So tonight kind of sucked. J-Tav was not good, Kyle Snyder followed that up by also being not good. Timlin was good and relatively efficient, Pineiro was pretty lucky, and J-Lo notched a K. Nice to see the lesser members of the bullpen able to keep it close, as well as the possibility of J-Lo vulturing a win after his grueling 5-pitch outing.

You have to wonder how short a leash Tavarez has at this point. It's probably been about 5 years (since he was a starter in Florida) since he started a second half having already pitched this many innings, and I have to wonder if some fatigue has set in. He was 29 then, 34 now, and it might just be a bit too much. I hope not, because there's no one who enjoys his antics on the mound more than me (besides "Being" perhaps).

What is there to say about that 9th inning? Lugo and DP did their jobs, Papi and Manny both got good pitches to hit that they didn't drive far enough. You have to hope in that situation that Papi might start to adjust his swing a bit, because going for broke to deep CF just isn't in the cards for him right now. Dump one into the gap between right and center; Cora will bring it home. Even if it didn't work, that did seem to be what Manny was trying to do, and simply didn't time it quite right. He swings a little earlier or a little later and it might've been pandemonium down there.

Drew's hamstring could be a little troublesome, if only because I'd like to see Youks getting rest a little more frequently due to his (assumably) lingering quad problems. If Hinske is out there in RF to lessen the drop-off on D, then Youk still has to play all 9.

Great nights from Mike Lowell, who shattered his previous career high in triples (1), and "Being", who went 2 for 5 with a HR and 3 RBIs. Not a lot of patience from our lineup, with only two walks being issued to Sox hitters.

"Being", despite failing to drive in the winning runs in the 9th, gets this one over Lowell.

Tavvy. Discouraging performance. My guess on the aforementioned leash? If he's unable to give at least a 5 IP, 3 ER performance against the 11th best AL-offense Royals, the Sox may begin looking elsewhere (trades, MiL contributors.)