“Rounding The Turn”
The Red Sox made their way toward the stretch run with a run of games from August 31-September 16 against Baltimore, Toronto, Tampa Bay and closing out with three against the Yanks. This is the time of year where darkness falls earlier, and despite a couple of days of record-setting heat in the first week of September, New Englanders aren’t fooled. It was a time when unheralded rookies gave a veteran group a needed lift while their $51.1M investment appeared to have hit a wall from overwork.

“Home for a week…”

Three With Baltimore (8/31-9/2):
The Sox opened a seven-game homestand with three against Baltimore. In Thursday Night’s opener (Game 135, 8/31/07), Julian Tavarez got the spot-start and couldn’t hold a lead as the Sox pulled to within a run but ultimately lost 9-8.

In the first, Ortiz hit his 26th of the year to put the Sox up 1-0. In the second, Crisp walked with one out and scored on Hinske’s double. Drew fouled a ball off his foot and was out of the game. Tavarez was sailing along through the first three innings (where have we seen this before?) but the roof collapsed in the fourth. Markakis led off with a double and scored on Tejada’s two-run homer. Millar walked and Huff singled up the middle. Mora followed with an RBI single to put the O’s on top 3-2. Ramon Hernandez followed with another single that scored Huff. Payton hit into a 5-2 force and moved to second on second on Kevin Cash`s throwing error. At that point, Tavarez was mercifully relieved and Javier Lopez came on. Roberts grounded into the second 5-2 force. The Orioles’ manager Trembley argued that the runner on third was interfered with and was tossed for his trouble. The Sox pulled it to within one in the fifth, but Baltimore came back with a five-spot in the sixth to make it 9-3. Huff led off with a single and Lopez was relieved by Timlin. Mora greeted him with a base hit and Hernandez followed suit to load the bases. Payton’s sacrifice fly scored Huff. Roberts walked. It was beginning to get a mite ugly out there. Patterson’s sacrifice fly scored Mora. Markakis followed with a three-run bullet to right and a one run ball game turned into a rout.

In the bottom off the seventh, the Sox decided to get their butts in gear. Pedroia doubled to lead off and scored on Youkilis’ base hit up the middle. Ortiz walked. With two outs, Crisp dribbled one that the pitcher couldn’t grab and he reached. Hinske’s single drove in Youkilis and Ortiz to make it 9-6. The well-traveled Danys Baez came on to close things out. Lowell and Alex Cora (pinch-hitting) each singled. With one Hinske’s single drove in Lowell. Lugo’s grounder to third was misplayed by Mora and Cora came in to bring the score to within one. With the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second and only one out, Varitek grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame. Arrgh!!

The Sox opened the month of September (Game 136, 9/1/07) in the most auspicious of ways as Clay Buchholz, making only his second major league start by throwing a no-hitter. He was simply amazing on this night, and the Sox pounded out 14 hits en route to 10-0 victory.

IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST
Clay Buchholz 9.0 0 0 0 3 9 0 115-73

He appeared to feel no overt anxiety as he made his way through each inning. He was really bailed out by Pedroia, who made a spectacular diving grab of Tejada’s bullet in the seventh, but other than that, it seemed to be a rockin’ chair of a night. The pressure was definitely relieved with a powerful showing by the offense.

They put up one run in the second and three more in the fourth inning with two outs. Brandon Moss and Lugo each singled, and Pedroia hit an infield single to load the bases. Everyone came home on Big Papi’s bases clearing double to left-center gap.

Meanwhile, Buchholz kept rolling along. In the sixth, he walked Roberts then picked him off. It was maybe around this point that people started thinking about the fact that the Orioles failed to make a hit. In the bottom of the inning, the Sox’ hitters started to batter the Bal’mur bullpen. Rocky Cherry (now there’s a name for ya) came on in relief with one out. Lugo banged a double to left. With two outs, Ortiz walked. Lowell followed with a double to left driving in Lugo. Youkilis then banged a three-run homer to make it 8-0.

Buchholz had 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth. People shied away from him in the dugout as if he were radioactive. In the bottom of the eighth, Pedroia singled up the middle leading off. With one out, Lowell rapped a single to left, and Youkilis followed suit. With two outs, Ellsbury (pinch-hitting for Kielty) doubled, driving in Pedroia and Lowell to make it 10-0.

That set the stage for the ninth inning. Roberts struck out swinging…two outs away. Patterson flied out to center…one out away. Nick Markakis was caught looking at a curveball that dropped in from outer space, and Buchholz did it!

