The Red Sox, like other MLB teams, are going to make a run at 18-year old sensation Yusei Kikuchi.  Kukichi is an 18-year old prep school player whose fastball already reaches 96 MPH.  WOW!

The Red Sox have an excellent track record with Japanese pitchers – Hideki Okajima, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Junichi Tazawa – and they are hoping that their Japanese-friendly system goes a long way in luring Kukichi to the major leagues and the New England area.

Kukichi will meet with the Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants on Monday.  And he will meet with the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.  He is also expected to meet with all 12 major league Japanese teams who cannot make any formal offers to the young superstar until Japan’s amateur draft which is set to take place on October 29th.  Kukichi must declare for the Japanese draft by Wednesday.  He is a lock to be the #1 player taken in the Japanese draft, but if he decides to later sign with an MLB team, he would be prohibited from playing Japanese professional baseball for 3 years.

But if he signs and pitches with a Japanese team and then voices his desire to pitch in the major leagues, he would have to wait 9 years to become a free agent or follow the posting system that Matsuzaka used 2 seasons ago.  In that scenario, MLB would have to get permission from the player’s Japanese team to bid on the player, and then the Japanese team would get to accept the highest bid presented for the player.

The Red Sox avoided this posting system with Tazawa by signing him before he signed and played for a Japanese team.  Tazawa had indicated that he wanted to play professional baseball in the Unites States, so all 12 Japanese teams passes on drafting Tazawa in the draft.

It appears that Kukichi has a lot of suitors, so it should be interesting to see what he ends up doing.

Wow – this really isn’t the way the Red Sox drew it up.  The Red Sox bats have disappeared and 1 inning has done in each of Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the 1st 2 games of the ALDS against the Angels in Anaheim.  Not good.

First the bats – the Red Sox managed just 4 hits off of Jered Weaver and 3 Angels’ relievers in Friday night’s 4-1 loss.  That makes 7 total hits for the series and just 1 run.  Jacoby Ellsbury had 2 of the Red Sox hits last night and scored the lone run on Victor Martinez’s RBI single in the 4th inning.  He is the only Red Sox regular hitting above .250 in the series – at .286.  Bad, bad, bad…

Josh Beckett was cruising along until the 7th inning.  Lead off walks always seem to come back and haunt you.  Beckett walked Vladmir Guerrero to start the inning and Howie Kendrick pinch-ran for Guerrero.  That seemed to distract Beckett for the rest of the inning.  Although Beckett did get 2 outs with Kendrick at 2nd base after his steal, Beckett could not close out the inning.  He gave up a Macier Izturis single to center field that drove in Kendrick with the go-ahead run.  And then after he hit Mike Napoli with a pitch, he served up the game-breaking 2-run triple Erick Aybar that gave the Angels a 4-1 lead.

The Red Sox now have their backs up against a wall.  The Red Sox trail the series 2-0 heading back for Game 3 on Sunday at Fenway Park.  Manager Terry Francona has decided to go with Clay Buchholz to get the must-win game.  Buchholz has pitched well at the end of the season, although his final regular season tune-up was not great.  Buchholz did not face the Angels this season and he has a career 6.35 ERA against the Angels in 3 starts.  The Angels will counter with Scott Kazmir.  The Red Sox have seen Kazmir a lot since he played with the Tampa Bay Rays for several seasons, so let’s hope the Red Sox can get on the board early as their bats come alive at Fenway…

Don’t lose faith Sox fans – we’ve been here before and overcome worse conditions!

It was not how the Red Sox envisioned Game 1 going – John Lackey outdueling Jon Lester in a 5-0 shutout.  The Red Sox had almost as many errors (3) as hits (4) and Lester was not his usual composed self.  The Angels Bobby Abreu should have been handed the game ball even though he didn’t get a hit.  Lester walked Abreu 4 times and it was after the 3rd time that he walked Abreu that Lester served up Torii Hunter’s game-winning 3-run HR in the 5th inning.  The Angels went on to score twice in the 7th inning – on Kendry Morales’ RBI single – but the game was all but over after Hunter’s home run.

Lester never looked settled on the mound as he seemed to get flustered with bad calls by the home plate umpire.  Lester pitched 6 innings, but gave up the 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5.  It was not his best outing.  Meanwhile, Lackey seemed to have the Red Sox hitters confused all night long.  Lackey gave up just 4 hits and 1 walk in 7 1/3 scoreless innings.  He struck out 4 and reliever Darren Oliver recorded the final 5 outs to preserve the Angels win.

