The one inning meltdown. It has become a killer for Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka all year long. There always appears to be one inning in just about every game he pitches in where not much, if anything, goes right and pretty much everything goes wrong. That’s the way it was tonight as the Orioles snapped their 11 game home losing streak with an 11-5 win over the Red Sox.

Tonight the 3^rd inning did him in big time. He threw 42 pitches and didn’t make it out of the inning giving up 7 runs, 4 hits and 3 walks in the 9 batters he faced in the inning.

The ugliness began with the Sox holding a 4-1 lead and Matsuzaka gave up what appeared to be a harmless lead off single to Gustavo Molina. Brian Roberts followed that up with a double and Matsuzaka walked Tike Redman to load the bases. Nick Markakis followed with a walk to score Molina and it was 4-2. Miguel Tejada singled to left to keep the bases juiced and score Roberts and cut the Sox lead to 4-3. Kevin Millar received the second bases loaded walk of the inning, the free RBI tied the game 4-4. It was the second run Matsuzaka walked in during the inning after previously having only done it once all year. With Julian Tavarez ready in the bullpen you knew if Matsuzaka didn’t get Aubrey Huff he was done. Huff then took a fastball that he crushed but it ended up barely foul in right field. He would strike out on the next pitch for the first out. Jay Payton then popped out to Dustin Pedroia and it looked like Matsuzaka was going to worm out of it with a tie game. But Scott Moore had a different idea and he hit a grand slam, his first homerun of the year, to right centerfield over a leaping Coco Crisp to give the O’s an 8-4 lead. That was end of Matsuzaka as Tavarez came on and got Molina to strike out to put an end to the inning. But the damage was done.

The Sox staked Matsuzaka (14-12) to a quick 2-0 lead in the first, with one out Pedroia singled and then David Ortiz followed with a two run homerun, his 28^th of the year into the seats in right field.

The O’s would cut the lead in half with a Tike Redman homerun in the first.

The Sox would add to the lead in the second. JD Drew would lead off with a double, he would score on a two out double by Julio Lugo. Jacoby Ellsbury would then bring Lugo home to make it 4-1 with a double of his own.

It seemed like things were just rolling along and then the came the bottom of the 3^rd and the Orioles took advantage of what Matsuzaka gave them.

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With Mike Lowell’s performance as of late, I thought it would be a good idea to run a poll about Mike Lowell and his future. As we have heard all season, Lowell will be a free agent at the end of the 2007 season. Manny Ramírez and David Ortiz have said the Red Sox should re-sign him now.

In looking at the final poll results, a resounding 86% of the SOX & Dawgs readers think that the Sox should re-sign him. I am guessing the other 14% aren’t Sox fans and haven’t seen Lowell play.

Signing Lowell for 2007 will be a serious task. If AROD opts out of his contract, it’s obvious that AROD will be the top third baseman on the free agent market. If he doesn’t opt out, then Lowell will be. With no other big name free agents out there, it’s been shown in the past that some team will overpay and offer a bigger contract.

The Red Sox would like to re-sign Lowell but would probably not offer what some other teams would. Would Lowell take a hometown discount, I’d sure hope so. Another factor to take under consideration is the length of contract. Only one person in Sox history that was an aging veteran, Jason Varitek, has a gotten a long-term deal. His contract was for 4 years at the end of the 2004 World Series season. Lowell will turn 34 before the start of the 2008 season so that may be working against him as far as a long-term deal with the Sox goes.

I really do hope the Red Sox do sign Lowell for next year. Yes he is having a career year at the plate. Does that mean he should get paid? By all means, yes it does. Lowell agreeing to a hometown discount would show everyone that baseball isn’t just about money. Plus, I think Josh Beckett might miss him as well.

[Steve has your Red Sox recap tonight while I will be bringing you a recap of the UCONN Huskies football game against Maine tonight]

Before I get into the news and notes from last night, I just want to give a shout out to my father wishing him a happy 58th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

The Sox got seven strong shutout innings last night from Jon Lester and the bullpen finished it off for him. A brawl almost broke in the 4th when Baltimore’s mental case of a pitcher, Daniel Cabrera, lost his marbles and decided to throw at Dustin Pedroia’s head. The benches and bullpens emptied but nothing really came of it. Cabrera was ejected from the game and after the game we found out Kevin Cash was ejected from the Red Sox bench as well. Baltimore has really fallen off lately and this incident was a byproduct of it. The Sox turn to their Japanese import tonight, Daisuke Matsuzaka, but before they do let’s take a look at the headlines and happenings from last night’s game on this busy Saturday in sports.

