefield could start and he could relieve, and he could even do both at the same time. In Wakefield’s early years with the club, he could start on Monday and Saturday, and pitch out of the bullpen in between, making him one of the most versatile and valuable pitchers in baseball.

Here’s the problem: Wakefield is 42 now and he doesn’t bounce back the way he used to. The past two years, he has broken down late in the season. Jerking him around would be both disrespectful and imprudent, especially when the eight-game winner has pitched better than the majority of starters in the Boston rotation this season.

At the end of the day, if the Red Sox are going to send a starter to the bullpen, it needs to be their worst starter. That’s Matsuzaka. Replacing Wakefield with Smoltz makes no sense whatsoever, unless the Red Sox somehow think Wakefield could be a more effective reliever than Matsuzaka could be. That seems illogical given the depth of the bullpen and the likelihood that Matsuzaka or Wakefield would be relegated to mop-up status.

Plan D: Go to a six-man rotation.

For whatever reason, many fans and followers love this idea, but there are lots of things to consider. For beginners, the routines of every starter would be thrown off kilter. Factoring in off days, there would be situations when the entire rotation could be operating on six days of rest, which seems a little excessive, even for a team that goes to great lengths to protect its pitchers.

Here is another thing to consider: The Red Sox have 99 games left. Using a five-man rotation, that basically amounts to 20 starts per man. Using a six-man rotation, that number shrinks to 16 or 17 starts. Over the course of the next four months, a six-man rotation means that the Red Sox could be taking away as many as eight combined outings for Josh Beckett and Jon Lester by giving them to someone like Matsuzaka. If the Sox were to do that and miss the playoffs, by two or three games, there would be ample reason to question judgment.

Admittedly, there are occasions where a six-man rotation would make some sense. One would be on a staff with no clear separation between the best starter and the worst. Another would be in a stance where, say, a team had a big lead in the standings late in the year and wanted to soften the workload on their pitchers in anticipation of the playoffs. The Red Sox may very well find themselves in the latter scenario at some point -- but they’re not there yet.

Plan E: Put Smoltz in the bullpen (i.e., none of the above).

During his illustrious career, Smoltz has made 466 career starts and 244 career relief appearances, compiling 210 victories and 154 saves. Along with Dennis Eckersley, he is one of the truly unique pitchers in baseball history, a man who might be able to help every team in baseball in more than one role.

The problem? Like Wakefield, Smoltz is now 42. Compounding that issue is the fact that he is coming off surgery, which makes his health a greater concern. Even if the Red Sox were to employ Smoltz as a reliever, the best-case scenario might be one in which the Sox use him like they do Takashi Saito, refraining from appearances on back-to-back days and carefully picking their spots.

Even then, it is far easier for teams to manage the routine of a starter than a reliever, particularly with pitchers who have had arm surgery of any kind. Back in the late 1990s, for instance, the Red Sox were able to get something out of people like Bret Saberhagen and Pete Schourek because they could more effectively manager their routines as starters. The same is now true of Smoltz.

Over the weekend, Smoltz told the Globe’s Nick Cafardo that he offered to go to the bullpen but the club dismissed the possibility. Remember: One of the primary reasons the Sox signed Smoltz was to have him available to start games in September and, more specifically October, when they could fully benefit from Smoltz’s abilities and reputation as a big-game pitcher. How does a bullpen stint now accomplish that?

The New York Yankees need a setup man, something never more evident than during last night’s 4-3 loss to the Red Sox. Everyone knows that CC Sabathia is a bull, the kind of man virtually immune to pitch counts. But had anyone remotely comparable to the Joba Chamberlain of 2007 been in the New York bullpen last night, he -- and not Sabathia -- would have been on the mound to start the eighth inning at Fenway Park.

Still, New York’s starters haven’t exactly been getting it done against the Red Sox this year, either.

For all of the talk about the problems in the New York bullpen this season -- and there are many -- New York’s starters are 0-6 with a 7.04 ERA against Boston this year. That is true despite Sabathia’s strong outing last night. New York relievers let down Sabathia and the rest of the Yankees by failing to preserve the pitcher’s victory in the finale of yet another Red Sox sweep, but starters A.J. Burnett and Chien-Ming Wang did more damage to the Yankees in this series than any Yankees relievers did.