No pressure on Josh Beckett tonight – hah!  Beckett needs to show up big tonight.  I don’t like having to rely on Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2 must-win games back in Boston in Games 3 and 4.  I know the Red Sox have been phenomenal at Fenway Park, but going down 2-0 is not where I want my team sitting…

Manager Terry Francona has decided to go with Jon Lester against the Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS.  How can you fault him?  Lester has made 32 starts in 2009, going 15-8 with a 3.41 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.  His 225 K’s are the most by any left-handed pitcher in all of baseball.  It is the 2nd straight year that Lester has won at least 15 games, and although Lester did not face the Angels in 2009, he shut them down in the 2008 ALDS with no earned runs over 14 innings in 2 big wins that propeled the Red Sox to the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Josh Beckett has had an up and down.  After starting the season so well, he has struggled of late.  Beckett also made 32 starts and finished the season with a 17-6 record.  He had a3.86 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP – striking out 199 in 212 1/3 innings.  In his last 14 starts since August 12th, Beckett is 4-2, but he has given up at least 3 ER in 7 of those starts.

After Lester and Beckett, Francona will have a decision to make.  He could go with the youngster Clay Buchholz (7-4, 4.21 ERA and 1.38 WHIP) who has pitched fairly consistently in 2009.  Or he could go with Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-6 record, 5.76 ERA and 1.87 WHIP) who struggled mightily at the beginning of the season and spent the rest of the season on the DL through August.  In 4 starts since coming off the DL, Daisuke is 3-1 and he has pitched at least 5 1/3 innings in each start without allowing more than 3 ER in any start.  Matsuzaka also has 2007 and 2008 playoff experience, so that could mean a lot come the weekend.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as Francona announces his decision on his Game 3 and Game 4 starters.

The end product was great – 4 straight wins over the Indians to close out the season – but there are still a few areas of concern.  The Red Sox clubbed 5 home runs in Sunday’s 12-7 win – 2 from J.D. Drew and 1 each from Dustin Pedroia, Jed Lowrie and Alex Gonzalez.  But Clay Buchholz struggled in his final tuneup before the ALDS against the Angels later this week.  Buchholz lasted just 3 innings, giving up 6 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks.  It was his 2nd bad outing in his last 3 starts.

Manager Terry Francona will definitely have a starting pitching decision to make after Jon Lester and Josh Beckett pitch in Games 1 and 2 of the series.  Will he go with Buchholz who has pitched more consistently during 2009 in Game 3, or Daisuke Matsuzaka who has had a humbling 2009, but has proven himself before in October.  It won’t be easy for Francona, but if anyone has a good beat on his players and their ability to pitch effectively in October, it is Francona.

In Saturday’s 11-6 win, Josh Beckett had a rough start giving up 4 ER in the game’s 1st 2 innings.  But he battled through it to pitch 5 innings and notch his 17th win of the season.  Beckett’s back is fine and he will be ready to go in Game 2 against the Angels in Anaheim.

All in all it was a good season for the Red Sox.  Anytime you’re still playing in October, it’s a good thing…

It wasn’t perfect, but Daisuke surely ended his 2009 regular season on a high note in Friday night’s 6-2 win over the Indians at Fenway Park.  Matsuzaka pitched 6 solid innings, giving up just 2 ER on 5 hits and 3 walks.  Matsuzaka struck out 7 batters and has lowered his ERA under 6.00 (5.76) and his WHIP under 2.00 (1.87). Now I know that doesn’t sound all that good, but considering how he looked early in the season, his pitching of late has been a huge success.  Daisuke is 3-1 in his last 4 starts since coming off the DL.  He has pitched at least 5 1/3 innings in each start and he has not given up more than 3 ER in any outing.  If the Red Sox can rely upon Daisuke as the team’s #3 or #4 starter in the post-season, that can only mean good things for the club…

Victor Martinez led the Red Sox offense with 2 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run scored.  Jason Bay had 2 hits and an RBI, while Kevin Youkilis had 1 hit and 2 RBI’s.

Billy Wagner also worked 2/3 of a scoreless inning striking out both batters that he faced.

The Red Sox only have 2 games left this weekend against the Indians at Fenway Park.

Finally – the Red Sox winning recipe finally came back to fruition on Thursday night behind a solid outing by Jon Lester.  Lester proved that he was fine after getting hit with a line drive in last Friday night’s loss to the Yankees in New York.  Lester threw 84 pitches and came out of the game after issuing a walk with 1 out in the 7th inning.  Lester gave up only 2 hits and 1 walk, with 7 strikeouts.  Manager Terry Francona felt he had proved enough at that point:  “We were really happy.  I don’t think we thought it was an issue.  We wouldn’t have allowed him to pitch.  It was really nice to see him pitch as well as he did for a lot of reasons.”

