I Guess It Was Papelbon's Turn To Blow It

You know where this is all leading don't you? The Red Sox will back into a playoff spot say next week in Baltimore as the Tampa Bay Rays run out of gas and finally hand over the AL Wild Card to an undeserving Boston squad.

Tonight it was closer Jonathan Papelbon's turn to blow a game-giving up his first run in 21 games (July 16)-as the Orioles (64-90) won 7-5 over the Red Sox (88-67) at Fenway Park.

Terry Francona is scared to death of making Papelbon work more than an inning so this was only his fourth save opportunity of over one inning. Naturally, summoned with one out in the eighth Papelbon gave up a bases-loaded double to Robert Andino (3 hits, run), who is a shoe in for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This result was dulled by the fact that a few minutes earlier in the Bronx, the Yankees blanked the Rays 5-0. As it stands, Boston leads Tampa Bay by two games (one in the loss column) with the regular season ending next Wednesday.

Erik Bedard returned from his fake injury (lat), not to be confused with my favorite solider Carl Crawford who bravely put his name in the lineup tonight after missing yesterday's doubleheader with a stiff neck, and as usual, Bedard worked slowly and ineffectively.

Bedard went 2.2 innings (really), allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits with two walks. For the second game in a row, Scott Atchison was great. This time he threw 2.1 scoreless innings and even Matt Albers pitched in a 1-2-3 sixth. Sadly, the usually reliable duo of Daniel Bard (2-9) and Papelbon didn't get it done. Bard was charged with two runs that crossed home against Pap.

Did I mention that a Dutch pitcher started for Baltimore? Yup, none other than Rick VandenHurk made the stoners in Amsterdam smile. He went three innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Adrian Gonzalez's (3 hits, 3 RBIs) RBI double in the first got the Red Sox out to a good start, it felt like they hadn't scored a game's first run since August.

Luckily the Orioles piled on four runs in the third as Nick Markakis (3 hits) had an RBI double, Vlad Guerrero reached on Josh Reddick's error (scoring Markakis) and Mark Reynolds (2 hits) drove in two with an RBI single.

However, no lead is safe with Baltimore's Double A caliber rotation and bullpen. Gonzalez crushed his MLB-leading 12th opposite field homer of the season (27th overall), a two-run blast in the third. The Red Sox went ahead with a pair of runs in the fourth on Mike Aviles' (2 hits) RBI single and a fielding error by Reynolds (his 30th of the season; what a five-tool player).

For the second time in three games, the O's new closer Jim Johnson got a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save of the season.

Josh Beckett and Tommy Hunter square off tomorrow night in Boston's regular season home finale. It makes me sick to write it but the Red Sox need to win to earn the series split with the AL East's sisters of the poor. Tampa Bay and New York have a day-night doubleheader tomorrow. Fun times, baseball!

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Baltimore still has a baseball team?

Before yesterday's game vs. the Orioles (the 82nd game of the 2010 season, ie. the start of the second half), six Red Sox were named to the AL all-star team: Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. Kevin Youkilis is also one of five candidates for the last spot, online voting ends Thursday. Pedroia and V-Mart won't be playing in the All-Star game due to their injuries.

That news far overshadowed the actual game which was a sun-soaked dirty diaper. Baltimore (25-56) avoided the sweep with a 6-1 win over Boston (49-33). If they had won and the Yankees lost, the Sox would have jumped into first place in the AL East. Instead, they're 1.5 games back of New York and half a game ahead of Tampa Bay.

The Orioles victory was all thanks young lefty Brian Matusz. My buddy works for the Bowie BaySox, Baltimore's Double A team and he has raved about Matusz since he was called up last season. He improved to 3-9 with seven shutout innings. He allowed two hits, walked three and struck out eight.

John Lackey (9-4) started out well but his defense and lack of offense behind him was his undoing. He went 7.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

It was scoreless until the fourth when Nick Markakis (3 hits, 2 runs) scored on Lackey's wild pitch. Scott Moore added an RBI single in the frame.

Baltimore scored two more in the eighth thanks to Marco Scutaro's throwing error and a sacrifice fly by Adam Jones.

