The Final Homestand:

“Freefall”

After a 1-6 road trip in which the Sox fell 3 ½ games behind the Yanks and only 3 games ahead of the Rays, the Sox returned home for the final time this year to open a brief series with the Blue Jays.

Game 147 v. Toronto (9/13/11):

“Eighth Time Is A Charm”

In the series opener, Tim Wakefield started against Brandon Morrow. Like a broken record, Wake continued in his quest for his 200th career win. This was his eighth try. Ortiz was removed from the starting lineup with back spasms (the hits just keep on comin’). In the bottom of the first, Pedroia doubled to deep center and Gonzalez followed with a walk. With two outs, Youkilis was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Reddick then reached on Cooper’s throwing error with Pedroia and Gonzalez coming in to score. In the top of the second, Cooper doubled leading off and Brett Lawrie reached on an infield hit. JP Arencibia then popped a shot into the Monster Seats and the Jays took a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the second, Scutaro singled to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Ellsbury’s double off the wall. Ellsbury moved to third on a balk and scored the go-ahead run on Pedroia’s sacrifice fly to left. Eric Thames singled to right leading off the third and moved to second on a passed ball. Bautista followed with a bomb off the top of the foul pole to put the Jays back on top 5-4. Encarnacion then walked and then Lawrie reached on Youkilis’ fielding error. Wake came back to strike out Arencibia and Loewen. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Crawford hit one long, far, deep and…caught! Adam Loewen reached over into the Sox’ bullpen and came away with the ball. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Ellsbury lined a bullet into the Monster Seats to tie the score and then Pedroia rocked one off the light tower to put the Sox ahead 6-5. Pedroia’s homer was a hanging curve ball that was simply crushed. Bautista walked leading off the fifth. Encarnacion followed with a single to left. With two outs, a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position but Arencibia flied out to left and Wake got out of the jam. Wake really settled down and pitched well in the sixth. Crawford doubled high off the wall leading off the bottom of the sixth. Morrow was replaced by Luis Perez, Saltalamacchia then drove in Crawford with a base hit to left and moved to third on Ellsbury’s line drive single to right. Pedroia followed with a three-run shot into the Monster Seats and the Sox were up 10-5. That was Pedroia’s 20th homer of the year, a career high. After Gonzalez singled to right, Perez was relieved by Carreno. Wake was finished after six (6IP, 6H, 5ER, 2BB, 6K) and turned things over to Aceves, who retired the side in order in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Crawford singled with two outs and scored on Scutaro’s double off the wall. It was Scutaro’s 1,000th career hit. In the bottom of the eighth, Ellsbury led off with a walk and Pedroia followed with a double off the wall. Gonzalez drove in Ellsbury with a single to center to make it 12-5. On that note, Brad Mills was relieved by Danny Farquhar. Conor Jackson drove in Pedroia with a sacrifice fly to left. Aviles then singled up the middle. Farquhar then issued back-to-back walks to Crawford and Scutaro. Saltalamacchia followed with a bases-clearing double to the gap in left center and the Sox were ahead 17-5. Ellsbury then singled in Salty to make it 18-5. Farquhar’s night was over at that point. Junichi Tazawa came on to pitch the ninth. This was his first appearance with the big club since 2009. Thames doubled off the wall with one out. David Cooper doubled in Thames with two outs. Tazawa struck out Lawrie to end the game. Baltimore downed the Rays 4-3, giving the Sox some breathing room. Congratulations to Tim Wakefield for finally accomplishing his historic 200th win.

Game 148 v. Toronto (9/14/11):

