Julian Tavarez sucked, Shawn Marcum wasn’t much better but it was Marcum who got one more run than Tavarez in the Blue Jays 6-5 win. Marcum lasted 6 innings while Yo-Yo only lasted 4. It was Alex Rios who delivered the key blow in the 6th inning as his 2-run double was the difference. The win for the Jays gets them back into a tie for second place as the Yankees fell in Tampa Bay tonight. Both teams are still 10 games behind Boston.
The Sox got to Marcum for 2 runs in the 1st inning. Marcum got J.D. Drew and Dustin Pedroia out to start the inning but allowed a 2 out single to David Ortiz. Manny then said thank you very much for the fastball as he planted it in the Green Monster seats for a 2-0 Red Sox lead. Kevin Youkilis followed with a double but Marcum got Mike Lowell swinging to end the inning.
After a so-so 1st inning, Yo-Yo walked Lyle Overbay to lead off the inning and then allowed a single to Aaron Hill. Yo-Yo then settled down and got Greg Zaun to ground into a double play. He followed that up by getting Providence College alum John McDonald to ground out.
I am pretty sure that Yo-Yo would like to forget the 3rd inning as he completely fell apart. After striking out Vernon Wells, he plunked Reed Johnson with a pitch. Rios followed with the first of his two doubles on the night with Johnson advancing to third. With Frank Thomas at the plate, Tavarez uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Johnson to score and Rios moved down to second. Thomas would eventually walk. Troy Glaus brought in Rios with a single tying the game at 2. Lyle Overbay followed with a single scoring Thomas putting the Jays up 3-2. Glaus moved to third on the single. Yo-Yo then got a ground ball from Aaron Hill that got Overbay at second but Hill beat the throw at first with Glaus scoring for a 4-2 Jays lead. Zaun then uncorked a double to Manny who relayed the throw to Lugo who threw to Varitek at home to get Hill ending the inning.
The Sox bounced back in their half of the 3rd inning with three runs of their own. Drew led off the inning with a double. Pedroia then did his job by grounding out to second, allowing Drew to move to third base. Big Papi followed with a screaming liner to McDonald at short for the first out of the inning. Manny then brought Drew in with his 3rd RBI of the night, cutting the lead to at 4-3. Youk then grounded one to Glaus at 3rd who booted the ball allowing Youk to reach base. Glaus’ error would prove costly as Lowell hit a triple to deep center allowing Manny and Youk to score and giving the Sox a 5-4 lead. Little did we know that would the last time the Red Sox scored all night. Marcum got Varitek to strikeout for the final out of the inning.
Eric Hinske came in for Drew in the 4th inning as Drew had some tightness in his hamstring. Yo-Yo gave up another two hits in the 4th but pitched himself out of trouble. In the 5th, Glaus led off with a single that chased Yo-Yo from the game due to a high pitch count. Kyle Synder came in and got Overbay to fly out. With Glaus running, Hill lined into a inning ending double play.
Tavarez went 4 innings, allowing 9 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks and he struck out 3.
Toronto struck for the winning run in the 6th inning. After Snyder got the first two outs of the inning, he issued a walk to Wells. Johnson brought Wells in with a double, tying the game at 5. Rios followed with his second double of the night scoring Johnson with what would turn out to be the game-winning run. Rio’s double chased Snyder from the game. Mike Timlin came in and got Thomas to fly out ending the inning.
Marcum at this point had settled down. He worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning. He gave up a walk in the 5th but only faced 4 batters. And in the 6th inning, he only allowed a lead off single from Lowell.
Timlin worked a perfect 7th and 8th inning. He has now pitched 10 1/3 scoreless innings in his last 7 appearances. It was also his longest outing since 2004 when he worked 2 2/3 innings.
Scott Downs relieved Marcum in the 7th inning and allowed a lead-off single to Wily Mo Peña. He then got Pedroia to ground into a fielder’s choice and Big Papi to fly out. Casey Janssen came in for Downs and got Manny to fly out ending the inning.
The Sox threatened in the 8th inning. After Janssen got the first two outs of the inning, Varitek hit a double to the gap in right-center. Jays manager John Gibbons came out to the mound and called for his closer Jeremy Accardo. Accardo came in and got Coco to pop up to McDonald at short ending the threat.
Joel Piñero came in for the 9th inning. He got the first two outs of the inning but then gave up a double to Thomas to deep centerfield just over the outstretched glove of Coco. Howie Clark came into run for Thomas and went to third on a Piñero wild pitch with Glaus at the plate. Javier Lopez came in for Piñero and got Overbay to strikeout swinging.
The Bosox had their chances in the bottom of the 9th but were unable to capitalize. Lugo led off the inning with a single off of Accardo. Accardo then got Wily Mo to strikeout. With Pedroia at the plate, Lugo stole second to get himself into scoring position. Pedroia worked a walk, bringing Big Papi to the plate. Big Papi couldn’t get the job done as he flew out to center. The Sox had one more chance with Manny but he flew out to right ending the game.
With another poor outing by Tavarez, I am sure there will be some rumblings about Jon Lester. Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the hill tomorrow night in search of his 11th win.
Notes and Musings:
Curt Schilling had a very encouraging bullpen session today, throwing 55 pitches off the mound. He will have another side session on Monday and game situation side on Wednesday. Then next Saturday they will see where he is at. He will definitely make at least one rehab start before returning.
Joel Piñero was activated by the Red Sox and Jeff Bailey was outrighted to Pawtucket.
Through tonight’s game, Kevin Youkilis has played 127 error-free games at first base.
Coco Crisp hasn’t made an error in center in his last 365 chances entering the game tonight. The old record was 354 by Carl Yaztremski.
The Sox have been in first place for 89 consecutive days. This is the longest streak since 1995, which coincidentally is the last time they won the division.
Vernon Wells father, Vernon Jr. is a famous sports artist. NESN did a nice piece about some of his paintings, including showing Big Papi’s painting of Big Papi and the 2-5 top homerun hitters in Sox history. Here is a link on EBay to one of his paintings.
Jerry Bailey stopped by to talk about the revival of the Mass Handicap at Suffolk Downs that is coming up in September. Bailey seemed to be more concerned whether or not Big Papi would be in the lineup.
The homerun by Manny was his first since June 20th in Atlanta.
Lindsey Barrows, who helps with production in the booth with Don & Jerry, is a Patriots cheerleader. She will be Miss July in the 2008 Patriots cheerleaders calender. She hadn’t been in the booth for a week because the Pats cheerleaders were in China for a week.
Brendan Donnelly was scratched from his rehab start tonight in Lowell due to tightness in his forearm.
J.D. Drew left the game at the end of the third inning with tightness in his right quad. He was replaced by Eric Hinske.
Wily Mo Peña was 0 for 10 as a pinch-hitter before his single tonight.
