On a night where Barry Bonds broke the homerun record in San Francisco, the Red Sox were sucking it up in Anaheim as they fell to the Angels 10-4 for their second straight loss. The loss coupled with the Skanks win, puts the Red Sox lead in the AL East at 5 games.
The Red Sox got on the scoreboard in the 1st inning. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis started off with singles off of Virginia Tech alum Joe Saunders. David Ortiz grounded into a fielder’s choice that got Youk at second as Big Papi barely beat the relay throw to first. Manny Ramirez brought in Pedroia with a fielder’s choice that saw Big Papi be retired at second base. Saunders then got Mike Lowell to strikeout to end the inning with his team trailing 1-0.
In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, Casey Kotchman led off with a double off of Sox starter Tim Wakefield. He would come around to score on a Macier Izturis single to tie the game at 1. Izturis advanced to second on the throw home. He would only advance to third as Wakefield got Jeff Mathis, Reggie Willits and Chone Figgins out to get out of the inning.
The Halos struck again in the 4th inning. After Wake got the first two outs of the inning, Izturis hit a single. He came around to score as Mathis laced a double to deep center giving the Angels a 2-1 lead. Wakefield stranded Mathis at second as he got Willits to strikeout for the final out of the inning.
The Sox battled back in the 5th inning to take the lead. Going into the inning, Saunders had retired the last eight Sox batters but Wily Mo Peña led off with an opposite field double. Doug Mirabelli would bring him home as he crushed a 2-run homer, making it 3-2 Red Sox. Saunders then got Julio Lugo to strikeout but Pedroia followed that with a single, his second hit of the night. Youkilis’ second hit of the night as well, a double, brought in Pedroia giving the Sox a 4-2 lead. Saunders got out of the jam as he got Big Papi and Manny out.
The lead was short-lived for the Sox as things turned sour in the Angels half of the 5th. Wake started out by walking Figgins. With Orlando Cabrera at the dish, Figgins stole second and came around as Cabrera hit a double, cutting the lead to one run. Wake then intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero to face Garrett Anderson. The move almost paid off but Lugo booted the grounder by Anderson to load up the bases for Gary Matthews, Jr. Matthews did the job as he singled in Cabrera and Vlad, giving the Halos a 5-4 lead. The single also chased Wake from the game. Terry Francona summoned Manny Delcarmen from the bullpen. Delcarmen got Casey Kotchman to ground out to Youk but both runners moved up a base. Delcarmen then got another groundball by Izturis to Pedroia at second but his throw was late as Anderson scored to make it 6-4. Mathis brought in the Halos’ seventh run of the game as he laid down a suicide squeeze bunt that scored Vlad. Willits followed that with a single to load up the bases for Figgins. The bases would be left loaded as Delcarmen got Figgins to strikeout and Cabrera to fly out.
In the 6th inning, the Red Sox had a chance to push a run across the plate. Lowell led off the inning with a single and would be thrown out trying to score on a Coco Crisp double. The double chased Saunders from the game and Mike Scioscia called for Chris Bootcheck from the bullpen. J.D. Drew came into pinch-hit for WMP and grounded out to first, advancing Coco to third. Bootcheck got out of the inning as he got Mirabelli to ground out.
Things didn’t get any better for the Sox in the Angels half of the 6th. Julian “Yo-Yo” Tavarez came in for Delcarmen and gave up a lead off double to Vlad. Anderson moved Vlad to third on a ground out to Youk at first base. Matthews brought in his third run of the game as he laced a double to deep left making it 8-4 Halos. Kotchman brought in Matthews with a double of his own and would move to third on a Crisp error. Yo-Yo then walked Izturis but got out of the inning by inducing a double play ball from Mathis.
The Angels added another run in the 8th as none other than Matthews brought in another run. This time, it was a solo homer off of Kyle Synder. Matthews finished the night 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs.
All I know is that we need a stellar outing from Jon Lester tonight to get this ship sailing in the right direction. The Yanks are getting too close for my liking. The game is at 10:05 ET.
Notes and Musings:
The Red Sox placed Wily Mo Peña on trade waivers and he passed through them. This now means he can be traded to any team by August 31st. However, if the Red Sox tried to send him to the minors, he could be picked up by the team who claims him because he is out of options.
Curt Schilling said he felt fine after last night’s outing and is on track to start in Baltimore on Sunday. Saturday’s pitching matchup is a battle of heavyweights, Josh Beckett vs Erik Bedard.
Terry Francona told RemDawg what Manny said to get ejected. RemDawg said he would lose his job if he said it on the air. He did say that you can’t say “you” before whatever you say.
