Deja Youk: Homer wins it in extra innings after Paps blows save

Sox 5, Cards 3 (13)
WP: Lopez (2-0)
LP: Parisi (0-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Youk, 2 (13); STL:None

SUMMARY:
For the second weekend in a row Jonathan Papelbon blew a save with two outs in the 9th against a National League club, and for the second straight Sunday Kevin Youkilis bailed out his dance-impaired teammate with an extra inning homer. This one came with one on in the bottom of the 13th and helped Boston avoid the sweep and remain in first place.

#1 STUNNER: Youk 2-5, 2R, BB, 3BI, 2HR
His second multi-homer game of the season ended with the first walk-off shot of his career, and it's safe to say Paps owes him an expensive steak dinner for the latest save he provided for his closer.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Rick Ankiel 0-6, 2K
Not only did the ex-pitcher, ex-juicer have a lousy day at the plate, but in the 8th inning the Cards' centerfielder fell after over-running a ball hit by Coco Crisp that wound up as a leadoff triple and allowed the Sox to tie the game.

RECAP:
Wow. This game had more going on than a CGI-laden summer blockbuster.

It was a pitcher's duel as both starters, Joel Pineiro and Jon Lester, threw seven solid innings of two-run ball.

It was a pitcher's nightmare, evidenced by Paps' blown save and Mike Parisi's blown game. Also, Hideki Okajima allowed 5 base runners in 1 2/3 innings and Chris Perez walked three straight batters to force in the go-ahead run in the seventh.

It's was a hitter's heaven, with the two team's combining for 29 hits. Seven players had at least two hits, two guys racked up three knocks, Dustin Pedroia ripped four hits and Aaron Miles tallied five base hits on the day.

It was a hitter's hell, as Ankiel went 0-6, Troy Glaus 0-4, and Jason Varitek and red-hot J.D. Drew both suffered through 0-5 afternoons.

It had highs & lows, "ahhhhs" and groans, and a couple of plays that made you sit and scratch your head.

Did I mention it was delayed by rain for nearly an hour at the start and there were 13 pitchers used today?

Let's just hope there's not a sequel in the near future.

The craziest part about the game was that it started out as an ordinary pitcher's duel, with both St. Louis starter/ex-Sox hurler Pineiro (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 0BB, 1K, 1HR, 81P) and Sox lefty Lester escaping numerous jams early to keep the game scoreless for five innings.

With 29 combined hits and just 8 runs scored, you gotta figure there were a lot of men left on base, which there were, but there were also four double plays, a caught stealing and a runner gunned out at the plate that combined to keep the score down and the pitch count up (362 total) in this game.

In fact in the first four innings the teams hit into three double plays and two fielder's choices which killed a few potential rallies, but the Cards finally broke the seal when they scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back doubles and an RBI single by Ryan Ludwick (1-6, BI).

Lester (7IP, 9H, 2ER, 1BB, 3K, 101P) worked his way out of that situation without any further damage, and Boston sliced the lead in half in the next inning when Youk hit a solo shot over the Monster with two outs in the seventh.

And this is when things started to get wild.

Boston finally got Pineiro, who was signed by the Sox prior to last season and was at one point going be the closer for the club, out of the game when Ankiel misplayed Coco's routine flyball into a leadoff triple to start the eighth.

On came reliever Chris Perez, and soon the St. Louis lead would disappear in a sea of bad pitches.

Julio Lugo worked the count to 3-1 before driving a ball to right to score Coco easily, and thanks to Ankiel's blunder the game was tied at two.

After getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out for the second out of the inning, Perez allowed a single to Pedroia (4-5, 2 2Bs, R), and after the Little Big Man stole second, the St. Louis righty walked Drew, Manny and Mike Lowell to force in Pedroia with the go ahead run, 3-2.

Perez did strike out Youk with the bases loaded to end the inning, but needing just three outs and with Paps on the mound it appeared as if the game was over.

Ah, not so fast Faithful.

Last Saturday Papelbon entered the game in Cincinnati with Boston leading the Reds 4-3 when Edwin Encarnacion took the closer deep with two outs and two strikes to send the game into extra innings, where Youk and Coco hit back-to-back jacks in the 10th to win the gaame.

Couldn't happen twice in the span of 8 days, right?

Well, it didn't happen exactly like that, but when Papelbon walked Chris Duncan with two outs it did bring up similar feelings of "not again". After all, it was just paps' fifth bases on balls he had issued this season.

Sure enough pinch hitter Adam Kennedy (3-3, BI) drilled a fat fastball into deep center, and this time it was Coco's turn to misplay the ball as he got a bad jump on it, came in first then went back as the ball helplessly bounced off the base of the wall and Duncan came around to score the tying run.

And the park was shrouded in silence.

Paps (1IP, 1H, 1ER, 1BB, 2K, 19P) bounced back to get Skip Schumaker to ground out to end the inning, but the damaage was done and it was time for the emotional closer to take out his frustrations on his mitt in the dugout.

After the Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, the next three innings went simialr to the first three - plenty of baserunners, but nobody scoring.

Hideki Okajima took over for Paps in the top of the 10th, and Oki did his best Timlin impersonation when he gave up a single and a walk sandwiched around an out before retiting the last two batters to escape the jam.

Boston, meanwhile, got a leadoff double from Ellsbury in the bottom of the 10th, got him to third on a sac bunt by Pedroia, but left him stranded when Drew struck out and pinch hitter Sean Casey flew out.

Oki (1.2IP, 4H, BB, K, 28P) was no better in the 11th as he allowed singles to Yadier Molina, Kennedy and Aaron Miles (5-6) before Craig Hansen came in and struck out Ludwick to squelch the rally.

