There is no other way to say it: the Red Sox pissed away a game tonight against the lifeless Giants and as a result of San Francisco's (56-69 overall, 32-32 home) 3-2 win at AT&T Park over Boston (74-54 overall, 34-31 away), the Red Sox find themselves tied with the Rays (7-4 winners vs. Orioles) for first place in the AL East.
It doesn't get much more frustrating than losing on a walk-off walk. Throw in the added bonus that poor Brayan Villareal entered his first game as a Red Sox and proceeded to walk Marco Scutaro on four pitches. We'll never understand why Boston manager John Farrell went with a new player (who has major control issues) when the bases were loaded but there were two outs and closer Koji Uehara was available (and has pitched once in a week).
The opportunities that the Red Sox left on the table were best illustrated by uber prospect Xander Bogaerts (batting seventh and playing shortstop in his first MLB game): in the first, he came up with the bases loaded but grounded out. In the third, he had runners on second and third with two outs but once again he grounded out to end the threat.
Boston got a run in the first on Mike Carp's sacrifice fly and a run in the third on Shane Victorino's solo homer but they should have had way more against Ryan Voegelsong (7 innings, 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts) who seemed to have nothing when the game started. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli both found themselves on the bench, meaning that Boston's lineup predictably lacked much pop (Victorino's homer notwithstanding).
Jake Peavy (5.2 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts) was pitching well but Farrell decided to yank him after 92 pitches. Um? Joaquin Arias had driven in San Francisco's first run with an RBI triple in the fifth.
Six of the Giants' eight hits were by Brandon Belt (3 hits; double, triple) and something called Roger Kieschnick. Craig Breslow got four outs on seven pitches but Junichi Tazawa gave up the tying run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Buster Posey.
We can blame Villareal but he was put into that impossible situation by Farrell and more importantly, Franklin Morales (who still has no idea where his pitches are going).
A bright spot in the loss and these past few weeks has been Will Middlebrooks (2 for 4) who appears to gain confidence with each passing game.
There is day baseball tomorrow (3:45, NESN) for the series finale as Felix Doubront (8-6) faces Barry Zito (4-8), who was summoned from the bullpen. Boston desperately needs another victory (and series win) before their off day on Thursday and a much-hyped series with the Dodgers this weekend.
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