Dog Days II

Before opening the three game series in Arlington, the Sox re-acquired Alex Gonzalez
from the Reds in exchange for 23-year-old old Single A shortstop Kris Negron and $1.1 MM in cash. Gonzalez played for the Sox in ’06, and most Sox fans will admit that they’d never seen any Boston shortstop play the position better. If plays at anywhere near his previous level, then the team has acquired a terrific glove for the stretch run. From Saturday’s “Extra Bases” in the Globe, “He had surgery on his left knee due to a compression fracture in 2008 and was lost for the year. This past June 22nd he had four bone chips removed from his right (throwing) elbow.” As expected, the corresponding roster move required that Chris Woodward be DFA’d.

At this point of the season, it goes without saying that every game is important. This year, however, the Rangers have had the Sox’ number (winning five out of six), so maybe this isn’t the right time to be facing off against a team that’s virtually tied with them for the Wild Card, especially without Youkilis.

In Friday night’s opener, Jon Lester (9-7, 3.67) got the start against Kevin Milwood (9-7), who’s had some success against Boston this year (two wins). Ellsbury was given the night off and Josh Reddick started in center. With two outs in the first, he walked Martinez and hit Bay in the back with a pitch, but Drew (sigh) struck out swinging. In the bottom of the first, Vizquel walked leading off, and Michael Young followed with a home run to left center, so the Sox were in a hole right off the bat. Lester then struck out the side, but he threw a ton of pitches. In the second and third, the Sox grounded into double plays to kill potential rallies. In the bottom of the fourth, Lester walked Andruw Jones and Hamilton to start things, but Blaylock, Murphy and Teagarden all struck out swinging. Ortiz tied the game with a two-run shot to right in the top of the sixth after Millwood was relieved by Guardado, but the Rangers came right back in the bottom half of the inning when Byrd rocked a double over Reddick’s reach in center and Jones hit a bloop single, scoring Byrd. Lester (6,IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3BB, 11 K) was relieved by Bard in the seventh. The Rangers picked up another run on Michael Young’s sacrifice fly to deep right that brought in Teagarden.

In the top of the ninth with Francisco pitching, Ortiz doubled down the rightfield line leading off. Varitek reached on an infield single, barely beating Vizquel’s throw deep in the hole at second, and Ellsbury lined a base hit up the middle driving in Ortiz. Clay Buchholz came on to run for Varitek. Pedroia hit a long fly to left that bounced off the wall, right into Murphy’s glove. Buchholz didn’t know whether to run or stop. Finally he made a break for the plate and was thrown out 7-5-2 on a headfirst slide at home! Aaaagh!!! Now runners were on second and third with Victor Martinez at the plate. Martinez smacked a double that bounced off the wall in right, two runs scored and the Sox were ahead 5-4! Bay followed with a line drive single to right, Martinez scored and it was 6-4. Drew then hit a two-run bomb that left the yard in the blink of an eye and it was 8-4. With Papelbon pitching in the bottom of the ninth, Vizquel doubled over Bay’s head with one out. Papelbon came back to strike out Young and Byrd and the Sox came away with an incredible 8-4 comeback win.

Friday night’s win was probably the most dramatic of the year, but it’s only one game. For this game to have any long lasting effect, it needs to be a catalyst for a nice run. Time will tell, starting With Saturday night’s game. The buzz in the media and talk shows centered around the manager’s big gamble pinch-running Buchholz in the ninth, especially considering that Buchholz slid head first into the plate. All it would’ve taken was an injury and the season would’ve been in greater jeopardy, If the Sox ended up losing last night the manager would’ve been skewered by the media and fans alike.

In Saturday’s middle game, Brad Penny (7-6, 5.16) started against Holland. Alex Gonzalez was thrown right into the starting lineup together with Brian Anderson, who was recalled from Pawtucket. This was a game that was worth forgetting as soon as the final pitch was thrown. The Rangers stole eight bases off of Penny/Varitek as the Rangers coasted to a 7-2 win. In the second, Kinsler homered, Andrus tripled (on Anderson’s muff) and Borbon singled him in. Bay homered in the top of the fourth to cut the score to 2-1, but the Rangers came back in the bottom half of the inning with two more as Andrus singled, stole second and third and scored on Borbon’s single. Borbon later stole second a sacrifice fly. Victor Martinez hit a solo homer in the fifth, but that’s as close as the Sox got. The Rangers scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth in a particularly ugly fashion that needs no recapping here. In a scary moment, Kinsler was beaned by Fernando Cabrera and had a few choice words for the reliever, but got up to take his base.
But it was a typical Penny start (5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4BB, 6K, 1 HR, 121 P): in short, it was torture to watch. He is so brutally slow to the plate that runners on first are halfway to second before the ball leaves his hand. The Rangers are now within ½ of the Sox’ lead in the Wild Card as the teams prepare to square off on Sunday afternoon, where the temps will be in the low 100’s. Ugh…