Victory dance [Boston Globe]

Red Sox Stifle O’s [Washington Post]

Cabrera Loses It In 4th [Hartford Courant]

Shouting O’s shut out by Red Sox [Baltimore Sun]

Sox force testy Orioles to make balk of shame [Boston Herald]

Lester and Crisp outfox slumping Orioles [Pro Jo]

Latest mess is Cabrera’s [Boston Globe]

His playing time lets Millar return for 2008 season [Baltimore Sun]

Sox don’t buy into Cabrera’s excuse [Boston Herald]

Drug talk goes into extra innings [Baltimore Sun]

No Error Putting Youkilis At First [Hartford Courant]

Crisp’s fake steal of home gets the best of Orioles’ Cabrera [Pro Jo]

Ramirez works out a leave [Boston Globe]

Clay Buchholz, before the dream came true [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun, and Washington Post websites.

In a game that featured an almost brawl, the story of the night was Jon Lester. Lester was strong again as he went 7 shutout innings to help the Sox to a 4-0 win over the hapless Orioles. Tempers flared in the 4th inning when Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera threw behind Dustin Pedroia. Nothing really came of it other than a Cabrera ejection. Warnings were issued and I’m guessing you might see some retaliation later in the series from the pitcher from Texas.

The visiting nine from Boston got things going in the second inning. Kevin Youkilis worked a leadoff walk from the Orioles starter and he went to third on a J.D. Drew ground-rule double (yes he actually had a key hit). Jason Varitek brought in Crisp with a single making him 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs in his last 4 abs to this point. Coco Crisp brought in Drew with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 Sox lead. Cabrera finished off the inning with strikeouts of Julio Lugo and Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Sox had a chance to bust things open a little bit as they had the bases loaded with two outs in the 3rd. Unfortunately, Varitek’s hot streak at the plate came to an end as he struck out on a questionable pitch.

Lester had a reasonably easy first three innings. He only allowed a single to Brian Roberts and a walk to Miguel Tejada in the 1st inning and infield single to Jay Payton in the 2nd. He got his first two strikeouts in the 3rd as he got Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis.

There was just a wee bit of fireworks in the 4th inning. Coco tried to bunt his way on base but fouled it off. Cabrera gave him a bit of a stare down as to say why are you bunting. Coco ended up reaching on a single. Cabrera then got Lugo to ground out with Coco moving to second. Coco then went to third as Ellsbury grounded out as well. With Dustin Pedroia at the plate, Cabrera was called for a balk as Coco was dancing down the line. Cabrera’s next pitch went behind the back of Pedroia and then words were exchanged. The Red Sox started to emerge from their dugout and someone must have said something “nice” towards the direction of O’s catcher Ramon Hernandez. As the bullpens came into join the fun, Cabrera was yelling at someone to fight with. Cooler heads prevailed and Cabrera was ejected for his stupidity. My best guess would be that Josh Beckett was running his mouth like he did when Joba Chamberlain was ejected last week. Brian Burres came in and after he was ready got Pedroia to fly out for the final out of the inning with his team trailing 3-0.

The Orioles had their best and only chance to score in their half of the 4th inning. Tejada led off the inning with a single and went to second on a Kevin Millar walk. Aubrey Huff reached on a fielder’s choice with Millar retired at second. Lester then got Hernandez to line out to Lugo at short. Lester finished off the inning by getting Payton to ground into a fielder’s choice.

In the 7th, the Sox added an insurance run they wouldn’t need. Ellsbury led off with a single and then Pedroia flew out. With Big Papi at the plate, Ellsbury stole second base easily. Big Papi ended up working a walk. The Orioles went to the bullpen for Fernando Cabrera and he came in and got Mike Lowell to strikeout on some more questionable strike calls. Youk ended up bringing in Ellsbury on a single for a 4-0 Sox lead. Cabrera walked Drew to load up the bases for Varitek. The captain ended up striking out swinging on yet more bad strike calls. It looked like he swung because odds were that pitch would have been called a strike.

Lester was outstanding tonight. He had total command of all his pitches and gave the Red Sox what they needed, a well-pitched game. He has now not lost a game in his last 11 starts. Lester scattered 4 hits in 7 innings while walking 2 and striking out 4.

Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen came in and finished off the Orioles for yet another win over them. The Orioles have completely fallen down hill since Dave Trembley got the “interim” tag removed from his job title. It wouldn’t surprise me if he loses his job with the way the O’s played.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the ball tomorrow night and will be opposed by the other Jon Lester (Leicester). One thing to ponder is whether or not Dice-K will retaliate tomorrow night.

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