Video: Reaction roundup

I'd pitch Lester in game 6 guys...or the Sox will be enjoying the fall classic on the tube. And it WILL go at least 6 games. With luck, Maddon will opt for Kasmir to oppose Lester. What a difference a year makes - regarding Kasmir...Beckett...Lester.

The next thing ya know, fans will clamor for Crisp to FINALLY relieve Ellsbury in the leadoff spot!!!

Does Benjamin realize her reasoning behind timlin being the only option makes absolutely no sense at all?

Byrd was the better option, and there was no reason not to go to him.

Ms. Benjamin...Are you kidding me????...Byrd was the option. He's a starter who could have given you 6, 7 or 8 innings......Sorry....I love Tito but last night was all on him. He screwed up by marching Beckett back out there in the fifth and he screwed up with Timlin. Timlin's been the man for the Sox for a number of years but it is clear that he's at the end of the line. He was the last guy added to the roster and therefore he is and should always remain the LAST OPTION.

If you have Paul Byrd left in the bullpen who can go 6 or 7 innings how is Timlin the only option? Stop making excuses for Francona, everyone knows he lost this game by leaving Beckett in.

There was no way that Timlin was the only option...in fact, Timlin should have been third in the depth chart. What I don't understand is you have Cash already in the game...why not march Wakefield (who hasn't pitched in over 2 weeks) out there for 30-40 pitches? If need be, Wakefield could have gone 100 pitches and then you start Bryd in game 4 instead of Wakefield. And besides his last outing in Tampa where he was clearly not 100%, Wakefield has been lights out at the Trop! He might be inclined to give up the long ball (a la Aaron Boone) but wouldn't you rather lose the game on a 2 out home run then a sac fly? Mike Timlin has lost 2 games against the Rays in the regular season and has an ERA over 10.00 against them this year...I wouldI would think he should have been the last option if the game went like 24 innings and you had to choose him over Cora...and in that case...Cora might have been the better option!

I agree completely with Jay (#4). This is two games in a row where Francona should have pulled Beckett - the signs were clear that he could not turn it around. One time, OK - loyalty to the player and all that, and looking to the future by seeing what the guy can do in a tight spot. But TWICE? In a row? No way that should happen. There's no excuse for this - Francona just didn't want to be the bad guy in Beckett's eyes. What about the rest of the team, which had seen Beckett fail in the same situation not a week before? What about the fans?

Then there's another tough decision that's not being talked about: Leaving an impotent Big Papi in the lineup, while a perfectly good DH (Casey) rots on the bench. The national broadcasters, for crying out loud, know Papi is dying out there. The other side sees him as a break in the lineup, not a force to be reckoned with.

This is what you play all year for. This is what the fans live for. Time to run the ship like a meritocracy, and not a popularity contest, dammit.

Grady little, oh I'm sorry, I was having flashbacks, Tito the MORON...gift wrapped this damn game away, yeah they got a split, but come on, they should have won that game, Josh is injured but they won't admit it. He should have taken "El Stinko" out the after the 4th cause any human with half a brain knew he did not have it when Boston got back in it at the top of the 5th. After Mike Timlin was called in, I turned off the TV, I knew the game was over, that guy is 42 and has nothing but beachballs to throw and I was right. I don't feel guilty about turning off the TV when Timlin came in either, cause I knew I was right, and I WAS right. Why didn't Papelbon come back in. This is the playoffs, you play for here and now, not two three games down the line. Paul Byrd was available to go 6 innings. He F'd it away plain and simple. I'm angry.(Like that guy at McCain's Rally on CNN) FranCOMA gift wrapped this and had a brain freeze. Timlin should be for MOPP UP DUTY, when your getting blown out in a game you have no chance of coming back in. If it goes to 6 games and Josh has to pitch, he better be on a thinner line then PACMAN Jones. Paul Byrd better be ready.

This loss had nothing to do with Timlin. It was ALL Beckett/Francona. There is no reason to send out Josh in the 5th. He did NOTHING in the first 4 innings to warrant going out there again. Paul Byrd was the option probably in the 4th. I just dont understand why tito cant get over this loyalty BS with his starters. I could care less if Beckett gets the win in GM 2, as long as the Red Sox get the win. I feel bad for Timlin being the scapegoat. He has done too much for this team over the years.

I agree that Byrd was the better option. However if Tito would have put Byrd in and he gives up the winning run we would second guess that move also. As bad as Beckett was last night the Sox overcame it and were still in a position to win the game. Lastly I saw Maddon interviewed after the game. He is convinced Kazmir will overcome his problems so we will see him in game 6. I like where the Sox are right now considering Papi and Ellsbury are struggling and Timlin gave up the winning run. Lester needs to be Lester on Monday because Wake scares me.

Papelbon was the option! He only had thrown 9 pitches! Dan Wheeler threw 43, I'm sure Papelbon could have gone another inning and gone in the 20's.