A no-hitter!!!

How can you top that? Certainly, Red Sox fans weren’t looking for a duplicate performance from Jon Lester in the series finale on Sunday (Game 137 9/2/07), but merely a quality start. And to his credit, he gave the team just what they needed, allowing two runs over six innings. He did struggle a little with his control, but was good enough to run his record to 3-0. The Sox manufactured a run in the first when Lowell’s one-out base hit drove in Pedroia who singled leading off. Things stayed 1-0 until there were two outs in the fourth when Jacoby Ellsbury hit his first major league homer. He’s only back back up for a couple of days and already opening eyes. In the fifth, Pedroia doubled leading off and advanced to third on Cora’s sacrifice. After Ortiz was intentionally walked, Lowell hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Pedroia with the third Boston run.

In Baltimore’s sixth, Mora’s one-out single drove in Tejada, then Ramon Hernandez homered leading off the seventh and Lester’s day was finished. Javier Lopez, Okajima and Papelbon each pitched an inning of scoreless relief and the Sox walked away taking three out of four.

“Toronto Comes To Town” (9/3-5)

Toronto came in for three starting on Labor Day evening. Heading into the game, the Yankees had already been crushed 7-1 by Seattle, so now their Wild Card lead is down to one. Adding insult to injury, not only did Clemens get the loss, but he’ll also miss his next start with blisters and elbow inflammation. Mike Mussina (who had been removed from the rotation) had to come in for mop-up duty.

Pedro also made his first start of the year for the Mets in Cincinnati, going five strong innings after having been out for a year with arm surgery. It will be very interesting to see how his pitching will help his team, as they’re already five up over the Phillies in the NL East.

Monday night's series opener (Game 138, 9/3/07) was among the more bizarre baseball games, the Sox had played all year. Daisuke got the start, and through the first five innings, things couldn't have been better from the Boston point of view. They battered Toronto pitching over the first four innings and found themselves with the 10-0 lead. It couldn't have been easier. Then, in the sixth inning, the roof caved in on Matsuzaka. The Blue Jays sent 12 men up to bat and by the time the smoke had cleared, they pushed across eight runs, and inconceivably it was now a ballgame. In the bottom of the sixth, the Sox pushed across three more runs and that was the difference. This was another dreadful four-hour exhibition of bad pitching. Renewed scrutiny has been placed on Matsuzaka, as it appears as though he's hit a brick wall. Boston fan should remember that he's never pitched this many innings before, and his schedule in Japan called for five days' rest instead of the four he has been working with all season.

Tuesday night's game (Game 139, 9/4/07) was conventional and humdrum compared to the night before. Josh Beckett got the start, and the Sox used one good inning capped off by Jacoby Ellsbury's two-out, two-run homer that propelled them to a 5-3 win. Beckett's only bad inning was the fifth, when the ageless Matt Stairs took him deep for a three-run shot, otherwise he was dominating. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay was on the mound for Toronto and he is always tough against the Red Sox. Tonight was no different, as he only had one bad inning as well. In the bottom of the eighth, Youkilis gave the Red Sox a little breathing room with a one-out solo homer. Jonathan Papelbon entered in the ninth-inning, and blew away Toronto 1-2-3 to earn his 33rd save of the year. But the story was Beckett. He went eight strong innings, allowing five hits, among them being that nasty homerun, striking out seven, while walking only one.

The series finale (Game 140, 9/5/07), was another wasted outing by Curt Schilling, who once more pitched well enough to win, but was ultimately let down by a failure of the bullpen in the later innings as the Blue Jays scored three times in the eighth and ninth innings to pull away with a 6-4 win. The Sox went up top quick in the first inning when Lowell drove in Ellsbury. The Blue Jays cuffed around Schilling for three runs in the fifth to grab the lead, the Sox picked up a run in the bottom of the ending and went ahead in the sixth when Varitek hit a two-out, two-run homer. All the bullpen needed to do was hold down things for three innings. But they couldn't. In the eighth, Troy Glaus hit a game-tying homer off of Manny Delcarmen. In the ninth, Hideki Okajima came on and with one out, Vernon Sluggo Wells hit a two-run homer to put a cherry on top. It was a lousy way to end the homestand.