On a spectacular Wednesday afternoon, John Lackey took the mound against Ricky Romero, who pitched brilliantly against the Sox last week. Ortiz remained out of the lineup with back spasms. Prior to the game, Wake was honored by the club for picking up his 200th win. The manager was also honored by having been inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Lackey struggled in the early going as Eric Thames singled and Bautista walked with one out. With two outs, Encarnacion singled up the middle and Thames scored the first run of the game. Kelly Johnson followed with a bloop single to center and Bautista scored. In the bottom of the second, Pedroia and Youkilis started things off with back-to-back singles. Ryan Lavarnway reached on an infield single and Pedroia came in with the Sox’ first run. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Varitek grounded out to second and Youkilis came in with the tying run. Ellsbury tripled to right leading off the bottom of the third and scored on Scutaro’s sacrifice fly to center. With one out in the fifth, Bautista and Lind hit back-to-back singles. Lackey got out of the jam on Encarnacion’s liner to left and Kelly Johnson’s grounder to first. In the sixth, Lackey hit Lawrie in the back with a pitch. Lawrie stole second and advanced to third on a bad throw by Varitek. With one out Lackey (5⅓IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 4K) was relieved by Franklin Morales. Loewen hit a grounder to second and Pedroia threw to the plate. There was a big collision at the plate as Lowrie ran full steam into Varitek, but Varitek held onto the ball and Lowrie was called out. Gonzalez led off the bottom of the sixth by popping a fastball into the Sox’ bullpen to make it 4-2. Aceves entered in relief of Morales to open the seventh and Lars Anderson replaced Gonzalez (no reason given). Bard came on to pitch the eighth and immediately fell into trouble. He walked Encarnacion and Johnson. Teahen then attempted a sacrifice bunt and reached on Bard’s throwing error to first. Arencibia then grounded out to third and Encarnacion came in the back door to make it 4-3. Loewen followed with a base hit up the middle, scoring both runners and giving the Blue Jays the lead. Frank Francisco came on to close things out in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order. This defeat was a bitter one to swallow.

The Biggest Series of the Year:

Game 149 v. Tampa Bay (9/15/11):

We’re not prone to hyperbole around here, but it’s obvious that this four-game series with the Rays is the most important of the season. The Rays are four games behind the Red Sox and have beaten them five times in a row. The Rays pitchers have done a number on Boston’s hitters as the Sox are only batting .177 as a team. In what appeared to be a serious mismatch, the Sox trotted out Kyle Weiland (0-1, 6.75) to start the opener against Jeremy Hellickson (12-10, 2.96). Weiland blew threw the top of the order with only eight pitches in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first it began raining at the ballpark. In the top of the third, John Jaso doubled off the wall with one out. With two outs, BJ Upton hit a broken-bat grounder to short. Unfortunately, the broken bat arrived at Scutaro’s feet at the same time as the ball. Scutaro leaped to avoid the bat and the ball rolled through his legs, scoring Jaso. Longoria then hit a three-run homer into the bullpen and the Rays went ahead, 4-0. In the bottom of the third, the Sox loaded the bases with one out before Gonzalez grounded out to first and a run came in the back door. Ortiz then received an intentional walk but Youkilis grounded out to third to kill the threat. In the fourth, Damon walked leading off and then Joyce reached when his grounder to second went through Pedroia’s wickets. That was all for Weiland (3+IP, 3H, 4ER, 2BB, 1K) and the well-traveled Trever Miller entered in relief. Jaso attempted a squeeze bunt but Gonzalez scooped up the ball and shoveled it to Saltalamacchia at the plate and Damon was out. The manager decided to empty the bullpen with Atchison pitching the fifth and Morales the sixth. Zobrist singled to left leading off the sixth, but was picked off. Morales then hit Damon with a pitch. With two outs, Kotchman lined a two-run bullet into the bullpen and the Rays went up 6-1. After Hellickson put two runners aboard with two outs in the sixth, he was relieved by McGee, who retired Crawford on a liner to left. Matt Albers came on to pitch the seventh and continued his woeful ways as he gave up a two-run homer to Upton to make it 8-1. He was quickly replaced by Andrew Miller. Damon followed with a single to center. Kotchman then drove in Zobrist with a single to right to make it 9-1 Rays. Jose Iglesias picked up his first major league hit in the bottom of the ninth. McDonald followed with a single that drove in Gathright to make it 9-2, and that’s how this miserable night at the ol’ ballyard wound up.

Game 150 v. Tampa Bay (9/16/11):

