Red Sox vs. Indians, Game 2

SOX WIN (10:03, END 9, 5-4 SOX)
In a game that didn't matter very much, but did keep alive the Red Sox' faint hopes to win the division, Boston defeated the Indians, 5-4. Delcarmen had a rocky start, walking Grady Sizemore to start the inning. Sizemore moved to second on Carroll's sacrifice bunt. Delcarmen then struck out Choo and Peralta back-to-back for his second save of the season. Aardsma gets his fourth win of the year.

CHANGES (9:55, TOP 9, 5-4 SOX)
Jason Bay in left, Youkilis at first, Lowrie at third, Manny Delcarmen on the mound.

BAILEY, KOTSAY GIVE SOX LEAD (9:53, END 8, 5-4 SOX)
If this holds, the Red Sox dim hopes to win the AL East will remain alive, even if Tampa holds on to its 7-6 lead in Baltimore.

Jeff Bailey, pinch-hitting for Van Every, rocked a pitch off the very top of the Green Monster in deep left center. He blazed around the bases and cruised into third for a triple.

(After the triple, Providence Journal scribe and proud Syracuse grad Kevin McNamara jokingly asked in the press box, "Why aren't they chanting M-V-P?" Bailey was the International League player of the year this season at Pawtucket.)

Kotsay followed with a double, scoring Bailey and giving the Red Sox the lead. The Indians intentionally walked Varitek, and Francona pinch hit for Carter with Jed Lowrie against lefty Rafael Perez. It was a big at-bat for Lowrie's confidence; he entered hitless in his last 18 tries. He made it 19 with a fielder's choice to first. Alex Cora ended the inning with a chopper to short.

MILESTONES AND A SCARE FOR PEDROIA, SOX (9:37, TOP 8, 4-4)
Dustin Pedroia beat out an infield single for his 210th hit this season, tying Wade Boggs (1983 for the fifth most hits ever in a season for a Red Sox player. Next up is Jim Rice, who had 213 hits in 1978, and then Boggs again, who had 214 in 1988. Tris Speaker in 1912 had 222 hits, so it looks like third place is the best Pedroia can hope for this year.

Pedroia then stole his 20th base of the season (in 21 attempts). That makes three Red Sox players -- Ellsbury and Crisp are the others -- with 20 steals this season. The last time that happened was 1914(!), and it was done then by Tris Speaker, Duffy Lewis, and Hal Janvrin. (Pedroia, by the way, leads the majors in base stealing percentage.)

Pedroia also just made a filthy diving play and drew some MVP cheers. Then it got scary: Francona and a trainer came out to check on him. He stayed in the game and seemed fine. Not sure what he hurt; he was wiping his nose with his sleeve, so maybe he smacked his face on the ground.

KOTSAY FLASHES LEATHER, RUNDLES COMES IN (9:20, MID 7, 4-4)
Kotsay made a slick play to end the last inning, fielding a hot grounder and sidearming to second, then scampering back to first to complete the 3-6-3 double play. His error earlier tonight aside, Kotsay has been sharp at first base this season for a career outfielder.

Rich Rundles has replaced Bullington, who went five innings, allowed two hits and no runs, and struck out six.

AARDSMA AARIVES (9:17, TOP 7, 4-4)
David Aardsma has replaced Timlin with a man on first and one out.

The Rays, who fell behind 6-0, have now taken a 7-6 lead and have a runner at third with one out in the sixth inning. The Orioles are just a trainwreck right now. The Rays can cut their magic number to one with a victory, or clinch the AL East with a win and a Red Sox loss.

TIMLIN DOES THE JOB (9:03, MID 6, 4-4)
Timlin allowed a single and got out of the inning with further trouble.

TIMLIN IN (8:56, END 5, 4-4)
Mike Timlin has entered for Byrd.

Byrd allowed four seven runs on 11 hits. He threw 89 pitches, 59 for strikes.