Taking the eight games as an aggregated, here is how the Yankees' starters and relievers have performed in the season series:

STARTERS
              W-L    ERA    IP    H   R   ER   BB   SO   HR   Avg
Red Sox       5-0   3.80  47.1   54  20   20   17   44    6  .283
Yankees       0-6   7.04  38.1   53  35   30   27   35    7  .333

RELIEVERS

              W-L    ERA    IP    H   R   ER   BB   SO   HR   Avg

Red Sox       3-0   3.04  26.2   23  11    9   16   23    4  .237

Yankees       0-2   5.10  30.0   26  20   17   21   30    6  .230

This brings us back to Burnett, in whom the Yankees have more than $80 million invested over the next five years. In two starts against the Red Sox this year, Burnett has allowed 13 hits, 13 runs, eight walks, and three home runs in 7 2/3 innings. He has just four strikeouts. The Sox are batting .382 against him. Burnett had a 6-0 lead against the Sox in April and could not protect it.

Last night, the bullpen failed the Yankees. But overall, New York’s starters have been completely outpitched. The Red Sox have outscored New York by a 36-20 margin in the first six innings this year, by a 19-11 margin thereafter. There is a lot of blame to share ...

... and the manager does not get off the hook, either. Joe Girardi has the utmost faith in Sabathia, for good reason, but the lefty’s pitch count escalated rapidly in the eighth. On a wet mound, no less, Sabathia left up a changeup to Nick Green, then missed badly (albeit on the 10th pitch of the at-bat) to Dustin Pedroia in issuing a walk. That probably should have been it for him. Girardi opted to squeeze out one more batter and have Sabathia face J.D. Drew, who poked a single to center in what may have been the biggest at-bat of the game.

"I thought he still had good stuff,’’ Girardi said of Sabathia.

While that may have been true, it is often interesting to note the things managers do not do in a series, too. For example: Justin Masterson did not see the mound in the three games against New York. Daniel Bard pitched only in Tuesday’s blowout. Masterson and Bard are the only two Boston relievers who have consistent difficulty with lefthanded hitters, many of whom dot the Yankees lineup.

On Wednesday, counting switch-hitters, the Yankees had seven lefthanded batters in the lineup with only Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez batting exclusively from the right side. This year, lefties have batted .313 against Masterson and .333 against Bard, so Francona generally stayed away from those pitchers in any situations of consequence.

Masterson, in particular, was relegated to anchor man status, meaning that Francona held him out as an insurance policy in the event the Red Sox got into an extra-inning game. In that scenario, Masterson would have been the final option because he is capable of throwing more innings than any other reliever in the Boston bullpen. That said ...

Takashi Saito was the key to last night’s game. When Saito entered in the seventh inning, the Yankees had a man on second in the midst of a three-run rally that had given them a 3-1 edge. Saito retired Robinson Cano on a flyout before pitching a scoreless eighth. With Manny Delcarmen out of the game, with Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez unavailable, with Masterson’s and Bard’s difficulties against lefthanders, Francona didn’t have anywhere else to turn.

"He gave us a chance,’’ Francona said of Saito. "I felt like we got backed into a little bit of a corner.’’

Saito now has a string of nine consecutive scoreless outings (covering 9 1/3 innings) during which he has 10 strikeouts. With Jonathan Papelbon having pitched the last two days, Saito’s appearance in the game raises an interesting question about who would close tonight if the Red Sox get into a save situation against the Philadelphia Phillies. Saito has pitched on consecutive days just once all year (April 18-19) while Papelbon has not yet pitched on three consecutive days.

Interestingly, last night’s game marked just the second time all year that Saito and Papelbon have appeared in the same game, the other coming in an extra-inning affair against the Yankees on April 24. This, too, is a reflection of Francona’s ability to handle his pitching staff.

Finally, let’s get back to Drew for a minute. Drew got on base seven times in the series (four hits, three walks) and now has a .526 on-base percentage in eight games as the No. 2 hitter, where he has had a profound impact on the Red Sox offense. One of the biggest at-bats of the series came on Tuesday night, when Burnett had Drew 0-2 with two outs in what was, at the time, a 2-0 game. Burnett should have been out of the inning by then, but an Alex Rodriguez error had extended the Boston inning. Instead of picking up his teammate, Burnett allowed a two-run double that made the score 4-0, a virtually insurmountable deficit with Josh Beckett on the mound.

