Jays 2, Sox 1
WP: Litsch (2-3)
LP: Beckett (12-3)
SV: Accardo (13)
HRs: None
SUMMARY
The Sox chance to grab a win today got swept away by a heady breeze and a headstrong rookie as Toronto starter Jesse Litsch held Boston to one run in 6 2/3 innings, and despite a strong effort (2R, 8K in 8IP), Josh Beckett suffered his third loss of the season.
#1 STUNNER Litsch 6.2IP, 9H, 1ER, 1BB, 2K
The former D-Rays bat boy (I had forgotten about that--thx, Tina Cervasio!) joined the long list of castoffs & upstarts who have stymied the Sox this season.
PAN's FAUN The Wind
A gusty gale that reached speeds upwards of 25 mph wreaked havoc with the outfielders all day, and although sometimes the swirling swells helped the Sox cause, who knows how much the jetstream really affected the outcome of the game.
RECAP
This was a tough one to swallow.
Boston's ace, Josh Beckett, tossed a gem and the Sox batters pounded out 11 hits (plus a walk) off four Toronto pitchers, yet they could only manage to score one measly run, and the end result was a tough-luck loss and a series split with the Jays.
And once again it was a piss-poor combination of an unknown starter and lack of timely hits that conspired to doom the Sox.
Well, that and a sweltering day that turned out to be a kite flyer's wet dream.
But it was young righthander Jesse Litsch who was the main cause of the Sox malaise, as the lanky redhead used a combination of pitches to stifle the red-hot Sox bats.
Boston got its first scoring opportunity--and first taste of the stiff breeze--when Papi and Manny singled with two outs in the first. It marked the fourth straight game that at least one if not both of the Big Boppers reached base in the first inning.
Alas the rally was quickly squelched when Youk (0-3, BB), the only starter who failed to register a hit, flied out to right on a ball that nearly eluded Alex Rios, a sign of things to come for every member of the outfield crew on the day.
The Jays would score their only runs of the day in the next inning, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed this team all year, but the worst part of it was that the damage came after Beckett got the first two batters out on just six pitches.
Lyle Overbay (3-3, BB, R), who proved to be a pest to Beckett all day, blasted a double over Coco's head in center to start the two-out rally, and then last night's hero Aaron Hill followed him with a double high off the Monster that scored Overbay with the first run of the game.
Beckett had a chance to stop the bleeding right there with The Artist Formerly Known As Royce Clayton coming to bat, but the seldom-used shortstop hit the second pitch he saw for a single to right that was hit so slowly Hill came around to score, and suddenly Toronto had jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
But with the way Boston had been swinging the bats in this series, especially Manny & Papi, mated with a greenhorn starter on the mound and a gusting wind, not one member of the Nation was worried about a 2-0 deficit in the second inning today.
Turns out we should have.
Especially once the familiar theme of Stranded Sox Runners came on to rear its ugly head, starting when Boston wasted a great chance to get back in the game in the third.
The first two Sox batters reached base, on consecutive singles to right by Lugo (1-4) and Coco, and with the Dynamic Duo looming near the dugout, it looked like the momentum would be turning in no time.
You know what they say about when you ass-u-me something.
Alex Cora laid down a bunt that Litsch immediately pounced on, then spun and threw a strike to Glaus at third to nail the lead runner Lugo. Wasted chance #1.
But there was no time to bemoan that play with Papi coming up, but there is plenty of time to bemoan what happened next: Ortiz grounded into a soul-crushing double play on the first pitch he saw from young Jesse to kill the inning.
Ay, Papi! Wasted chance #2.
Buyoed by that dodged bullet, Litsch retired six of the next seven Sox batters before running into his only real tough inning in the sixth. But wouldn't you know it would be another--say it with me--MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITY--that would haunt Boston again.
Cora (1-3, R) started the started the inning with a deep drive to center that sailed over Vernon Wells' head, but the Gold Glover hurried the ball back to the infield to hold Alex to a double.
It didn't matter, though, because next Ortiz drove a 3-2 pitch from Litsch high into the outfield that twisted and sliced away from Rios in right, ultimately landing between him and Wells for a wind-aided RBI double.
Thanks, Mother Nature.
So the lead had been cut in half, a runner was at second base, no one was out, and the heart of the lineup was coming up. Perfect time to take control of this one and get Josh his 13th victory of the season, right?
Wrong again.
After Manny (2-4) popped out to second and Youk walked, Mike Lowell peeled a foul back behind home plate that backup catcher Jason Phillips stayed with and made a nice catch for out number two, and it was up to Big Hit Hinske to deliver another clutch base knock.
Hinske did his part, lacing a single to right field, but Rios came up firing and landed a perfect strike in Phillips' glove. The catcher then wheeled around and put the tag on an advancing Papi, who was easily called out thanks to a balky knee and horrid slide.
{Note: Although the President of RSN, the Rem Dog himself, supported the call by third base coach DeMarlo Hale to send Big Papi, a non-biased observer might have disagreed with the decision to wave home a large man hobbled by bad legs from second base on ball that was hit very hard right at an All Star outfielder. Just my opinion.}
With Beckett holding the fort Tito left him in there for eight innings and 118 pitches, hoping his team could tie the game or take the lead and get him that lucky 13th win. But the Sox could not mount that last big push to get over the hump.
Boston finally got Litsch out of the game after he retired the first two batters in the seventh, but even though Coco (2-4) greeted reliever Scott downs with a single to left on his fist pitch of the game, pinch hitter Dustin Pedroia meekly grounded out to end the frame.
Turned out that would be Boston's last chance at any kind of game-tying rally.
Downs, Casey Janssen & closer Jeremy Accardo combined to set down six of the final seven Boston batters, the lone blemish coming on a harmless single by Manny in the eigth, and after Tito elected not to have Drew or Variotek pinch hit in the ninth, the game ended with out so much as a hint of a game-saving rally.
So the Sox had to settle for a split with the Jays, and the loss was made a little bit more painful when the freaking D-Rays couldn't hold down the Stanks--again--allowing the Feeble Empire to trim Boston's division lead to under double digits at (gasp!) nine games.
Not exactly panic time, but if this nonsense of losing to nobodies and failing to come through with a big hit in the clutch continues into the next series, well then we might really have reason to worry.
After all, it's just the lowly Royals coming to town. Surely the Sox can sweep them and restore order, right?
Right!?
NOTES:
- Each starter except Youk had at least one of Boston's 11 hits, and three players--Coco, Papi & Manny--had two apiece
- Lugo's third inning single extended his modest hitting streak to five games, and he has finally gotten his average to a "respectable" .210
- With Drew, Tek & Pedroia getting the day off, Tito went with Coco and Cora at the top of the order, and the pair combined to go 3-7 with a run
- After tearing the Sox a new one (6-10, 2R, 2BI) in the first two games, All Star Rios tanked in the final two (0-7)
- Overbay was perfect on the day (2 singles, a double & a walk) and is batting a robust .429 (6-14) since coming off the DL on Thursday
- Litsch earned his second major league win in his sixth start; it was his first victory since his ML debut in Baltimore back on May 15th. Kudos to the local kid from Pinella Park via USF
QUOTES
"I was the second-best pitcher today. Bottom line: Get outpitched, you lose. And that's what happened today."--Beckett, pulling no punches on why the team lost
"You go out there and look at the way that flag was blowing today, you never would have expected 2-1"--Toronto manager John Gibbons
"Nothing was really routine. It was totally unpredictable."--Wells on the effect of the winds
RECORD: 55-36
AL EAST: Up 9 on NYY
STREAK: L-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Mon vs. KC 7:05
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