Birds best Boston to break streak

Baltimore 6, Sox 3
WP: Burres (1-0)
LP: Tavarez (1-4)
SV: Ray (8)
HRs: none

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox four-game winning streak came to a grinding halt back home at Fenway as the Baltimore Orioles rapped 13 base hits while fresh-faced youngster Brian Burres outpitched ancient leatherfaced veteran Julian Tavarez for his first major league win.

HERO(s): Markakis & Mora 8-9, 4-2Bs, 4R, RBI
Talk about pests, these guys were like a couple of giant friggin' horseflies, especially Mora to Tavarez; the veteran third baseman was 3-4 career vs. Julie coming in, then laid a 3-3 on him in the first five innings tonight. Markakis was just as pesky, and these two caused headaches for Boston all night.

GOAT: Tavarez 5IP, 10H, 5R, 4ER, 0BB, 2K
He didn't pitch horribly, but wouldn't you know as soon as I start to give Julie a little dap, he goes and pulls a mini-Gascan on me. My fault for falling for the Tavarez hype (never thought I'd type those words together.)

RECAP:
The scene was set and the time was ripe. Boston was coming back home from a 5-2 roadie including a three game massacre of a nest of helpless Blue Jays, and beginning a 10-game homestand against another flock of AL East wannabes, the Orioles, a team Boston has recently owned, winning 22 of the last 25 meetings between them.

Oh, and the kid starting was making just his second career major league start. Nice.

But wouldn't you know nothing like this ever goes according to script, especially when you've got Julian Tavarez holding the pen, and the Sox looked a little flat in blowing numerous scoring opportunities while the Birds appeared little bit sharper by making 4 or 5 terrific defensive plays and the end result was Boston suffered a disheartening loss.

It began to look bad early for the Sox as B-More grabbed a quick 2-0 lead after one inning thanks to doubles by Markakis and Ramon Hernandez and a single by Audrey Huff. Mora followed with an infield single, but was Tavarez got jay Gibbons to fly out to end the inning. Boston had a chance to answer right back, but Lowell struck out on a low pitch to leave the bases full in the bottom of the inning.

However, just like they always do, the Boston batters got their pitcher off the hook almost immediately, as the Sox responded with a 2-spot of their own in the second. Cap'n Tek got things started with a leadoff double, but looked as if he'd be stranded there when Willy Mo & Pedroia got out. But wouldn't you know the team's iciest hitter, Julio Lugo (3-5, R, RBI), spanked a clutch 2-out double to left to score Tek, and the gap was cut to 2-1.

But this is where missed opportunities haunted Boston again. Coco (2-5) followed Lugo's double with a single and then he stole second. That forced Burres to walk Papi to load the bases, and things were looking good when Manny walked to force in the trying run. But Youk flied out to end the threat and three men were left stranded, a dubious feat Boston would accomplish three times in the game.

The O's would break the tie in the 5th, thanks to some poor pitching and shoddy defense from Willy Mo Pena. Markakis (that pest again) and Miguel Tejada (1-4, R) singled to open the frame, and Hernandez picked up his second RBI of the game on a groundout to Lowell. After Huff flied out, Mora (pest #2) doubled in Tejada on a ball that WMP played like a 10-year-old on my son's LL team, and the next batter, Gibbons, tested Pena again, and again Pena came up empty, flubbing a sinking liner that allowed Mora to score and pushed the Orioles lead to 5-2.

With the way Burres (5IP, 7H, 2ER, 5BB, 3K) was keeping the Sox from scoring and then the bullpen shutting them down, another come-from-behind victory was not in the cards for Boston tonight. That became abundantly clear in the bottom of the 5th, when friggin Markakis made a spectacular catch on a Varitek shot to right, and in the 6th, when after Lugo singled with two outs, John Parrish came in from the pen and picked him off first without having to throw one pitch, leaving Papi standing at the plate in disbelief. Yikes.

So the Sox will look to put this one behind them and start a new streak tomorrow, and with Schilling facing Steve Traschel, I like Boston's chances.

NOTES:

-Selective hitting: when Manny walked with the bases loaded in the 2nd, it marked Boston's 6th run scored that way this season, tied for the ML lead; when Tek did the same in the 7th, they took the lead outright

-The top two Sox hitters, Lugo & Coco, combined to go 5-10 with 2 doubles, a run, an RBI and a stolen base

-Youk (2-5) continued his hot streak; he's now had 11 hits in his last five games (.524)

-Missed Opportunities: the Sox left a season-high 13 men on base

-Papi had a strange night- he was 0-2 with three walks and two strikeouts, another one on a check swing (can some stat hound please look up how many of those he has had this year please?)

-The Sox sent Devern Hansack back to Pawtuckett before the game and recalled sidearming lefty Javier Lopez. Lopez was immediately thrown into the fire, and after allowing a single to Corey Patterson on his first pitch, he retired the O's quickly with a double play and a groundout

-Kyle Snyder pitched well in 2 innings of relief; although he did allow a run after Mora doubled in the 8th, he struck out three and had a good curveball working. Romero pitched the 9th again

-Manny (1-3, R, RBI, 2BB) extended his hitting streak to 10 games (16-42, .380), raising his average from .202 to .252 in that time. Heee's (almost) baaaack!

-J.D.Drew had the night off, a move I'm sure Francona wishes he didn't make after Pena's circus show basically cost Boston the game. Drew did pich hit in the 7th and had a chance to tie the game, but Tejada snared his liner and nearly turned a miraculous double play, and when pinch hitter Alex Cora flied out, another rally was squelched

QUOTES:

-"We had our chances earlier in the game and we didn't take advantage."-Cora, summing things up nicely

-"His first big-league win; it'll be one he remembers, I'm sure. This is one of the Meccas of sports."- reliever Jamie Walker on Burres' victory

RECORD: 23-11

AL EAST: Up 6 gms on BAL

UP NEXT: SAT vs. BAL, 1P