Sunday afternoon’s game (8/16) was another exercise in futility. Junichi Tazawa did not pitch badly, but the Sox could hardly muster any offense and they lost, 4-3. The Sox grabbed an early lead on Ortiz’ 17th homer of the year leading off the second, but Kinsler tied the score with a solo homer of his own in the bottom half of the inning. Hamilton doubled with two outs in the third driving in Murphy and scored on Kinsler’s single.Brian Anderson drove in Ortiz with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 3-2, and things stayed that way until Teagarden’s solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. Pedroia homered in the top of the seventh, but that’s as close as the Sox could get on this day. They left 9 runners on base, and it’s hard to win when the offense doesn’t execute. For a rookie still learning his way, Tazawa had another pretty good outing (5IP,10H ,4ER, 3BB, 0K, 2HR, 97P), a performance that could’ve been good enough to win on this broiling afternoon provided adequate run support, which never arrived. With the win, the Rangers leapfrogged the Sox to take a ½ game lead in the Wild card standings. As presently comprised, the Sox are simply not a playoff team. They can’t hit and, if the fail to make the playoffs (as we predicted in April), then the onus is going to fall on the lack of timely hitting and a team that suddenly grew too old…

Three Up North:

After a much-needed day off the Sox made their way to Toronto for three at F/K/A Skydome. Kevin Youkilis returned to the lineup following his five-game suspension. The Blue Jays are just counting down the days ‘til the season’s over. Since the last time the Sox played Toronto, the Jays have moved Alex Rios, Scott Rolen and B.J. Ryan, unloading about $80MM in contracts as they begin the retooling process around younger, more affordable players. Varitek was scratched from the starting lineup with a strained neck and VMart was inserted in his place. Pedroia was also away from the team after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.

It was a spectacular day in Toronto and the roof was wide open. The Jays started young lefty Ricky Romero (10-5, 3.79) against Josh Beckett, who was looking for his 15th win of the year. This is the first time that Beckett has worked with Martinez behind the plate. Ellsbury struck out leading off, Drew singled to right but Martinez hit into a 1-6-3 twin killing. With one out in the bottom of the first, Hill doubled down the leftfield line, but Beckett got out of trouble on a fly out and striking out Overbay. Youkilis doubled off the wall in left-center to open up the second and Bay followed with a walk. Lowell blooped a single to short right to load the bases. Ortiz then hit an opposite-field double, driving in Youkilis and Bay. Gonzalez grounded out to short and Lowell came in with the third run, and Ellsbury doubled in Ortiz to make it 4-0 on a close play at the plate. In the bottom half, Randy Ruiz hit a solo shot to center with one out to make it 4-1. Travis Snider led off the third with a homer to left and it was 4-2. Ortiz led off the fourth with a long homer to right and Green followed with a double off the wall. Gonzalez reached on a bunt single, moving Green to third, Green later scored on Ellsbury’s sacrifice fly to left to make it 6-2. Martinez walked, and Romero’s night came to an abrupt end. Sluggo Wells doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center, but Bay started the fifth by clocking a long homer to center to make it 7-3. But the Jays weren’t giving up just yet. Snider singled leading off the fifth and Hill doubled off the wall. Both scored on Lind’s single and suddenly it was 7-5. Beckett has not been at all sharp tonight. In the bottom of the sixth, Barajas hit a two-run homer to center and the game was tied up. The manager came calling with the hook…The question is whether he simply had an off night or didn’t work well with Martinez. Either way, it was a bad day at the office for Beckett, It seems as if on the days the Sox hit well, they pitch poorly and on the days they pitch well, they can’t hit…Ortiz walked leading off the eighth and Green followed with a base hit to left. Gonzalez bunted to the pitcher Janssen, who threw wildly to first and Ortiz scored the go-ahead run from second, with both runners moving into scoring position. Ellsbury then drove in Green with a sacrifice fly to right, and Martinez lined a two-out double down the line in left to make it 10-7. Bard entered in the bottom half of the eighth and retired the first two batters before allowing back-to-back singles, The manager had seen enough and called for Papelbon, who promptly walked Snider to load the bases. Scutaro lined a single to right, two runs scored and it was 10-9. In the bottom of the ninth, Papelbon allowed a base hot and a walk before Barajas fouled out to Youkilis and the Sox survived this one by the slimmest of margins,

