Texas Rangers defeat Boston Red Sox, 7-2

ARLINGTON, Texas -- This is how bad it's gotten for your beloved Red Sox: Johnny Damon didn't realize that suspended skipper Terry Francona wasn't managing last night until the second inning.

Really.

"I hope there will be days when he can come and just chill out," Damon said following a 7-2 loss to Texas, the Sox' fifth defeat in six games, evening the team's record at 11-11, the club's worst start since going 11-11 in the opening month of 1999.

"We're used to chaos,...

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Declaring that the commissioner's office "will not tolerate any continued on-field misconduct between these two clubs," baseball's chief disciplinarian, Bob Watson, dropped the hammer on the Red Sox and Devil Rays yesterday, issuing suspensions and fines to eight uniformed members of both clubs, four on each side, with the longest penalty -- a six-game suspension -- assessed to Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo.

Arroyo, for one, expressed skepticism that th...