The frustrations continued in the bottom of the inning when Lowell (3-5, R, BI, BB) led off with a two bagger and Youk and Coco walked, but Jason Isringhausen struck out Alex Cora and ellsy to squelch that threat.

Is this thing ever gonna fucking end?!

Hansen tossed a 1-2-3 12th before Boston got yet another leadoff double in the bottom of the inning, but Pedroia was nailed at third on a bouncer back to the mound and then casey hit into a double play to sq....ah screw it.

The game finally wrapped up in spectacular fashion in the 13th inning, which was an unlucky frame for St. Louis but proved to be very lucky for Boston.

After Javier Lopez releived Hansen with one out to face Duncan the slumping Cards' first baseman drove a double into deep center, and one pitch later Kennedy lined a single to right that looked like it would plate the go-ahead run.

But as Drew ran in and scooped up the ball, Duncan barrelled around third, and instead of trying to slide under Tek's tag Duncan tried to plow him over. Bad move.

Tek hung on to the ball and applied the tag and a disgruntled Duncan was out at the plate, and two pitches later Schumaker flied out to set up Youk's heroics.

Lowell led off the frame with a single to left and five pitches later Youk unloaded on a Mike Parisi fastball and drilled it over the Monster for a long-awaited walk-off homer, and finally this 5 1/2+ hour (with delay) marathon was over.

So the Sox avoided what would have been the first Fenway sweep since 2006 and enlatged its lead in the east with the Rays loss to the Astros.

Next up is a series with the slumping Diamondbacks, and its safe to say the Sox could use a herculean effort from Josh Beckett so the rest of the staff can get some rest after this wild and wooly affair.

RECORD: 47-31
AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Mon vs. ARI 705 Haren vs. Beckett

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Lucky 13: Sox beat Baltimore in extra innings

Sox 5, Orioles 2 (13 inn)
WP: Timlin (3-3)
LP: Bradford (2-2)
SV: Papelbon (15)
HRs: BOS-None; BAL-Huff (9)

SUMMARY:
After Boston and Baltimore played to a 2-2 tie in regulation, the teams traded chances in extra innings until Melvin Mora's critical error in the 13th paved the way for Mike Lowell's game winning hit.

SUPERSTAR: Lowell 3-5, R, 2B, 2BI
He knocked in the second run of the game with a sac fly way back in the first inning, then drove home a more important one when he laced a single down the left field line to score Manny from second base with the game winner in the 13th.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Mora 0-6, 3K, 2E
Is it possible to have a worse game than this? I think not.

RECAP:
The Red Sox finally got a win on the road, and they got it the old fashioned way - they earned it.

After a scintillating start from Josh Beckett (6IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 10K, 118P) resulted in a tie ballgame after six innings, it appeared as if the shaky Sox pen would surely hand the game to the Orioles eventually.

But something funny happened on the way to a complete bullpen meltdown - six Sox relievers combined to shut the O's down for seven innings, leaving the Boston batters with plenty of chances to pull out this much needed road win.

Which they did. Eventually.

And thus on the same day Daisuke Matsuzaka went on the disabled list, Manny Ramirez turned 36 years old and the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987, the Red Sox staged another comeback victory over the pesky Orioles thanks to some solid pitching and shoddy defense.

Did I mention the Sox also stole a team record six bases?

Talk about a memorable day in Beantown sports history.

When the game began it looked like it would be a potentially easy win for Boston.

They scored four minutes and five pitches into the contest, when Jacoby Ellsbury (3-7, R, 2 2B) led off with a double, Dustin Pedroia sacrificed him to third and David Ortiz brought him home with a single. They tacked on another run when Manny doubled Ortiz to third and Lowell drove in Papi with a sac fly, and less than 10 minutes into the game it was 2-0 Boston with Beckett yet to pitch.

Who knew it would be over 4 1/2 hours before the sox would score again.

With Matsuzaka on the DL Boston needs Beckett to be the Beckett of last year, and for the most part this evening he was, save for a couple of lapses that let Baltimore right back in the game.

One of those laspes came in the second, although the run Baltimore scored wans't all Beckett's fault.

He did allow back-to-back singles by Kevin Millah and Luke Scott to set up a 1st & 3rd, one out situation, but it was a terrible throw by Jason Varitek that sailed into center field as Scott tried to steal second that let the first Oriole run score.

The tying run was all Beckett's fault, though, when he served up a leadoff homer to Audrey Huff in the 4th inning to tie the game at two. It was Beckett's 11th homer allowed this season, putting him on pace for a 2006-like 33 for the season.

Yikes.

While erratic Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 2K) settled down after the first inning to hold the Sox scoreless through seven, Beckett also settled down a bit and even struck out four straight Oriole batters from the 5th into the 6th innings.

Then things got crazy as Becks walked three straight batters to load the bases with two outs, and you got the feeling you were witnessing some kind of Jekyll/Hyde performance from the former ace.

But Beckett got Adan Jones to strike out to end the threat, and at 118 pitches thrown it was the end of the night for him.

As a lump formed in the Nation's throat over the prospect of the bullpen being responsible for a tie ballgame, the pen men banded together and did something they hadn't been able to do all year - string together multiple shutout innings.

First Hideki Okajima (2IP, 1H, 1K), then Manny Delcarmen (1IP, 1H, 1BB, 1K), then Javier Lopez (1/3IP, 1H) held the Orioles scoreless through the 10th inning, and even Craig Hansen (1.2IPP, 1BB, 2K) and Mike Timlin (1IP, 1H, 2BB, 1K) managed to escape their innings unscathed, although Tired Arm had to work his way out of a bases loaded jam in the 12th.