“Four More In Baltimore” (9/6-9)

What a sad spectacle at it was in Baltimore, where the Sox next traveled for four games with the Orioles. Since Baltimore has been on this unprecedented run of fielding lousy baseball teams, more Red Sox fans generally show up for the games at Camden Yards than do Orioles' fans. Growing up as a kid in the mid-60s and early 70s, the Orioles were considered as a model franchise. It seemed that every year, they would put together a team that was always in contention. It's not that way any more.

Tim Wakefield got to start the series opener (Game 141, 9/6/07), and once again he struggled. The Sox were behind 4-2 in the fourth when Crisp hit a three-run homer with one out. Baltimore came back with two runs to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning, then Ortiz tied the score with a solo homer in the top of the fifth. Things stayed 6-6 until the bottom of the sixth. Clay Buchholz came on in relief and immediately got himself into a jam, allowing two walks and a base hit with nobody out. He was able to get Tejada to bounce into a 5-2-3 double play, and then struck out Millar to get out of trouble. In the ninth, Baltimore sent out Danys Baez. Crisp reached him for a base hit, stole second and scored on Varitek's pinch-hit single. Jonathan Papelbon emphatically closed things out with two strikeouts.

Friday night's ballgame (Game 142, 9/7/07) was a very very strange one indeed. Jon Lester got the start against Daniel Cabrera. The Sox put up a pair of runs in the second and things stayed quiet... until the fourth inning. Crisp led off with a single and ultimately moved to third on a pair of ground outs. Crisp was dancing along the third base line which appered to annoy Cabrera to no end. Cabrera was called for a balk and Crisp scored. With Pedroia at the plate, Cabrera launched one toward the old coconut, and he was summarily tossed by the home plate umpire. Baltimore's manager came out and try to do his best Earl Weaver impersonation, and he too, was also excused from any further participation in the evening's match. The Sox scored their fourth run of the night in the seventh when Youkilis drove in Ellsbury with a base hit to right.

On Saturday night (Game 143, 9/8/07), it was another disastrous outing for Matsuzaka. The Sox started out quickly, holding a 4-1 lead after 2 1/2. In the bottom of the third, the Orioles hung a big, ugly, crooked number on the scoreboard that ultimately doomed the Red Sox chances on this night. Gustavo Molina led off with a single and Roberts followed with a double to right. Redman walked. Markakis walked and Molina came in. Tejada singled, driving in Roberts. Millar walked, scoring Redman. With two outs, Scott Moore (who?) hit a grand slam. Other than the red flags and warning alarms that are popping off all over New England regarding Matsuzaka, they really was not much more to say about this one.

Sunday's finale (Game 144, 9/9/07) was a terrific baseball game that went down to the wire before the Sox pulled out a 3-2 win with a run in the eighth inning. Josh Beckett and Jeremy Guthrie were the respectice starters. In the third, the Sox put up a pair of runs with two outs when Pedroia singled and Ortiz doubled,. Both scored on Lowell's base hit up the middle. Mora hit a solo homer in the fourth to pull things to within a run and Markakis tied the score with a leadoff homer in the sixth. Guthrie had to leave the ballgame with two outs in the seventh to to a chest injury, which was a shame as he had another outstanding outing against Boston.

Things remained quiet until the top of the eighth of when Drew led off with a base hit to center. With one out, Drew stole second and scored the go-ahead run on Crisp's singled up the middle. Hideki Okajima had a nice rebound performance, getting out the Baltimore hitters 1-2-3 in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon came onto the ninth, and other than a one-out single, had little difficulty closing things out to pick up his 35th save. Once more, Beckett came through when the team needed him. In picking up his 18th win of the season, he went seven innings, allowing seven hits, (including the two gopher balls) struck out five and walked no one. Taking three out of four in Baltimore was most pleasing to the overwhelmingly pro-Boston crowd, who held up placards that read "Fenway Park South". These are the same idiots that will be the first ones to jump off the bandwagon when the going gets rough. And it is going to get rough.