Daniel Bard, Billy Wagner and Jonathan Papelbon did the rest, allowing just 1 hit the rest of the way.  Wagner and Papelbon worked perfect 8th and 9th innings and seem primed for a solid post-season.

With most of the starters back in the lineup, the Red Sox offense clicked on all cylinders.  Although they only scored 3 runs, the team crushed 12 hits and drew 4 walks.  Jacoby Ellsbury led the way with 3 hits and 1 run scored.  Victor Martinez, Jason Bay and Alex Gonzalez each had 2 hits.

The rest of the weekend series for the Red Sox looks like this – Daisuke Matsuzaka tonight; Josh Beckett on Saturday night and Clay Buchholz on Sunday afternoon.  Lester is line to be the Red Sox Game 1 starter against the Angels next week in Anaheim.  How sweet is that to have Lester going in Game 1 and Beckett going in Game 2?  Look out Angels fans…

While it has been a frustrating 2009 MLB schedule for the Red Sox, they will have a shot to prove themselves in October as the AL Wild Card representative against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  The Red Sox will look to make a memorable impression for their fans during the final regular season homestand at Fenway Park this week.

The Red Sox will play 3 games against the Toronto Blue Jays from Monday through Wednesday at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox will close out the season with a 4-game weekend series against the Cleveland Indians from Thursday October 1st through Sunday October 4th.

Both the Pirates and Diamondbacks have losing records, so the Red Sox should be able to end the season on a positive note and improve their already solid 52-22 home record at Fenway Park.  Red Sox Nation will get a chance to see starting pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd during the 2009 MLB regular season one last time as they gear up for the post-season.

Stay strong Red Sox Nation – theRed Sox are going to need your “A-Game” to advance to an epic battle against the Hated New York Yankees in the 2009 ALCS.  And to quote Kirsten Dunst – - “Bring it on!”

Clay Buchholz made sure that the Red Sox wouldn’t lose the series to the Royals in Kansas City.  Buchholz pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just 5 hits along the way.  Buchholz had 8 K’s and no walks and has really impressed of late.  Buchholz is now 7-3 on the season with a 3.21 ERA.  He has won 6 straight decisions over an 8-start span.  Not bad for someone that has had his ups and downs in 2009.

David Ortiz continued his hot hitting for the Red Sox – 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s, 1 run scored and a walk.  He clubbed his 26th HR of 2009, a solo shot that started a 3-run 4th inning which gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.  Jacoby Ellsbury also had 3 hits for the Red Sox with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.  Ellsbury continues to lead the American League with 66 steals.  Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Casey Kotchman and Alex Gonzalez each had 2 hits in the Red Sox 15 hit attack.

The Red Sox now have their sights set on the Yankees in the Bronx this weekend.  Trailing the Yankees by 5.5 games in the AL East race, this will be their last shot to make a run at the division crown. The match-ups look like this:

Friday Night – Jon Lester v. Joba Chamberlain

Saturday Afternoon – Daisuke Matsuzaka v. CC Sabathia

Sunday Afternoon – Paul Byrd v. Andy Pettitte

The Red Sox are all but assured of making the playoffs even if they don’t overtake the Yankees.  The Red Sox have an 8 game lead over the Rangers for the AL Wild Card and their magic number is 3 games to qualify for post-season play.

The Red Sox defeated the Orioles 9-3 on Sunday completing a 3-game weekend series sweep.  The Red Sox won 16 of 18 games against Batimore during the 2009 MLB schedule.  The Red Sox scored in each of the 1st 4 innings of the game to open up a 7-0 lead.  And Daisuke Matsuzaka did the rest – picking up his 2nd straight win since coming off the DL.  Dice-K pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 3 ER on 8 hits and 1 walk.  He struck out 5, but didn’t have the same crispness that he had in a win last week.  This week, he needed 110 pitches before running into trouble in the 6th, but at least 73 of them were strikes.

Jacoby Ellsbury had 3 hits, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored to pace the way for the Red Sox.  Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Jason Bay and Alex Gonzalez each had 2 hits.  Ellsbury and Bay each hit home runs.

With the sweep, the Red Sox increased their AL Wild Card lead over the Rangers to 8 games.  And even more interesting, the Red Sox have chipped into the Yankees hold on the AL East lead.  The Red Sox now trail the Yankees by only 5 games, and with the Red Sox playing 4 games against the Royals this week before next weekend’s tilt in the Bronx, could that lead be even smaller by Friday night?  We’ll have to keep a close eye on the race as the Yankees play 3 games against the Angels in Anaheim before heading back east…