Red Sox News & Notes – 5/22

Kevin Youkilis #20 of the Boston Red Sox stands with his teammates during the national anthem before the game against the Chicago Cubs on May 21, 2011 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

Besides the ugly throwback uniforms, things were looking pretty good early on for the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

They were enjoying a seven-game winning entering the night and with the Tampa Bay Rays losing, they had a chance to move into first place in the AL East for the first time all season long. And things were going their way.

They got a strong start from Alfredo Aceves who left with a chance to win the game thanks to a two-run opposite field home run by David Ortiz. But then the eighth inning came along and any hopes of first place were blown out of the park by wind and mist that engulfed Fenway all night long.

The eighth inning is usually Daniel Bard‘s inning to pitch. Then depending on whether he struggles or not, manager Terry Francona will hand the ball over to Jonathan Papelbon to finish off the game. But Francona had other ideas and obviously we know it didn’t work.

He decided to go with Matt Albers instead of Bard. He did have his reasons as to why Bard wasn’t in the game. During the game, I saw Bard head towards the dugout from the bullpen leading myself and others around me that maybe something was wrong with Bard. That wasn’t the case though.

Although he hadn’t pitched in two days, Bard is on pace for a ton of innings and appearances this year. So Francona went with Albers, who let’s face it, has been the rock of the bullpen all season long. But Albers struggled mightily as he didn’t record an out. He allowed six runs (five earned) on three hits, two walks and Jed Lowrie error.

Before Aceves even took the mound, we knew this one was going to be the bullpen’s game. When Aceves was done, Dan Wheeler and Rich Hill did their jobs and gave the Red Sox a chance to win. So with Albers struggles, the only other option was Franklin Morales, who had just come over in a trade from the Colorado Rockies.

Morales didn’t fare much better but he was also a victim of the circus that suddenly appeared in the 8th inning on a botched rundown.

So when all was said and done, the Red Sox found themselves on the losing end of a 9-3 ballgame to the Chicago Cubs. And instead of being in first place, they find themselves in second place just a 1/2 game behind the Yankees and Rays for first place.

All we can do now is forget last night’s game and hope the Red Sox can start up a new winning streak in the finale with the Cubs. And it will be the bullpen’s game again as Tim Wakefield is on the hill. Hopefully things will turn out a little better than they did last night.

We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

The fine line: With long-term in mind, Sox suffer hard loss [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

The making of Big Papi: Remembering Ortiz’ power-hitting origins [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Thrown for a loss [Boston Globe]

Does game time really have to be show time? [Boston Globe]

Saltalamacchia in line [Boston Globe]

Matt Albers winds up in need of relief [Boston Herald]

It all adds up for charity [Boston Herald]

Alfredo Aceves simply a winner [Boston Herald]

David Ortiz joins exclusive club [Boston Herald]

Carlos Pena believes in Carl Crawford [Boston Herald]

David Ortiz’ connection to Adrian Gonzalez runs deep [Boston Herald]