Tuesday night’s game (8/19) featured Roy Halladay (13-5, 2.65) against Clay Buchholz. Halladay generally owns the Red Sox (along with the entire League), so runs would be tough to come by. Ortiz led off the second with a homer to right on a breaking ball that just cleared the fence. With one out, Kotchman reached on a turf-bounce infield hit, stole second and scored on Gonzalez’ two-out single. With one out in the third, Ellsbury and Youkilis hit back-to-back singles but Ortiz and Bay both whiffed to kill that threat. In the fourth, Gonzalez singled with two outs and came in on Ellsbury’s triple to the gap in right center. Halladay simply wasn’t as sharp as usual. Drew followed with a walk, but Martinez lined out to first and the Sox had to settle for only one run. Hill singled laeding off the bottom of the fourth and Overbay walked with one out. Sluggo Wells lined a single to right and Hill scored the Jays’ first run. Youkilis reached in the top of the fifth when Hill made a bad throw on a routine grounder, stole second and came in on Bay’s two-run bomb to make it 5-1 Sox. Halladay was finished after five and turned things over to Josh Roeneke. The Sox were fortunate to catch Halladay on an off night. The Jays loaded the bases with two outs on three singles in the sixth but Encarnacion flew out to center to end that chance. Buchholz handed things over to Ramon Ramirez in the seventh, who struck out two and walked one then Okajima pitched a quick and clean eighth. Martinez homered to left with two outs in the top of the ninth to make it 6-1 and Youkilis was hit (again) by a pitch, but simply took his base. After both benches were warned (prompting howls from both managers) Ortiz reached on a single to the hole in short, but Bay struck out to end the inning. Saito came on in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order. Coming away with a win against Halladay is a pretty big deal, and at least for this night, the Sox remain tied for the Wild Card lead.

In Thursday’s finale (8/20), Jon Lester (9-7, 3.71) started against young lefthander Brett Cecil (5-1, 4.35), who had not lost in his previous nine outings. The roof was closed tonight as a tornado watch had been posted for the GTA prior to the game. Dustin Pedroia returned to the lineup, and he walked in his first at bat. In the bottom of the first, Scutaro reached on an infield single and Hill followed by ripping a double down the leftfield line. Sluggo Wells then walked to load ‘em. Barajas hit into a 6-4-3 twin killing and Scutaro came in the back door with the first run of the game. Drew led off the third with a homer to right to tie the score. In the fourth, Bay walked leading off, went to third ob Cecil’s throwing error and scored on Lowell’s base hit. Drew followed with his second homer of the game and the Sox were now up 4-1. In the fifth, Pedroia singled leading off and Youkilis walked with one out. Bay reached on McDonald’s throwing error, scoring Pedroia and putting both runners in scoring position. Ortiz grounded out to third and Youkilis came in with the sixth run. Drew continued his torrid hitting with a single leading off the sixth. Victor Martinez led off the seventh with a homer to make it 7-1 and the rout was on. Drew kept at it, leading off the eighth with a base hit, before giving way to Brian Anderson. Ellsbury followed with a single and Anderson scooted to third. Pedroia hit into a 5-4 force and Anderson came in with the eighth run. Lester was finished after eight and had another brilliant outing (8IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K) before turning things over to Fernando Cabrera. The Sox came away with a desperately-needed sweep of the Jays, and the road trip that started so inauspiciously in Texas ended up on a very high note.

