Baseball can be a funny game. A close call go your way or it can go against you. That particular play can change the course of an inning or a game. Well in the 4th, the Blue Jays had a close call go against them and it seemed to unnerve Blue Jays starter Roy “Doc” Halladay as he gave up 3 more runs in a 4-run 4th for the Sox. Josh Beckett went 8 strong innings for his league leading 17th win and Jonathan Papelbon finished it off in a 5-3 win.
It was a pitcher’s duel for the first 3 innings as Beckett and Halladay were throwing pretty well. John McDonald has the only hit for the Blue Jays along the way. The Sox had 3 hits, 1 in each inning but were unable to do anything with them other than a stolen base by the speedy Jacoby Ellsbury.
As stated in the opening, things took a turn in the 4th. Drew reached on a walk by Halladay and went to third on a Kevin Youkilis single. Halladay got the first out of the inning on a strikeout of Jason Varitek. Halladay then got Coco Crisp to hit into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play but Coco’s speed got him there about an 1/4 step ahead of the throw. This allowed Drew to score from third with the first run of the game. You could see how visibly pissed Halladay was. Ellsbury stepped up to the plate and took the first pitch he saw from Halladay and put into the bullpen for a 2-run homer and a 3-0 Sox lead. Julio Lugo followed that up with a double and came right around to score the 4th run of the inning as Dustin Pedroia hit a double of his own. Halladay got David Ortiz to ground out for the final out of the 4th.
With Beckett just cruising along, you had to think the 4-run lead was safe but it wasn’t. Aaron Hill reached on an infield single that Beckett kicked but Pedroia couldn’t get to in time. Zaun struck out swinging but then Beckett issued a walk to McDonald. Vernon Wells fouled out to Varitek behind the plate for the second out bringing up the hot-hitting Matt Stairs. Stairs took a fastball from Beckett and planted it into the seats for a 3-run homer, cutting the lead to one for the Sox. Beckett rebounded from the home run and Alex Rios to ground out. Beckett was a little bit pissed after the inning.
Halladay recovered from the bad 4th inning as he only allowed a triple to Ellsbury in the 7th inning. The triple by Ellsbury left him just a double short of the cycle.
Beckett was equal to the task. He only allowed a single to Frank Thomas in the 6th but got out of that with a double play ball hit by Lyle Overbay. Beckett went 1-2-3 in the 8th inning which ended up being his final inning. Beckett went the 8 innings, allowing just 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and he struck out 7 on 117 pitches.
The local nine added an insurance run in their half of the 8th off Halladay. After Drew grounded out, Youk followed that with a solo homer to center giving the Sox a 5-3 lead. Halladay finished off his night with two fly ball outs. He would end up taking the complete game loss.
Papelbon, pitching for the third day in a row, came on and worked a 1-2-3 inning for his 33rd save. This was the first time that we have seen Papelbon pitch 3 days in a row. If you recall, the last time he pitched 3 days in a row was a year ago when he ended up with the shoulder injury. So if you heard a slight moan in New England tonight that was why.
It was a good win for Beckett and the Sox. Curt Schilling will take the ball in the series finale tomorrow night.
Notes and musings:
Tim Wakefield’s side session went well and is on schedule for a Thursday start in Baltimore. Doug Mirabelli will catch him. Jon Lester will start on Friday.
Clay Buchholz will move to the bullpen for the remainder of the season all though another start may be possible. He is approaching his innings pitched limit so he will work in a “structured” situation similar to what Joba Chamberlain of the Yanks is doing.
Curt Schilling was away from the team tonight to tend to a family matter.
The Red Sox fired Triple-A hitting coach Mark Budaska and reassigned pitching coach Mike Griffin within the organization.
Manny Ramirez is the Red Sox candidate for the 2007 Hank Aaron Award. Click here to vote.
The Red Sox called up Devern Hansack from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game.
Head over to the Remy Report before midnight tonight and enter to win an autographed copy of the scorecard’s from the no-hitter by Clay Buchholz and the one by Derek Lowe in 2003.
Speaking of RemDawg, make sure you go vote for him in the 2007 President of Red Sox Nation contest. He has the SOX & Dawgs paw of approval.
The Red Sox have faced the Blue Jays in 5 series this season and have seen Halladay 5 times.
The Sox are 9-5 against the Jays this season (4-4 at home and 5-1 in Toronto).
Mike Lowell went 0 for 4, meaning his 16-game hitting streak came to an end.
