Mike Aviles News

Matt Joyce clubbed a grand slam and Tampa Bay held on for a 7-4 win over Boston in a game that turned ugly in the ninth inning Friday night at Fenway Park.

After a four-month run as the best team in baseball last summer, the Boston Red Sox collapsed, missing the playoffs after posting a dismal 7-20 record in September.

Shortstops like Starlin Castro don't come along very often. He's still only 22 years old, and he's already established himself as a star in the making at the big-league level.

End 1st, 1-0: The damage was only one run, but Daniel Bard was forced to work quite a bit.

Boston Red Sox's Mike Aviles singles in the third inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore, Monday, May 21, 2012.

The Boston Red Sox are chasing history right now, and not in a good way. With a payroll of just over $146 million, the Sox could become the most expensive last place team in major league history.

Vinicio is still just a baby, in the same sense that Xander Bogaerts was for the 2011 Drive.

Fun fact of the day: In Sunday's game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, Mike Aviles hit a home run to lead off the game for the second day in a row.A The last Red Sox player to do that was a man named Harry Hooper in 1913.

A driver was beaten in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after a weekend game and four people were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, police said Monday.

Down by three runs in the sixth inning, the Boston Red Sox desperately needed a spark to get back into the game against the Baltimore Orioles.

By now, you'll have heard the unfortunate news about the extent of Cody Ross ' foot injury.

Josh Beckett did something on Sunday afternoon that could easily be miscast as lazy if viewed without any context in mind.

When Mike Aviles smacked the third pitch Cliff Lee threw Sunday, he had done something no Red Sox [ team stats ] hitter had accomplished in 99 years.

Everyone wants to kill Theo Epstein for leaving the Red Sox [ team stats ] bereft of talent before joining the Cubs, but such criticism conveniently ignores players like Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

A few days ago, manager Bobby Valentine admitted he still wasn't comfortable with his options to replace the injured Jacoby Ellsbury [ stats ] atop the Red Sox [ team stats ] batting order.

The Red Sox are playing their best baseball this month and just at the right time, as Boston heads into Baltimore for a three-game series with a chance to make up some ground on the American League East leaders.

Going into this season, one of Boston's most intriguing position battles involved the shortstop spot, with veteran Mike Aviles battling prospect Jose Iglesias for the starter role.

Getting anything off Cliff Lee is a victory, but the Sox managed to add to their lead with some very patient at bats.

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia shrugged off an injury and led the Boston Red Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB.

Boston Herald Sports Writer Patriots beat writer John Tomase joined the Herald in 2005 after six years covering the Red Sox.