ESPN Search

BOSTON -- This has been a trying spring for Will Middlebrooks in his first full season with the Red Sox. He endured the worst slump of his professional career, one in which he batted .093 (5-for-54) over a span of two weeks and 14 games. On May 7 in ...

BOSTON -- There is no mystery to why Ryan Dempster lasted just three innings Thursday night. "My command's been terrible," he said. Dempster walked six batters in just 4 2/3 innings in his last start, Saturday in Minnesota, when he threw 127 pi...

BOSTON -- Tito-palooza, indeed. If first impressions mean anything, a sellout crowd of 35,254 at Fenway Park went home convinced that Terry Francona, the man who introduced the duck boat parade to Boston, will soon have city planners in Cleveland ...

BOSTON -- David Ortiz's first-ever steal of third Wednesday was the cause of considerable mirth in the Sox clubhouse, with Ortiz the first to have fun with it. Asked what he thought when third-base coach Brian Butterfield flashed the "steal" sign, Or...

BOSTON -- Some quick hits from Thursday night's Titopalooza at Fenway Park, and for the record, bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. brought the lineup card out to home plate. -- Terry Francona waved and patted his heart in appreciation when the crowd acc...

CHICAGO -- Trying to hear soft-spoken Clay Buchholz in a raucous Red Sox clubhouse Wednesday night proved as daunting for some people (present company most definitely included) as trying to hit the unbeaten Red Sox right-hander. Besides the usual...

CHICAGO -- Anything planned for Terry Francona upon his return to Fenway Park on Thursday night? "Nothing," said Dustin Pedroia, the Sox second baseman and longtime Francona cribbage partner. "I got nothing." Impressed by how well Francona's In...

CHICAGO -- Well, glad we got that cleared up. What the rest of the world might view as a slump, Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury on Wednesday night insisted has been not much more than an inability to "find some grass out there." Ellsbury had t...

CHICAGO -- Before each game, a detailed scouting report of that night's opposing pitcher is placed on the stool in front of every Red Sox player's locker. Anecdotal evidence suggests that was not the case in Wednesday night's 6-2 win over the Whit...

Terry Francona's Fenway Park homecoming is no time to get nostalgic.

CHICAGO -- Jose Iglesias has played 334 games in professional baseball since defecting from Cuba, including 41 in the big leagues. Tuesday afternoon in Pawtucket, the 23-year-old Iglesias played his first-ever game at third base, which improbably ...

CHICAGO -- The Boston Red Sox took a soaking in any number of ways Tuesday night. Colombian left-hander Jose Quintana held them without a hit until David Ortiz's broken-bat single with one out in the seventh. The skies opened up and poured down...

CHICAGO -- If you've been watching, you don't need an explanation for why Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said dropping Jacoby Ellsbury from the leadoff spot in the order has been considered. "Consider it yes, but we're sticking with him," Far...

CHICAGO -- One potential obstacle to Clay Buchholz's remaining undefeated when he takes the mound Wednesday was removed when the White Sox announced that ace left-hander Chris Sale has been scratched because of what the team called a mild case of ten...

CHICAGO -- Two months into what is supposed to be a three-year tour of duty in Boston, the last thing Shane Victorino wants is to become known as the Limpin' Hawaiian. But Victorino, who has been tormented by back problems that caused him to miss ...

CHICAGO -- Jon Lester and the Red Sox can live with this pace, one loss every 10 starts. The distinction of being undefeated in the Red Sox rotation now rests exclusively with Clay Buchholz, who will be putting his 6-0 record on the line Wednesday...