When Julio Lugo is hitting RBI triples you know its over and that's exactly what happened in the ninth for the O's. Markakis padded his stats with an RBI single.

Boston finally got on the board in the bottom of the ninth as Youk hit a solo homer over the Monster. It was one of only three hits on the day for the Sox, Beltre had a double.

The Red Sox hit the road for three in Tampa Bay starting tonight then three north of the border in Toronto.

Dice-K takes on Matt Garza tonight at 7:10 p.m.

Sox take pity on Orioles, lay down in extra innings

For the second series in a row, the Red Sox (33-25) had the chance to sweep but they couldn't do it.

Yesterday afternoon at Camden Yards, they lost 4-3 to the Orioles (16-41) in 11 innings. The win broke a 10-game losing streak for Baltimore and also gave new manager Juan Samuel his first MLB win.

Nick Markakis' bloop single in the 11th off Hideki Okajima (2-2) scored Cesar Izturis with the winning run.

Boston also fell to 1-7 in extra innings this season.

For the third time in a row in Baltimore, the Sox got a nice start from its starting pitcher. John Lackey had one of his best starts in a Red Sox uniform: seven innings, two earned runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw a Justin Verlander-esque 124 pitches so he deserved a better fate.

Orioles youngster Brian Matusz acquitted himself well, going 5.2 innings and giving up two earned runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Boston went ahead 2-0 in the second on Victor Martinez's two-run blast. Baltimore tied it up with two in the bottom of the inning on Izturis' RBI single and Julio Lugo's ground out.

Scott Moore put the O's up 3-2 in the eighth with an RBI double but the Orioles bullpen did what it does in the ninth, blowing its MLB-leading 11th save of the season.

Dustin Pedroia tied it up with a sacrifice fly which scored Mike Cameron.

Boston plays its next four games in Cleveland against the lowly Indians, probably baseball's worst team. Dice-K gets the start against Fausto Carmona.

Love you Theo, but what were you thinking last winter?

Since we can already say that the Boston Red Sox aren't going anywhere this season, who can we blame? Answer: GM Theo Epstein.

The Brookline native delivered two World Series championships so he's bulletproof for locals but someone has to be held responsible for the poor construction of the 2010 Red Sox.

As many things as you can make fun of the owners for, one thing that is not debatable is that they spend money. It's Theo's job (and his legion of minions) to put that money to good use and clearly they didn't in the off-season, as their obsession with statistics has led them astray.

That was a long introduction to a completely forgettable weekend in Baltimore. Boston (11-14) got swept for the first time since 1998 by the terrible Orioles (7-18), who won 3-2 in 10 innings yesterday at Camden Yards.

Ty Wigginton won it for the O's, who are 4-2 against the Sox this season, with an RBI double off Jonathan Papelbon (1-2) that scored Nick Markakis (2 hits, 2 runs, walk).

Boston wasted a strong effort from Josh Beckett: seven innings, two runs on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

Kevin Millwood matched Beckett, going eight innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew provided the only runs with solo homers in the fifth and seventh respectively. Baltimore had jumped ahead with two runs in the fourth.

It will not get any easier for the Red Sox even though they come home for another 10-game homestand. They play the Angels, then Yankees and Blue Jays.

Clay Buchholz takes on Joe Saunders tonight.

Major League Baseball: where yesterday doesn't mean shit

I'll be the first to admit that Major League Baseball's season is way too long, the games are usually pretty boring and the whole organization is run with an idiocy that rivals the last Bush administration. Haha, with those barbs out of the way, I will also say that one of the reasons I have always stuck by baseball is because it delivers so many thrills and moments that you cherish if you're lucky enough to witness them as they unfold.

After the worst loss of the season (thus far), the Boston Red Sox regrouped yesterday in Baltimore for one of its most rewarding wins of the season, 6-5 in the series finale.

Orioles (35-43) rookie Brad Bergesen completely kept the Sox off-balance for eight innings and departed with a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead.

Wouldn't you know, Boston (48-30) tied it up with four in the ninth (two-run homer by Kevin Youkilis and two-run single by Rocco Baldelli), and won it going away with an RBI single by Julio Lugo in the 11th.