Burnett was every bit as guilty as Brad Penny was last weekend against Texas, when Julio Lugo failed to at least knock down a ball that might have produced an inning-ending out. Penny had a chance to minimize the damage and cover Lugo’s mistake, but instead allowed a three-run homer to Ian Kinsler.

Lugo got all the blame on that one, but ask yourself this:

Would someone like Curt Schilling have allowed that to happen?

Last month, on the night before Kevin Youkilis returned from the disabled list, the Red Sox played a game against the Toronto Blue Jays that lasted a mere 2 hours 13 minutes. Apprised of that fact upon returning to the Boston clubhouse, Youkilis had a simple explanation.

"That's because I wasn't here," Youkilis cracked to one member of the Boston organization.

You know, he may be right.

Now that the man with the longest at-bats in the American League (4.48 pitches per plate appearance) has returned to the lineup, there is no remaining doubt: Time does not stop when Youkilis enters the batter's box, but it certainly slows down quite a bit. Youkilis has had 10 plate appearances in the first two games of the current three-game series with the New York Yankees, reaching base five times with two singles, two walks, and a home run. The homer was an impressive, opposite-field clout that ultimately provided the difference in last night's 6-5 win that placed the Sox solely atop the American League East.

But it is only a part of the story.

In his 10 plate appearances against the Yankees in this series, Youkilis has seen 52 pitches -- yes, 52 -- including 29 on Tuesday and 23 more last night. In five games against New York this year, he has walked six times (three intentional), including at least once in each game. Youkilis's on-base percentage against the Yankees this year is an insane .600, and the Yankees, like most everyone else at this point, simply have no idea how to get him out.

Hmmm.

"He's turned into such a good hitter," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Youkilis when asked about Youkilis's opposite-field homer that landed on the center field side of the Red Sox bullpen, no small feat for a righthanded hitter. "We've seen him in spring training since a long time ago. He's turned into one of the best hitters in the league. The real interesting thing is that he's learned how to hit for power without selling out to hit for power."

As usual, the manager is right. Take a look at Youkilis's slugging percentage beginning with the 2006 season, when he first became a full-time player. During that span, it has gone from .429 to .453 to .569 to his current .619. Meanwhile, his batting average has climbed from .279 to .288 to .312 to .350 while his on-base percentage has gone from .381 to .390 to .390 to .472. If the stock market could travel along a similar path of growth, American business would be booming again in no time.

In this particular series, we have had a perfect storm similar to the demonstration put forth by Bobby Abreu during a five-game series at Fenway Park almost immediately after Abreu joined the Yankees in 2006. During New York's infamous five-game sweep, Abreu went 10 for 20 with seven walks and a .630 on-base percentage; he saw 119 pitches in the series, an average of 23.8 per game and 4.41 per plate appearance. In that way, the Yankees of 2009 might consider themselves fortunate. After all, this week's meeting with the Sox is only a three-game set and ends tonight, meaning they will be done with Youkilis, at least for a time.

Can you imagine how long these games would be if Chien-Ming Wang had to face someone like Youkilis in every plate appearance? We're talking "Roots." Ken Burns couldn't create an epic that long.

Since he became a major league regular, Youkilis has an overall on-base percentage of .395. Against the Yankees, during that same time, his OBP is .449. Youkilis has seen a whopping 1,104 pitches over that span, more than any player on either team, meaning he has done as much to lengthen Red Sox-Yankees games as any extended commercial breaks on national networks.

Last night, when Youkilis came to bat in the fourth inning of what was then a 4-2 game, J.D. Drew was on third with one out. Wang already had departed, replaced by young righthander Phil Hughes. On a 2-0 pitch, Hughes threw a fastball that Youkilis belted into the bullpen, a most blatant demonstration of Youkilis's metamorphosis as a hitter. Three years ago, Youkilis might have turned that pitch into a sacrifice fly. Last night, he did what a locked-in Manny Ramirez might have done with it by belting it out of the deepest part of the ballpark.

After the game, in assessing the breadth of Youkilis's abilities as a hitter, Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan compared Youkilis to -- get this -- Edgar Martinez, the former Seattle Mariners designated hitter regarded as one of the best hitters of his era. Martinez was a career .312 hitter with a .418 on-base percentage and could drive the ball to all parts of the ballpark. Like Youkilis, Martinez also ran up pitch counts like a college student runs up credit card charges.

