Big news came as the Sox placed Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen on the DL with a minor hip injury and brought up Jose De La Torre for tonight's game. After last night's marathon, Jose was a sight for sore eyes.
The Sox got to the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona early in the 1st inning. Jacoby Ellsbury singled and stole second (27th of the year). Shane Victorino singled him to third and Dustin Pedroia scored Jacoby on a sac fly for a quick 1-0 lead. Victorino then swiped second as well but David Ortiz struck out. Napoli made Hernandez work but grounded out to end the inning. Lester's last win was almost a month ago on May 15th and Desmond Jennings continued to make his life miserable by beating out a swinging bunt to open the bottom of the 1st. Sean Rodriguez walked but Ben Zobrist banged into a double play, advancing Jennings to third. Longoria walked on 2 borderline pitches and then Yunel Escobar walked to load the bases. James Loney then walked to tie the game but Ryan Roberts foolishly grounded out on the first pitch to end the brutal inning.
The potential all-star Daniel Nava singled to lead off the second but was erased on a PU Drew double play that was blown by umpire Ron Kulpa. David Ross struck out to end the inning. Lester opened the second with a strikeout of Jose Molina. Matt Joyce then hit a rocket to the wall but Ellsbury was there to reel it in for the second out. Jennings then gave the Rays a 2-1 lead with a homer to center. Victorino then leaped to steal a hit from Rodriguez to end the inning.
Jose Iglesias got the start over Will Middlebrooks and singled to lead off the top of the third. Ellsbury hit a grounder but Loney threw wide of second, everyone's safe. Victorino then sacrifice bunted the runners along. Pedroia then looked pathetic by striking out. Ortiz was intentionally walked and Napoli made them pay by blooping a 2 run single to re-take the lead 3-2. Nava gave one a ride but Jennings made the catch to end the inning.
Zobrist continued to torture the Sox by singling to lead off the bottom of the third. Lester punched out Longoria but walked Escobar. Loney whiffed but Roberts singled to tie the game and Molina singled home Escobar to give the Rays the lead back 4-3. Joyce then beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Jennings grounded out to end the inning but the Sox were in trouble.
Carmona/Hernandez dominated the 4th by striking out the side. Lester got a rare out to begin the bottom of the 4th, inducing a pop up from Rodriguez. Zobrist was finally retired on a pop up but Longoria put the dagger in the heart with a home run to right. Escobar grounded out but the lead was now 5-3 Tampa.
Hernandez remained red hot, retiring the top of the 5th in order including a diving catch from Rodriguez to retire Victorino. Loney led off with a line out but Lester walked Roberts and Molina, his 6th and career high 7th walk of the game. Lester got some help when he picked Roberts off but the third out never came. Joyce got revenge for yesterday with a 2 run bomb to make it 7-3 Tampa. That was it for Lester as Sox manager John Farrell pulled the plug after just 4 2/3 innings. It was the absolute last thing the Sox needed and Lester should be ashamed of himself.
Jose De La Torre then had Tim Wakefield duty as he would pitch the rest of the game until his arm fell off. He immediately gave up a home run to Desmond Jennings for the icing on the cake. He walked Rodriguez but got Zobrist to fly out to end the disasterous inning.
Now down 5 runs, could the Sox mount the comeback the Rays did yesterday in the top of the 6th? NO! Ortiz led off with a single but Napoli struck out yet again. Nava flied out but Drew worked a walk. With a chance to save the day...Ross popped up to first.
Jose then surprised everyone by retiring the side in the bottom of the 6th. Iglesias led off the top of the 7th with a single but Ellsbury grounded into a double play. Victorino popped up and just like that, Roberto Hernandez had pitched 7 inning of 3 run balls, why couldn't Lester do that? Molina worked a 2 out walk in the bottom of the 7th and advanced to third when Ross threw the ball away on a stolen base attempt. Luckily Jennings grounded out to end the inning.
Hernandez returned for the 8th but walked Pedroia to open the inning. Ortiz hit a grounder but Roberts booted it, allowing Ortiz to reach. Could the Sox finally get a clutch hit? NO! Rays manager Joe Maddon brought in Joel Peralta who struck out Napoli. Nava grounded out but moved both runners into scoring position where.....Drew flied out.
Rodriguez singled to lead off the bottom of the 8th but was thrown out at second trying to steal by Ross. Zobrist walked but Longoria struck out. Escobar grounded out and thankfully, the night is over for the Sox on defense. Great job by De La Torre to eat 3 1/3 innings to save the bullpen for tomorrow's finale.
Herculean effort by Jose De La Torre, 3 1/3 innings, 1 run
Strangely, Joe Maddon went to Jake McGee to finish off the night. Why would Maddon need to burn another reliever with the 5th starter going tomorrow? Either way, McGee worked around a 2 out single by Ellsbury to retire the side and end the game 8-3 Rays.
THE GOOD:
Not much here. David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a walk. Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Jose De La Torre saved the bullpen by tossing 3 1/3 innings in relief of Jon Lester.
THE BAD:
Jackass of the Night is a no-brainer. With the bullpen exhausted by the 14 inning marathon, the Sox NEEDED Jon Lester to have a good start, instead he submitted his worst effort of the season. 4 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 7 walks, 3 home runs and 7 runs allowed. He drops to 6-3 with an ever climbing 4.12 ERA. He hasn't won since May 15th, just terrible.
The offense isn't off the hook, not by a long shot. PU Drew was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. David Ross was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error.
THE UGLY:
Everyone else. Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored but banged into a double play with a chance to get back in the game. Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 2 but his sac fly brought home the game's first run. Shane Victorino and Daniel Nava were just 1 for 4. Mike Napoli was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but the 1 hit was a 2 run single.
Final Thoughts:
This is starting to get ugly. Jon Lester looks horrible lately, Clay Buchholz is increasingly fragile, Dempster, Doubront and Lackey are .500 pitchers at best. This does not make for good team success. The loss dropped the team to 40-26 but remains 2 games in front of the Yankees, who lost to Oakland. Thankfully De La Torre saved the day because tomorrow Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves gets another start tomorrow with Buchholz pushed back yet again. It would be nice if the Sox won tomorrow to keep momentum going, especially in the face of Lester's worst outing.
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