Red Sox Papelbon, Green Implode, Hand A's Win

Oakland Athletics took the lead against their Boston Red Sox. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)" title="Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, and Nick Green" width="374" height="410" />

(from left) Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, and Nick Green dejectedly look on during a pitching change in the eleventh inning after the Oakland Athletics took the lead against their Boston Red Sox. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

On the eve that Jim Rice, recently enshrined into the Hall of Fame, had his number 14 retired, the team he began and retired with, the Boston Red Sox, did everything they could over the first eight innings to make his night that much more special. With a three-run lead and closer Jonathan Papelbon set to take the mound for the ninth inning, Boston was in prime position to take advantage of a rare loss by the New York Yankees, move up in the American League East standings, and send their fans, including Rice, home happy.

After starting pitcher Clay Buchholz allowed two runs in the top of the second inning, his Red Sox offense exploded in the third inning for five runs. Buchholz struggled through the first two frames and threw a lot of pitches over his remaining three-plus, but pitched very effectively. He worked out of multiple jams, holding the Oakland Athletics offense at bay to keep his team’s three-run lead intact.

Boston added to their lead in the sixth, stretching the margin to four once Mike Lowell laced an RBI double off starting pitcher Vin Mazzaro. The Red Sox were in business and, with Buchholz out of the game, had their bullpen set up to their liking against the light-hitting Athletics.

Oakland, like their teams of years past, always find ways to compete despite their low payroll and a roster full of relatively unknown players. Their lineup doesn’t have a hitter batting over .300 this season and is made up of both singles hitters and one-year rental past-their-prime stars. Yet, the Athletics are scrappy and, despite their porous record, have the same desire to win as any contender. So, though much of their offense is gone with the trade of Matt Holliday to the St. Louis Cardinals, as the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings suggested, they can still put a hurt on even the best of bullpens.

Ramon Ramirez, who relieved Buchholz to obtain the final out of the sixth inning, was sent out to begin the seventh frame. He disposed of former Red Sox star Nomar Garciaparra by strikeout, but then succumbed to Jack Cust, the only remaining power hitter the A’s possess. Cust racked a double deep to center-field, hit so well that the fleet-footed Jacoby Ellsbury couldn’t track it down. An out later, Ryan Sweeney stepped to the plate to face the newly inserted Hideki Okajima.

On a 3-2 count with two outs, Okajima threw Sweeney a changeup that swept away from the left-hander. It was a great pitch given the situation and nearly impossible to put good wood on. But, a pitcher’s pitch can still be hit, especially by Sweeney, a slap-hitter. Sweeney figured it wasn’t a strike, considering the tailing action away from him, but in order to be a good hitter in the major leagues, possessing the ability to protect the plate is vital, especially if the offering could either be called strike-three or ball-four if let be. Sweeney poked at it, and managed to get the barrel on the ball to line the pitch into center-field.

The slow-footed Cust was running on the play, as all baserunners do with two outs, and it was a good thing. Ellsbury doesn’t have the greatest throwing arm, but he certainly isn’t in New York Yankees left-fielder Johnny Damon’s category. Whereas Damon has trouble throwing the ball far enough to reach the cutoff man, Ellsbury is much more likely to gun down the opposition. He charged Sweeney’s single, so he had a head of steam towards home-plate, and his throw was on line, but Cust’s head-start proved the difference. The ball trickled away from catcher George Kottaras, to no fault of Ellsbury’s, and Cust rumbled in standing up.

The margin was three and with six outs left, Oakland had plenty of time to at least tie Boston. Their optimism grew once the deficit dwindled to two when, with one out in the eighth inning, Adam Kennedy drove home Mark Ellis, who led off the frame with a double.

The Red Sox answered in the bottom, but not the way they would have liked. Jason Bay led off the inning against Brad Ziegler and was promptly plunked. J.D. Drew followed. He saw three fastballs and tagged the third down the left-field line. Bay, with above average speed for someone his size, sped around the bases as Sweeney tried to corral the ball, which ricocheted around in the corner. As Sweeney collected it, Bay was just about to round third base. He touched the bag and headed home as Sweeney throw to shortstop Orlando Cabrera was in mid-flight. Cabrera, who was part of the ‘three shortstops in three years’ failed experiment with Boston after Garciaparra was infamously traded, wasted no time once the ball snuggled into his glove. He immediately fired a strike to catcher Kurt Suzuki, who blocked the plate perfectly and tagged Bay to cut down the would-be seventh Red Sox run.

Drew moved to third base on the Cabrera’s throw home and scored on Lowell’s ensuing sacrifice fly, but it was an opportunity missed. Bay would have scored if not for Cabrera’s perfect relay throw, but had he played it extremely safe and held up at third, the Red Sox could have had two runners in scoring position with nobody out. That way, two well-placed fly ball outs could have scored both Bay and Drew, but as it was, the Red Sox faced this reality: the bases were empty with no one on, with two out and only one run.

But, what’s the big deal? They increased their lead to three heading to the top of the ninth, and Papelbon was ready to mow the A’s down. Surely they could breathe easy, right?

It appeared that way once Papelbon retired Suzuki and Sweeney after allowing a leadoff walk to Cust. The Athletics were down to their last out still down by three runs. Tommy Everidge, making his major league debut, socked a double, his first career hit, high off the Green Monster in left, scoring Cust, who had reached second on defensive indifference and third on Suzuki’s groundout. Now a home-run could tie the game.

The A’s are home-run challenged, however, but that didn’t stop them. Ellis tapped a slow dribbler to Red Sox shortstop Nick Green. It was too slow for Green to do anything with, as Ellis was speeding down the line and would have beaten any throw he attempted. Yet, with Ellis zeroing in on first, Green made a throw he shouldn’t. It was wayward, scoring Everidge and sending Ellis into scoring position at second base. Now a single could tie the game.

Ellis stole third during Rajai Davis’s at-bat, which proved to be huge. Davis hit a grounder deep into the hole to Green. Ellis was off on contact, so instead of trotting to third base, he sped home with ease being just 90-feet away. His run wouldn’t count if Green could make a strong accurate throw to first, however. Davis, with electrifying speed that rivals Ellsbury’s, put pressure on Green, pressure Green couldn’t handle. The shortstop fired, but his throw once again evaded Youkilis.

The Red Sox crowd went silent. The only noise that could be heard was faint yelps of triumph from the Athletics dugout and the footsteps of Davis, who took advatange of the errant throw by motoring into third base. Boston held a three-run lead needing to record one out, but suddenly, thanks to Papelbon and Green’s combined implosion, the game was tied.

The game was untied by Davis with two outs in the eleventh, as he knocked in Ellis, who had previously doubled, by singling to right-field. The Red Sox could have limited the damage to the single run, but sought out to duplicate a portion of the nightmarish ninth. Davis continued to torment Boston, stealing second base, then ran to third and home on Kennedy’s fifth hit.

Boston’s offense came alive in the bottom of the inning, but their rally was all too brief. Lowell and Kottaras reached with singles to begin the inning, then were moved over to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Green. A single could tie, but only one run would score, on Ellsbury’s ensuing groundout.

The Red Sox ruined Rice’s night because of their inability to execute offensively in crucial situations, pitch well in the latter innings, and make smart decisions in the field. The A’s did everything right to come away with a stunning victory. The Red Sox, as they have far too often this month, did everything wrong, throwing away opportunity after opportunity and, eventually, the game.