No comeback tonight - Sox finally lose

Los Angeles of Anaheim 6, Sox 4
WP: Garland (3-2)
LP: Hansen (0-1)
SV: Rodriguez (8)
HRs: BOS- Ortiz (3); LAA- Kotchman (6), Matthroids Jr., 2 (4)

SUMMARY:
Ravaged by illness and injury, the undermanned Sox tried to stage another come-from-behind win, but Boston couldn't stave off the relentless Angels, who scored runs in six separate innings to hand the Sox their first loss in seven games.

Superstar: Casey Kotchman 2-3, R, RBI, BB, HR
He's had big homers in each of the last two games, but unlike last night, when his solo shot merely tied the game, tonight's 6th inning blast off Craig Hansen wound up being the game winner.

The Biggest Loser: Hansen 1.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
The youngster was called up earlier in the day to do one thing - get batters out. Allowing game-winning homers after your team has scratched & clawed to tie the game up is not part of that equation.

RECAP:
Once again the Comeback Kings tried to swipe a victory from the jaws of defeat.

But after going to that well about a dozen times this season, they finally found the spring had dried up.

Facing deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-2 thanks to a shoddy start by Jon Lester, Boston fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th inning on a 2-run homer by David Ortiz, only to see the fruits of their labor washed down the drain when Kotchman's homer off Hansen gave Anaheim the final lead they would need to salt this one away.

I know, I know, they say all good things must come to an end.

But that stupid saying doesn't make the end hurt any less.

The worst part about this game isn't the fact that Boston lost - I mean with the clubhouse resembling the #4077th and the grounds crew installing a revolving door on the mound, a defeat in the near future was inevitable - but it was how they lost that was so frustrating.

I would rather they suffered a good old-fashioned woodshed beatdown than lose the game, and the six game win streak, in the manner they did tonight.

As I mentioned, Lester (5IP, 9H, 4ER,2BB, 1K, 2HR), who was forced to start on 3 days rest for the first time in his career when Daisuke Matsuzaka came down with the flu, was magnificently mediocre in his 5th start of the season. He was hit early (1 run in each of the first 3 innings), he was hit hard (2 homers by Gary Matthroids Jr exited the ballpark - please check his urine), and he was hit often (at least 1 hit allowed in each of his 5 innings of work), yet he was off the hook for the loss when Papi's homer landed in the first row of seats in right field.

At that point I think every member of the Nation assumed okay, they came all the way back to tie it, this win's in the bag now.

You know the old saying about assuming, I, ah, assume?

With the game tied at four and Lester having gone the requisite five, Francona called on callup Hansen, the fireballing righty who along with Delcarmen, Lester and Buchholz is projected as a key future piece of the staff. Although he was making his first appearance in the bigs since 2006, all he had to do was set the Angels down for an inning or two and let the Boston batters do the rest.

And he did just that - except for one big hit allowed.

After retiring the first two batters in the 6th, Kotchman, the former Seminole High standout whose father owns a baseball academy down here, deposited a 1-0 offering from Hansen into the right field seats to give the Halos a 5-4 lead, and even though Hanson went on to get a few more big outs, the damage, as they say, was done.

To make any chance of a comeback that much harder, Mike Timlin, who continues to look every bit of a 42-year-old reliever with 1000+ games under his belt, gave up a huge insurance run in the 9th, and when Frankie K-Rod Rodriguez trotted out for the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run lead, it was okay for the fans who made up the 400th consecutive sellout at Fenway to head for the exits.

Yes it was a disappointing way to end the streak, but considering how many players are hurt or sick, the loss wasn't all bad. In fact there were quite a few positives to take away from this one, such as: every member of the team except JD Drew registering at least 1 hit; Julio Lugo (9 gms) and Dustin Pedroia (12 gms) extending their hitting streaks; Ortiz racking up his 15th RBI in the last 8 games; and Sean Casey recording 2 more hits and yet another double.

Plus the game was played in under 3 hours!

But as I said before, just because the good times had to end doesn't mean we have to like it.

I guess you could say we've been spoiled, but a team that finds a different way and a different player every day will do that to a fanbase.

At least we don't have much time to dwell on it - day baseball tomorrow, time to start a new streak. If only we could figure out who's going to start...

RECORD: 15-8
STREAK: L1
LST 10: 8-2
AL EAST: Up 2 1/2 gms
UP NEXT: Thu vs. LAA 135 Saunders vs. ?????