INDIANS TIE GAME, TIMLIN WARMS (8:49, MID 5, 4-4)
Martinez drove in Choo with a single to center, drawing Cleveland even. The rout is off. Mike Timlin warmed up in the bullpen, but has sat down now that the half-inning is over.

If the Red Sox are treating this as an audition for Byrd to become the fourth playoff starting, it does not bode well for him. Tim Wakefiled, who gave up four runs in six innings, was far more impressive last night, even thought he gave up four runs in six innings. The Indians scored those runs with the help of some near-misses by Coco Crisp in center.

Wakefield, though, has the second-worst playoff ERA of all-time with pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings. (Jaret Wright, if you want to win a bar bet, is the worst.)

DREW GETS HIT, LEAVES GAME (8:23, END 3, 4-3 SOX)
Drew smoked a hard grounder past the diving Ryan Garko to lead off the inning, his first hit since Aug. 16. Jonathan Van Every came on to pinch run, but he was erased when Kotsay hit into a 3-6-3 double play. Varitek struck out.

You can assume Drew is fine and his departure is merely precautionary; Francona planned on taking him out early, like a spring training game.

ERROR FOR DREW, RUN FOR CLEVELAND, VISIT FOR BYRD (8:15,TOP 3, 4-3 SOX)
Jamey Carroll hit a ball down the right field line into the corner. Drew misplayed it, allowing Carroll to turn a double into a three-base hit. Kotsay booted one at first, allowing Carroll to come home and Choo to go to second. Choo scored on a single by Peralta. John Farrell visited Byrd to settle him down.

It worked; Byrd got Martinez to ground into a double play. Chris Smith is warming up in the Sox bullpen. But then Travis Hafner drilled a double to right. This game is doing to the eyes what nails on a chalkboard do to the ears.

BULLINGTON > CARMONA (8:04, END 2, 4-1 SOX)
Pedroia, Ortiz, and Youkilis went in order. Carmona's start, by the way, tied the shortest of his career and was the shortest by an Indians' starter all season.

INDIANS SCORE, DREW LOOKING GOOD (7:57, MID 2, 4-1 SOX)
Victor Martinez scored on Josh Barfield's RBI single. Earlier in the inning, Drew caught Ryan Garko's fly ball to right and fired the ball back to the infield with no problem at all.

Bryan Bullington has replaced the beyond-ineffective Fausto Carmona.

ROUT ALREADY ON (7:41, END 1, 4-0 SOX)
And it could have been worse. The Red Sox brutalized Fausto Carmona, batting around in the first. Dustin Pedroia ripped a one-out double off the base of the Green Monster. It was his 54th double of the season, placing him third on the Red Sox all-time single season list. (He passed Tris Speaker's 1912 output.) Nomar Garciaparra, who hit 56 in 2002, is second on that list.

Ortiz followed with another double, down the left field line, scoring Pedroia easily. Kevin Youkilis, which brought J.D. Drew to the plate. He received a pretty solid ovation, not quite rousing. Drew went to 0-2, took a ball, and fouled one back. He grounded weakly to second base and reached on a fielder's choice. Looked fine running down the line.

Mark Kotsay followed and drove in Ortiz with a hard single to left. Varitek kept the hit parade flowing, grounding a single up the middle. Drew sprinted home from second, again showing no ill effects from the back injury.

Chris Carter, making his first career at-bat in a first inning, ripped a sinlge to right, scoring Kotsay from second for his first career RBI. Carmona drilled Alex Cora with a pitch in the backside. Terry Francona and a trainer came out to check on Cora, and he stayed on first.

With the bases loaded Jacoby Ellsbury popped foul, but EDIT: Victor Martinez, not Kelly Shoppach, dropped the ball by the Red Sox' on-deck circle. That couldn't keep Ellsbury from striking out, his second out of the innning. "The 51st pitch was a charm," MLB.com scribe Ian Browne said in the press box. And it really was the 51st pitch.