Clement has not figured out how to pitch the Blue Jays. 

Despite a late rally to tie, the Red Sox could not pull this one out.  Crisp, Ramirez and Varitek all homered.

 

No doubt, Seanez, Tavarez or somebody else is going to get some extra innings with Timlin on the DL.  However, I think this is the time for Foulke to turn the corner and prove he really has the stuff he had two years ago. 

Tim Wakefiled pitched a masterful game, pitching 8 innings of shut out ball.  He gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, while getting 4 strike outs.   Then he gave up the ball for the bullpen to come in relief of him.  And then the gut wrenching 9th inning begain. 

 

I do not have the confidence in Rudy Seanez that Francona does.  He had been less awful lately, but that doesn't necessarily make him a good picture.  As evident, given the time he really needed to step up, he put the Red Sox in a jam in the 9th after getting the first two outs.  Julian Tavarez came on to get the last out.  He got a strike out, but the pitch got past Mirabelli, so the final out came as Harris gunned a man down from left field.  Tavarez and Seanez gave up a total of 5 walks.  Not great relief pitching. 

 

In other notes, Mirabelli was 0 for 2, but had 2 walks.  Loretta continued his hitting streak, stretching it to 13 games.  Sox did ok offensively, scoring 5 runs, but left 11 men on base. 

Schilling struggled, but pitched good enough for his 200th win.  He is the 104th person to win 200 games. 

Trot Nixon provided the big hit and a big enough cushion for Schilling, knocking 3 runs in the second inning.  Youklis played left field in place of Manny. 

The Red Sox go for a sweep of the Rays today with Crisp returning to the lineup.  Pena is going on the DL to make room on the roster. 

I just noticed I used the same number for two games.  The Sox have played 46 games so far, not forty five. 

I will not be updating the old games, but simply moving forward to 47 with the game tonight.

Sigh.

 

Wells gets hit with a line drive on his right knee after pitching a solid game (giving up 1 homer and getting no run support).  Ortiz responded at the bottom of the 5th by smashing a bases clearing double.  Tavarez came on and pitched well enough to earn his first win.  Lowell got his first Fenway homer in th seventh, hitting a 2 run over the Green Monster.  Gonzalez had his best night as a Red Sox, going 3 for 4 and scoring twice. 

 

Side note.  The Devil Rays are trying to change their name to just the Rays.  Huh?

Despite getting gassed at the end of the 6th, Beckett stifled the Rays and went on to collect his 7th win.  He allowed 4 hits and gave up 1 walk while striking out 7.  Foulke pitched a scoreless 7th, while Timlin was relieved by Papelbon to get the last 4 outs of the game.

The hitters got the job done, but left 15 men on base, which is frustrating. 

Matt Clement squandered two leads as he struggled to close out the 2nd inning after getting 2 outs and just flat out falling apart in the 5th.  In total, he gave up 8 runs in 5 innings of work.  Tavarez, Seanez and Foulke pitched well in relief, but the damage was already done. 

Despite a multi-homer game from Manny and a 3-5 effort from Youklis, the Red Sox could not come back to claim the lead again after Clement relinquished it in the 5th.  Ortiz did not show his clutch hitting ability, going 0 for 5, with 4 strike outs, one of which came late in the game with the basis loaded. 

Despite some late inning drama, the Red Sox could not overcome the 7 run hole Wakefield put them in, especially the 3 run Seventh. 

Missed this one as I was at a charity auction for my niece.

Schilling pitched 8 innings and gave up 1 run.  Foulke pitched the ninth inning and gave up 4 runs - ouch. 

Manny homered to lead a strong hitting night for the Sox. 

Dinardo had a rough outing on the mound, which could be his last in the rotation now that Wells has pronounced himself ready to return.  Alvarez also struggled giving up 4 runs in 3 innings of work.  Bright spot is that Seanez finally made it through an appearance without giving up a run.

Beckett pitches another strong game and gets the win.  He aided his own cause, hitting  a solo home run as a part of a 2 for 4 night. 

The Red Sox plated 8 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.  Gonzalez, who seems to be hovering around .200, hit a two-run homer as part of the night's effort.  I am waiting for him to really go on a tear at the plate.

Snow didn't help his cause, giving up an error that enabled the Phillies to score 3 runs, as he came on Ortiz at first. 

Perhaps Clement likes the National League hitters better than the American League hitters.  He pitched a solid game, but got in trouble in the 7th.  It has got to be good for his confidence to have a good outing.  He also scored a run as Ortiz homered him home in the 5th. 

In fact, the Red Sox scored all their runs on home runs as Lowell hit a two run homer in the second and Varitek soloed one out in the fourth. 

 

Ortiz hit a 2 run homer in the 9th to pull the Red Sox within 1 run, but Willie Harris was thrown out stealing to end the game.  Looks like Harris misunderstood the signs and was supposedly on hold, but tried to steal anyways. 

So ends the Red Sox 13 game dominance of the Orioles. 

Schilling struggled again, but the continued dominance of the Red Sox bats and the Red Sox bullpen allowed him to pick up the win. 

Beckett pitched well, only giving up a lone home run to Tejada. 

The bottom of the order did all of the damage as Varitek plated 3, Lowell plated 3, Pena plated 4 and even Gonzalez plated 1. 

This is the last game I saw on tv before hitting the road to travel across the US.

It rained most of the game.  The Red Sox looked unenthusiastic throughout.

Each team that scored first in this Red Sox Yankees series ultimately lost the game.  The Yankees struck for 2 runs in the first, taking advantage of Wakefield working himself into a bases loaded jam.  After that, Wakefield pitched well, with 9 strike outs, but he did throw a lot of pitches (106 in 6 innings).

 

Ortiz drove in 1 run, but Loretta had an awesome game going 4 for 6 with 3 runs batted in.  He almost sneaked on in the top of the ninth with a bunt.  Youklis drove in an insurance run in the ninth as he got his first hits of the series.  Overall, the Red Sox left a lot of men on base, with Lowell struggling to get a hit with men in scoring position.  Mirabelli is struggling to find his hitting struck, but got a hit.   Harris also got a hit, getting his batting average into the triple digits. 

 

Timlin and Foulke did good work in relief, with Papelbon coming on for his 13th save.  He had to work the final four outs, only surrendering a walk to Jeter before getting Giambi to pop up for the final out. 

The Red Sox have stranded 13 runners through 5 innings.  Several based loaded situations have yielded bubkus so far. 

Staked to a 3 - 0 lead courtesy of Ortiz and Lowel homers, Schilling struggled and gave up 6 runs in 5 innings of work.  Call up Holtz pitched a 1/3rd of an inning, giving up 2 hits and a run.  Ortiz went 4-4 as a lone bright spot.  Youklis went 0 -5 at the top of the order.

 

Tonight the rubber match of the series.  Looks like you need to score 4 runs to win.  Wakefiled versus Chacon.  Let's hope the knuckler is knuckling tonight.