Sox Win Sloppy Game Over Mariners (7/22/10)

For 8 innings the Boston Red Sox cruised over the Seattle Mariners. Bill Hall continued a power streak with a 2 run homer off starter Ryan Rowland-Smith in the third inning followed by a David Ortiz RBI single. In the 6th inning JD Drew swatted his 12th homer of the year, a 2 run shot also off Rowland-Smith. Marco Scutaro put what seemed like the exclamation point on with a solo shot off Brian Sweeney in the 7th.

Meanwhile through all this, John Lackey was throwing a no hitter. In the third inning Lackey allowed a walk and a passed ball allowed the run to score. That was the only blemish on the night for Lackey who shut out the Mariners the rest of the way. 4 outs from a no hitter, he allowed a single to former Red Sox player Josh Bard and another single to Josh Wilson before ending the 8th by getting Ichiro.

Up 6-1 it was supposed to be smooth sailing, it wasn't. Manny Delcarmen came in and stunk the joint out. Franklin Gutierrez swatted a 2 run homer to cut the lead 6-3. Jose Lopex walked and then Scutaro flubbed a sure out to bring the tying run to the plate. Wasting no more time, Terry Francona brought in Jon Papelbon. After striking out Justin Smoak, he allowed a double to former Red Sox player Casey Kotchman to put the tying run at second base with one out. Josh Bard drew a walk to load them up. Then Jack Wilson hit a ground ball to Scutaro which should have been the game ending double play. Instead, Scutaro flipped the ball to Bill Hall who then threw the ball away allowing the tying runs to score. Just like that John Lackey's much deserved 10th win vanished and the Sox faced a possibilty of losing their 3rd straight game when 20 minutes before was a sure win. Papelbon managed to get the final out and then it was off to extra innings.

Daniel Bard stopped the bleeding with a perfect 10th then the struggling Hideki Okajima survived a bases loaded scare in the 12th before getting out of it. In the top of the 13th inning, Youkilis singled and Beltre walked...bringing up Eric Patterson who pinched hit for Bill Hall. Patterson became the hero by doubling to left center, driving in Youk and Beltre. Another struggling reliever Ramon Ramirez came in and pitched a perfect 13th for the save to end a wild game. 

Final Thoughts:

This puts the Sox 7 games behind the Yankees and 4 behind the Devil Rays in the wild card. With Buchholz, Lowrie and Hermida back and Beckett returning tomorrow night....things could finally be looking up.