'Tis Better to Have Led and Lost...

Game 14 - Red Sox

Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3
Record: 8-6

Short and sweet this afternoon, as the demands of the real world intrude.

The Sox, by all rights, should have been out of last night's game early. Roy Halladay was dealing, with the notable exception of one curveball that caught too much plate, then caught the Mass Pike after stopping for a split second on the fat part of Manny Ramirez' bat. Bronson Arroyo was allowing multiple baserunners every inning - almost like he was bored with bases empty situations - then slamming the door on the Jays.

The Sox, by all rights, should have won last night's game going away. After Halladay became human in the bottom of the 7th, and David Ortiz drilled one to the cheap seats, the Sox led 3-1. Arroyo finished with 7 solid innings - throwing 73 strikes in 100 pitches. Alan Embree, theretofore stellar on the season, came in to get the Sox through the 8th.

The Sox, by all objective evaluation, gacked the ever-lovin' hell out of last night's game. Embree allowed the first 2 batters he faced to score, then Keith Foulke presided over a messy 9th inning that should have yielded more for the Jays than 1 run. (Sidenote: I'm going to have an aneurysm the next time a Sox pitcher does something stupid with an 0-2 count - in Foulke's case, he hit Frank Catalanotto with a slider with 1 out, nobody on.) In between, Jay Payton had to bat with runners on and 2 out in the bottom of the 8th because Terry Francona took out Manny Ramirez for defensive purposes after the Sox took the 3-1 lead. Dumb, and noted as such by Jerry Remy - even before it came back to haunt the Sox. New rule: No defensive substitutions for the game's hottest hitter until the final inning, unless the Sox lead by more than a touchdown. And, yes, I stole that gimmick from Bill Mahar. Sue me.

All in all, a terribly unsatisfying effort by the Sox in almost every aspect of the game. Here's hoping they take it out on Peter Angelos' boys over the next several days.