The Yanks Is Comin’

After an upbeat 4-2 road trip, the Sox returned home for a ten-game homestand starting with three against the dreaded Yanks. The Yanks are 6 ½ games up in the East, so for all practical purposes, the Sox are dukin’ it out with Texas and Tampa Bay for the Wild Card. The Yanks are 25-8 since the All-Star break and are clearly favorites for another trip to the Series. They have a bottomless pit of money with which to buy the best players and certainly spent it during the offseason. That’s not sour grapes; it’s simply the truth. Unlike other years, it appears as though it’s been money well spent (unlike the Red Sox, who went the bargain basement “reclamation project” route with less-than splendid results). Prior to Friday night’s game, Michael Bowden was recalled from Pawtucket, Rocco Baldelli came of the DL Brian Anderson was sent to Pawtucket and Fernando Cabrera was DFA’d.

In the opener (8/21), Brad Penny (7-7, 5.22) got the start against Andy Pettitte. It is unfortunate that the starting rotation dictated that Penny got the call for Game 1 because he’s simply proven to be aggravatingly bad. It takes him an exceedingly long time to wind up and deliver a pitch to the plate and base stealers have a field day against him. He also throws a bazillion pitches and is utterly unreliable.

Jeter led off the game with a ground-rule double to right and Teixiera walked with one out. A-Rod reached on an infield single to short and Matsui struck out looking. Posada then drove in a pair with a base hit up the middle. Ellsbury walked to lead off the bottom of the first and stole second (#54), tying Tommy Harper’s Red Sox franchise record from 1973. Ellsbury tagged and moved to third on Pedroia’s fly to right, and scored on Martinez’ sacrifice fly to center. In the top of the second, Cabrera and Jeter singled, putting runners on the corners with one out. Hinske (replacing Damon) doubled to right and Cabrera scored. Teixiera doubled in almost the identical place as did Hinske, this time two runs scored and it was 5-1 Yanks. A-Rod singled in Teixiera but was thrown out by Bay at second. In the top of the third, Posada struck out but reached on a passed ball, but Penny got out of that with a 4-6-3 twin killing. Pedroia doubled in the bottom of the third with two outs, but was gunned down on a head first slide at third trying to get that extra base. Teixiera singled and A-Rod singled high off the wall to start the fifth, and that ended Penny’s night (4IP, 10H, 8ER, 1BB, 4K). What a dreadful, awful pitcher this stiff is. Michael Bowden entered in relief and…served up a three-run meatball to Matsui, who gleefully took the pitch into the Sox bullpen. Bowden appeared incapable of recording any outs. A walk and two hits brought in the Yanks’ 10th run. Another single, another run (11-1); what a pathetic embarrassment. A walk, a single, another single by Teixiera and it was 12-1. Never give up the fight: The Sox actually scored three runs in the fifth when Lowell singled, Baldelli doubled and both scored on Ellsbury’s single to right. Pedroia followed with a double into the leftfield corner and Ellsbury scored. Posada doubled into the triangle leading off the sixth. Bowden is clearly not ready to face major league hitters. Swisher followed with a base hit and Cabrera doubled off the wall, scoring Posada (13-4). Jeter singled up the middle, scoring Swisher and Cabrera (15-4). Kotchman and Green started the bottom of the sixth with singles as Pettitte was over 100 pitches and running out of gas. Ortiz hit a high pop to left field that dropped in between the two outfielders. Kotchman scored and Pettitte’s night was over. Lowell reached on an infield single, and Baldelli walked bring in Green (15-6). Now it’s Bruney’s time to squirm. Gonzalez grounded into a double play, and Ortiz scored (15-7). Bowden was mercifully relieved by Delcarmen to start the seventh. A-Rod tripled off the centerfield wall leading off and scored on a ground out. With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Varitek (pinch hitting) walked and Kotchman was hit by a pitch. Green then walked to load the bases, and Girardi came out with the hook to relieve Bruney. Damaso Marte entered in relief of Bruney, and he struck out Ortiz and Lowell to snuff out that possible rally. In the top of the ninth, Matsui hit a meaningless three-run homer to put the Sox out of their misery to run the score to 19-7. A single and a double off the wall by Swisher made it 20-7…the Sox scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth on homers from Varitek and Lowell to account for the 20-11 final, still, it’s not the end of the world as Texas lost and the Wild Card lead stays intact.

