Three Run Ninth Inning Lead Evaporates For The Red Sox...Oakland 9 Boston 8

Wow, the Boston Red Sox were enjoying a three run lead with two outs and Papelbon pitching in the top of the ninth inning. Nine times out of ten, chalk this one up in the win column. Tuesday night at Fenway Park was not one of 'em, not by a long shot. Let's take it from the top. 7-4 Sox, ninth inning, Paps pitching. Paps walked Jack Cust to start the frame and then recorded two zippy outs. YES, but it was disaster time although none of the Fenway Faithful knew it...yet. Tommy Everidge slammed a double, his FIRST major league hit. The pitch was right over the plate but hey, give him credit, he hit the ball well. 7-5 Good Guys...still two outs. Now, here's where it gets tough for a Sox fan to take. Two ground ball singles were hit to Boston shortstop Nick Green and each resulting throw was like scattered buckshot from a shotgun, way off the mark. Each errant play resulted in a run and the A's, weak as they are, won the game in the eleventh inning. Green said this after the game...

“That first one was a play nobody makes, it was just not the right decision, I should have just held onto it,” Green said. “This is stuff I have to learn from so I don’t make the mistake again.”

That's what happens when a bullpen, especially the Boston bullpen, gives up SEVEN runs from the seventh to the eleventh innings. You lose...it's simple. Papelbon had a few words to say to the assembled media...

“It’s tough, what are you going to do,” said a slightly stunned-sounding and-looking Papelbon, who suffered his third blown save of the season. “Things like that happen, it is what it is, you have to move on. Walking the leadoff hitter, regardless of what the score is, is not what I was trying to do.”

It's turn the page time, unfortunately. Boston had a chance to gain a game on the pinstripers but instead remain 2 1/2 games behind them. Tonight, there's more hopeful Fenway magic. It'll be Penny versus Anderson. The Red Sox need a win to help forget about the Tuesday night bullpen collapse. That would be the best medicine out there. THE ONLY MEDICINE.

Thanks for stopping by on this Hump Day Wednesday. You can click on this post's title for more Sox news and as always, BE WELL. I'll see you...soon. Leave a comment if you'd like...I'll respond to every one.