The O's wasted no time jumping on Castillo in the top of the first inning and Delino DeShields walked to start. Mike Bordick grounded out to second but DeShields moved to second. Chris Richard doubled home Deshields and Jeff Conine singled home Richard. David Segui doubled home Conine but Jay Gibbons flied out to center. Cal Ripken Jr doubled home Segui to increase the lead but Brook Fordyce lined out to left to end the inning with the O's ahead 4-0.
Jason Johnson got the start for the O's in the bottom of the first and Trot Nixon led off by taking strike three. Jose Offerman singled to left but Carl Everett banged into double play to end the inning.
Jerry Hairston singled to center to start the top of the second inning before Deshields struck out swinging. Bordick popped up to right and Hairston took off for second. Varitek heaved the ball 100 feet over second base to advance Hairston to third but Richard struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second as Manny Ramirez walked to start. Troy O'Leary doubled to center and Jason Varitek scored Manny with a grounder to second. Shea Hillenbrand singled to right to score O'Leary but was forced at second by Brian Daubach. Craig Grebeck flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Conine singled to left to start the top of the third but was doubled off first on a bullet hit to Daubach by Segui. Gibbons grounded out to first to end the inning. Nixon flied out to right to start the bottom of the third and Offerman took strike three. Everett grounded out to second to end the inning.
Ripken Jr lined out to short to start the top of the fourth but Fordyce doubled to left. Hairston grounded out to third and that was it for Castillo. For some reason Sox manager Jimy Williams felt Frank couldn't continue after only 75 pitches so Castillo would leave after allowing 4 runs in 3 2/3 innings. Pete Schourek came in and struck out DeShields swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew a huge rally in the bottom of the fourth as Ramirez singled to left to start. O'Leary and Varitek struck back to back singles to load the bases but Hillenbrand popped up to short. Daubach hit a flyball to center and all 3 runners tagged up. Ramirez scored but Varitek was tagged out at second to end the inning with the Sox down 4-3.
Schourek cruised in the top of the fifth inning as Bordick grounded out to third to start. Richard lined out to right and Conine flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fifth inning as Grebeck and Nixon worked back to back walks to chase Johnson. Willis Roberts came in and Offerman banged into a double play. With the tying run 90 feet away....Everett whiffed to end the inning.
Segui struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth and Gibbons grounded out to short. Ripken grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox blew yet another rally in the bottom of the sixth as Ramirez and O'Leary stroked back to back singles to start. Varitek struck out swinging and Hillenbrand moved the runners over with a grounder, but Daubach walked to load the bases. Scott Hatteberg pinch hit for Grebeck and struck out swinging to end the inning.
Lou Merloni took over at short with Rich Garces now pitching the top of the seventh. Fordyce grounded out to short, Hairston flied out to center and DeShields grounded out to first to end the inning. Nixon and Offerman struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the seventh but Varitek walked. Everett flied out to center to end the inning.
Bordick lined out to second to start the top of the eighth inning but Richard singled to right. Conine flied out to center and Segui took strike three to end the inning. Brady Anderson came in for Gibbons but went to right and Melvin Mora came in for Conine but played in center for the bottom of the eighth. Ramirez struck out swinging to start and O'Leary went down hacking, but Varitek walked. Hillenbrand flied out to center to end the inning.
Rod Beck came in for the top of the ninth and Anderson dropped a single to right....THAT NIXON BOOTED. Anderson motored all the way to third on the error and scored on the Ripken Jr sac fly to increase the lead. Fordyce singled to center but moved to second on the grounder to Beck by Hairston. DeShields grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the O's up 5-3.
Ryan Kohlmeier came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Daubach doubled to center to start the rally. Dante Bichette pinch hit for Merloni but struck out swinging. Nixon atoned for his error with an rbi double to right to cut the lead. Offerman walked but all Everett could do was move the runners over with a grounder. Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases and lefty Buddy Groom was brought in to face O'Leary with Darren Lewis pinch running for Ramirez. O'Leary grounded out to second on the first pitch to end the game. The O's had survived 5-4.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one but I'll go with Frank Castillo. He got clobbered in the first inning and put the Sox in a four run hole they eventually couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Manny Ramirez was 2 for 3 with 2 walks with 2 runs scored.
Troy O'Leary was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Jason Varitek was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Brian Daubach was 1 for 2 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Craig Grebeck walked in two plate appearances.
Pete Schourek tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Rich Garces tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Carl Everett was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Scott Hatteberg struck out as a pinch hitter.
Dante Bichette struck out as a pinch hitter.
Rod Beck allowed an unearned run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error but walked and drove in a run.
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Shea Hillenbrand was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Honorable Mention:
Lou Merloni played short in the top of the ninth.
Darren Lewis pinch ran in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
That was a frustrating loss because of how it went down. The Sox were down 4 runs before they even got to hit and couldn't complete the comeback. They had men on base all game even before the ninth inning and the error by Nixon turned out to be fatal. At least Nixon redeemed himself in the bottom of the ninth with the double but another problem the Sox had is lack of depth off the bench. They had to pinch hit for the worthless Grebeck earlier which forced Williams to burn Bichette when Merloni came up. There's no chance in hell O'Leary hits with the bases loaded against Groom if Bichette was still available. The Sox had their chances all game but couldn't get the job done. If Castillo didn't get hammered in the first inning, maybe it doesn't come down to O'Leary against Groom in the ninth. Still, at least the Sox showed some fight to even make it a game and you'll take that over rolling over and dying anytime. Tomorrow evening the Sox look to take the rubber game of this set when they send Tomo Ohka to the mound against Jose Mercedes of the Orioles. The game begins at 6:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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