Following that tightrope act Boston finally cracked the equally impressive corps of Baltimore relievers, but it would take some truly sloppy defense to get this game over with.

Jamie Walker came on to relieve Fat Matt Albers, who did an impressive job (3IP, 1H, 1BB, 2K) for Oriole manager Dave Trembley, and things immediately went downhill from there.

First catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped a foul pop off the bat of Ortiz (2-6, 2B, R, BI) for an error, and although Walker retired Papi anyway the gaffe set the tone for what was to follow.

The costly mistake came two pitches later, when Melvin Mora airmailed a routine grounder by Manny over Millar's head at first, enabling Ramirez to trot to second and opening the floodgates for Boston.

Three pitches later Lowell ripped a single to left that scored the birthday boy Ramirez easily with the go-ahead run, and after an infield hit by Youk, reliever Dennis Sarfate was greeted with a double steal and then a 2-run error by shortstop Freddie Bynum, who threw a mile wide of first on a routine grounder by Coco Crisp to make the score 5-2, effectively ending the long night right there.

Jonathan Papelbon, who hadn't pitched in a few days, tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the 13th, thanks to a terrific barehanded play by Lowell on a high hopper by Jones, and after he fanned Brian Roberts looking to end the game, he let out his patented primal scene that signalled the end of a long, but satisfying, night in Baltimore.

Now the question is does Jon Lester have it in him to throw another no hitter tomorrow, because the chances that this bullpen can throw another three-four scoreless frames are slim and none.

RECORD: 33-24
AL EAST: 1 GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Sat @ BAL 7:05 Lester vs. Olson

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From streaking to skidding - Sox lose third straight

Tampa Bay 5, Sox 4 (11)
WP: Dohman (1-0)
LP: Timlin (2-2)
SV: None
HRs: None

SUMMARY:
The revamped Rays took the game right to the big, bad Bosox tonight at the Trop. They refused to give up after trailing 3-1 early and not only did they manage to tie the game, but wound up winning it in extra innings on the strength of solid defense and terrific bullpen work.

SUPERSTAR: Carl Crawford 3-6, 3R, BI, 2-3Bs
The speedster known as C.C. got the Rays on the board early when he scored following his first inning triple; he tied the score at three when his 2nd triple drove in Aki Iwamura in the 4th; and he scored the winning run after leading off the 11th with a solid 2-strike single to the opposite field off loser Mike Timlin.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Timlin 2/3IP, 2H, BB, ER
It's gotten to the point that as soon as he enters the game a chill runs down my spine and I mutter to myself "game over." And not in the Mariano Rivera way, either.

RECAP:
I missed most of this game live because I was at my son's Little League tournament (we won Game 1, 14-1), and I was certainly surprised when I got home at 10:30 and the game was still on.

And then I saw the score (4-4) and the inning (10th) and my surprise turned to dismay.

Not because of the score but because I knew Boston would have to be deep into their bullpen, and this season that prospect is a grim one to say the least.

Sure enough the Rays, who all of a sudden own one of the best pens in the league, patched together a few solid innings, thanks to a pair of slick double plays turned in the 10th and 11th, while the Sox pen fizzled once again as tired arm Timlin couldn't get three outs in the 11th, costing the team a chance at a win and extending the Sox losing streak to three games.

Needless to say after witnessing my son's game and then the outcome of this one I was in no mood to watch the whole game on the DVR recording, but in order to have the proper perspective on what happened I had to see for myself.

Plus I could always fast forward through the rough parts.

To say neither the Red Sox nor the Tampa Bay starter was effective early would be putting it very mildly.

Tim Wakefield (6IP, 6H, 3ER, 5BB, K), who normally treats the Trop like his own backyard, was all over the place tonight, surrendering 11 base runners in 6 innings, including a brutal stretch of 3 walks and a wild pitch in a four batter span in the 2nd, although he did settle down enough to keep the game close.

Fortunately Rays starter Matt Garza (5IP, 5H, 3ER, 3BB, K), who was making his first start after coming off the DL, had a 2nd inning to forget as well. He gave up a leadoff single to Manny (3-5) and then walked three straight batters, the last to Julio Lugo with the bases loaded to force in a run, and then allowed a sac fly by Kevin Cash and RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury before getting Pedroia to foul out to end the inning.

After the field turf dust settled, somehow the Sox had a 3-1 lead.

But Wake coughed it right up as the Rays scored one in the 3rd on a single by BJ Upton, a HBP and RBI single by rookie Evan Longoria, and then they took the lead in the 4th when Carl Crawford tripled in Aki Iwamura and then came in on an error by Lugo, his league leading 7th of the year.

The damage could have been worse, and extra innings avoided, but the Sox got a favorable call on a play at third base in which Upton appeared to be safe on a double steal but was called out just before Longoria's hit.

As it turned out, all that blown call did was prolong the agony.

Boston tied the game at four in the 6th on back-to-back singles by JD Drew and Jed Lowrie and an RBI groundout by Lugo, amidst alternating chants of "Let's Go Red Sox" and resounding boos by the home team's fans, like a Tampa Bay take on the "taste's great/less filling" chant, and the game stayed quiet for the next few innings until an eventful 9th.

(ah the joy of using that 'fast forward' button has no end.)

In the top of the 9th the Sox got two men on against Dan Wheeler thanks to an an odd play. Cash (3-3) reached on single to third and one out later Pedroia hit a tapper to second, but Iwamura couldn't tag Cash, who stopped running, and threw to first too late to get Pedroia, and miraculously both runners were safe.

With a break like that, the big boppers coming up, and Papelbon warming in the pen, you'd think the win was in the bag, right?