"He arrived in the big leagues as a guy who had a real good idea of the strike zone and hit a little gap to gap,'' Magadan said of Youkilis. "Now, when you take his ability to hit for power and add it to all those other things . . .''

Time all but stops.

And so long as your loyalties reside with the Red Sox, Kevin Youkilis is worth every second of the wait.

Another night, another game, another flirtation with a no-hitter. That’s three in the last week or so. In the interest of scheduling, you should know that Jon Lester is due to pitch Friday with Josh Beckett slated to go Sunday.

Now this is clearly what the Red Sox had in mind when they left Fort Myers this spring, armed with a deep pitching staff and a pair of potential aces who could grab games by the throat. The Sox just needed a little time to get here. With last night’s 7-0 victory over the New York Yankees, the Red Sox improved to a perfect 5-0 in their last five games behind Beckett and Lester, who have looked a little like Drysdale and Koufax lately. Few hits. Fewer runs. More strikes than the Major League Baseball Players Association.

At the moment, in what has become an annual and methodical march through the regular season, the Red Sox are now falling into line behind their two best starters.

All together now: Right, left, right.

"I thought he was terrific," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Beckett’s latest outing.

Now adding Lester into the mix, what we may have here is a two-headed monster like we have seen at few other points in Red Sox history, most recently in 2002, when Pedro Martinez (20-4) and Derek Lowe (21-8) each won 20 games en route to respective second- and third-place finishes in the American League Cy Young Award balloting. (Those Sox somehow missed the playoffs, though they did not have the dominating bullpen this team does.) In their last five games, Beckett and Lester are a combined 5-0 with a 0.76 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 35.2 innings. Over the weekend Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed twice as many hits (10) in 5.2 innings as Beckett and Lester have allowed in their last three starts combined (five). Here's a look at their numbers over that span:

                           IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO HR  Result
(B) May 28 @ Minnesota    7.0   3   1    1    4    8  1  W, 3-1
(L) May 31 @ Toronto      6.0   3   1    1    3   12  0  W, 8-2
(B) June 3 @ Detroit      7.2   2   3    0    2    9  0  W, 10-5
(L) June 6 vs. Texas      9.0   2   1    1    2   11  0  W, 8-1
(B) June 9 vs. NY         6.0   1   0    0    2    8  0  W, 7-0

Totals (5-0, 0.76)       35.2  11   6    3   13   48  1  5-0 (36-9)

Last night, as was the case last week in Detroit, Beckett had no-hit stuff. The only hit he allowed was an infield single to Robinson Cano in the fourth inning. Three nights after Lester struck out 10 of the first 18 batters he faced in six perfect innings, Beckett walked off the Fenway Park mound at the end of the sixth inning last night having whiffed eight of the final 16 batters he faced while allowing just three balls out of the infield.

In many ways, with regard to Beckett and Lester as a tandem, we are only beginning to witness their potential power. In 2007, when Beckett was at the top of his game, Lester was still a promising prospect who was attempting to come back from cancer. Last year, as Lester blossomed, Beckett was slowed by a succession of nagging injuries. There was a brief time in September where Beckett seemed healthy and their arms were aligned, but Beckett subsequently suffered an oblique injury that ultimately thwarted the Red Sox’ run at another world title.

Now, both appear to be firing on all cylinders and vaporizing opponents, averaging a whopping 12.11 strikeouts per nine innings over their last five starts combined.

The Yankees, in particular, understand the potential impact of a synchronized Beckett and Lester, and not solely because Beckett took them apart last night. In some ways, New York’s entire offseason spending spree was necessary to help neutralize Boston’s two best starters. Before signing CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees didn’t really have one starter to match up with Boston, let alone two. And as we all know, that will be especially true in the postseason -- for any team -- because rotations shorten by 20 percent or more.

In this case, the obvious difference is that Lester and Beckett are effectively products of the Red Sox farm system -- Beckett (and Mike Lowell) came in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, among others -- while the Yankees rebuilt the front end of their rotation exclusively on the free agent market. That should serve as an additional reminder that the Red Sox have acted in recent years while the Yankees have reacted, further explaining how the teams have completely changed roles in this millennium.

Regardless, the clubs are tied for first place in the American League East. And given the relative mediocrity that now seems to have infected the balance of the AL, it is quite likely that we are currently watching the two best teams in the league this year.

For the Red Sox, over the balance of 2009, the value of a