Bullpen No Help

Tim Wakefield pitched well enough to win. At least for 7 innings. It was 3-2 and the Sox were doing nothing to help themselves offensively. They were outpitched. But it was the bullpen that made this game a "no chance to come back" one, with Manny Delcarmen allowing 2 men on in the 8th before Julian Tavarez was summoned to face Maglio Ordonez, who was before this game 0-6 against him. BOOM....3 run homer. Tavarez put it in his own words, in an illuminating quote. Here it is....

"I left the ball in the middle of the plate and he hit a three-run bomb," Tavarez said. "That was the whole difference in the game. The location was what I got hurt with really bad right there. If I have good location, I think I get him out."

My goodness, Julian. Well, DUH! What a pearl of wisdom, a nugget of pure genius. That was it. The Sox had no runs hidden in their back pockets, or up their sleeves, and it was just another "good enough to win if we score some runs" game by Wakes. If the score had been tied or we had been up 4-3, I think the bullpen deployment would have been Foulke/Papelbon. But everyone has to do their jobs. Last night was not to be. Matt Clement tries to salvage his season from hell this afternoon, facing Zach Miner, 6-0 in the minor leagues this year. And then it's on to New York City. Can I stress this enough? No. Today is close to a must win.