Hideki Okajima News

For the better part of Terry Francona's six seasons managing the Red Sox, there have been two constants.

After two straight meltdowns by the Red Sox' bullpen to open this series, the Seattle Mariners had an epic collapse of their own Sunday.

It wasn't just the biggest comeback of the week, the month or the year. The Orioles' come-from-behind win on Tuesday night was the largest in franchise history, as they overcame a nine-run deficit with a pair of late five-run rallies en route to earning an 11-10 victory over the division-rival Red Sox.

Baltimore Orioles' Matt Wieters is out at second as Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, top, throws to first but is unable to get Robert Andino out during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, June 30, 2009, in Baltimore.

The Red Sox played two completely different games against the Orioles Tuesday night.

The Boston Red Sox squandered a nine-run lead and trailed the Baltimore Orioles 11-10 in the bottom of the eighth at press time.

I know this usually doesn't happen with a setup man, but what do you think are the chances of Jeremy Affeldt making the All-Star team? He leads the league in holds and has a sub-2.00 ERA.

Beckett tossed seven shutout innings, extending his scoreless streak to 16 against the Braves this season, and the Red Sox took advantage of a passed ball and two balks to score half of their runs in a 4-1 win.

In the bottom of the seventh inning last night at Turner Field, the Red Sox [ team stats ] ' media relations folks ladled out this little tidbit: The last time a Sox pitcher submitted back-to-back, complete-game shutouts was in May of 1992, when Roger Clemens blanked the Kansas City Royals and California Angels.

The quirks and irregularities of Fenway Park have hurt the Red Sox as well as helped them over the years.

"Numbers constitute the only universal language." -- Nathanael West, Author/Screenwriter 0.62 : The difference between the actual ERA of Johnny Cueto , who leads the National League at 2.17, and what his ERA would be if the six unearned runs he has allowed were earned .

The Fenway crowd showed its admiration for former Sox hurler Derek Lowe after he got the hook in the seventh.

When it comes to passionate baseball fans, nothing can top the East Coast triumvirate of Philadelphia, Boston and New York.

Dice-K still couldn't stick around long enough to get a win. "The pitches they hit were mistakes.

There are many reasons the Yankees need to be worried about the Red Sox , but the big difference between the two teams right now is in on the mound - and not just the difference in starting pitching.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 Okajima bails out bullpen Red Sox 6, Yankees 5 FENWAY PARK, BOSTON By Bill Ballou TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF wballou@telegram.com Winning pitcher: Wakefield .

The closer was so sick the night before, a victim of food poisoning, and so dehydrated that the Red Sox considered sending him to the hospital.

The Boston Red Sox continued their mastery of fierce rivals New York Wednesday, stretching their unbeaten streak over the Yankees to seven games this season with a 6-5 win.

It's now seven straight over the Yankees - eight if you go back to September - and for all of that the Red Sox only lead those guys by one game in the standings.

When the always reserved Hideki Okajima shows any kind of emotion on the mound, it can only mean good things for the Red Sox.