“Dem Divil Rays” (9/10-12):

Following the Sox’ unceremonious clubbing of the Orioles, the much-improved Devil Rays came to town for three games prior to the return engagement with the Yankees. People who scrutinize the baseball world with greater discernment than is done here are duly impressed with the collection of young, talented everyday players Tampa Bay has developed. It’s only a matter of time before this team is a contender. Their primary fault has been a consistent lack of quality pitching. They’ve now developed one ace in Scott Kazmir, and another prospect in James Shields. They moved a number of pieces to solidify the bullpen, and they have the perfect manager for a young group in Joe Maddon. The record may not show it, but they are a team on the rise in need of two quality starters to make the leap. If they are able to retain their core group (Crawford, Young, Upton and Kazmir) while mixing in veteran help with young players, the Rays are going to be an exciting team to watch. Unfortunately, astute business planning has not exactly been this franchise’s calling card from Day One. But they come to Boston having won 11 of their last 15, so maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

In the series opener (Game 145, Mon. N. 9/10/07), Curt Schilling had the bad luck of getting the start against Kazmir, who was simply amazing on this cool, damp night. He went seven, allowing five hits, walking none and striking out ten. In the fifth, (Hey) Norton led off with a double, went to third on Navarro’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Josh Wilson’s sacrifice fly to right. That was it for the scoring, as Kazmir and the Rays held the Sox hitters in check. It was a shame for Big Schill, because he was really on his game as well, and it was his second straight outing where he received no run support. So, it’s a tip of the cap to Kazmir and keep moving along.

Tuesday night (Game 146, 9/11 WE NEVER FORGET) was the polar opposite of the pitcher’s duel played just 24 hours earlier. It rained during the afternoon but, on this night the Sox came back from an 8-1 deficit to post a thrilling 16-10 win. It was one of those nights where Sox’ fans just knew the offense would explode, and we were not disappointed. Tim Wakefield and Andrew Sonnanstine each started, but neither pitcher was around very long on this night. Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Sox were already down 8-1. Lowell and Drew each reached on singles With one out, Crisp singled to load the bases and Lugo's base hit brought in Mike Lowell. Kevin Cash lined a single down the line in right that scored Drew and Crisp. Sonnanstine was relieved by Scott Dohmann at that point. Ellsbury walked and Pedroia hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Lugo. All of a sudden it was a ballgame again. The Devil Rays picked up a run in the fifth inning to go back on top by four, but there was no stopping the Red Sox hitters. In the bottom of the inning Lowell again led off with an infield single followed by another base hit by Drew. Youkilis walked to load the bases and Crisp hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought in Lowell. Lugo followed with a double driving in Drew. Cash's sacrifice fly to right brought in Youkilis and suddenly Tampa Bay's lead dwindled down to one.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox blew this one wide open. Pedroia led off with a homer to tie the score at nine. Ortiz singled to left. After a pitching change, Lowell singled to left and Drew walked. Everyone came home on Youkilis’ triple into the triangle. Crisp followed with a double that drove in Youkilis. After another pitching change, Ellsbury's two-out single to left scored Crisp and it was 14-9 Red Sox. Ortiz and Drew hit solo homers in the seventh inning, and by the time the smoke cleared, the Red Sox walked away with a 16-10 victory. Pretty sweet, no? Both teams combined for 38 hits and 13 pictures were used. And to think, the game was played in a tidy 3:45.

The series finale (Game 147, 9/12/07) seemed to start off as a carbon copy of the night before. Tampa Bay cuffed around Jon Lester for four runs in the top of the first and Sox fans were thinking, "here we go again". But such fears were not to be realized as Lester settled down after his disastrous first inning. The Sox got three runs back in the bottom of the third inning when Ortiz hit a three-run shot, (his 30th of the season) to pull the game to within a run. Over the course of the seven innings, the Sox had numerous chances to either tie the ballgame or go ahead, but Tampa Bay found a way to frustrate them time after time.

The game remained 4-3 heading into the ninth inning. Jonathan Papelbon came on for the ninth and retired the Devil Rays' hitters 1-2-3. In the bottom of the ninth, Tampa Bay sent out their closer, Al Reyes, to nail it down. Lugo led off with a walk, and the mighty Big Papi strode to the plate. He smacked a long, high fly ball to right field. Delmon Young gave chase, but the ball seemed to twist in the wind, leaving Young utterly dumbfounded as to which direction the ball was headed. It eventually landed in the first or second row of the right-field grandstand near the low wall, and once again Ortiz propelled his team to victory with a walkoff homerun.

“Return of The Evil Empire” (9/14-16):

After a day off on Thursday, the Yankees came to town for a three-game set, 5 ½ games back with a little more than two weeks remaining. The opening game pitted Matsuzaka (who has struggled of late) against Andy Pettitte. (cue "Jaws" music)

Friday night’s opener (Game 148, 9/14/07) was terrible for the Red Sox.
There was no excuse for this, none at all. Of course, when the Red Sox come back from a large deficit to win, all of New England revels in the moment. When the shoe's on the other foot, we bemoan and bewail our awful luck at the hands of the New Yorkers. But this...how does a team blow a 7-2 lead?