Think again.

Wheeler got Ortiz (0-6) to fly out to shallow center and then fanned Manny on four pitches to preserve the tie, and then it got worse from there.

After Tampa bay left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th when Javier Lopez got ex-Sox Eric Hinske to fly out to end the threat, Boston squandered two opportunities to score when a pair of twin killings erased base runners and ended the 10th & 11th.

In the bottom of the 11th it was all up to Timlin to get the team to the next inning, but as soon as Crawford lined a leadoff single to left you knew it wasn't going to get to another inning.

Sure enough Crawford stole second and after Upton drew a walk, seldom-used utility man Nathan Haynes (yes, THE Nathan Haynes...wha, who???) sliced a single to right that easily scored the speedy C.C., and the Rays had a hard-fought win in the books, the kind that could resonate for a franchise in what could be a turnaround season.

Meanwhile the Sox are backsliding so badly that the Orioles are now just a 1/2 game back in the East, and lo and behold these very Rays are in third place, at 12-11, just 2 games back.

It's a new day in Tampa Bay indeed.

RECORD: 15-10
STREAK: L3
LST 10: 6-4
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Sat @ TB 705 Buchholz vs. Jackson

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Sox come back from Paps' blown save to beat Rays

Sox 12, Rays 6
WP: Snyder (2-2)
LP: Stokes (2-7)
HRs: TB-Gomes, 2 (10), Paul (1)

SUMMARY
The Sox nearly gave away what seemed like a sure victory when Jonathan Papelbon allowed a two-run homer to Jonny Gomes in the 9th to tie the game, but thanks to the Rays' shoddy bullpen, Boston hung six runs up in the 12th and pulled out a tougher-than-expected victory.

#1 STUNNER Julio Lugo 2-5, 2R, 2BI, 2BB, SB
Tough to decide who should get this honor in such a sloppy, stat-infested game, but I guess the man at the top of the order who walked twice with the bases loaded, including a huge free pass to "drive" in the winning run in the 12th, is as good a pick as anyone.

RECAP
Let me start out by saying I don't have the energy--nor the desire--to review this game in its entirety.

Okay, stop the cheering.

The reason being I spent the majority of this hot & humid Florida summer day chasing little dimpled balls all around the course at a charitable golf tournament for my good friend, the late, great 'Chicago' Bob Allen.

After five+ hours in the heat with 120 other golfers, then three more hours at Bob's favorite watering hole celebrating his life, to say I was a little bit spent would be a gross understatement.

Upon arriving home I immediately crashed for an hour and a half, then woke up just in time to catch the start of the game. Little did I know I could've slept another couple of hours and still been able to catch the meat of this crazy contest.

In short the Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead despite the decent performance of Tampa Bay starter James Shields (5IP, 6H, 3ER, 1BB, 7K) thanks to an RBI single by Jason Varitek and a bases loaded walk by Julio Lugo in the second and an RBI single by J.D. Drew in the third.

But the Rays, losers of _ in a row and 25 of 30, chipped away at Sox starter Jon Lester (6.2IP, 6H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 2HR), scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth to cut the lead to 3-2.

When Boston added a couple of runs in the seventh on and RBI single by Big Papi against the shift and a sac fly by Manny, it looked like this game was in the bag and I'd be heading off to la la land soon enough.

Not quite.

The Rays touched Lester for a pair of solo shots in the bottom of the seventh, one a moonshot from Jonny on the spot Gomes , the other an opposite field tracer that barely cleared the wall in right by freshly activated catcher Josh paul, and suddenly the Sox lead was sliced to one, 5-4.

No worries though, because with Oki and Paps chomping at the bit to come in and finish this one of, it looked like Boston would hold on, especially after Coco knocked in the sixth run with a
fielder's choice in the eighth after Mike Lowell (4-6, R) had singled to lead off the inning.

After Oki threw a scoreless 8th a rested Paps came on for the 9th, but things got squirrelly in a hurry when Delmon Young led off the bottom of the 9th with a single to center on Papelbon's first pitch.

No problem, he'd just plow through the next three batters and it was enter sandman time for me.

Wrong.

Gomes got a hold of Paps' 2-2 offering and launched it into the seats in left for a jaw-dropping, game-tying homer, and just like that a Lester win turned into a blown save, just the All Star closer's second of the season, and another extra inning affair.

Fucking great.

After both teams escaped two-men-on situations in the first couple of extra frames, the sox finally got deep enough into that horrid Tampa Bay pen, and finally in the 12th inning Boston broke through and put this thing away.

Lowell started it with a one-out single to left off Brian Stokes, he of the 7.90 ERA, and then Tek and Coco followed with walks to load the bases. After nailing Lowell at the plate on a fielder's choice by Alex Cora, Stokes walked Lugo on five pitches to force in the seventh run that broke the tie, and after that reliever Jae Kuk Ryu (who?) gave up a bases-clearing double to Youk and an 2RBI double by Manny, and finally, after a LONG day and night, it was time to put this one to bed.

Meaning myself of course.

After all, I gotta be up bright and early to head to the Trop for the Dice-K/Scott K. showdown.

Those Boston boys better get some sleep, too.

That means you, Youk...stay away from Ybor City!

RECORD: 64-40
AL EAST: Up 9 on NYY (thx, Baltimore!)
STREAK: W-3
LAST 10: 8-2
UP NEXT: *Sun @ the Trop 1:40
*Look for me on TV--I'll be the one wearing the Dice-K tee shirt and Sox cap sitting on the 3rd base line, you won't be able to miss me!

