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Recap: Jays squeeze out 3-2 win

And just like that, all the momentum the Sox should have had after Lester's outing has been squelched.

Buchholz wasn't great today, but he was certainly good enough.  8 IP 6 hits 3 BB 4 K's Prior to this season, you'd take that outing every time out from Clay.  This season, it's a little rough.  Regardless, the Sox were facing Mark Buehrle (he of the 7+ ERA), and the awful Jays defense, and should have been able to tag him for a handful of runs.  That didn't happen.

The Sox didn't get on the board until the 8th, already down 2 at that point.  Ellsbury tripled, bringing home David Ross (who was walked by Buehrle before he was pulled).  Ellsbury came home thanks to yet another Blue Jays error.  Tied game. 

Enter Tazawa.  First batter he faced was Adam Lind, who homered to center.  That was the winning run.  Middlebrooks doubled to lead off the bottom of the 9th, but (stop me if you've heard this before) Boston batters couldn't drive him home.  Ballgame.

Ortiz got a hit, so that's a plus.  But the bottom of the lineup didn't fare so well.  The 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th batters (Napoli, Gomes, Drew, Ross) all went hitless with Middlebrooks' 2 doubles sandwiched between them.  Nava came in as a pinch hitter for Ross in the 9th, but didn't have any luck, popping up. 

I feel like I've written the same thing 4 times in a row, but the Sox inablity to bring runners home is a real problem.   If they can fix that, the sky is the limit.  But fix it they must.

BOX SCORE | Photo: AP /Michael Dwyer

Sox send Mark Melancon to Pawtucket

As many speculated this morning, the Red Sox decided to option Mark Melancon to Pawtucket to work on his game in a less pressure-filled environment. The expected-to-be-solid setup man has an ERA just south of 50.00, so it's probably a good idea to take a look at what's going on.

In his place comes Junichi Tazawa. Tazawa has been a promising pitcher for years now, but has fought injuries and a sharp learning curve. (I remember one of his first appearances being against A-Rod with the bases loaded in extra innings. It didn't end well.) His MLB numbers are troubling -- he has appeared in nine games and given up four homers, between 2009 and 2011. 

He's still young (25), and there's plenty of time for him to mature. If Bobby V is smart (the jury's still out) he'll ease Tazawa into his role in the bullpen, which is now in quite a state of flux. It was supposed to be Bailey-Melancon doing the closing and setup work, with Morales handling lefties, Aceves doing the long work, and the rest filling the middle. Now Aceves is closing, and the chief setup role isn't really filled by anyone -- it's divvied up among Morales, Justin Thomas, Matt Albers, and maybe Tazawa should he stick, with Scott Atchison handling the long work. The bullpen is a mess...but when is it not, really?

Your Morning Dump...where no one wants to call this a World Series preview

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“In the back of your mind, you kind of wonder if we’ll play them again,’’ Boston slugger David Ortiz said.

But there’s a better chance you can get a baseball player to discuss the intricacies of French cinema in the 1930s than to concede that one series is more significant than another, especially in June.

“I don’t lose any sleep thinking about the Phillies,’’ Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis said. “I haven’t really thought about it. I didn’t even know who we’re facing or anything like that. When we go out on the field and we take batting practice and prep for the game, then we’ll be ready.

“I’m not really interested in this series other than going out there and just playing baseball. I don’t look at it as foreshadowing. Both teams still have to play a lot more baseball to even get in the playoffs, let alone the World Series. If it’s October and we’re both in the playoffs and we’re both playing well, then we can talk about it. But until then it’s just a series where we have to go out and play some good baseball and hopefully take two out of three.’’

Globe | It's just another in a series of challenges

Before the season, everyone and their mom was picking a Sox-Phillies World Series. Remember this?

Baseball players are superstitious (and nuts), so their resistance to talking about it is expected. But I'm surprised to see some of the Sox writers (like Gordon Edes in the related link below) listing off reasons why this series isn't that important.

Well, it is.

We're still a favorite (if not the favorite) to win the AL, and the Phillies are still the favorite to win the NL. We don't have our full team healthy -- but who's to say we ever will? 

This series gives us a chance to see the starting pitching the Phils have to offer. We get to test out their bullpen (assuming we can get past aforementioned starting pitching). And we get to see if our starters, who've had mixed results with AL opponents, can match up with the best lineup in the senior circuit.

It all starts tonight with Beckett-Lee. It should be a pitcher's duel, so naturally it'll end up being 14-12. But it'll be fun to watch, and it should give us some notes for October.

Related: ESPNBoston | Red Sox can't get ahead of themselves | Herald | Clash could be Classic | See you in World Series? Not quite yet | CSNNE | Red Sox: Philly series not a World Series preview

On page 2, our other other Japanese pitcher gets rocked in his return from injury.