You win some, you lose some. Now we hope the Boston Red Sox don’t fall back into a rut.
The Red Sox saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday night as the Detroit Tigers used back-to-back home runs in the 5th inning to build a big lead and then eventually held on for a 7-5 win.
It wasn’t really Aaron Cook‘s sinker that did him in either in that fateful 5th inning. It was two hanging curveballs to Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.
Cook had already given up three runs by the time Cabrera took to the plate in the 5th with two outs. Honestly it didn’t look like Cook had much left in the tank and it was obvious when he hung the curve to Cabrera who hit the ball clear out of the Fens. He hung another curve to the next batter Fielder who blasted it out over the center field wall to push the Tigers lead to 6-1.
Yes Bobby Valentine has made some questionable calls as far as leaving guys in to long. And maybe he’s too blame for having a lefty in Craig Breslow up and not a righty. He could have also left Cook in longer because this was the first time Breslow would be pitching for the Red Sox this season. Either way, it ended up costing the Red Sox.
The good thing though is that the Red Sox didn’t give up at all. They did their collective best to battle back.
Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and Cody Ross all hit singles to start the 6th inning off of Rick Porcello. But Porcello got two big outs when he got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to ground into a double play that did score Pedroia. But Will Middlebrooks chased Porcello from the game with a RBI single. Phil Coke took over and walked Ryan Kalish before allowing an RBI single by Pedro Ciriaco that cut the lead to 6-4.
Carl Crawford led off the 7th with a solo home run off Coke to chase him from the game. But after that, the Red Sox couldn’t do anything off of Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde.
It’s great the Red Sox battled back and never quit. But now with a lowly Minnesota Twins squad coming into the Fens for four games, you have to hope the Red Sox don’t play down to their competition. They are 10-1 against the Twins in their last 11 games at the Fens and scored 24 runs in a three-game sweep of them in Minnesota earlier in the season.
With 57 games left in the season, I’m not saying every game is a must-win. What I’ll say is though the Red Sox really need to win each series going forward. So with that being said, anything less then going 3-1 in this four-game set is unacceptable.
We’ll be back later on today with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at 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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Cold blasts [boston globe]
No decision on whether Beckett is DL-bound [boston globe]
He’s pitching right in [boston globe]
Aaron Cook start a serious problem in Sox loss [boston herald]
Blame falls on Larry Lucchino [boston herald]
Ryan Sweeney feels ‘stupid’ over tantrum [boston herald]
Word is, time to get series [boston herald]
Craig Breslow answers when called [boston herald]
Cook, Red Sox fall to Tigers, 7-5 [csn new england]
Breslow ‘more confident’ this time around [csn new england]
Hanging breaking ball dooms Cook [csn new england]
Cook has to ‘pitch a little bit smarter’ [csn new england]
Sox make it interesting by racking up wins [csn new england]
Bradley, Jr. making presence felt in Sox minor league system [csn new england]
Sweeney: ‘The adrenaline got to me’ [espn boston]
Lavarnway called up, maybe for good [espn boston]
Rapid Reaction: Tigers 7, Red Sox 5 [espn boston]
Breslow: ‘This is home for me’ [espn boston]
July’s best and worst [espn boston]
Boston Red Sox rotation needs to be straightened out [espn boston]
Ryan Lavarnway excited to return to majors, lose ‘smartest guy in the room’ label [full count]
Why the Red Sox didn’t trade a catcher [full count]
Franklin Morales ‘waiting in the wings’ with Josh Beckett’s availability uncertain [full count]
Closing Time: Aaron Cook’s struggles continue as Red Sox fall to Tigers [full count]
Bobby Valentine: ‘Keep winning series and we’ll be just fine’ [full count]
Ryan Lavarnway Returns to Majors As Red Sox Place Daniel Nava on Disabled List [nesn.com]
Yale Products Ryan Lavarnway, Craig Breslow Battle for Reputation of Smartest Guy in Red Sox Clubhouse [nesn.com]
Josh Beckett Reflects on Being Dangled at Trade Deadline, Calls Experience ‘Something Different for Me’ [nesn.com]
Ryan Sweeney ‘Sick To His Stomach’ About Mistake, Says He Unleashed Months of Anger in Punch [nesn.com]
Red Sox Take Back-to-Back Series Against Yankees and Tigers, Look to March Forward to Playoffs [nesn.com]
Craig Breslow Overcomes Hectic Travel Schedule to Make Strong First Impression [nesn.com]
Aaron Cook’s Home Run Woes Continue, But Spot in Rotation Safe Pending Josh Beckett’s Injury [nesn.com]
A catching conundrum: Red Sox have decisions to make behind the plate [alex speier – weei.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and MLive.com websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brothers, Detroit4lyfe and The Tigers Den Blog.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: getty images
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