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.

Wagner pitched in 17 games this season for the Mets and Red Sox, compiling a 1.72 ERA and pitching some meaningful innings down the stretch in Boston.  The Red Sox did not pick up his $8.8 million option for 2010 which means that Wagner will hit the free agent market 15 days after the end of the World Series.  Wagner is going to make his family his priority, but he might also want to give it a few more years to try to win that elusive World Series Championship.  Plus, he he some personal numbers to achieve that might be important to him.  He would love to become one of only 5 MLB pitchers to reach the 400 save plateau – Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Lee Smith and John Franco are the others – and he is just 15 saves shy of that number.  If he can land a closer’s job on a competitive team in 2010, there is a good chance that he could reach that 400-mark.

Guess we’ll have to see what Wagner decides to do, but it was a pleasure having him in the bullpen this past September.  With the struggles of Daniel Bard and Hideki Okajima down the stretch, it was great for Manager Terry Francona to be able to rely upon Wagner in late-inning situations…

Should we start to panic in Beantown?  The Red Sox just dropped their 6th straight game – 12-0 to the Blue Jays.  Wakefield looked bad (5 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks in just 3 innings).  The bullpen did not fare much better – Fernando Cabrera, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima and back-up catcher Dusty Brown each gave up runs in their inning of work.

The lone bright spot – Dusty Brown – back-up catcher, pitching the 9th inning in relief.  Brown threw 13 pitches – 9 for strikes – and gave up 1 earned run on a single, double and RBI groundout.  Not bad for a back-up catcher.

Now I know that all but 2 of the regulars (David Ortiz and Alex Gonzalez) were on the bench against Roy Halladay, but I’d really like to see the Red Sox win a game or 2 against the Indians this weekend. It looks like Manager Terry Francona is going with his starters in tonight’s game to support Jon Lester in his final tune up before the playoffs.  Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay and Mike Lowell (in addition to Ortiz and Gonzalez) are back in the lineup tonight.  Let’s hope the team comes to play and puts an end to this frustrating 6 game skid.  Go Sox!

It’s about time – the bats finally came back to life and Josh Beckett worked hard to shut down the Royals and pick up his 16th win of the 2009 MLB schedule.  After falling behind 2-0 in the 4th inning, the Red Sox rallied for 6 runs in the 5th inning to take control of the game.  Jacoby Ellsbury started the rally with a 2-run triple to center field that tied the game at 2.  Dustin Pedroia drove Ellsbury home with a single to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.  A Jason Bay 2-run single and a David Ortiz RBI single rounded out the scoring in the 5th inning.  David Ortiz’s 3-run home run in the 9th inning (his 25th of the season) gave the Red Sox a comfortable 9-2 lead.

Beckett gave up 12 hits in 6 innings of work, but managed to work around jams.  He struck out 7 and walked only 1 and kept the Red Sox in the game until the offense exploded in the 5th inning.  Beckett bettered his record to 16-6, lowering his ERA to 3.78.  Hideki Okajima, Billy Wagner and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched scoreless/hitless innings to preserve the Red Sox win.

The Red Sox still trail the Yankees by 6 games and lead the Rangers by 7 games.  Their magic number sits at 5 for clinching a playoff spot.  The Yankees were the 1st team to clinch a playoff spot with their win over the Angels on Wednesday.

Clay Buchholz won his 6th game of 2009 as the Red Sox opened their 10-game road trip with a 3-1 win over the O’s in Baltimore.  Buchholz pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, giving up just 5 hits and 3 walks with 1 strikeout.  Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to close out the win.  It was Papelbon’s 37th save of the 2009 MLB schedule.

Casey Kotchman had 3 hits including an RBI single that gave the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead.  Jason Bay’s 34th HR of the season gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the 4th.  Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury each had 2 hits.

The Red Sox have a 7-game lead over the Rangers in the AL Wild Card race.

Ouch… Looks like the Rays have officially given up.  The Red Sox swept the Rays on Sunday (3-1; 4-0), sending the Rays to their 11th straight defeat.  The Rays now trail the Yankees by 19.5 games in the AL East race and the Red Sox by 12.5 games in the AL Wild Card race.  This is your Rays team that won the AL pennant just last year.

