Bobby Jenks didn't have it tonight, but he's just one guy. Outside of one inning, the Sox offense had nothing either, and that's a much bigger problem.
Jon Garland pitched six tough innings, giving up only one run despite not having his best control against a patient lineup, yet he was in line for the loss when he was done after six, giving up only one run. Mike MacDougal and Matt Thornton did their jobs, working two scoreless inning to bridge to Jenks. The defense played mistake-free baseball.
Jenks may have blown the save, but this loss was all on the offense. They managed to make Julian Tavarez look tough for the second time this season, as Tavarez induced 14 groundouts to zero flyouts. The only time the Sox hit the ball in the air before the ninth inning was on Jim Thome's titanic shot over the Green Monster, and Joe Crede's flare of a single that Brian Anderson would've caught. Gabe Kapler, making only his fourth start in center for the Red Sox, didn't.
Earlier in the season, Tavarez threw four innings of one-hit ball in that
19-inning game that closed out the first half. Of course, if all he needed to do was throw the ball low and away, I might've thrown a scoreless frame as well.
Ordinarily, that would be enough for Jenks. MacDougal managed to pitch around a leadoff walk in the eighth when Juan Uribe made a beautiful play on a chopper up the middle. He tagged Coco Crisp, who had taken off on a hit-and-run, then threw to first for the 6-3 double play. Matt Thornton struck out Wily Mo Pena to take a 2-1 game to the ninth.
Jenks, however, couldn't get away after walking Manny Ramirez to lead off the ninth. His bigger failing was not putting Trot Nixon away after having him down 0-2. The next three pitches Jenks offered were three easy takes, and that gave Ramirez a running count. He took off, and while Nixon chopped the ball to first, it was enough to get the runner into scoring position. If Manny's not running, the play to second is a lot easier.
Bobby gave up a double to Mike Lowell to tie the game, and then Brandon McCarthy gave up a leadoff blast to Carlos Pena for the game-winner in the 10th. It's his fourth extra-inning loss of the year, and not the guy you want in the game when one swing will end it.
On the other hand, he probably did me a favor, since the last train leaving Fenway took off at 11:08. The Sox weren't going to score with a lineup that featured Rob Mackowiak in place of Jermaine Dye and Ryan Sweeney in place of Jim Thome.
Record: 79-58 |
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