Sox refuse to drop their heads

Red Sox fans were still celebrating their team's sweep of the New York Yankees when the Toronto Blue Jays dropped them down to earth Monday night at Fenway Park. Certainly, it could be understood that the Sox could have a little bit of a letdown one night after dispatching their archrival for the third straight game.

But last night's implosion was different. Defensively, the Red Sox were more trick than treat, committing four errors -- the most since Sept. 9, 2005, in Yankee Stadium -- in a 10-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

The first error came during the top of the third when first baseman Eric Hinske, subbing for Kevin Youkilis, made a fielding error, allowing Vernon Wells (four hits) to score for a 4-1 Jays lead.

"It was a tough game," said Hinske. "We made four errors tonight and it's not going to help you win ballgames. All you can do is put it behind you, that's it.

"As a baseball player, you're going to make errors and you've got to just say, 'Hey, I'll get the next one,' and forget about it as quick as you can.

"You've got to have a short memory. We've got a big series going into Baltimore [tonight] and then New York [starting Friday] so we've got to try to forget about these two games and move on."

The Red Sox cut the deficit to one with single run s in the third and fourth, but the Jays added two more in the fifth on a Lyle Overbay double. While fielding the wall ball, Manny Ramírez's throw to the infield looked more like a quarterback's spike, allowing Overbay to reach third.

No further harm followed, but the same could not be said for the sixth when the Sox committed a pair of blunders that led to a four-run rally that put the contest out of reach.

Center fielder Wily Mo Peña, who was filling in for ailing Coco Crisp, dropped Adam Lind's line drive with two outs, allowing Royce Clayton to score and John McDonald to move to third.

Wells singled to right-center to score McDonald and Lind. With Frank Thomas at the plate, Wells stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the normally steady Jason Varitek.

Thomas's single drove home Wells, finishing the rout.

Peña, who has become a lightning rod for the fans' booing and mock cheers, said he did the best he could on his mistake.

"It was like a line drive and the ball was going down quick and it hit [the glove] right in the middle," said Peña. "And the ball just fell off. I tried to do the best I can there."

Peña said he understands the fickle nature of being a fan and he doesn't take it personally.

"They're up and down [with every pitch]," he said. "Because here it's all about baseball and that's good. They're just following baseball. That's good for you because it will keep you doing the best you can. [Jays starter Roy Halladay] pitched a good game and sometimes you just have to tip your hat. There are good days and bad days."

As the Red Sox prepared to board the bus to take them to the airport for the flight to Baltimore, none of the traveling party seemed concerned about this two-game blemish making the journey with them.

"It was just one of those games," said Hinske. "We just didn't get anything to drop our way, really. We didn't play good defense. When they got a 10-3 lead, it's tough to come back from that. You have to forget about it."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at Marrapese@globe.com.