Clay Buchholz got the Red Sox off on the right track with 7 innings of 1-run ball in the opener.  Buchholz limited the Rays to just 5 hits and 3 walks and a lone run on Jason Bartlett’s single that tied the game at 1 in the 7th inning.  The Rays Matt Garza was equally as good through 7 innings, but he got into trouble in the 8th inning.  After a David Ortiz pinch-hit double and a Jacoby Ellsbury sacrifice, Dustin Pedroia won the game with a clutch 2-run home run to deep right field.

Hideki Okajima won his 6th game without suffering a loss with a perfect 8th inning, and Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 36th save of the season by striking out the side in the 9th inning.

In the night cap, Jon Lester continued the Red Sox pitching dominance over the Rays in the weekend series. Lester allowed just 2 hits and 3 walks over 8 scoreless innings, while racking up 7 K’s.  Lester is 13-7 on the season, with a sparkling 3.29 ERA. The Red Sox managed just 7 hits, but they seemed to make them count.  After Mike Lowell’s RBI groundout gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning, Jason Varitek’s 2-run single in the 6th inning increased the lead to 3-0.  Jason Bay tacked on the game’s final run with his 32nd home run of the season, a solo shot in the 8th inning.

The Rangers split their Sunday double-header with the Mariners in Texas, so the Red Sox opened up a 4-game lead in the AL Wild Card race.  The Red Sox are also in the driver’s seat with an easy schedule down the stretch.  After 3 games against the Angels this week at Fenway Park and 3 games against the Yankees in New York next weekend, the Red Sox play their other 14 games against 4 teams with losing records – the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Indians, the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.  Pretty sweet…

After wrapping up a 3-4 road trip in Tampa and Chicago, the Red Sox are looking forward to a return to Fenway Park for a nice 8-game home stand spaced out over 10 days.  The Red Sox will have an off-day in between each series.

The Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Rays, but struggled in Chicago.  The Red Sox won Sunday 6-1 behind a strong outing from Jon Lester, but the bats were silent in the 3 losses where the Red Sox scored 2 runs, 1 run and 1 run.  Not good.

Josh Beckett suffered his 2nd loss in 5 starts – he has not won since August 12th.  Beckett did not pitch all that bad (3ER on 6 hits and 2 walks), but he had 1 bad inning in which he allowed 3 runs to score on a groundout and 2-run single.  Hideki Okajima didn’t help matters when he served up a 2-run bomb to Carlos Quentin in the bottom of the 8th inning which increased the White Sox lead from 2 runs to 4 runs.

The Red Sox offense had their chances off of Mark Buerhle (1ER on 8 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings), but they could never seem to come up with the big hit to blow open an inning.  It was Buerhle’s 1st win since he threw a perfect game against the Rays back on July 23rd – a span of 9 starts.

It looks like it is now a 2-team race for the AL Wild Card race.  The Red Sox still lead the Rangers by 2.5 games, but the Rays have now fallen behind by 7.5 games.

Clay Buchholz will open the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Fenway Park.

That loud noise you heard Tuesday night in Tampa was a huge collective sigh of relief as the Red Sox beat the Rays 8-4 in Tampa for only their 2nd win there this season.  It wasn’t easy.  Leading 7-2 heading to the bottom of the 8th inning, the usually reliable Hideki Okajima didn’t retire any of the 5 batters he faced.  4 hits and 1 walk later, the Rays had scored 2 runs and still had the bases loaded with nobody out.  With a delicate 3-run lead, Manager Terry Francona called on his closer – Jonathan Papelbon – to shut the door on the Rays rally.  And boy did he shut them down.

Papelbon struck out B.J. Upton, got Jason Bartlett to line out to Jacoby Ellsbury in center field and then got Carl Crawford to foul out harmlessly down the left field line to preserve the Red Sox 7-4 lead.  Game over as Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th with 2 strike outs and the Red Sox had upped their wild card lead over the Rays to 6 games.