Saturday afternoon’s game (8/22) was the mother of all paybacks for the Red Sox. After getting flattened by a steamroller Friday night and putting a raw rookie out on the mound against one of the Yankees’ aces, it would have been reasonable to conclude that today’s result would’ve been the same if not worse. Heads were hung pretty low throughout New England following Friday night’s 20-11 debacle. The amazing thing about baseball is that one day your team can play like the dregs and the next day like world beaters, and if a team desperately needed to rebound from such a humiliating defeat, Saturday’s game would’ve been it. The odds of Junichi Tazawa getting one over on AJ Burnett and the Yanks were admittedly long indeed. The Yanks must’ve rubbed their hands with glee at the prospect of drubbing the kid…but things didn’t quite work according to the script. The Sox scored three runs in the first and four more in the second and never looked back, utterly crushing the Yanks 14-1. Youkilis hit a three-run homer in the first and a two-run shot in the sixth as well as a double, knocking in six runs for the afternoon. Ortiz and Alex Gonzalez each chipped in solo homers as the Yanks didn’t know what hit ‘em. From a Sox fan’s perspective, it was as sweet an afternoon as there’d been all year. But as impressive as the offense was, the brightest star was young Tazawa, making only his third big league start. The kid line was 6IP, 8H, 0ER, 2BB, 2K. He was unflappable throughout and blunted the Yankee hitters at every turn. For a Red Sox fan, this was ecstasy and will be savored for a very long time.

On a muggy Sunday night (8/23), Josh Beckett went toe-to-toe with CC Sabathia (14-7, 3.58), in what was billed as a pitcher’s duel for the ages. The ESPN announcer said (perhaps a bit hyperbolically) that this could rival the great duel between Smokey Joe Wood and Walter Johnson in 1912. More often than not, such events never live up to the hype. Case in point: Jeter whacked Beckett’s first pitch of the game into the bullpen, giving the Yanks a quick lead. In the bottom half, Ellsbury reached when Cano booted a routine grounder (E4) leading off the bottom of the first then was picked off trying to steal second when he misread Sabathia’s slide step and was a dead duck. Case in point redux: Matsui took Beckett’s first pitch of the second inning over the bullpen and the Yanks were ahead 2-0. In the bottom half, Lowell doubled off the wall with two outs in the bottom half of the inning and scored on Baldelli’s single up the middle. Varitek followed with a line drive down the rightfield line that rattled around in the corner and Baldelli came around from first to score the tying run. Jeter singled up the middle with one out in the third. So what if he plays for the Yankees? The guy is simply amazing to watch. Any Red Sox fan who “hates” Jeter simply has no appreciation for the game. Year in and year out, he consistently plays exceptionally well, especially against the Red Sox. Damon followed with a pop fly single to short left. Teixeira doubled to right, scoring Jeter with the go-ahead run. A-Rod grounded out to short and Damon came in with the Yanks’ fourth run. Baldelli made a nice sliding backhanded catch of Matsui’s line drive to end the inning. In the bottom half, Pedroia and Martinez singled with one out, but Youkilis hit into a 6-4-3 double play to kill the inning. Cano homered above the bullpens with one out in the fourth to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Bay led off with a pop fly single to right. With two outs, Varitek hit what appeared to be a foul pop to short right. Cano gave chase, but at the last moment the ball twisted into fair territory and bounced off his glove. Bay came around from first to score and Varitek ended up on second. A-Rod hit a two run homer to left in the top of the fifth with two outs and a full count to make it 7-3. He was sitting dead red on a fastball and Beckett delivered the goods. In the bottom of the sixth, Youkilis doubled to left leading off and Lowell hit a pop single into no-man’s land with one out. Baldelli hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Youkilis, making it 7-4. Matsui hit another homer with one out in the eighth, this one into the rightfield grandstand. The Yanks ended up taking two out of three, and in the process, slammed the door shut on any hopes of repeating as division champs.

