The news wasn't good to
begin with as hometown hero Manny Delcarmen was shipped off to
Colorado in exchange for single A prospect Chris Balcolm-Miller. Then
the news got even worse as the Red Sox offense could muster virtually
nothing over victorious Baltimore starter Brian Matusz (7-12, 4.72
ERA).
Josh Beckett (4-4, 6.21
ERA) pitched effectively but simply wasn't good enough. In the end it
was a single error by shortstop Marco Scutaro that ended up the
difference in the game. As been the case recently, the opponent
scored first. Nick Markakis clocked a one out double and Ty Wigginton
singled him over to third. A base hit by Luke Scott scored Markakis
but Beckett retired the next 2 batters to limit the damage to 1 run.
Meanwhile the ice cold Sox
offense could do nothing against Matusz. In the top of the second
Mike Lowell and Adrian Beltre flied out and Matusz punched out Drew.
Even Beltre has been slipping of late, understandable considering
he's been carrying the team virtually from day 1.
In the bottom of the
second Beckett showed life by retiring the side in order, including a
punch out of Josh Bell on a 95 mile per hour fastball. Velocity was
certainly no problem for Beckett on the night. His counterpart wasn't
throwing nearly as hard but the noutoriously wild pitcher was walking
nobody tonight. Jed Lowrie lined out and Boston got their second hit
when Bill Hall doubled. That was all they could muster as Marco
Scutaro and Darnell McDonald did nothing, squandering Hall's double.
In the bottom of the third
the Sox made their most critical mistake of the night. Brian Roberts
hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Markakis
then grounded out, advancing Roberts to third. Beckett got a critical
out by getting Wigginton to ground out, keeping Roberts at third. A
walk to Luke Scott appeared to be meaningless when Adam Jones
grounded a ball to shortstop Marco Scutaro. Scutaro managed to throw
the ball away, scoring Roberts and Scott on the throw. Felix Pie
grounded out but the damage was done. It was now 3-0 Baltimore.
The Sox did themselves no
favors in the top of the 4th as Victor Martinez, Ortiz and Beltre
were retired in order. The heart of the order had done nothing
against a starter who's been wild all season. Josh Beckett returned
for the 4th and retired the side in order, building a strong start in
the process. The Sox finally broke through in the top of the 5th.
Lowell singled but Drew struck out, bringing up Jed Lowrie. Lowrie
then socked his 4th homer of the year to cut the deficit 3-2. Hall
and Scutaro grounded out but the sox showed a little bit of heart to
attempt to come back.
Once again Brian Roberts
led off with a single, this time in the bottom of the 5th. This time
Josh Beckett was ready and managed to get Markakis, Wigginton and
Scott in order to strand Roberts at first. The Sox got a chance to
tie the game in the top of the 6th. Darnell McDonald singled and
stole second base, but failed to score on a single by Adrian Beltre.
With the go ahead run on first, Mike Lowell struck out looking to end
the threat. Beckett worked around a single to Matt Wieters to retire
the side and keep the Sox in the game.
The Sox got their last
good chance to tie the game in the top of the 7th. Drew walked and
O's manager Buck Showalter lifted Matusz for reliever Jim Johnson.
Lowrie came up and worked a single then both runners moved over on
the sacrifice bunt by Bill Hall. Up came tonight's goat, Marco
Scutaro. Instead of making up for his miscue, he added to his
horrible night by grounding out to third, the one place where Drew
couldn't score. Ryan Kalish pinch ran for Jed Lowrie and Daniel Nava
pinch hit for McDonald. Nava never got the bat off his shoulders as
he stood there and watched strike 3 go by.
Beckett came out for the
7th inning and once again retired the side in order, if it wasn't for
the error by Scutaro he would have pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball.
In the top of the 8th, Victor Martinez singled to chase Johnson from
the game. Lefty Miguel Gonzalez was brought in to face David Ortiz
and got him to fly out. Koji Uehara replaced Gonzalez and got Adrian
Beltre to ground into a force out. Still with the tying run on base,
Lowell flied out to end the inning.
Then the roof caved in on
the Sox. Rookie Felix Doubront replaced Beckett in the bottom of the
8th. He started off good by getting Wigginton to ground out, but Luke
Scott's 26th homer of the year put the Sox back even more. Felix
recovered to get Adam Jones on a fly out but allowed yet another
homer when Felix Pie took him deep. Doubront struck out Wieters but
the damage was the done and the game all but over.
The Sox went quietly in
the top of the 9th, dropping their third straight game and falling
even further behind in the standings. They look to Jon Lester
tomorrow night to stem the tide in the second game of the series.
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