Sox back in 1st after doubleheader sweep of Brewers

Sox 7, Milwaukee 6
WP: Hansen (1-2)
LP: Torres (3-1)
SV: Timlin (1)
HRs: BOS-Lowell (5); MIL-Hart (2)

SUMMARY:
The comeback kings returned tonight as the Sox mounted a late-game rally after the bullpen gagged again in a sloppy nightcap at Fenway. Tim Wakefield bounced back from an awful start to give the team 5+ quality innings, but after Aardsma and Hansen blew a 5-1 lead, Boston scored two in the bottom of the 8th to pull out the win.

SUPERSTAR: Mike Lowell 2-4, R, 4BI, 2B, HR
The third baseman continued his recent torrid streak by clubbing a two-run double in the first inning and crushing a two-run homer out of the ballpark in the fourth.

Over his last 11 games Mikey is batting .367 (18-49) with 4 doubles, 5 homers and 15 ribbies. Ssssssssmokin!

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Bill Hall 0-4, R, K, 2Es
Remember when this guy was the talk of MLB after he hit a game-winning home run with a pink bat on Mother's Day a few years ago? Now he's batting under the Mendoza line and regularly butchering balls at third base.

Mr. Hall, your 15 minutes are officially up.

RECAP:
Boston and Milwaukee combined to play 6 hours and 15 minutes of baseball over a span of just over eight hours today.

That could explain why the finale of the teams' split doubleheader was such an abomination of baseball by the middle of the game tonight.

How bad was it? The teams combined for seven 'actual' errors in the game, although there were 2 or 3 other borderline plays that were ruled hits, and both teams committed two errors in one inning.

The teams combined for 13 runs, 15 hits, 9 walks and 326 total pitches thrown.

Throw in three hit batters (2 in one inning by Boston), three wild pitches, four double plays and assorted missed calls and errant balls and what you had was the equivalent of the Cavs/Celts series played on a baseball diamond.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty damn close.

For the 5th straight game including today's matinee the Boston offense grabbed at least a 3-0 lead for its starter, but has been the case so many times in recent weeks, if the starter doesn't gag the hard-earned advantage the bullpen surely will.

This afternoon the big blow was David Ortiz' 3-run homer in the second inning that gave the Sox a 3-0 lead. Tonight, with Manny having the nightcap off and Papi having already done his work for the day, it was Mike Lowell's turn to carry the club.

Boston seemed to have Milwaukee starter Dave (sorry I called you Mike earlier) Bush on the ropes from the get go tonight, and in two of the first three innings, Lowell made him pay for his mistakes.

In the opening frame Bush (6IP, 5H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K, HR) quickly got the first two outs before Ortiz drew a walk, Youk doubled to deep center, and Lowell knocked them both in when he sliced a double down the left field line.

In the third inning Dustin Pedroia singled to lead off the inning and two outs later Mike launched a 1-1 pitch from Bush over the Wall, over the Monster seats and onto Lansdowne St. for a momentum-building two run shot, and with a 4-0 lead and Wake's knuckler dancing better than it did in Minny, it looked like smooth sailing for the home team.

Of course it couldn't be that easy, right.

While Wakefield (5.1IP, 6H, 3ER, 3BB, 5K, HR) had been escaping jams all night he did manage to make it to the 6th inning without allowing a run, but he stumbled in the sixth and needed the bullpen to bail him out.

It didn't.

Staked to a 5-0 lead to start the 6th Wake allowed a one-out homer to Corey Hart (that one left the ballpark, also) and then a single to Gabe Kapler, who made his return to Fenway after two years and received a hearty ovation from the Faithful in his first at bat. Then a wild pitch and a hit batter told Tito it was time to yank his veteran before things got out of hand.

He probably should have taken his chances with the knuckler.

David Aardsma came in throwing gas (98mph) and caught catcher Mike Rivera looking at a ball inside for strike three, but it was all downhill from there.

As the Brewers batters either fouled off his heater or watched as he missed his spots with his breaking stuff, Aardsma fell apart and ended up hitting Craig Counsell with a pitch, allowed a single by Ricky Weeks to cut the lead to 5-3 and walked Mike Cameron before getting Ryan Braun (0-5) to foul out to first with the bases loaded to end it.

With that bullet dodged and the lead still intact Francona brought in 7th inning in training man Craig Hansen, but this time it was the Boston defense that let the team and the pitcher down.

A leadoff single by Prince Fielder (2-4, R) and errors by Lowell and Alex Cora (on a questionable call) loaded the bases with one out, and after an RBI groundout cut the score to 5-4, former World Series hero Craig Counsell hit a clutch 2-out double to clear the bases and give Milwaukee its first lead of the night, 6-5.

Needless to say the boo birds, especially the ones who had been there all day, let the team hear it after that mess of an inning.

But the Boston batters quickly silenced the boos and bailed out their bumbling mates by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame off Solomon Torres. Milwaukee committed two errors to open the inning, allowing Ellsbury and Pedroia to reach base with no outs, a groundout by Ortiz scored Ellsbury to tie the game, and a blooper by Youk to righ field fell in to score Pedroia for what turned out to be the game winning run, and so wrapped up a long, odd, yet fruitful day of baseball for the Bososx.

Coupled with the extra inning loss by the Rays in St. Louis Boston's sweep sent them into a tie with Tampa Bay atop the AL East.

And just think in a mere 17 hours or so from now the Sox could be alone in first again.

Get some rest.

RECORD: 26-19
AL EAST: Tied for 1st
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Sun vs. MIL 1:35 TBS vs. Beckett