White Sox slugger Manny Ramirez took the blame Friday for his rocky departure from Boston and said he would have joined the Red Sox if they had claimed him when he was placed on waivers this month.

Charlie Manuel scoffed at the notion of second place. So did Phillies stars Jimmy Rollins and Roy Oswalt.

A new season, a different result, a lot of improvement left for the Super Bowl champions to make.

Mike Lowell hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw after coming off the disabled list, Josh Beckett dominated for eight innings and the Boston Red Sox beat Cleveland 3-1 Tuesday night after a bench-clearing incident.

David Ortiz hit two homers in the same stadium where he won the Home Run Derby nearly two weeks ago, and Clay Buchholz pitched seven strong innings in the Boston Red Sox's 6-3 victory over Dan Haren and the slumping Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.

The floor of the Red Sox clubhouse was filled with black equipment bags as players packed for their 10-day West Coast trip. Amid the clutter, the stuff that revealed the team's current condition was still hard to miss.

Kevin Youkilis spoiled Cliff Lee's bid for his second straight complete game. Then he ruined the Texas Rangers' chance for their third consecutive win over the Boston Red Sox.

Darnell McDonald and David Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs, Daisuke Matsuzaka won for the first time in more than a month and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Sunday.

Jon Lester keeps piling up wins. He hopes it's enough to earn his first All-Star selection.

Maybe veteran Russell Branyan and the young Cleveland Indians can salvage this season after all.

Tim Wakefield's fluttering knuckleball had the Phillies flustered.

The Detroit Tigers accomplished a feat no team had in the wild card era.