Jon Lester had a solid outing – 97 pitches, 6 innings, only 2 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks.  He struck out 9 and picked up his 11th win of the season.  Francona also seems ready to us Billy Wagner when it counts.  Wagner struck out 2 in a perfect 7th inning.  If Wagner can continue to pitch well on a consistent basis for the Red Sox, they could be really tough on teams down the stretch.  Not many teams have the resources at the back end of the bullpen that the Red Sox do.

As for the offense, the Red Sox bats finally came alive in Tampa.  The only starter without a hit was Dustin Pedroia, and he reached base twice on walks.  Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 2 with a home run, 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury and Victor Martinez each had 2 hits, while Jason Bay and J.D. Drew each hit home runs.  The 12-hit, 6-walk offensive attack was a welcome relief for Francona, GM Theo Epstein and RED Sox Nation.

Go Sox – would love a sweep down in Tampa with Josh and Clay going in the final 2 games!!!

Jon Lester took another frustrating no decision on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.  Lester thought he got out of a 2nd and 3rd, 1 out jam in the top of the 7th inning when he struck out Alexei Ramirez for what should have been the 3rd out.  But the ball bounced away from Jason Varitek and Paul Konerko was able to score from 3rd base with the tying run.  Jayson Nix then followed that up with a scorching line drive single to Mike Lowell at 3rd base, plating Jermaine Dye with the go-ahead run.  Just like that, the White Sox took a 3-2 lead and when Manager Terry Francona replaced Lester with Hideki Okajima, Lester was either going to get saddled with the L or a no decision.

Fortunately for Lester (10-7 record, despite a 1.23 WHIP and 3.60 ERA) and the Red Sox, the Red Sox immediately rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th inning on a Jason Varitek double and an RBI pinch-hit single by Victor Martinez.  And with the game tied at 3, the Red Sox knocked around Scott Linebrink in the bottom of the 8th inning, scoring 3 runs to take a commanding 6-3 lead.  Jason Bay gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead with his 26th HR of the season – a solo shot with 1 out.  With 2 outs, Nick Green singled and Victor Martinez came through again with an RBI double to left field.  Martinez came around to score the 3rd run of the inning on Jacoby Ellsbury RBI single.  And just like that, the Red Sox had re-gained the lead for closer Jonathan Papelbon.  Papelbon notched his 30th save of the 2009 MLB schedule with 2 K’s in the 9th inning.

At 72-53, the Red Sox are 6 games behind the Yankees in the AL East race.  They still have a 1/5 games lead over the Texas Rangers and a 3 games lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card race.

Just when everyone was getting ready to count out the Red Sox, Clay Buchholz outduels Roy Halladay 6-1, and the Red Sox take back the AL Wild Card lead over the Texas Rangers by a game.  The Red Sox roughed up Halladay for 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in just 5 innings of work.  Halladay needed 103 pitches to labor through the 5 innings – suffering his 6th loss of the 2009 MLB schedule.  The Red Sox got off to a quick start on a David Ortiz solo home run and an Alex Gonzalez RBI single in the 2nd inning to give the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead.  Jacoby Ellsbury tripled in Gonzalez in the 4th inning to increase the lead to 3-0.  After the Blue Jays chipped into the lead with a run in the 4th inning, the Red Sox answered right back with Jason Bay’s 2-run HR in the 5th inning.

By that time, Clay Buchholz was in a nice groove.  Buchholz pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, allowing just 6 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 4.  The bullpen did the rest – Ramon Ramirez with a scoreless 7th inning with 2 K’s; Hideki Okajima with a scoreless 8th inning with 1 K; and with Takashi Saito striking out the side in a perfect 9th inning.

At 17 games over .500, it is incredible that the Red Sox still trail the Yankees by 7 games.  It would go a long way if the Red Sox can finish of the sweep of the Blue Jays in Toronto heading into the weekend series against the Yankees at home at Fenway Park.  Jon Lester takes the bump tonight in Toronto, and the Red Sox tentative starting rotation for the weekend looks like this – - Brad Penny, Junichi Tazawa and Josh Beckett.  The Yankees counter with Andy Petitte, A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia – - ouch…