And to think that things started so well (after the Yankee first, anyhow). The Yanks left the bases loaded and failed to score in the first. So, it initially looked as if Daisuke's worrisome lack of effectiveness would continue, but he came back to pitch as Sox fans had been previously accustomed.

The Sox went up early when Ellsbury's two-out single to center drove in Youkilis, singled to right leading off the second. In the third, Ortiz doubled with one out. Lowell singledup the middle and Ortiz was thrown out at the plate (how many times has this happened this year) Youkilis walked and Drew hit a scorcher to first that Giambi couldn't handle and Lowell came in the back door to put Boston up by a pair.

The Yanks got a run in the fourth when Posada doubled and scored on Matsui's triple. Daisuke was able to get Cabrera to ground into a double play to avoid further trouble.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kielty doubled to left leading off and Ellsbury singled putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Ellsbury then stole second and both runners scored on Pedroia's base hit up the middle. Ortiz follwed with a single and Lowell's infield single to no-man's land scored Pedroia and the Sox were with one out. After four, the Sox were looking pretty good at 5-1. Pettitte was finished after four and Jose Veras entered in relief for New York. The Yanks got another run in the sixth when Posada doubled leading off then Matsui walked. With two outs, Cabrera walked and Timlin was brought in to releive Matsuzaka. Damon's infield hit scored Posada.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Sox pushed across two more runs when Lugo singled leading off. With one out Ortiz received an intentional pass. With two outs, Lugo stole third and scored on Youkilis' single to center. After a pitching change, Drew's single to right scored David Ortiz with two out and the Sox were sitiin' in the catbird's seat at 7-2.

...but not for long. With Javier Lopez on the hill in the top of the eighth, Giambi led off with a homer and Cano went back-to-back (uh oh) Cabrera walked and doubled to the left center gap. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Francona called for Papelbon to douse the fire. Instead, all he did was throw gasoline on it. Jeter drove in Cabrera with a single and Abreu's scored Damon and Jeter with the tying runs. A-Rod followed with a base hit, scoring Abreu with the go-ahead run. Just like that, a 7-2 lead was erased and the Sox were behind. In the bottom of the ninth, Drew singled putting the tying run aboard with nobody out, then Rivera cooly and calmly retired the next three batters and the Yankees came away with the victory. This was a very, very tough game to lose, perhaps the toughest of the year. The fact that the game broke an American League record for the longest nine-inning game ever played at 4:43 made the result even more depressing.

On Saturday afternoon (Game 149 9/15/07) the team desperately needed a win and they had their ace, Josh Beckett (looking for win #19), on the hill and he did not disappoint the faithful, though things started rather inauspiciously when Jeter led off the ballgame with a homer. After that, Beckett settled in quite well.

18-game winner Chien-Ming Wang countered for New York and Lowell tagged him with an RBI single driving in Pedroia, who led off with a base hit. Things stayed a 1-all tie until the fifth, when Wang hit Youkilis on the hand with a fastball in. Youk went down and out of the ballgame as visions of Jim Rice suffering a broken wrist after getting hit in a meaningless game late in the ’75 season danced in Sox’ fans heads. Youk’s injury was diagnosed as a contusion, and all of New England collectively sighed a breath of relief. Ortiz followed with a base hit. With two outs Drew lined a single to left that drove in Jacoby Ellsbury (pinch-running) with the go-ahead run. The Sox scored seven runs in the sixth and seventh, and this time, that Yankees could not overcome the deficit.

In the sixth, Hinske doubled leading off and moved to third on Crisp’s base hit up the middle. With one out, Crisp stole second. Pedroia hit into a 5-2 force erasing Hinske. The play at the plate was memorable as Hinske barreled down the third base line and bowled over Posada at the plate. It was a hard hit, but to Posada’s credit he hung onto the ball. His brains were scrambled but he hung on nonetheless. Pedroia stole second, which wasn’t too difficult at the time as Posada was most likely seeing double. Ellsbury followed with a singled to left that scored Crisp. Ortiz then doubled to the right-center gap driving in Pedroia and Ellsbury and the Sox were up 5-1.

