A litany of errors leads to 2nd straight loss to Jays

Toronto 10, Sox 3

WP: Halladay (3-0)
LP: Tavarez (0-2)
HRs: BOS- Lowell (4); TOR- Wells (4)


SUMMARY:
It was a bad night all around for Boston as the suddenly slumping Sox were out-hit (15-5) out-played (Boston made 4 errors & numerous miscues) and apparently out-to-lunch in a lackluster loss to Roy Halladay and the Jays.

It's starting to look like the hangover from the Stankee series is lingering a little longer than we'd thought.

HERO: Vernon Wells 4-5, 4R, 3RBI, HR, SB
The multi-talented centerfielder got the party started with a solo shot in the first, then iced the game with a 2-run single in the 6th that pushed the lead to 9-3. In between he added two more hits, stole a base, swept the locker room and turned out the lights after everyone left.

In other words he did it all.

GOAT: Tavarez 4.2IP, 7H, 6ER, 1BB, 2K, HR, HBP
Julie, Julie, Julie. Perhaps you should stop giving bad pitching tips to Dice-K and start concentrating on trying to make some good pitches yourself.

Thankfully, Jon Lester should be back from rehab in about a week.

RECAP:
What do you get when you mix a Cy Young winner, a hulking professional hitting machine, a 5-tool All Star and a bleary & beleaguered Boston team?

The answer, as anyone who watched that travesty on turf tonight can attest to, is a horrid loss to your AL East rival that was even uglier than the blowout score indicated.

'How ugly was it?' you ask.

How about four Boston errors that could have easily been 6 or more but for some fortuitous home field scoring ugly? How about starter Julian Tavarez not making it out of the 5th inning and seeing his ERA climb to nearly 8 1/2 (8.36), then three relievers allow 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 1/3 ugly? How about three Jays notching 3 RBIs each and the team smashing 15 base hits while the Sox settled for a measly 5 hits, 4 of them singles ugly?

It was that kind of night at the ballyard, and the memories of Boston's sweep of the Stankees become more and more distant as the Sox head to Baltimore for a quick 2-gamer with their nearest competitor. Luckily Baltimore lost tonight too, so Boston will maintain its 1/ 1/2 game lead in the East.

(BTW, Stanks lost to Tampa Bay again! So we got that going for us)

Things started out badly for Beantown and only got worse. Tavarez registered two quick outs in the first only to allow a solo shot to Wells (he's the 5-tool All Star) to get Toronto on the board. But, as they have done so often this season, the Boston batters got the run right back when Big Papi knocked in Julio Lugo, who had singled and stole second, tying the game at 1 in the bottom half.

Unfortunately that would be the closest Boston would get to the lead for the rest of the night.

In the third inning the shoddy play and pitching caught up with them. With one out Alex Rios singled to center in front of Willy Mo, who continues to fill in for an ailing Coco Crisp (oblique muscle) and Adam Lind followed with a walk. Wells then lined a shot to third that ate Lowell up, and everyone was safe.

(side note: the ruling was a hit, and it was a hard hit ball, but it was a play that in the past Lowell would have made 9 times out of 10; he had the same thing happen to him a few innings later.)

Big Frank Thomas (he's the hulking hitting machine) came up and laced a double off the Wall to score Rios and Lind and bump the score to 3-1, and an error by Eric Hinske allowed Lyle Overbay to reach base and Wells to score Toronto's 4th run of the evening.

Boston would get a run back in the bottom of the inning when Lugo once again singled, stole second and was driven home by Hinske on a single to right, and it would pull to within 1 run in the 4th on Lowell's fourth homer of the year, his third in the last three games.

Any thoughts of another come-from-behind win were quickly dashed in the 5th & 6th innings, though, as Toronto scored 6 runs in the two frames, lowlighted by a 2-run double by Overbay, errors by Manny & Willy Mo, and run-scoring singles by Wells and Thomas (them again.)

Oh, and did I forget to mention the pitching of Mr. Roy Halladay? He's the Cy Young winner, and he pitched like one tonight against the Sox. Although the Toronto ace has had his share of problems with Boston in the past (8-7, 4.51 ERA), he dominated them tonight, allowing just the three runs on five hits in 8 innings of work, walking no one while striking out 10.

Yeah, you could say the Boston hitters were a bit overanxious to beat the 2003 Cy winner again, but it wasn't meant to be on this night.

It remains to be seen how anxious- and tired- they'll be when they take on Baltimore tomorrow night, but they'd better right the ship soon or that AL East lead could disappear rapidly.

NOTES:

-Coco got the night off again as he recovers from the oblique strain he suffered in the New York series; Youk also got the night off in favor of Hinske

-Lugo had 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 stolen bases, helping him ease out of what was a 2-22 slump.

-Kyle Snyder relieved Tavarez in the 5th and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits in an inning and 1/3, yet due to all the miscues none of the runs were earned

-Coming into the game Boston had made only 10 errors in 18 games, and six of them were by Lowell; Tek also got in on the "E" parade tonight

-J.D. Drew went hitless and did not reach base, ending his streak at 18 games

-Toronto's 2-3-4-5 hitters were an incredible 9-18 with 7 runs scored and 9 ribbies

-Jays catcher Greg Zaun had to leave the game in the 2nd inning after being struck on the thumb by a foul tip; his replacement, Jason Phillips, contributed two singles

-Other than Lugo, only Papi, Hinske and Lowell recorded hits. Tek went 0-3 with 3 Ks and Pena went 0-2 with 2 Ks; he is in a 3-14 skid with 7 strikeouts in his last five games

QUOTES:

-"We are scuffling." -Tito Francona, master of the obvious everyone

RECORD: 12-7

AL EAST: Up 1.5 gms

UP NEXT: WED @ BAL 7P

Schill (2-1, 3.81) vs. Cabrera (1-1, 4.10)