In an emotional night during which Nick Adenhart was honored, Boston dropped to the lowest you will see them all season—last place—after a 6-3 loss to the Angels.

Tim Wakefield was solid through six, giving up three runs on six hits, but Jered Weaver was better giving the Sox only one run—unearned—through 6.2 innings. After a rare poor performance by Justin Masterson in the 7th, a two run 8th could not pull the Red Sox out of the hole.

Reigning MVP Dustin Pedroia had a hit in three at-bats, a sign he might be coming out of his slump. Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 4 as he continues to tear the cover off the ball. It seems like him and Pedroia are evening each other out. For every line drive in the gap that Youkilis hits, Pedroia hits a line drive right at someone, like his scorcher into the glove of a leaping Chone Figgins.

I didn’t tune into this game until about the 4th inning since I wasn’t very pumped up for baseball after a 5-4 OT Bruins win over the Canadiens on Thursday which was Boston-Montreal at its best and ugliest. After the disappointing game on Friday, I’m still not very pumped up for baseball. I’ll still probably watch the game on FOX though, unless I go to the Boston Blazers fan fest at TD BanknorthGarden. Post-opening week April is always a dull time for me, especially when both the Celtics and Bruins are doing so well. Come the Yankees series on the 24th I’ll be back into it.

Red Sox Notes

Brad Penny makes his Sox debut today.

Jed Lowrie is just 1 for 11 so far on the season.

After three poor games against Tampa, Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 4 in Friday’s game.

Sox color commentator Jerry Remy fell ill before the game, leading NESN to bring in some guests to the booth, my personal favorite being the always entertaining color commentator for the Angels, Rex Hudler.

The Red Sox and Rays wrapped up a three game series in Boston today. Tampa hit three home runs off of Daisuke Matsuzaka, one in each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4thinnings. A two run shot coupled with two solo shots turned out to be all the Rays needed offensively, winning 4-3.

Matt Garza pitched well for the Rays, going seven innings while giving up just one run on an RBI triple for Jason Bay. He exited with the lead, which the bullpen held in the final two innings.

The Rays entered the bottom of the 8th with a three run lead before a two out RBI double by Mike Lowell brought the Sox within two runs. In the 9th Jason Varitek got his second home run (and hit) of the season that just cleared the bullpen wall and Ben Zobrist’s glove. After a Jacoby Ellsbury flyout and a nice pick and throw of a Dustin Pedroia line drive, David Ortiz drew a walk, putting the tying run on board. Kevin Youkillis then popped out to former Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler in center to end the game.

The Sox head west for two three-game series against the Angels and Athletics starting tomorrow. Tim Wakefield will get the ball for the first time this year and George Kottares will get his first start of the season. Jered Weaver gets the ball for Anaheim.

With their young veteran Scott Kazmir on the mound, the Rays looked like AL Champions against the Red Sox. Jon Lester went only five innings giving up eight hits and five runs. The ‘pen gave up two more as the Sox fell to .500 on the year after a 7-2 loss.

Scott Kazmir pitched well for Tampa going six innings giving up just five hits and one run while walking three and striking out four. The Rays bullpen held the lead despite JP Howell giving the Red Sox a great chance before Grant Balfour got out of the jam in the 8th and hanging on in the 9th for the save.

At the plate Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford both had three hits and an RBI each while Carlos Pena hit a two-run home run to cap a 4-run 5th for Tampa that put the Rays in front. Former Ray Rocco Baldelli went 1 for 4 in his Red Sox debut. Kevin Youkillis was the only member of the Boston lineup with more than one hit, going 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Home Plate umpire Bob Davidson had a very wide strike zone tonight. It usually is not that big of a deal, but the comments on redsox.com’s recap are putting the blame for the loss on him. Despite not being very pleased with his strike zone, I am not about to say the loss was his fault. The only reason it seemed like he was favoring the Rays was because they caught on to it quickly, something the Sox failed to do. They realized that if they threw to the outside corner they would get an easy strike, while the Red Sox didn’t pitch accordingly. But in better news, the Yankees are now 0-2 and in last place, a position they usually find themselves in early in the year before they begin a tear. Despite this, we can’t take anything for granted.

The rubber match between the clubs is set for 1:35 later today. Matt Garza squares off against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Both teams look to gain ground on the first place Blue Jays and Orioles (not quite as strange as saying the same about Tampa a year ago, yet still very odd)

A rainout pushed opening day back to Tuesday, but it couldn’t stop the Red Sox as they beat the Rays 5-3.

Josh Beckett pitched seven innings of 2-hit baseball, allowing just one run. He also set down ten Rays by Way-of-the-K. Despite two walks in the 8th that turned into runs by Okajima, Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon shut down the Rays for the rest of the ballgame.

Dustin Pedroia got the offense off on the right foot in the 1st by pulling a knee-high pitch into the Monster seats in left. The Red Sox would get the bases loaded later in the inning but they failed to score. Tampa Bay would tie it in the 3rd but the Sox would strike for three runs in the bottom of that inning and led the rest of the way. Jason Varitek also added a solo shot in the 6th to make it 5-1.

Despite having regular season baseball to watch on Monday, it just wasn’t the

Sen. Kennedy, a lifelong Sox fan threw out the first pitch to Jim Rice.

 same without the Red Sox. Management had a great day planned for the game. Sen. Ted Kennedy threw out the first pitch to Hall of Famer Jim Rice, Johnny Pesky declared “play ball”, and the Red Sox entered the field from the stands. NESN even had a new theme and opening for the 2009 season. The players’ entrance was a little cheesy, but Kennedy’s pitch was very inspirational, despite Rice catching the it from only a few feet away.

The Sox and Rays go at it again tonight at 7:10. A pair of lefties, Jon Lester and Scott Kazmir take the mound for their respective ballclubs. Lester is 4-0 lifetime against Tampa but he was 0-2 in the playoffs last year. Kazmir is 6-7 against the Red Sox and 4-4 at Fenway Park. Former Ray and Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli is expected to be in the starting lineup, most likely replacing JD Drew,  to get a right handed hitter in against the southpaw Kamir.

This is just a very quick introduction, I’m very much looking forward to blogging for majorleagueblogging.com. When i first saw this site i thought it had a lot of potential, and when i saw that i could be apart of it’s growth, i wasted no time getting in touch with Jeff Gross. He was kind enough to give me this opportunity, and i hope that you enjoy my posts over the coming season, and hopefully more.

Now just a little about myself, I am a History student, I’m 20 years old, and i love the Cubs. Over time other details will be revealed about me through my posts, but i don’t want to bore you with them right now.

Here are just a few things that you can expect to read from me over the coming months:

* All the latest spring training news from Mesa, Arizona. Which players are impressing and which players need to get in the batting cage for extra work.

* A non biased opinion on the state of the Cubs and the state of the NL Central

* A view to the past, a look at past Cubs, there influences on the team. A look at old owners and how this franchise has been shaped with there help.

* Coverage of all the games/injuried/trades and tantrums of the new season

Please feel free to  leave any comments with any questions, praise and or criticism