In the seventh, the Sox put this one out of reach. Drew walked leading off. With one out, Torre called on Ron Villone to face Hinske. That move backfired as Hinske walked. Exit, Villone, enter Bruney. Crisp hit a ground-rule double to right that scored Drew. Lugo walked. With two outs, Bruney was lifted in favor of Henn. Ellsbury’s base hit up the middle brought in Hinske and Crisp. Ortiz walked. Exit Henn, enter Ohlendorf (now you can see how Red-Sox Yankees’ games average four hours in length), who walked Lowell, scoring Lugo and the Sox were up 9-1. Hinske’s solo shot in the eighth made it an even 10.

As well as the offense performed it was Beckett’s outing that was the story. He went seven, allowing just three hits, the one homer to Jeter, while striking out seven. On a day when the team needed a stopper, he took the ball and accepted the challenge.

Sunday Night’s finale (Game 150 9/16/07) was one of those classic formula Red-Sox Yankees games where both teams play hard before the Yankee Hero steps in to save the day. The Red Sox make a valiant effort but always fall agonizingly short at the end. It could’ve been ’49 and DiMaggio, ’78 and Dent or ’03 and Boone. This time it was ’07 and Jeter. It is just the way it’s always been and will always be (with the notable exception of October, 2004). Nine times out of ten, when the Big Moment arrives, the Yankee Hero strikes the vital blow that vanquishes Boston. So when Jeter hit that two-strike, two-out three run homer in the eighth inning off of Schilling to break up the 1-1 tie, as grievous as it was from Boston’s perspective, it was hardly a surprise. The guy’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. When it comes crunch time, and your team really, really needs the big hit, there’s no one other than Jeter or Ortiz who fans would want to see in the batter’s box. And that’s how the game ended. The Sox had pulled to within a run at 4-3 (Lowell’s homer and Lugo’s double) and had loaded the bases with two outs. The Great Rivera was on the hill for New York and he was struggling, looking at Big Papí walking toward the plate. Seriously, if you were a baseball fan (putting partisan rivalries aside if humanly possible) what more could you want? Ortiz and Rivera fought hard, hammer and tong, neither giving an inch. It was Yaz and Gossage, it was Nixon and Clemens all over again. Rivera took Ortiz to a full count before…Ortiz popped out to Jeter to end the ballgame. Once more, Red Sox fans are left to endure the taunts of the Obnoxious Ones lording it over their rivals and polluting the airwaves of New England with their annoying boasts.

So the Yanks leave town having picked up but one game in the stand
As the teams head into the stretch, barring a ’64 Philliesque collapse the Red Sox are going to win the East while the Yanks have to contend with the hard-charging Tigers for the Wild Card.

“Pushin’ The Panic Button” (at Toronto 9/17-18):
The Red Sox hit the road for the final time this regular season with three in Toronto and three in Tampa Bay. The first two games of the Toronto series were about as painful to watch as any this year if you were a Red Sox fan. In Monday night's (Game 151, 9/17/07) opener, Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball fizzled, Frank Thomas hit three home runs, and the Blue Jays went on to a 6-1 win.

Tuesday night (Game 152, 9/18/07) was even worse. Jon Lester got the call against AJ Burnett and both starters pitched very well. The Red Sox had gotten single runs in the fourth and fifth inning, and we're nursing a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth. The manager turned to Eric "Game Over" Gagné to hold down the fort until Papelbon could come on to close it out in the ninth. Gagné easily retired the first two hitters then the roof caved in. Frank Thomas walked. Hill singled and Stairs walked. Zaun walked and the tying run scored. Russ Adams (pinch-hitting) lined a double to right-center field gap that eluded JD Drew's leaping stab and two more runs scored. In the top of the ninth, Lugo hit a solo homer to pull it to within one run, but the Red Sox ended up losing once more, this time in the most agonizing fashion. Oh, by the way, while the Red Sox were losing the past three nights, the Yankees just kept on winning, and now Boston's lead is down to two and half games.

There are 5-6 million people who think they can manage the team better than Francona and a lot of them were thinking about tossing their tv’s out the window after the loss. Over the long run, he’s proven just about everyone wrong and has received a lot of support from the fans. Tonight was a different story. Why did he allow Gagné to remain in the game once it was conclusively determined that Gagné could no longer put the ball over the plate? The season was on the line while the manager fiddled and the house came down. Looking up at the scoreboard and seeing the Yankees winning 12-0 should have impressed upon the manager how vitally important winning this game was. There have been disappointing and aggravating losses and heartbreakers (like this past Sunday night). But this one really put people over the edge. Now the teams hit the stretch with the Yankees having all the momentum. Over the next ten days, we will scrutinize the action as the hosses charge toward the finish line.