Felix Hernandez kept the Boston Red Sox from making a big jump in the playoff race.

Josh Beckett rebounded from a rough stretch and the Boston Red Sox broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the sixth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday.

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

Daniel Nava took one for the team. Then he stole one from the other team.

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.

After watching Daisuke Matsuzaka struggle so much in the first inning this season, Boston manager Terry Francona was quite pleased with how his starter looked right from the start against Oakland.

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.

The Boston Red Sox are going to have to find a way to win without Dustin Pedroia, their most reliable hitter of late. Perhaps for a while.

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

David Ortiz remained in the Red Sox lineup Wednesday night after losing his cool just two hitless games into the season.

Pitcher Josh Beckett and the Red Sox agreed to a $68 million, four-year contract extension through the 2014 season, a baseball official told The Associated Press on Monday.