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Seattle sweeps Sox with extra inning loss

Seattle 2, Sox 1 (11)
WP: J. Davis (2-0)
LP: Pineiro (1-1)
HRs: None

SUMMARY
This time the Sox got great pitching for 10 innings-including a brilliant eight from Daisuke Matsuzaka-but former Seattle starter Joel Pineiro returned to the scene of his greatest career moments and gave the Mariner fans reason to smile again.

Pineiro allowed two hits including the game-winning double by Jose Lopez in the bottom of the 11th to send the Sox to a disappointing sweep in the land of Starbucks and Supersonics.

HERO: Matsuzaka 8IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K
On the heels of 17 runs & 14 walks allowed by Boston pitchers in the last two games, this performance by Dice-K was nothing short of epic.

If only his teammates could have rewarded him for it.

HON MENTION: Lopez--his hit won the game today, and his stellar play all series long was a key factor in Seattle's sweep

GOAT: Ortiz 0-5, 7 LOB
The most clutch hitter in Sox history (arguably) could not come through when his team need him most, and he had plenty of chances; three times in five at bats Ortiz had ducks on the pond but couldn't bring any home, including a miserable groundout with the bases loaded to end the fifth. Ay, Papi!

(dis)HON. MENTION: Pineiro 1/3IP, H, BB, R, L--welcome back, jackass!

RECAP
Well at least it wasn't a sloppy, run-filled walk-a-thon that ended after 1:00am.

That's about the only bright side from this one, a game that was just as long the previous two early morning messes-3 hours and 46 minutes, I believe-and had just as painful an end result: another heartbreaking Sox loss.

In fact as brutal as the first two contests were, a confounding mix of terrible pitching, timely hitting and did I mention terrible pitching?, this game was by far the more painful of the trio.

Because as good as Matsuzaka pitched today (and he was damn good, no sign of those pesky control problems that have plagued him most of the season), the way Boston was leaving men on base and making another nobody pitcher look like the next Cy Young, you just knew it was going to end badly for Dice and his mates.

Sure enough it did.

But what's a good horror movie without a lot of suspenseful moments that lead up to the grisly climax, huh?

Let's take a look at the trail of carnage the Sox left behind before the bloody finale in the late Seattle afternoon sunshine.

Boston had runners on base in each of the first three innings off Mariner rookie Ryan Feierabend, who had been shelled in his last outing against the Reds, but despite the Sox hitters spraying deep flyballs all over the outfield against the 21-year-old lefty, they couldn't get any runs across the plate against him.

Dice was just as hot, but most of his early outs were coming via the strikeout: four of the first six Mariners batter whiffed, including Ichiro on three pitches to open the bottom of the first.

In the bottom of the third Matsuzaka got into the only real trouble he would have all day, and wouldn't you know former Japan League and new MLB rival Suzuki would factor in the equation.

Backup catcher Jamie Burke (what's with the Sox getting burned by backstops and Irish guys lately?) started the rally with a one-out double to center that Coco ran & dove for but barely missed coming up with another great grab.

(side note: many will criticize Coco for diving in that situation, but when a guy makes spectacular catches look routine on a near nightly basis, nobody should say a word about that play. Nobody. Besides, he missed it by about a 1/4 of an inch.)

Manny backed the play up and held Burke to a double, but it didn't matter anyway as Ichiro finally got a hit off his old enemy when he blooped a single to shallow center to plate Burke with the first run of the game and the last for either team for a while.

Both hurlers traded 1-2-3 fourths, then the Sox got back to what they are becoming master craftsmen at- leaving runners on base, thus squandering precious scoring opportunities.

Feierabend quickly retired Tek (1-5) and Wily Mo, who started in place of the lefty Drew, to open the top of the fifth, but things came unraveled from there as Coco (2-4, RBI) sandwiched a double to left around walks to Lugo and Pedroia.

With Papi coming up, it looked like Boston would get at least one run home, if not more. But that's when Ortiz began his string of non-clutch at bats, and the shaky youngster got the experienced vet to tap out to second to end the threat.

Did you forget lefties were hitting only .167 against Ryan?

While Dice-K was methodically mowing down the Mariners, retiring 11 straight batters after Ichiro's single, Feierabend exited after five quality innings (5H, 0R, 2BB, 3K) with a chance at a win if his bully could hold the slim 1-0 lead.

Lucky for Boston that wouldn't be the case.

The Sox finally cracked the scoreboard in the seventh off reliever Sean Green, and Drew got it all started with a pich hit single to center. Then for the third straight game a pitcher made an error on a sacrifice bunt when Green tossed Lugo's bunt attempt wide of first that allowed Drew to scoot to third.

Okay, now we got us a full-fledged explosion coming, right?

Right?

Wrong.

Although Coco hit a booming sac fly to center (that Ichiro was lucky to basket catch on the track) to tie the game, and Pedroia walked, Hargrove once again used his bullpen like a virtuso conducting a concerto.

Grover brought in George Sherrill, who got Papi to fly out to deep center, and then called on Brandon Morrow, who induced Manny into an inning-ending fly out to-who else?-Ichiro, who made all three putouts in the inning an 11 in the game.

So even though the score was tied, it felt like a defeat because once again the Sox failed to burst a game wide open when they had the chance, and the perfect men at the plate to do so.

Boston would again get two men on base in the seventh off Morrow, but the embattled reliever got the embarrassing Lugo (0-2) to strike out to end the inning. Meanwhile Dice ran into a nip of trouble in the bottom of the eigth, but a double play erased his only walk of the day, and after eight brilliant innings his job was done.

Grover brought closer J.J. Putz in the ninth despite the score being tied, another move that turned out to be a stroke of genius. The league's saves leader quickly dispatched Coco and Pedroia on groundouts, then got Papi to whiff for the fifth time in five career at bats against him.

