Mom, just when it looked like we were moving to a deluxe apartment in the sky, it looks like we’re staying here in the basement for at least another night.
After Jarrod Saltalamacchia tied it up in the 9th with a two-run homer, the Baltimore Orioles got to Alfredo Aceves in the 10th to take an 8-6 win on Tuesday night.
With the loss and a Toronto Blue Jays win, the Red Sox are back in the basement by themselves at 28-27. And with their win and the New York Yankees beating the Tampa Bay Rays, the O’s move back into a tie for first place at 31-24. The Yankees are in third just a 1/2 game behind the Rays and Orioles.
All things considered, being in the basement isn’t all that bad especially since the Red Sox are just three games out of first place. And with two more to go in this three-game set, things could look different on Thursday night.
Jon Lester started this one for the local nine and while he wasn’t great, he wasn’t that bad either. He was victimized by some bad defense early when Mike Aviles made an error that led to two unearned runs in the 3rd inning. The big problem though for Lester was his inability to keep the lead when the offense got it for him.
The Red Sox tied it up in the 4th only to see the Orioles take it back at 3-2 in the 6th. The offense got it back in the bottom of the 6th as they gave Lester a 4-3 lead. But Lester allowed a hit to start the 7th and his night was done at 99 pitches. We can question Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine about the decision to pull Lester but given how the bullpen’s been going lately, it shouldn’t have been a big deal.
Shouldn’t being the key word, things didn’t go as planned with the move to the bullpen.
Scott Atchison came in and allowed two straight hits to bring in the tying run and close the book on Lester. Two batters later after an out and an intentional walk, Atchison was out of the game and Matt Albers was in. He was greeted with two hits that scored runs to push the Orioles lead to 6-4.
Albers settled down in the 8th and Aceves kept it that way in the 9th.
The Orioles brought in their closer Jim Johnson and he got the first out of the inning in Adrian Gonzalez. After a David Ortiz single, he got Kevin Youkilis to pop out. Johnson then got ahead of Salty as the Red Sox were down to their last strike before he hit one into the Green Monster but not before a little controversy.
A fan had reached over the ledge but the review showed it had cleared the wall and was ruled a home run to tie the game up at 6.
Unfortunately, Aceves was roughed in the top of the 10th and the Red Sox fell to their second straight loss.
Obviously the big news of the day was Daniel Bard being to sent to the PawSox to figure out his mechanics. It appears that he’ll stay a starter for now and use his time to get things worked out.
We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Late heroics not enough as Sox fall to Orioles in 10 [Boston Globe]
Major issues land Bard in the minors [Boston Globe]
It’s thumbs-up on Pedroia [Boston Globe]
Red Sox get no relief in loss to Baltimore [Boston Herald]
Bullpen can’t hold Lester’s advantage [Boston Herald]
Lineup includes Pedroia playing [Boston Herald]
Minor setback for Daniel Bard [Boston Herald]
McClure: Bard trying to do too many things [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Red Sox fall to Orioles in 10 inn., 8-6 [CSN New England]
Lester: Good for Salty to get away from ‘Tek’s shadow [CSN New England]
Pedroia: ‘My thumb was good’ [CSN New England]
Lester’s solid outing results in no-decision [CSN New England]
Saltalamacchia’s late-inning heroics not enough [CSN New England]
Red Sox bullpen experiences rare off-night [CSN New England]
Rapid Reaction: Orioles 8, Red Sox 6 [ESPN Boston]
Buchholz feels Bard’s pain [ESPN Boston]
Dice-K not concerned after shaky outing [ESPN Boston]
Lester has not been a lead preserver [ESPN Boston]
Atch’s scoreless streak ends at bad time [ESPN Boston]
Salty’s cooking a recipe for success [ESPN Boston]
Why landing the next Will Middlebrooks meant a senior circuit in the draft [Full Count]
Closing time: Orioles hand Sox extra disappointing loss [Full Count]
Dustin Pedroia feels healthy in return from thumb injury [Full Count]
Scott Atchison was reminded all good things must come to an end [Full Count]
Jon Lester’s Luck Starting to Run Out Against Orioles, Even With Undefeated Record Still Alive [NESN.com]
Daniel Bard Must Get Back to Pitching Basics in Tranquility of Triple-A [NESN.com]
Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s Continued Clutch Hitting Shows Catcher’s Growing Confidence [NESN.com]
Scott Atchison Recognizes ‘Good Run’ With Scoreless Streak, Hopes to Start A New One [NESN.com]
Dustin Pedroia Feels ‘Great’ After Return to Lineup, Except Bump on Head Courtesy of David Oritz [NESN.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, be sure to head over to the Baltimore Sun and MASN websites. Also be sure to check out our Bloguin brother the Oriole Post for all of your Orioles needs.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: AP Photo