Clash of the Sox:

The White Sox came to town for the only time this year for four games. In the opener (8/24), Clay Buchholz (2-3, 3.99) got the start against Jose Contreras (5-11, 5.13). At this point, the Sox should just focus on playing the games on the schedule and forget about chasing the Yanks. Buchholz retired the side in order in the first. In the bottom half, Pedroia doubled off the wall with one out, stole third and there he remained as Martinez grounded out with the infield drawn in and Youkilis struck out. Buchholz walked Konerko and Quentin to start the second. Pierzynski then singled up the middle and took second on the throw with Konerko coming in. Ramirez followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Quentin to make it 2-0 ChiSox. The Red Sox picked up a run in the bottom half when Bay singled, went to second on a ground out, to third on a wild pitch and scored when Drew got caught in a run down. Podsednik singled leading off the third, stole second, and scored on Beckham’s homer to left. The Red Sox loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning on a hit, walk and hit batsman. Ortiz followed with a weak grounder down the first base line that Contreras bobbled (E1), Ortiz was safe and Gonzalez scored the Sox’ second run. Bay then walked and Martinez scored to make it 4-3. Youkilis then scored the tying run on a wild pitch. Lowell followed that with a three-run bomb onto Landsdowne Street and the Sox were up 7-4. Ozzie then came out with the hook for Contreras. DJ Carrasco entered in relief and ended the inning on one pitch.
In the bottom of the fourth, Gonzalez singled and Ellsbury doubled to start things off. Carrasco buzzed Pedroia up near the head before Pedroia picked himself off the ground and hit a sacrifice fly to center to make it 8-4. Youkilis then drove in Ellsbury with a base hit up the middle and it was 9-4. But the White Sox didn’t roll over as Konerko hit a three-run homer and that was the night for Buchholz. Ramon Ramirez entered in relief and struck out Quentin, but now it was 9-7. In the bottom of the sixth, Ellsbury reached on an error by the second baseman Nix. Pedroia then looped a single to rightfield. Youkilis singled with two outs, but after a pitching change, Ortiz struck out looking. Drew gave the Sox a cushion with a solo shot above the bullpens with one out in the seventh to make it 10-7, Gonzalez then walked and scored on Ellsbury’s triple that landed in short leftfield, near the foul line and took a huge bounce back toward the wall utterly confounding the leftfielder. Pedroia followed with a double to the left-center gap and it was 12-7.


Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Sox finalized the long-rumored waiver trade with the Mets for lefthanded reliever Billy Wagner in exchange for 2 PTBNL’s and agreeing not to pick up his option for next season. The Red Sox still maintain the right to offer Wagner arbitration, and if he elects not to accept and signs elsewhere, the Sox would be in line to pick up a couple of draft picks next year. The Mets placed Wagner on waivers last week and the Sox claimed him, either to acquire his services or to block either the Angels or the Yanks from claiming him. The Sox had a 1:00 deadline to complete the waiver trade or Wagner wasn’t moving. Wagner also had to waive his no-trade clause and wasn’t about to do so without a guarantee that he could maximize his value as a free agent next year. After a lot of back and forth negotiating, the three sides found enough common ground to move forward with a deal. The Mets get some salary relief and perhaps one or two serviceable prospects, Wagner got the chance to compete in a pennant race now and free agency later and the Sox got to rent an experienced relief ace (albeit one coming off elbow surgery) for the stretch run.

In Tuesday night’s game (8/25), Jon Lester took the hill against Freddy Garcia, making only his second start of the year. Garcia was at one time a top-of-the line starter with Seattle, the ChiSox and the Phils before encountering arm troubles. Now he’s trying a comeback. Lester easily retired the side in order in the top of the first. Ellsbury led off the Red Sox’ first by hitting a ground rule double and stole third (#55), setting a franchise record for stolen bases in a season. Pedroia grounded out to first and Ellsbury came in the back door with the first run of the ballgame. Jayson Nix tied the score with a homer leading off the third. In the bottom of the third, Drew doubled to the left-center gap with two outs and scored on Youkilis’ base hit into the corner in left. After the home run by Nix, Lester mowed down everyone until the seventh when Konerko walked and Dye singled leading things off. Pierzynski bunted the runners into scoring position. Nix lined out to Drew in right and Konerko didn’t chance it. Ramirez then struck out, but reached on a wild pitch and the tying run came in. A line drive single that Lowell couldn’t handle brought Dye with the go-ahead run and Lester’s night was over. After Okajima entered in relief, Podsednik reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Okajima was able to get out of the jam with a ground out. Varitek doubled to right leading off the seventh and Green was inserted as a pinch runner. V-Mart was announced as a pinch hitter for Gonzalez and Ozzie came out with the hook for Garcia (who pitched very well tonight). Matt Thornton entered in relief, and Martinez lined a single to left scoring Varitek with the tying run. Ellsbury reached on a bouncing chop single past the shortstop. After Pedroia moved the runners with a ground out, Drew walked to load the bases and Thornton was relieved by Scott Linebrink, who got Youkilis to ground out to second. Quentin popped up to Okajima, who dropped the ball. Quentin then went to second when Martinez’ return throw went into the outfield. Konerko singled to right, sending Quentin to third. But Okajima was able to get a pop out and a strike out before leaving in favor of Delcarmen. Rios popped out to second to end the threat. In the bottom of the eighth, Bay drilled a long homer to center to put the Red Sox on top, 4-3. Green followed with a base hit and scored on Martinez’ double off the wall. After a pitching change, Ellsbury lined a base hit up the middle and Martinez scored the Sox’ sixth run. Papelbon entered in the top of the ninth and struck out the first two batters before allowing a double to Podsednik. Beckham followed with a fly out to right to end the ballgame.