On Friday night, James Shields (15-10, 2.70) started for the Rays against Josh Beckett (12-5, 2.49). Youkilis was out of the lineup with a sore hip. Youkilis is famous for playing through pain, but last night it was pretty clear that he had reached his limit. Desmond Jennings reached on a bunt single down the first base line. Beckett’s underhanded flip went awry and Jennings wound up on second. With one out, Longoria hit one that barely made it over the wall in left and the Rays took a quick 2-0 lead. Ellsbury doubled to left leading off the bottom of the first and scored on Pedroia’s line drive single down the third base line. Pedroia moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Ortiz’ line drive single off the wall in left. In the third, Jennings walked, stole second and moved to third on a bad throw. With one out, Longoria looped a single to right and Jennings came in to make it 3-2. In the bottom of the third, Pedroia singled to center and scored the tying run on Ortiz’ double to right. Beckett hit Damon with a pitch leading off the fourth, but Beckett came back to strike out the final two batters. Mike Aviles put the Sox ahead with two outs in the bottom of the fourth as he jumped on a fastball and drove it over the Monster Seats. Aviles’ homer blew a hole through the “O” in the “Sports Authority” sign above the Monster Seats. Damon led off the top of the sixth with a bloop single to left. With one out, Damon stole second, and then stole third. He failed to advance on Joyce’s short pop to center and then Beckett struck out Jaso. Joe Maddon was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes. Beckett was finished after six (6IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K) and turned things over to Aceves. Saltalamacchia also replaced Varitek (who allowed six stolen bases). In the bottom of the seventh, Aviles reached after striking out with a wild pitch. Aviles moved to second on a bad pickoff throw by Shields. After Aviles moved to third on a ground out, Longoria then made a great diving grab of Pedroia’s low liner to third and fell on the bag for a double play. Bard (30.86 ERA in his last three outings) entered in the top of the eighth and struck out Damon, who was hit on the foot by a pitch but the third base umpire ruled that he swung at the pitch. After walking Zobrist, Bard struck out Joyce and Jaso. In the bottom of the eighth, Gonzalez walked and then Shields was relieved by Cesar Ramos. After Ramos was replaced by Gomes, Conor Jackson singled to left and was run for by McDonald. With two outs, Gomes was replaced by JP Howell. Papelbon entered in the top of the ninth and struck out the side and the Sox came away with a desperately-needed win.

Game 151 v. Tampa Bay (9/17/11):

On Saturday afternoon, Jeff Niemann (10-7, 3.97) started against Jon Lester (15-7, 3.07). In the top of the first, Desmond Jennings walked leading off and scored on Ben Zobrist’s homer to left after two were out. In the third, Jennings doubled to left leading off, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the third, Crawford singled to lead off and scored on Aviles’ double high off the wall. Ellsbury then hit a sacrifice fly to right and Aviles came in from third to make it 3-2. In the top of the fourth, Damon walked but was thrown out trying to steal second (the ump missed the call—he was safe). Sean Rodriguez then walked but Kotchman grounded into a 3-6-1 twin killing. In the fifth, Brandon Guyer led off with a single and moved to second when Upton singled up the middle with two outs. Longoria followed with a single to right and Guyer scored to make it 4-2 Rays. Niemann was finished after five and turned things over to Matt Moore. In the bottom of the fifth, Ellsbury walked with two outs and stole second but was thrown out trying to steal third. Crawford led off the bottom of the seventh with a stinging base hit up the middle. Aviles then beat out an infield hit. Scutaro attempted a sacrifice bunt but Longoria threw out Aviles at second. With Ellsbury at the plate, Scutaro advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ellsbury then grounded out to short and Crawford came in to make it 4-3 but Pedroia struck out with Scutaro on third. Lester was through after seven (7IP, 5H, 4ER, 4BB, 5K) and Bard entered in relief. In the ninth (with Morales pitching), Brignac reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a balk and to third on a ground out. Guyer then grounded out to second and it was on to the bottom of the ninth with the Sox down by one run. The Rays are 72-1 when leading after eight innings. Joel Peralta entered in relief of Moore and struck out Saltalamacchia and Crawford. Aviles then reached on an infield single and was run for by Gathright, who stole second. But Scutaro grounded out to third and the Rays came away with another win.

Game 152 v. Tampa Bay (9/18/11):

10 games left after this one, and the regular season can’t end fast enough. In the series finale, David Price (12-12, 3.40) started against Tim Wakefield (7-6, 5.13). Let’s cut to the chase, here. The Sox lost 8-5, and it wasn’t even that close. If you want to read a detailed recap, it can be found here,
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20110918_TB@BOS
The only thing worth celebrating about the day was Tim Wakefield’s 3,000th inning pitched for the Red Sox. The Rays scored three runs in the second and a run in the fourth. There were at least two passed balls that resulted in runs. Darnell McDonald doubled in a couple of runs in the fourth to make it 4-2. Another passed ball in the fifth resulted in another run and Aviles’ bad throw brought in the Rays’ sixth run. Andrew Miller allowed two more runs in the seventh. Mike Aviles made it “close” with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, but that’s as close as the Sox would get on this sorry day of baseball at Fenway. Coming down the stretch, when the games really matter, the Sox lost six out of seven to the Rays.

