It started out alright in the top of the first when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a hit by pitch from Tampa starter Matt Moore. Shane Victorino struck out swinging but Dustin Pedroia doubled Ellsbury over to third. David Ortiz then swatted a 400 foot bomb to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Mike Napoli grounded out and Jonny Gomes looked at strike three to end the inning. Nobody knew it at the time but as pathetic as it sounds, the Red Sox would have only 1 more hit the rest of the game.
Lackey did well in the bottom of the first inning. Desmond Jennings struck out, Matt Joyce flied out and Ben Zobrist grounded out to end the inning in short order.
Moore settled down to dominate the top of the second inning. Will Middlebrooks, Stephen "PU" Drew and Ryan Lavarnway all struck out quickly to begin and end the frame. Lackey matched Moore in the bottom of the second. Evan Longoria struck out, old pal James Loney flied out and Luke Scott flied out to end the inning,
Moore continued to dominate in the top of the third inning. Ellsbury popped up, Victorino grounded out and Pedroia flied out to end the inning. The Rays threatened in the bottom of the third inning. Kelly Johnson grounded out but Jose Molina singled and Yunel Escobar doubled him to third. Jennings lined out but Joyce walked to load the bases. Zobrist grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox could do nothing in the top of the fourth inning. Ortiz grounded out, Napoli struck out and Gomes popped up to end the inning. Disaster struck in the bottom of the 4th. Longoria and Loney hit back to back singles to lead off, leading toScott. Lackey threw a pitch just outside and Scott check swinged a little to soon....only the ball bounced off the bat and down the line for a double that scored Longoria and moved Loney to third. Still, Lackey did manage to strike out Johnson but Molina singled to tie the game. Escobar singled but Jennings flied out. At this point, all Lackey needed was one more out and he'd be out of the jam at just a tied game. He got what he wanted when Matt Joyce popped up.....as a side note, its always been said that the Green Monster in Fenway either takes hits away or turns routine outs into home runs. Tampa Bay's version of the monster isn't on the field but 50 feet in the air in the form of a damn catwalk. The catwalk certainly gave for the Rays as Joyce's pop up struck it and landed out of the reach of Mike Napoli for a 2 run single. As it turned out, that was all the scoring for the rest of the game for either team. Lackey was now down 5-3 due to a lucky double and luckier pop-up off a catwalk. Joyce swiped second but Zobrist grounded out to end the inning. The Rays had put up a 5 spot to take a 5-3 lead.
The Sox could have easily bashed their way back into the game but that's where their continuing bawfulness came into play in the top of the fifth. Drew doubled to right in the top of the 5th to put the tying run at the plate in the form of Lavarnway. Unfortunately he flied out to right but Ellsbury walked. Now the tying runs were on base and what did Shane Victorino do? He lofted an un-cluch pop up to right field. That would be the last hit of the game for the Sox. Lackey got Longoria to ground out to third to begin the bottom of the fifth but a double by Loney was enough for Sox manager John Farrell. John lifted a noticeably upset Lackey for struggling lefty Andrew Miller. Miller and Lavarnway did manage to pull off a strike em out, throw em out double play to end the inning when Scott whiffed.
Pedroia walked to lead off the 6th but was stranded when Ortiz flied out, Napoli struck out and Jonny Gomes continued to do what he normally does against lefties, strike out. More unclutch hitting by the Red Sox. Miller returned for the bottom of the sixth but was chased when Johnson singled. Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen replaced him and Molina sacrificed Johnson to second. Escobar walked but both Jennings and Joyce flied out to end the inning. Good work Vigo.
Jake McGee replaced Moore for the top of the 7th and got Middlebrooks to ground out. PU Drew worked a walk but Lavarnway flied out. Ellsbury walked again bringing up Victorino with the tying runs on. Jose Lueke came in to pitch to him but this time Victorino lofted an un-clutch pop up to left field to end the inning.
Mortensen returned for the bottom of the seventh to retire Zobrist and Longoria by fly out before Sox manager John Farrell made a mad dash from the dugout to the mound to replace Vigo with lefty Craig Breslow. Craig got Loney to fly out to end the inning.
Joel Peralta came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning. Pedroia grounded out, Ortiz flied out and Napoli whiffed to end the inning. So much for that. Breslow returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Scott to ground out. Johnson struck out but Molina doubled. Sox manager John Farrell strutted out of the dug-out like Ric Flair and brought in Alex Wilson to pitch to Escobar. Yunel flied out to end the inning.
Could the Sox rally off closer Fernando Rodney? NO! Gomes, Middlebrooks and Drew all whiffed in short order to end the game. The Rays had won the game 5-3 and Rodney posed for the crowd after.
Ladies and gentleman your winner of Jackass of the Night award is.....*drumroll*....SHANE VICTORINO! The Flyin Hawaiian was about as unclutch as possible. He went 0 for 4 with a strikeout and also including 2 big outs with the tying runs on base. He left 4 of the final 5 baserunners on by himself.
THE GOOD:
Jacoby Ellsbury walked twice and was hit with a pitch in 4 plate appearances, scoring a run.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Stephen Drew was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Andrew Miller got the final two outs of the 5th inning.
Clayton Mortensen tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Craig Breslow threw an inning of scoreless relief
Alex Wilson got the final out of the bottom of the eighth inning
THE BAD:
Mike Napoli was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Jonny Gomes was also 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Ryan Lavarnway was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
John Lackey was victimized by bad luck but still have up 5 runs in less than 5 innings, lasting just 4 1/3 innings.
THE UGLY:
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a 3 run home run.
Final Thoughts:
Well, Red Sox management put this team together to win rapport back from the fans. They figure if they're going to lose, they may as well do it with class. At least they're sticking to their guns because when Alfredo 'The Vulture' Aceves threw his hissy fit after his stinker against Oakland, he was gone and possibly never meant to return. Lackey getting upset after getting the ball taken from him won't do him any favors. Still, THIS is what the Red Sox management expected out of this team, losing with dignity. They never were expected to contend and any wins here and there is just a bonus. You can say the catwalk bounce turned the tide of the game but the real story was the Sox getting ONE HIT after the first inning. You don't win too many games like that. If the Sox actually learn how to hit, especially in the clutch, they may actually contend this year. This was the 9th loss in 11 games, 3rd in a row and the Sox dropped to 22-17, 3 games behind the Yankees. They better snap out of it in a hurry or they're going to miss their 4th consecutive post-season, something that hadn't been done since 1991-94. Tomorrow we get the monster match between aces Jon Lester and David Price.
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