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It's a wrap from Fenway
If Monday's 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays was a letdown after a three-game sweep of the Yankees, then how do you explain tonight's 10-3 loss?
In a word: awful.
The Red Sox committed four errors, even heard a few boos from the sellout crowd at Fenway as their record dipped to 12-7 on the season, which is precisely where it was at this time in 2006. All of this negativity before 37,161, the largest crowd at Fenway since the World War II era, as a result of new standing room only and additional right-field seating (Conigliaro's Corner).
Julian Tavarez didn't have a very good outing from the No. 5 starters spot allowing six runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings. Tavarez and Sox pitchers, which also included Kyle Snyder, Joel Pineiro and Mike Timlin, couldn't tame Toronto outfielder Vernon Wells, who stroked four hits and knocked in three runs including a first-inning two-out home run and a two-run single in the sixth in supporting Roy Halladay's effort.
Halladay was superb strking out 10 over eight innings. He didn't walk a batter and allowed only five hits. He threw 112 pitches.
The errors were quite hideous.
Wily Mo Pena, who again started in center-field over the injured Coco Crisp (oblique strain) dropped Adam Lind's liner in the sixth, which wound up scoring one of four unearned runs. Pena became the crowd's whipping boy as he was victim of mock cheers everytime he caught a ball thereafter.
Wells followed with a two-run single and Jason Varitek's poor throw to second base in an attempt to catch Wells stealing, accounted for the fourth run of the inning.
Tavarez' effort was inconsistent at best.
With Jon Lester slated to make one of two Triple-A starts today in Rochester (the other will come next Tuesday vs. Indianapolis), one wonders if Tavarez' days as a starter might be numbered. After the first-inning solo shot by Wells, Frank Thomas stroked a bases-loaded double off the base of the left field wall in the third to extend Toronto's lead to 4-1.
The Sox had tied the game in the first on David Ortiz' single scoring Julio Lugo, who had singled to center and stole second base. In the third, the lead was cut to 4-2 on Erik Hinske's single to right after Lugo had beaten out an infield hit and stole second. Mike Lowell extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a solo home run in the fourth.
But the one-run deficit, 4-3 was as close as Boston would get as they allowed the game to get away from on Lyle Overbay's two-run double in the sixth on which Manny Ramirez made an errant throw after bare-handing Overbay's hit off the top of the scoreboard in left field.