Wrappin’ It Up With The O’s:

Game 153 v. Baltimore (9/19/11):

The home portion of the regular season wrapped up with a brief series with the Orioles. On Monday, the teams played a day/night doubleheader. In the opener, Kyle Weiland (0-2, 7.58) started for the Sox against Jeremy Guthrie (8-17, 4.22). The Rays were off today before opening a series in New York. Weiland struck out two in the top of the first. Ellsbury lined a single to center to open the bottom of the first. Scutaro hit a wicked liner to third that popped out of Bell’s glove that was ruled a hit. With one out, Pedroia grounded into a double play to kill that threat. In the top of the third, Darnell McDonald dropped two fly balls in the sun, putting runners on second and third. Angle then doubled off the wall (just over McDonald’s leap) and the O’s took a 2-0 lead. McDonald partially atoned for his gaffes by hitting one into the Monster Seats leading off the bottom of the third. With one out, Scutaro singled to right, but Gonzalez hit into another double play. With one out in the fourth, Andino took a fastball over the wall in left and the O’s took a 4-1 lead. Nolan Reimold then went-back-to-back to give the O’s a four-run lead. Bell made a nice diving grab on Pedroia’s line drive to third. After Ortiz singled to right, Saltalamacchia hit a long triple high off the wall in center to make it 5-2. JJ Hardy homered into the Monster Seats leading off the fifth. Felix Doubront relieved Weiland after two were out in the fifth and a runner on first. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Scutaro walked and Gonzalez followed with a double to deep center, scoring Scutaro. Pedroia then hit a triple high off the wall in center and Gonzalez came in to make it 6-4. Ortiz then lined a ball to right that appeared to be fair, right at the yellow stripe. The first base umpire ruled it foul. The manager came out to argue to no avail (a replay indicated that the ball was fair). Ortiz then became up set over a strike call, before hitting a long drive to center that was caught. Ortiz then slammed down his helmet in disgust. Aceves entered in relief in the seventh and retired the side in order. McDonald singled up the middle leading off the bottom of the seventh but Ellsbury grounded out into (yet another) twin killing. Scutaro doubled down the line in left and later scored on Gonzalez’ scalding base hit to right to make it 6-5. After Troy Paton was replaced by Wille Eyre, Pedroia hit a short pop to center. Vladdy Guerrero led off the eighth with a base hit to right. Matt Wieters then hit a ground-rule double to right, putting runners on second and third. But (somehow) Aceves was able to get out of the jam by getting a short fly out to right and two strikeouts. The Sox went quickly and quietly in the bottom of the eighth against an assortment of Orioles’ relievers. In the top of the ninth, Aceves walked Angle and Hardy singled to left. Markakis flied out to center and Angle tagged and advanced to third. Aceves came back to strike out Guerrero and it was on to the bottom of the ninth. Three ground outs later, the game was over. The Sox lost again.

Game 154 v. Baltimore (9/18/11):

We made our second pilgrimage of the year to the hallowed ballyard and were fortunate to sit a row in front of four drunks who were more interested in discussing fishing and shop talk than the actual proceedings on the field. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Sox put out John Lackey on the mound, and predictably, he struggled getting through the first inning. Three runs scored and the boo birds were out in full force against Lackey. The Sox scored four times in the bottom of the first, capped off by Jed Lowrie’s three-run homer into the Monster Seats. The Sox scored two more runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Pedroia’s double to left that scored Varitek (McDonald was thrown out at home) and Pedroia’s single to right that scored Scutaro. Lackey loaded the bases with two outs in the third and allowed a two-run single by Nolan Reimold to make it 6-5. The Sox should’ve put away the game in the bottom of the third as they scored five runs on McDonald’s single, Ellsbury’s double and back-to-back singles by Pedroia and Ortiz. It took 1:45 to play the first three innings. In the fourth, Markakis tripled to right, scoring Angle to make 11-6. After Lackey allowed two more runs in the fifth, the manager pulled the plug on this debacle. Lackey had the temerity to “stare down” the manager when he came out looking for the baseball. Lackey is a jerk and he stinks. With Atchison pitching in the sixth, Guerrero doubled in Markakis to make it 11-9. We left during the seventh inning stretch because it was getting late and missed the fireworks that erupted in the bottom of the seventh as the Sox scored seven times. Ellsbury led off by launching a line drive into the triangle. The ball took a funny hop and by the time the smoke cleared, Ellsbury raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. The Sox then loaded the bases and Lowrie singled in Lars Anderson (running for Gonzalez). Conor Jackson then popped a grand slam into the Monster Seats and the game was out of reach at 18-9. Michael Bowden then cleaned up in the eighth and ninth and the Sox came away with a split of the doubleheader. At this point, the Sox took the win no matter how ugly and dissatisfying. And it was an ugly display of pitching by Lackey.

