Timlin's 'good pitch' a goner

Mistake ruins bullpen's work

Mike Timlin disconsolately heads back to work as Carlos Peña heads around third following his decisive three-run homer. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

Mike Timlin turned and watched the ball sail into the night, satisfied with what he had done. He had thrown a sinker to Carlos Peña, down and away, maybe not even over the edge of the plate, just like he wanted. There was no way Peña could lift it, Timlin figured.

"It was a good pitch," he said later.

But as Timlin tracked the ball, he came to the horrific realization that it would not be, as he first thought, a popup. Instead, Peña's blast flew over the Green Monster and unraveled five hours and 14 innings of baseball for the Red Sox, a three-run home run that gave the Rays a 4-2 victory.

All night, the bullpen had provided the means to win without the option of turning to its stalwart, Jonathan Papelbon. With one pitch - a good pitch, thought the man who threw it - all of that was erased.

"On the black, down and away," Timlin said. "Not something you would expect a lefthander to drive out of the park. It happened."

The Red Sox bullpen provided seven heroic innings last night, pitcher after pitcher running in from right field, climbing the mound, and approaching the limit for how many pitches he could throw. That will be forgotten, though, because of the final pitcher who made that run and took the ball.

Timlin has not been entrusted to pitch in a pressure situation for some time, but it became clear he might be forced into the role of the bullpen's anchor as last night's marathon wore on. With one out in the 14th, manager Terry Francona could wait no more - he had to call for Timlin.

"Do we have to relive it?" Timlin said, amiably, when asked about the sequence of his work. He retired the first batter he faced on one pitch, a ground ball. The next batter, Akinori Iwamura, singled to right-center. Rocco Baldelli followed with a laser to left, another single.

Up came Peña, and out came pitching coach John Farrell from the dugout. He chatted with Timlin, and they decided "we weren't giving in" to Peña, Timlin said. At that point, Timlin knew, he would make Peña take an outside pitch to the opposite field.

Timlin fired his first pitch far inside for a ball, an intentional strategy to back Peña away from the plate and further utilize the outside corner. Then he threw the sinker, which Peña walloped.

The blast raised Timlin's ERA to 6.09. In his last outing, a two-inning performance against Texas, Timlin allowed four runs. His recent struggles notwithstanding, Timlin stood at his locker last night and expressed confidence.

"Absolutely," he said. "I threw good pitches today. I got beat. You know, obviously, it hasn't been the first time all year. It's just part of it. I got to keep going, keep my head up. Roll with it. Go get 'em."

Timlin felt he let his teammates down, none more so than the four relievers who preceded him. Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, and Javier Lopez combined for 7 1/3 innings of shutout, three-hit relief for Josh Beckett.

With Papelbon off limits and Beckett still limited to a moderate pitch count (84 in his six innings), those four had to deliver. And they did. The bullpen, though, will carry the blame.

"That's the game of baseball," Masterson said. "That's the way it happens. Sometimes, you know, you're going to go out and you're going to do great. And it comes down to a pitch or two, it's one run, it's 'Oh, the bullpen couldn't hold it.' "

Timlin stood just down the row of lockers from Masterson, not quite close enough to hear him. He didn't need to.

"It's going to be tough," Timlin said. "It's going to be a long night for me."

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com.