Oh and Jonathan Papelbon set a Red Sox record with his 133rd save of the season. So just another day at the office.

I predicted that Josh Beckett would be the stopper for Boston that he usually is and through the first four innings yesterday afternoon, I was not even close.

The Orioles scored a run in the first, run in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Even when he's not on top of his game, Beckett can still find it in the midst of a subpar start. In the fifth-seventh innings (when the Sox just needed stability), Beckett set down Baltimore three times in a row, in order.

In seven innings, he gave up five runs on six hits, with two walks and five strikeouts. He didn't factor into the decision and neither did Bergesen which is a joke. The rookie gave up one run on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

Losing yesterday would have been bad for the Sox, especially with the Yankees (seven straight wins; 2.5 games back) and Rays (8-2 in their last 10; 5 back) breathing down their backs.

With an off-day today back in Boston, the Sox can relax (assuming their mansions aren't floating away in the rain) in preparation of the Seattle Mariners who come to Fenway for the holiday weekend.

Sorry, I just puked a little in my mouth

When you look up what the fuck in your baseball dictionary (Red Sox edition), chances are a picture of last night's game in Baltimore will be front and center.

It had a little bit of everything: a rain delay, a historical comeback and a bullpen implosion which all added up to the worst loss of the season for the Red Sox, 11-10.

Behind John Smoltz and a locked in offense, Boston (47-30) led 9-1 in the top of the fifth when the rains came. After a delay of an hour and 11 minutes, the game restarted.

The Sox actually pushed across another run in the seventh to go up 10-1 before the O's (35-42) scored five in the seventh and five in the eighth against the best bullpen (statistically) in baseball. It tied for the second-worst loss in Red Sox history, in terms of largest lead blown.

Smoltz deserved better. He cruised through four innings, allowing a run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts. He only threw 52 pitches so he looked poised to record his first win for Boston.

Rich Hill didn't stand a chance against the Red Sox' lineup. He gave up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits in 3.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three in what might be his final start for Baltimore.

Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the first as he hit a two-run shot to center just out of the reach of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. On Monday, Jones had robbed Youkilis of another home run and it looked like he caught the ball last night, but after running into the wall he dropped his glove over the wall. He was shaken up and left the game after the second inning.

Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 3 RBIs, steal) increased the Red Sox lead to 4-0 in the second with a two-run double.

Felix Pie (2 hits, 2 RBIs) replaced Jones and delivered an RBI triple in the bottom of the second to make it 4-1 Boston.

It looked like it was going to be a laugher as the Red Sox scored five more runs in the fourth. Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 2 RBIs) crushed a solo homer to right center, Youkilis had an RBI double, David Ortiz added an RBI single, Jason Varitek pretended to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Ellsbury closed it out with an RBI single.

Pedroia produced the Sox' last run with an RBI single in the seventh which scored Jeff Bailey (3 hits, 3 runs).

After two scoreless innings (with five strikeouts), Justin Masterson was knocked around big time in the seventh. Luke Scott hit an RBI double, Oscar Salazar (2 hits) hit a pinch hit, three-run bomb and Pie closed it to 10-6 with an RBI single.

Manny Delcarmen settled things down and got the final two outs of the seventh but Hideki Okajima was also completely ineffective, giving up four runs on five hits.

Orioles rookie Matt Wieters had an RBI single, Ty Wigginton hit a sac. fly, Brian Roberts hit an RBI single and finally, against Jonathan Papelbon, Nick Markakis (2 hits) hit a two-run double to the gap in left center.

Papelbon came in (after Takashi Saito) and was trying to get a five-out save, with runners on first and second in the eighth.

Boston couldn't do much in the ninth vs. Orioles closer George Sherill. Bailey led off with a single and Youk was hit by a pitch with two outs but Sherill got Jason Bay to strikeout for the third out and his 17th save of the season.

There's no question that this was a terrible loss that could stick with the Red Sox for a while but the good news is that they get right back at it this afternoon with their ace Josh Beckett on the mound in the series finale.