Game 155 v. Baltimore (9/19/11):

On Tuesday night, Erik Bedard (5-9, 3.50) started against Rick VandenHurk (0-0, 6.00). In the bottom of the first, Pedroia hit a ground-rule double to right and scored on Gonzalez’ double high off the wall. The Sox loaded the bases with two outs before Scutaro flied out to deep left. Robert Andino singled to left with one out in the third and scored on Nick Markakis’ double to right. Vladdy Guerrero reached when Reddick dropped his line drive to right (E9) and Markakis scored the go-ahead run. Bedard then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Reynolds then singled to left, scoring two more runs and giving the O’s a 4-1 lead. That was all for Bedard, who couldn’t get past the third in the second straight pathetic outing by a Red Sox starter. In the bottom of the third, Pedroia led off with a double to left and came around to score on Gonzalez’ bomb into the Monster Seats. In the bottom of the fourth, Scutaro walked leading off and Saltalamacchia followed with a base hit putting runners on the corners. After Aceves knocked in the tying run with a single to left, that was all for VandenHurk, having been relieved by Jo-Jo Reyes. Ellsbury followed with a single to center to load the bases. After Pedroia struck out, Gonzalez grounded into a 3-2 force. The first baseman dropped the return throw back to the bag. Gonzalez was safe and Aviles raced around from second with the go-ahead run. Guerrero singled leading off the fifth with a single up the middle but was thrown out trying to steal second. Showalter came out to argue and was ejected over arguing about balls and strikes. Jones followed with a line drive single to left but he was also thrown out trying to steal second. Matt Albers entered in the sixth and struck out the first two batters he faced before hitting Nolan Reimold with a pitch. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Aviles doubled over Jones head. After Gonzalez singled to left leading off the seventh, Reyes was relieved by Clay Rapada. Bard entered in the eighth and allowed two singles and a strikeout before being relieved by Papelbon. After Davis struck out, Reimold singled to load the bases. Robert Andino then hit a bases-clearing double to right and the O’s took a 7-5 lead. Brutal, just brutal. Pedro Strop entered in the bottom of the eighth and struck out Scutaro and Saltalamacchia. Felix Doubront entered in the ninth and allowed a walk and a single after two were out. Junichi Tazawa entered with the task of getting one batter out. And he did. Jim Johnson came on to close thimgs out in the bottom of the ninth. Ellsbury reached on catcher’s interference but Pedroia grounded into a double play. And so, the Red Sox fell once more…

Game 156 v. Baltimore (9/20/11):

In the final home game of the regular season, Josh Beckett (13-5, 2.50) started against Tommy Hunter (3-3, 5.31). The Rays lost to the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader earlier today and the Yanks clinched a playoff spot. It’ll be interesting to see how many regulars the Yanks sit for the second game and whether Sabathia takes his normal turn in the rotation. The O’s picked up a run in the second on Mark Reynolds’ solo shot into the Monster Seats. Crawford tripled into the corner in right leading off the bottom of the third and later scored the tying run on Varitek’s grounder to second. Gonzalez led off the bottom of the third with a base hit up the middle and moved to third on Pedroia’s double off the wall. With two outs, Crawford doubled off the wall, scoring both runners and giving the Sox a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Aviles singled to right with two outs and moved to third on Gonzalez’ base hit to right. Ortiz then singled to right and Aviles came in to make it 4-1. Andino led off the sixth with a single up the middle, stole second and scored on Hardy’s single to right. In the seventh, Reynolds hit a two-run job into the Monster Seats to tie the score (ugh). Ellsbury then made a great lunging catch of Angle’s fly to deep center. Hunter appeared to have pulled a groin muscle with two outs in the seventh and left the game. In the eighth, Hardy singled with one out and then Markakis hit a line drive double to left. That was all for Beckett (7⅓IP, 7H, 6ER, 1BB, 8K) and he was relieved by Aceves. Vladdy Guerrero singled up the middle, both runners scored and the O’s took a 6-4 lead. All of that great work by Beckett came undone in the seventh and eighth innings. Jim Johnson came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and he retired the side in order. The Sox fell to 5-16 for the month of September and one can only wonder if that was the last time they’ll play at Fenway this year. It was yet another mind-numbing loss over which the Red Sox were booed off the field by the Fenway Faithful.