International Men of Misery: Sox swept by Jays

Toronto 7, Sox 4
WP: Halladay (1-1)
LP: Beckett (0-1)
SV: Accardo (3)
HRs: BOS- Drew (2), Varitek (2), Ellsbury (1); TOR-Thomas (2), Wells (2)

Going...going...and the road trip is gone...along with confidence in Delcarmen

Superstar: Frank Thomas 1-4, R, 4BI, GS
The Big Hurt continues to live up to his nickname, especially in this series. Thomas had the big blow for Toronto for the third straight game, this one a game-changing grand slam off Manny Delcarmen in the 5th, and he wound up going 4-12 with 2 homers and 8 ribbies in the series to help the Jays pull off the sweep.

The Biggest Loser: Manny Delcarmen 1/3IP, 1H, 1ER, 1BB, GS
His stat line might not show it because three of the runs were charged to Josh Beckett, but this guy cost Boston the game more than anyone. When you come into a close game with the bases loaded and two outs, all you gotta do is get your starter off the hook.

Instead Delcarmen served up a meatball to Thomas on his first pitch of the afternoon that sailed over the leftfield wall and effectively ended the game right there.

(Dis)Honorable mention: Julio Lugo 0-4, 3 errors, 1 misplay that led to a run

RECAP:
Boy do I wish I could start this recap the same way I stared the last two -- by saying I missed the game.

Instead I sat through every agonizing minute of this road trip from hell-ending debacle, and like every other member of the Nation out there I was disgusted by most of what I saw. For example:

-four Sox errors, three by Julio Lugo, as well as numerous other miscues

-another terrible outing, the second in a row, for the once heralded and now dreaded Mattapan Manny Delcarmen

-another unproductive game from the trio of Ortiz, Manny & Lowell (2-12, RBI)

-the TBS announcing team of Chip Carey & Buck Martinez ( a couple of Carey-isms included "Manny Ortiz" and "exhibit # A"-ugh)

Don't get me wrong there were some good things that happened in this game, including a decent performance by Josh Beckett (4.2IP, 3H, 5ER, 4BB, 6K, HR) in his first start of the year, who looked very healthy before tiring late; three Sox homers, all coming from the 6-7-8 spot in the lineup; and the fact that Boston outhit Toronto, 10-5, a stat that ultimately is meaningless when you check the final score.

But for the third straight game the bad far outweighed the good, and it was painfully obvious that this long, season-opening road trip has in fact exacted a mighty toll on these road weary road warriors, despite earlier claims to the contrary.

The loss was made all the more painful because the expectation and excitement level was at a peak heading into the game. Not only because Beckett was making his 08 debut after spending a few weeks on the DL with a bad back and hip, but the game was the first to be broadcast on TBS' new Sunday afternoon national baseball package, horrible announcers be damned.

And for the first four innings the game lived up to the billing. Beckett began the game with a 98 mph heater for a strike to Shannon Stewart, and then proceeded to bring the blowtorch for most of the outing. Jacoby Ellsbury gave Boston an early lead when he homered off Roy Halladay (8IP, 8H, 4ER, 1BB, 6K, 3HRs) to lead off the third, at which point he was 4-4 with two longballs against the former Cy Young winner, and after Beckett gave the lead up on a two-run shot to Vernon Wells in the 4th, Bsoton tied it right up when Cap'n Tek hit his second homer of the season to lead off the 5th.

Alas that would be the end of the good times for Boston and the Nation. In the bottom of the 5th things unraveled in a hurry for Beckett, as he loaded the bases after getting two quick outs on a single by Aaron Hill and back-to-back walks to Rios & Wells, and by the time Tito went to his struggling bullpen, everyone in the Rogers Center had a pretty good idea of what was coming next.

And by next I mean the very next pitch, as the struggling Delcarmen tried to sneak a first pitch fastball past the veteran DH Thomas, who has been around a little bit too long and is too good a hitter to be fooled by that kind of crap. Thomas turned on the pitch quicker than Mike Vick's cousin, and just like that a close, winnable game became a rout in the blink of an eye for the second straight game, and despite tacking on a couple of runs late you could tell Boston was in full "get us to our home and our beds" mode as soon as the ball cleared the fence.

So the Sox wound up the trip 3-4 and in last place in the East after traveling around the world and back in the last three weeks, and it may be too early to tell what kind of lasting effect this journey to the ends of the Earth will have on this club, suffice it to say it definitely will not be looked at as a positive influence on the situation the team finds itself in now.

Nothing a little home cooking can't cure.

Not to mention a homestand that kicks off with fellow struggling pennant contenders, the winless Tigers.

RECORD: 3-4
STREAK: L3
AL EAST: 2 GB
UP NEXT: Off Mon; Tue vs. Det @ Fenway 2:05