Sometimes in baseball, one key moment can change the momentum during a game. Well that’s exactly what happened to the Boston Red Sox at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago last night.
Already holding a 1-0 lead on the strength of a third inning home run from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Red Sox found themselves with a bases loaded situation in the top of the 6th. They even had the right man at the plate in Kevin Youkilis against Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd.
Youk had worked the count to 2-2 before taking a called strike three to end the bases loaded threat. And from there, things changed for the Red Sox.
Juan Pierre, who had already struck out twice against Tim Wakefield, led off the bottom of the inning with a bunt single. Omar Vizquel sacrificed him over to third. With Paul Konerko at the plate, Salty couldn’t get himself in front of a knuckleball that allowed Pierre to third. Konerko ended up bring him in with a sac fly to tie the game up.
They always say leadoff walks can come back to haunt you. Wake ended up walking Carlos Quentin to start the 7th. The one mistake pitch he made all night came to A.J. Pierzynski who took it out of the ballpark to put the White Sox up 3-1.
Matt Thornton and Sergio Santos shut down the Red Sox the rest of the way to send them to their second straight loss. Fortunately for the Red Sox, their lead remains at 2.5 games as the New York Yankees fell to the Baltimore Orioles.
Honestly, other than that one pitch to Pierzynski, Wake was outstanding last night. His knuckleball had an excellent movement all night but unfortunately he’ll have to wait until his next start to try and pick up career win No. 200.
Floyd came the Red Sox hitters at bay for most of the night. He used all of his pitches effectively locating them with relative ease. While the Red Sox have struggled against the White Sox in recents years, they still haven’t been able to figure out Floyd. Last night’s win for him was his sixth career win against the Red Sox.
The Red Sox also remain the only American League team he hasn’t lost to in his career.
The night also saw the Red Sox without Adrian Gonzalez, who missed the game with a stiff neck. It obviously had felt better as he was in the on deck circle before the last out was recorded by Santos. It also saw the 25-game hit streak of Dustin Pedroia can end. As I said last night on Twitter, I’m guessing that Pedroia goes out and gets three hits tonight.
A win would be much nicer I’m sure. Figuring out the White Sox would be even better than that.
We’ll be back later today with this evening’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy 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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Mismatch: Red Sox fall again to White Sox [Boston Globe]
It’s time to align rotation [Boston Globe]
They’re holding off on Buchholz [Boston Globe]
Wake stopped short [Boston Herald]
Red flag on Bedard talk [Boston Herald]
Sox must go after Rockies’ Jimenez [Boston Herald]
Faith in Salty now reaping benefits [Boston Herald]
Adrian Gonzalez expects to play Saturday [Clubhouse Insider]
Wakefield’s quest denied, Red Sox fall, 3-1 [CSNNE.com]
Red Sox consider pitching, eye Jimenez [CSNNE.com]
Rapid reaction: White Sox 3, Red Sox 1 [ESPN Boston]
Gonzalez (neck) hopes to play Saturday [ESPN Boston]
Pedroia’s streak ends at 25; ‘It was cool’ [ESPN Boston]
Sox trade target Bedard rocked early, often [ESPN Boston]
Wake deals, but no deal — stuck on 199 [ESPN Boston]
Closing Time: Wakefield runs out of gas in pursuit of milestone [Full Count]
Source: Red Sox ‘not close’ to deal for pitching [Full Count]
Tim Wakefield’s Quest for 200 Wins On Hold After Tough Loss in Chicago [NESN.com]
Dustin Pedroia Proud of Hitting Streak, Reflects on Difficulty in Keeping it Alive [NESN.com]
Cape League All-Stars Embrace Honor, Privilege of Playing at Fenway Park With Fellow Prospects [NESN.com]
Wakefield denied his 200th victory [Providence Journal]
Young is a calming voice in the Red Sox bullpen [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Buchholz to see back specialist on Monday [Providence Journal]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over the Chicago Daily Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown or ESPN Chicago websites.
Photo credit: Getty Images