Tito showed some good bullpen judgement himself when he tapped Okajima to start the bottom of the ninth, then after Oki allowed Ichiro and Jose Vidro to reach on singles, Francona brought in his closer, Jonathan Papelbon, to put out the fire.

One pitch later hot-hitting Richie Sexson (0-4) fouled out to second base, and then paps got Ben Broussard to ground out to Pedroia to stave off the game-winning rally, at least temporarily.

Jason Davis came in for Seattle in the 10th and tossed a 1-2-3 frame, and Papelbon matched him in the bottom of the inning, fanning Jason Ellison & Adrain Beltre before getting Betancourt to ground out.

Unfortunately for Boston, the Sox were clear out of good reliever after that point.

After another opp went by the wayside in the 11th, Tito had no choice but to bring in the former Mariner Pineiro, who has been hobbled by an ankle he rolled on Eric Hinske's foot a few days ago and was making his first appearance in the park he pitched in for the first seven years of his career.

Pineiro got Burke to ground out to open the inning, but when Ichiro drew a walk on a close 3-2 pitch, the lumps began forming in the throats of every member of RSN. Like a horror flick, everyone in the theater knew what was going to happen, they just didn't know exactly how.

It wouldn't take long to find out as Lopez, who had torched Boston with his slick glove and hot bat (8-14) all series, lifted a high fly to right center that Manny chased and tried to catch at the wall, but he couldn't come up with it and the Mariner's stormed the field when Suzuki crossed the plate with the series-sweeping run.

Okay, I can't take any more. After three games and three excruciating losses, Boston will get a day off tomorrow before taking on the lowly Rangers at Fenway Friday night.

That off day is much deserved, for players and fans alike.

NOTES

• House of horrors: Boston has now lost eight in a row at Safeco
• Lugo-fer's hitless streak has now hit 31 at bats and his average is down to .190
• Ichiro had been 0-6 against Matsuzaka before his RBI single
• His 11 putouts were one shy of the ML record, and he made them in a variety of way-long runs, basket catches, and a circling maneuver on a Lowell popup that he lost in the sun in the 8th
• Manny & Papi were a combined 0-10
• One day after snapping a 19-game hit streak, Ichiro went 2-4 with a walk an RBI and a run scored
• Coco remains crispy, notching his fifth multi-hit game in his last 10 and raising his average to a season-high .262
• Oki lowered his ERA to 0.95 while Paps' is now at 1.55; Pineiro's climbed to 5.04

QUOTES

"I'm not going to make excuses. I hung a pitch." --Pineiro, rightly accepting the blame for the loss, although he did go on to cry about his poor twisted ankle

"Seems like we've played more than our share of this type of games here and ended up not feeling good."--Tito on Boston's doldrums in the Pac NW

"Given Ichiro's great batting skill, I have no regrets about the pitch. And it is really a testament to his hitting skill that he hit the ball."-- the always respectful Matsuzaka


RECORD: 48-29
AL EAST: Up 9 on TOR
STREAK: L-3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Thu- Off; Fri vs. TEX

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Sox hang on for another comeback win

Sox 4, Arizona 3 (10)
WP: Okajima (2-0)
LP: Cruz (2-1)
SV: Papelbon (14)
HRs: BOS-Tek (7); ARI- Drew (3)

SUMMARY:
Boston swiped a victory from the jaws of defeat when it turned a 3-0 deficit after five innings into a one-run extra inning win.

Stephen Drew gave his team the 3-run lead with a 2-run homer in the 4th, but Tek tallied three ribbies to tie it, and Mike Lowell hit a sac fly with the bases loaded in the 10th to secure the win.

HERO: Tek 2-5, 2B, HR, R, 3RBIs
The Captain came through in the clutch-again. He got the Sox on the board with his homer in the 6th, then tied the game with a double in the 8th.

There is a reason he wears that 'C' on his chest.

GOAT: Brandon Lyon 2IP, H, R, BB, 3Ks
All the former Red Sox hurler had to do was retire the Sox in the 8th and then hand the ball over to closer Jose Valverde in the 9th.

Except Lyon choked against his former mates, allowing a leadoff walk to Youk and then a one-out double to Tek that tied the score and put Boston in a position to steal a win.

RECAP:
At least this one was worth staying up for.

The doldrums of a four-game slide have turned into thoughts of a weekend sweep in the desert as the Comeback Kids pulled one of their patented "think you've won it, no you don't" wins over the dumbfounded Diamondbacks.

'Zona came into this series having won 14 of 18 contests with a starting rotation that was a blistering 10-1 during that stretch, while Boston limped into Phoenix having lost 6 of 7 before Schilling's slump busting gem on getaway day in Oakland Thursday.

One blowout and one come-from-behind win later and the tables have turned, with the D-Backs looking like hapless wannabes and the Sox regaining that championship form it had displayed all season before the mini-slump.

It didn't appear that would be the case early in the game though, because even though Julian Tavarez provided a chance for Boston to win, he was in trouble early & often, and the Sox hitters couldn't crack Arizona's young phenom Micah Owings (6IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, HR).

After escaping a 2-on, 2-out jam in the first inning, Julie allowed a run on an RBI double in the second. Following a 1-2-3 third, Tavarez gave up a double to Mark Reynolds leading off the fourth, then three pitches later Stephen Drew said "anything you can do, I can do better" to J.D. as he sailed a ball over his brother's head and into the stands in right field for a 2-run homer and 3-0 D-Backs lead.

He only had one more homer and five ribbies to go to match his elder sibling's output from last night.

