Well folks, the Sox lost again. Big surprise. It wasn't as bad of a loss than yesterday, only losing by 2 this time, 5-3.
It looked promising for the first 5 innings before it all fell apart for the pitching staff in the 6th. The game was scoreless until the fifth, when the Sox struck first, scoring 2 runs in the top of the inning. Jacoby Ellsbury drove in Scott Podsednik from second on a ground-rule double, followed by a sac-fly from Carl Crawford that scored Nick Punto from third. The bottom of the inning began with Cook walking Matt Wieters, then retiring the next 3 batters in order. Aaron Cook had gone the first 5 innings without surrendering a hit.
The no-no bid was ended in the 6th by way of a J.J. Hardy single to center, which opened the flood gates. By the time the 6th inning was over, the Orioles had scored 5 runs as the Sox used 4 pitchers in the inning. All 5 runs were charged to Cook, where 2 came on inherited runners that Tazawa opened home plate up to. The Sox got one run back in the 7th and that was it.
The biggest contributor at the plate for the Sox was Carl Crawford, who drove in 2 runs on no hits (sac-fly, ground-out). Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Valentine were ejected from the game in the 8th after Gonzo argued with home plate umpire, Mike Everett, that he was not ready in the batters box. Bobby came out for a brief argument and you know the ending.
The Red Sox are now 13 (possibly 13.5) games behind the Yankees, and 6.5 games behind the Orioles and Rays in the Wild Card. Awesome, just awesome.