In Wednesday night’s third game, Tim Wakefield (11-3, 4.31) returned from the DL after a month’s absence to face Gavin Floyd (10-8, 3.98). Victor Martinez was brave enough to take on Wake’s knuckleball. In the first, Beckham reached on an infield hit with one out and scored on Konerko’s triple into the triangle. Ortiz tied the score with one out in the second by hitting a long fly into the Monster Seats. In the fifth, Quentin reached on an infield single that hugged the third base line, stole second, made it to third on a bad throw but did not advance as Wake retired the next two hitters on ground outs. Both pitchers were outstanding through the early-mid innings as Wake’s knuckler was in very good form and Floyd’s stuff was downright filthy. Alex Gonzalez led off the bottom of the sixth by hitting a line drive into the Monster Seats to put the Sox ahead, 2-1. Floyd was through after six and had a very good outing, despite being on the wrong end of the score. Wakefield’s night was finished after seven and no one could’ve asked more from him tonight. Ramon Ramirez entered in relief in the eighth and Scott Podsednik hit a pinch-hit homer above the bullpen to tie the score. Beckham followed with a walk and eventually found himself on third with two outs when Ramirez was pulled in favor of Bard, who struck out Thome. Bard retired the side in order in the ninth…then, in the bottom of the ninth with one out, Ortiz struck again, this time rapping a fastball that curled around Pesky’s Pole in right and the Sox walked off with a 3-2 win. That was Ortiz’ 10th career walkoff homer

To make room for Wagner on the roster, the Sox released Brad Penny at his request. Penny took the high road on the way out, and word is that a number of National League teams are lining up for his services. Penny, like Smoltz, pitched his entire career in the NL before coming to Boston and both could not pitch effectively for the Sox. Smoltz had a terrific outing last week in his first start for the Cardinals, so maybe when Penny returns he can have the same good fortune.

In the finale (8/27), Junichi Tazawa (2-2, 3.57) got the start against tough lefty John Danks (11-8, 3.85). Tazawa was ooking to continue his roll from last Saturday’s start against the Yankees and retired the side in order in the first. Konerko and Thome started the second with singles, putting runners on the corners. Quentin was hit in the helmet with a pitch, but was unhurt. Kotsay lined out to left and Konerko came in with the first run of the game. With two outs, Nix doubled off the wall and two more runs scored. Podsednik lined a single up the middle up the middle and it was 4-0 White Sox, so Tazawa certainly didn’t have the same stuff tonight. Pierzynski and Konerko singled to start the third. Thome hit a sacrifice fly to right and Pierzynski scored the White Sox’ fifth run. Quentin then hit a two-run shot to left and it was 7-0. Alexei Ramirez doubled with two outs and scored on Nix’ single. Nix was caught in a rundown but the Sox botched the play and he was safe. Konerko walked with two outs in the fourth and scored on Thome’s double to right that Drew made a diving attempt to catch but eluded his grasp. The Red Sox finally got on the board in the fifth when Drew wrapped a fastball around Pesky’s Pole. Alex Gonzalez then gave Sox fans a little more to cheer about by going back-to-back into the Monster Seats. Up to that point Danks was having a rocking chair night. With the score 9-2 in the eighth, the manager didn’t want to chew up the bullpen, so he sent Nick Green out there to pitch. Other than a walk, Green got through the inning with no difficulty. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Ortiz drove in Youkilis with a double then Bay doubled in Ortiz to make it 9-4. Drew homered again leading off the ninth, but the Sox got no closer on this night.