Things stayed that way thru five innings as the Sox either blew scoring opportunities (bases loaded in the second, leadoff walk in the fifth) or were getting blown away by an impressive Owings. The big kid from Gainesville had his full repertoire of pitches working, including a 97-mph heater and drop-off-the-table slider that kept foiling Boston's eager bats.

But the Sox finally broke through in the sixth when J.D. Drew (3-5) stated a two-out rally with a bloop single to right. Jeez, this guy really does slaughter Diamondback pitching! Five pitches later Varitek took an Owings offering deep to right center for Boston's first two runs of the game, and now you could sense that there was a chance to pull this one out.

By the 8th Owings was already out of the game and ex-Sox Brandon Lyon was in. Lyon had a brief stint with Boston in 2003, appearing in 49 games and posting a 4-6 record with a 4.12 ERA.

Perhaps he was just trying to repay an old debt when he walked Youk to start the frame. After Drew forced him out at second base, Varitek stepped in and went to battle for his team like a good captain always does. After running the count to 2-1, Tek laced a Lyon slider to the left center, scoring Drew all the way from first with the tying run, and suddenly the many raucous members of the Nation in the house had reason to celebrate.

Hideki Okajima worked around a Julio Lugo error in the bottom of the inning and would contribute two big scoreless inning to allow Boston a chance to pull off the win. And when Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th off fireballing Juan Cruz, it was time to do just that.

Papi started the winning rally with a walk, and then Youk and Drew followed with singles to pack the sacks full of Sox. After Tek struck out (hey, he can't do it all), Lowell pinch hit for Okajima and quickly got behind in the count.

But just like Rem Dog predicted he would do when he fell behind 0-2, Lowell patiently waited for the right pitch to take the opposite way,and when he launched a sac fly to right, Ortiz scooted home with the go-ahead run, and the comeback was nearly complete.

All that was left was for Jonathan Papelbon to make his first appearance since the A-Rod debacle and shut the door on the win. Firing off 97 mph blazers, Paps looked healthy & rested- until he hit Chris Young and allowed a single to Conor Jackson.

Have no fear, because Paps then reared back, dug deep and got Reynolds to softly line out to second base, and just like that a losing streak has turned into a winning streak, and a sweep is a possibility if the Sox can knock off Randy Johnson tomorrow.


NOTES:

• Due to interleague play: Lowell, Manny and Pedroia didn't start the game, although Lowell and Pedroia did bat later. Youk moved to third while Papi manned first, and Eric Hinske filled ManRam's sizable shoes in left field
• As part of Tito's new sliding lineup, Coco moved back to the 2-hole and went 1-5, while Youk took Manny's four spot and went 1-4 with a walk
• Tek (2) & Drew (3) had half of Boston's 10 hits
• Fashion police: will someone please explain why the D-Backs wore white with red unis last night, then hideous all-black spring training rejects tonight? And what's with the retarded block lettering? Fucking expansion teams!
• Eric Byrnes had his 15-game hitting streak snapped as well as a 30-game on base mark
• Drew's six hits in this series match the amount he's had in the past three weeks
• RSN represents: the announced attendance of 49,826 was apparently a new D-backs record; wait a minute, didn't these guys play in a World Series?
• Pedroia pinch hit for Tavarez in the 7th and struck out but reached base on a wild pitch by Tony Pena; another odd play for the season archives
• Ex-Sox sighting: Tony Clark is still alive! The veteran of the 2002 Sox team has evidently been playing out here in the desert for three years now; I seriously thought the dude had retired-and should have after that heinous '02 campaign
• Tavarez, who played in the NL for years, reached base twice, on a hilarious bunt single and a walk

QUOTES:

"He had good stuff, but he made one mistake to me and we capitalized on it."--Tek. Brilliant!

"It's a great club we're playing, arguably the best in baseball."--Owings. Ah, son, there is no arguement there

"He didn't sit around all night. He stretched, hit, was in the cage. That's the type of guy he is."--Tito on the ever-ready, always professional Lowell

RECORD: 40-21
STREAK: W-3
LAST 10: 4-6
AL EAST: Up 10.5
UP NEXT: Sun @ ARI 4:30p

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Mayday, Mayday! Paps blows save, Sox lose in 10

Oakland 5, Sox 4 (10)

WP: Duchscherer (2-1)
LP: Donnelly (0-1)
SV: Street (7)
BS: Papelbon (1)
HRs: OAK- Johnson (1), Buck (3)
Sox box

I didn't want to say this, but Boston got beat by a Buck-n-Johnson

SUMMARY:
Sox starter Curt Schilling pitched a brilliant game (7IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 7K) and Boston apppeared well on its way to winning for the 5th time in the last 6 games.

But the normally reliable bullpen allowed the game-tying homer in the 9th and game-losing double in the 10th to send Boston to a heartbreaking May Day loss.

HERO: Travis Buck 3-5, 2R, 2RBI, 2B, HR
Let's say it together, shall we: who the f**k is Travis Buck?

The Sox found out that he is the 23-year-old rookie rightfielder for the Oakland A's who must be a pretty good hitter, despite his .221 average. How do I know this? Because he proved it by rapping three hits tonight and by taking the untouchable one, Jonathan Papelbon, deep to tie the game in the 9th inning, giving Paps his first runs allowed and blown save all season.

GOAT(s): Boston pen 3IP, 5H, 3ER, BB, 3K
There's no getting around it-the bully lost the game for the Sox tonight. Oki did fine in his inning of work, but Papelbon allowed the tying runs in his nightmare 9th (1IP, 3H, 2R, BB, HR), then Black Donnelly gave up back-to-back doubles to start the 10th, and that was all she wrote.

