Red Sox lose to the Indians, again

If he pitched against only the Boston Red Sox, former Sox pitcher Justin Masterson would have a hell of a career.

Following his shutout against Boston in June, he came to Fenway Park last night and beat the Red Sox again, 9-1 in one of the worst losses in a season that's teetering on the brink of being completely over.

With the win, Cleveland (46-62) has already earned at worst a split of the four-game series as Boston (61-47) fell 6.5 games behind the Yankees and Rays for the AL East/wild card.

Masterson (4-10) only lasted five innings: four hits, one earned run, four walks, three strikeouts but that was a much better effort than Jon Lester (11-7), who lost his fourth start in a row. Lester has been the brunt of plain bad luck (the Sox have scored three runs when he's been in the last three games) but last night he went five innings, allowing seven hits, four runs (two earned) with two walks and four strikeouts.

It was an ugly game as Boston committed three fatal errors, beginning when Lester botched a throw to third on a bunt in the third inning. That allowed the Indians to score a run for a 1-0 lead and they added two in the fifth on Asdrubal Cabrera's sacrifice fly and Shelley Duncan's RBI double.

After Jayson Nix's solo homer in the sixth off Fisk's foul pole, Lester was pulled.

David Ortiz hit his 23rd homer of the season in the sixth, solo of course, but that was the only highlight for the home team as Cleveland pushed across five more runs in the seventh thanks to two errors by Marco Scutaro and Victor Martinez. Andy Marte capped it with a three-run homer.

Jacoby Ellsbury returned and batted leadoff while playing center field. Unfortunately, his performance (0 for 5) was completely forgettable.

Daisuke Matsuzaka takes on rookie Josh Tomlin tonight as the Red Sox try to salvage a split before they head to the Bronx for a pivotal four-game series at Yankee Stadium.