Red Sox-Phillies (May 19, 20, & 21)

Matt Clement (4-3, 5.36) kicked off the first interleague series of the season for Boston on Friday night with a solid 6.2-innings in a 5-3 Sox victory. Boston was powered by homeruns by David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek. Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 15th save while Philadelphia's Jon Leiber (3-5, 5.81) was the loser. On Saturday the Red Sox will send Josh Beckett (5-1, 4.24) to the mound against Brett Myers (2-1, 2.73). This game is a 7:05 start on both NESN and WEEI. The eyes of Red Sox Nation will be focused on Beckett's pitching hand to see if the swirling rumors of a blister problem are even remotely true. He, of course, angrily denies there is a blister problem but his past troubles with blisters have RS Nation on edge. On Sunday, Lenny DiNardo (1-1, 6.17) faces Cory Lidle (3-4, 4.84) of the Phillies. I'll go out on a limb and predict this one to be a high scoring game. The finale will be played at 1:35 on NESN and WEEI. In one other Red Sox note, it is time for Terry Francona to develop the bullpen a bit. Don't get me wrong, the three-headed monster of Papelbon, Mike Timlin, and Keith Foulke has been great so far but the 'pen needs at least one more consistent arm to avoid burnout for the top three guys. Now, the question of where this arm comes from is not an easy one to answer. Can Julian Tavarez or Rudy Seanez step up from within? Are any of the potential minor league options -- Craig Hansen, Edgar Martinez, Manny Delcarmen -- truly capable of stepping up for a World Series contender? Or will Theo have to go shopping? This point isn't to sound greedy -- the Red Sox are definitely dealing from a position of power because of Papelbon, Timlin, and Foulke -- but remember what happened to the 2004 Yankees. Everything looked fabulous in NY, with Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill setting up Mariano Rivera. But the innings piled up fast in the Bronx in '04 and before Torre knew it, the end of his bullpen was out of gas. I personally think Julian Tavarez can be the guy who takes on more of the work load. He may be a hot head at times but he has the ability to pitch effectively at the end of ball games. And if he isn't the answer, Craig Hansen just may be.