Hey, these guys have been great so far this season, they're allowed one screw up. Just one.

RECAP:
Because April ended on such a positive note Sunday, with RSN riding the high of taking 5 of 6 from the Stanks and the Sox finishing the month with the best record in the league, it made what happened tonight all the more difficult to digest.

Yeah there's nothing like a good swift kick in the head to make a native Bostonian forget about any good times he may have been having earlier in the day. And that's exactly what it felt like when Travis Bickle, errr Buck drilled a 0-2 fastball from Papelbon into the rightfield seats to tie a game that just a couple of innings earlier seemed to be a sure Boston victory.

That's because Schilling was pitching like the Schill of old, mowing down Oakland hitters while scattering 8 hits & a couple of runs and putting in the requisite 7-8 innings before handing the keys over to the night crew. The Sox hitters were doing their part as well, picking right up where they left off in the Bronx by posting a 3-spot before the box seats were even filled and pushing the lead to 4-0 with a single run in the 3rd off A's starter Joe Blanton (7IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K).

The Sox struck quickly in the first thanks to three bloop hits, a sac fly and two stolen bases. Coco, back in the 2-hole tonight, beat out an infield single and stole second, then after Papi (2-5, R) blooped a bingle to left, Manny knocked him in with a sharply-hit opposite field sac fly. Youk, batting 5th in place of the ailing J.D. Drew, singled & stole second also, then Lowell hit a shot to short that Bobby Crosby knocked down but threw to the wrong base, allowing both runners to score.

In the third inning Coco led off with a walk, was singled to third by Manny then scored on a sac fly by Youk to give Boston a solid (with the way Schill was pitching) 4-0 lead.

Curt gave a run back in the 4th when first baseman Dan Johnson launched a solo shot to right to put the A's on the board, but after that Schilling retired 8 out of 10 batters before running into a spot of trouble in the 7th. That's when Buck led off with a double, Jason Kendall singled him over to third, and former Sox Todd Walker, batting for the recently acquired Ryan Langerhans, hit a slicing, sinking liner to center that Coco somehow caught but the run scored.

Still, Schilling escaped further damage that inning by getting Shannon Stewart to ground out and Mark Ellis to pop out to Youk, and with a 2-run lead and the best bully in the game rested & ready, it looked like the win was in the bag.

But something happened along the way to victory #17, and it came from the most unexpected source: that rock-solid bullpen. Hideki Okijima took over for Schilling in the 8th and make quick work of Chavez, Johnson & Piazza, and that left Mr. Reliable to close out the win in the 9th.

Only Mr. Reliable was a little off right from the start of the inning. He gave up a single to Crosby on his second pitch, then came the shot heard 'round Beantown, the one that ruined Paps' perfect season, not to mention win #17. Even after Buck's demoralizing homer, Papelbon still couldn't find his dominant form; he allowed another single and a walk before ending the inning with a foul out and groundout.

With both of its best relievers already used it was up to the rest of the pen to come through until the Sox could scratch out a run. But that plan lasted less than an inning as Brendan Donnelly gave up a double to Mike Piazza on the first pitch he threw, then a double to Johnson 5 pitches later, and the A's had their first lead of the game, 5-4. The run would hold up as Boston came up just short of tying it when Youk's soaring fly ball came to rest in Stewart's glove just in front of the Wall to end the game.

We can't harp on this one too much, though. It had to happen sometime (Paps blowing a save), and I'd rather it happened when the Sox hold a 3+ game lead in May than if they were down three games in September.

As long as this was an aberration, and not a trend.

NOTES:

- Drew got the night off due to a stomach virus, not the current 1-19 skid he is on (wink wink)

-Tito went with a revamped lineup, rewarding Coco for his play of late by moving him back to 2nd in the order, dropping Youk to the 5-hole, and starting Hinske in right for Drew. The moves seemed to work as Coco had a nice night (1-4, BB, 2R, SB), Youk contributed a hit, run & RBI, and Hinske doubled in the 9th to start a brief rally for Boston

-Manny continues to show signs of emerging from his season-long slump: he had two more hits and an RBI tonight to raise his average to .215 and his ribbie total to 14. He is batting .272 (6-22) with 2 homers & 6 RBI in his last 6 games

-Before tonight Oakland had only allowed one run in the first inning all year

-No one could have foreseen Johnson's big game (2-5, R, 2RBI, 2B, HR); coming into the night he had no extra base hits and only 2 RBI all season

-For some reason Dustin Pedroia remains locked into the starting lineup. The slumping second sacker went 0-3 and is in the midst of a hideous 5-48 (.104) stretch that has seen his average plummet to .172-yikes!

-Tek (0-4, 2Ks, .225) and Lugo (0-5, .242) also continue to take up residence in the team meat locker

-Oki ran his scoreless streak to 12 innings, dropped his ERA to 0.66, and struck out another batter to bring his season total to 18 in 13.2 innings of work

-Oakland skipper Bob Geren was ejected in the 5th for arguing a strikeout soon after a Sox ballboy touched a ball in play, preventing the A's from scoring a run from third. Papi also protested his strikout in the third.

QUOTES:

-"Our bullpen has been phenomenal. It doesn't always work out the way you want it to."-Schill, aptly summing up the situation

-"We all get used to (Papelbon) being almost perfect. At some point, you're going to give up runs."-Tito, ever the realist

-"I'll take that loss on my back and I'll pick up the team again when they need me."-Papelbon, exuding the confidence & grit that makes him a fan favorite in the Nation

RECORD: 16-9

AL EAST: Up 3.5 on TOR

UP NEXT: vs. OAK, Wed 7P

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