Three With The Jays:

Toronto came to town for a weekend series to close out the homestand. In the opener (8/28), Josh Beckett (14-5, 3.65) got the start against Scott Richmond (6-7, 4.89). Beckett has struggled in his last two outings and now’s as good a time as any to get back on the right track. The Blue Jays are now playing out the string but they’re not going to play dead for the Red Sox. They always play the Sox tough, and have hit Beckett well. A light rain arrived just as the game started and the forecast called for the rain to intensify as the evening wore on. Scutaro and Hill started the game with back-to-back singles. With two outs, Sluggo Wells walked to load the bases but Beckett came back to strike out Ruiz and the Jays had a big squander. Ellsbury (coming off a twisted ankle last night) walked to lead off the Sox’ first but got no further as Richmond retired the next three hitters. Beckett walked back-to-back walks with two outs in the second and Hill followed with a three-run shot to left. In the bottom of the fourth, the Sox came back to tie the score as Youkilis and Ortiz started with singles off of Richmond. With one out, Drew singled in Youkilis and Varitek followed with a sacrifice fly to right that brought in Ortiz. After Gonzalez singled, Ellsbury hit a long ground rule double into the triangle that brought in Drew with the tying run. But the Jays came back and scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth as Rod Barajas hit a two-run homer off of Beckett with two outs, but Bay answered back with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the fifth. Beckett was through after five innings and had his third straight tough outing and turned things over to Takashi Saito, who had a clean sixth before turning things over to Bard. In the bottom of the eighth, the Sox scratched the go-ahead run when Ortiz walked leading off, Drew doubled with one out and Kotchman grounded into a 3-6 force with Ortiz coming in the back door. Papelbon entered in the top of the ninth to close things out and struck out Lind looking for the first out. Overbay followed with a bloop single to right, Wells looped a single to center and Diaz walked to load the bases. Barajas then struck out swinging and Snider struck out swinging to end the game in thrilling fashion.

In Saturday night’s game (8/29), Clay Buchholz got the call against rookie lefthander Ricky Romero and Buchholz had one of his better outings as he shut down Toronto’s hitters for 8 ⅓ as the Sox came away with a 3-2 win. The Sox grabbed an early lead when Ellsbury doubled leading off the first and scored on Pedroia’s base hit to left. The Sox manufactured two more runs in the sixth courtesy of three walks and a base hit. Meanwhile, Buchholz was settin’ ‘em up and knockin’ ‘em down. He brought the shutout into the ninth inning. With one out, he turned things over to Okajima, who unexpectedly gave up a double and a single allowing two runs to score. Papelbon entered and got out of the jam with two quick outs and the Sox came away with the win. But It was Buchholz’ night, as he allowed only three hits while striking out nine. The team will need Buchholz to come through like this as they come down the stretch.

Sunday afternoon’s finale (8/30) appeared to be a mismatch. Roy Halladay started for the Jays against Paul Byrd, who had just been recalled from Pawtucket after Tim Wakefield went back on the shelf with back troubles. No one would’ve been surprised if the Jays cruised to a 7-0 win, but certainly everyone was mildly shocked to see Byrd give the Sox six great innings as it was the Sox who bettered Halladay and the Jays 7-0. The Sox chipped away single runs in each of the first four innings, including Rocco Baldelli’s homer in the second. The only time that the Jays were able to get close was the fourth inning when they loaded the bases with two outs before Jose Bautista flew out to Drew in right. The Sox salted away the game in the bottom of the seventh with three runs as Gonzalez doubled leading off, went to third on Ellsbury’s bunt single and both he and Ellsbury both scored on Shawn Camp’s throwing error. Pedroia later scored on Youkilis’ line drive single to left. With a 7-0 lead in the eighth, the manager elected to bring out Billy Wagner for his first appearance with the team and Wagner responded well, striking out Hill, allowing a double to Lind then coming back to strike out Overbay and Sluggo Wells. All in all, sweeping the Jays under the circumstances was a fantastic was to close out a 7-3 homestand for the Sox.