What is up with the woman? Timlin wasn't the only option. Byrd was the option. If the Red Sox needed someone who could go for many innings isn't that Byrd? Isn't that why he is in the bullpen? I simply can not tolerate this person. Her baseball "insights" are a joke and she really doesn't have the presence to be in front of a camera. She made a remark recently about how she had to be objective in her reporting. Are you kidding me? She might as well put on a Red Sox uniform. Not that I care. I personally don't think that local sports reporters are supposed to be objective. Just don't say you are when you're obviously not.

Usually I don't care for Bob Ryan. I find him to be quite pompous. But he told the truth here. Josh Beckett was terrible. Francona did have another option besides Timlin. Thanks Bob. You're tough but in this instance you're right.

Leaving Beckett to pitch to Pena and Longoria is quite indefensible. Using timlin, not Bryd, in that fateful inning is even more so. How A. Benja could try to defend that is beyond me.

Pitching Lester in Game 6 only makes sense if we are already ahead 3-2, and try to take advantage of a Kasmir start. Otherwise, if we need to win both, then we have to match our best of the two available options to their best, and pray it works out both games.

Beckett should have been out earlier, in the 4th or 5th, and that was probably the time for Byrd. He could have gone 2 or 3 right there.

Also, the plate umpire blew the calls in the 11th to set up the mess and it looks like the right field ump was in Drew's way as he threw home.

Gawd Almighty, when in Tip O'Neill's name is the Boston sports press going to call out Terry Francona for his bonehead managing? Why do they coddle this guy? The Rays beat Francona last night, not the Sox. God love Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Jason Bay for clutch hitting and outstanding fielding, only to be wasted by a manager who puts the selfish interests of his pitcher before the team's. Does anyone in the Baseball Universe doubt that Beckett should've been taken out after the Sox acquired a 6-5 lead? He should've been yanked earlier than that. Perennial 20-game winner Jim Palmer didn't like Earl Weaver precisely because Weaver didn't tolerate the sort of meltdown that Francona seems to think his pitchers are entitled to having. Then he puts in Timlin over Byrd? This is insanity. The Boston columnists must be protecting their access to Francona in not criticizing him. And now the Sox are left to "grinding it out" the rest of the series, as Tito likes to say.

This is going to sound like Monday morning QBing, but wouldn't it have been a better idea to start Lester in game 2 on regular rest, and save Beckett for game 3.?Given Lester's form, and Kazmir's poor form, there's a good chance that the Sox take both in Tampa, and then they can send Beckett out for a house-money start in Game 3.

How about Byrd starts the 5th inning and hands the ball off to Delcarmen or Masterson in the 7th -- isn't that an option?

How about, if Beckett really has an oblique injury, not pitching him at all in the ALDS and letting him heal entirely, or even a little -- again, not an option?

How do you allow your starter to stay in long enough to give up 8 runs?

I am a big Francona fan but this loss is on him! I think he mismanaged Beckett as well and once I saw Timlin walk onto that mound, I knew the game was over. Timlin has been a great soldier but Terry HAS to know it's over. What Amalie said was COMPLETELY WRONG. Timlin was not his ONLY option. Paul Byrd could pitch 5-6 innings if needed. If he had lost the game, I could have accepted that much more than a loss from Timlin.

This game was lost because Francona prized loyalty over performance –– or common sense for that matter. He let a clearly spent Becket start the fifth so he could be eligible for the win and he chose his binky reliever who has no business even being on the roster for a key spot in extra innings.

Byrd, Byrd...Byrd was the word. Why else would you have a long man in then if not for that situation?

"However if Tito would have put Byrd in and he gives up the winning run we would second guess that move also. "

But you miss the point here, Bryan. No one's second-guessing Francona. Everyone (and I mean everyone) watching that game saw this coming BEFORE it happened, and complained loudly when he failed to pull the plug on Beckett. No Monday-morning quarterbacking here.

The team busted its hump last night, but Tito didn't pull his weight. Everyone did their job but him. That's the bottom line.

Agreed -- the Sox-owned reporter's defense in the video of the manager's decisions not to use Byrd in either the 5th or the 11th are indefensible. Tito overall deserves much much credit for all he's done, and he's certainly earned the right to make some mistakes, but his questionable decisions in Game 2 also include batting Coco ninth and Tek seventh, since the reason he wisely chose Coco in the first place was because of his record against Kazmir. If we had the 3-for-6 Coco standing at the plate in the bottom of the first, with two on and two out, rather than the 0-for-3 Tek, this game maybe never would have had to go to extra innings.

Type your comment here...Is it me? or why not have 2 pitchers warming up when you have a long, long batting 5th,6th or any? inning of walks, fouls, hits, 3 solo home runs.... when any pitcher sits for that long, 20 mins in the dugout, they get spanked then next inning?

Tito should know this, he's seen DiceK, Clay, Manny, Wake, Timlin many others, get spanked around like this more than once! Now is the time of year to not let any pitcher sit around for too long waiting to get back in there?

Does anyone else notice this?