Felix Doubront News

If Felix Doubront ever figures out how to pitch to his potential on a consistent basis, he just might turn into a pretty good major leaguer.

There's been an uptick in the Red Sox' play of late, as they won five straight before losing to the White Sox, 6-4, Monday night at US Cellular Field.

Felix Doubront was sailing along, having his way on the mound. The only thing that wasn't working in his favor was run support.

Yes, the Red Sox lost on Tuesday for the second straight time. It was just as frustrating as the night before, with Chicago getting its runs with two-out rallies and Boston wasting opportunities late against the White Sox bullpen.

The Red Sox have been without left-hander Franklin Morales all season long thanks to a back injury, but that separation will soon come to an end.

Andrew Bailey is back from the disabled list, leaving the Red Sox' bullpen in the best shape its been in all season.

The White Sox are three games below .500 and six games behind the American League Central-leading Indians, but they've remained confident, and recently, the results on the field have taken a turn for the better.

This is what good teams do. They rebound. Which is what happened after a couple of weeks where the Boston Red Sox struggled during a disappointing home stand against the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays .

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In the absence of a proven closer, go ahead and credit the save for the Red Sox' come-from-behind 4-3 victory last night to right fielder Shane Victorino .

Daniel Bard walked five batters on Wednesday night in a Double-A game. He is now walking roughly three times as many batters as he is striking out, with 17 walks against six punch outs in 12-2/3 innings.

On Tuesday and Thursday's every week, I'll share some insight into a few of the better plays for the day - even if I'm willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A bases-loaded double by Will Middlebrooks in the ninth inning off Tampa Bay closer Fernando Rodney vaulted the Red Sox to 4-3 win over the Rays Thursday night.

Felix Doubront will start Thursday night's game, making the Sox' chances of picking up a much-needed series win entirely unlikely.

Top 4th: Rays 1, Red Sox 1 - David Ortiz roped a single to right field which bounced against the wall on a hop scoring Shane Victorino who had doubled.

When Felix Doubront takes the mound for the Red Sox on Thursday night at Tropicana Field, it will be a lot more than just another start.

Amazingly, it's the third time this season that has happened. Prior to that it had not happened since June 19, 2009.

THE CONTENTS: Following a rough homestand, the Red Sox kick off their first three-city trip of the season in St.

In the second part of this series, we will look at how the Red Sox are doing in some pitching sabermetric statistical categories.

Tickets: $14-210, available at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team Tampa store; $3 surcharge within 5 hours of game time.

Not more than six hours had passed since Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan announced he would be having season-ending surgery and fill-in closer Junichi Tazawa came running out of the Fenway Park bullpen with the game tied in the ninth inning.