Red Sox can't hit off of terriffic Tim.
A's ace leaves Red Sox in a must win situation tonight.
The Red Sox bats struggled mightily against Tim Hudson yesterday, who surrendered just two infield hits to the best offense in baseball.
The much touted pitcher's duel did not fail to please Oakland fans, but Boston fans are now getting antcy.
Pedro Martinez allowed two runs in five innings, walking two and striking out seven. With the loss he slipped to 8-3.
Hudson went all nine and allowed no runs on two infield hits. The win bumped him up to 11-4.
With the loss, the Red Sox have slipped to a tie for first place in the wild card, and yet again squandered an oppurtunity to come within two games of New York, who got ripped by Kansas City 12-9 after blowing a 5-1 lead.
A loss tonight takes the Red Sox out of a first place tie for the wild card.
The Mariners, 3 games ahead of the Red Sox currently, lost 5-3 to the Blue Jays. The Mariners are only a concern if the Oakland A's overtake them for the lead in the American League West.
9-28-03
So, The Red Sox have made the playoffs. This team was unbelieveable to watch. One Boston Globe sportswriter said it best, "I've never seen a team with higher highs, and lower lows than this team." Certainly, there were some magical moments. Kevin Millar's 16th inning home run in Tampa Bay. The Red Sox crushing the Yankees on July 4th and 5th. David Ortiz' walk-off single hitting the monster against the Yankees on Saturday. Jason Varitek and Johnny Damon going back-to-back on Sunday. Trot Nixon hitting a grand slam against the Phillies in the make-up game. Todd Walker and David Ortiz stealing the show against the Orioles, and the night they clinched.
But, these same Boston Red Sox have had some miserable defeats. Opening day in Tampa Bay. Mike Lowell's 3-run shot off of Brandon Lyon. The ball through Walker's legs. Nomar whiffing against Julio. Cleveland scoring 12 unanswered runs in the last 2 innings to defeat Boston 13-4.
The question is, which Red Sox team will show up for October? If it's the lousy bullpen, fundementally unsound fielding team, then prepare for another round of 'wait 'till next year.' But, what if the comeback kids show up? Is the wait over?
Tune in Wednesday night at 10 PM to find out...
Sox leave Oakland where they began
After a six game stretch in which the Red Sox lost five games and won one, Red Sox fans were getting very down, and many were announcing the annual August collapse. The Red Sox had fallen four games out of first place in the American League East, and one game out of the wild card race. And next on the agenda was Mark Mulder.
Obviously, the Red Sox destroyed Mulder, and won the game 7-3. However with Ted Lilly opposing Tim Wakefield, yesterdays game was also considered a must win game.
After eight innings, it did not look good, and Keith Foulke, the A's lights out closer was in. He had to face Manny Ramirez though.
Manny took him to 3-2, and then exploded into a middle of the plate pitch and smashed it over everything in left.
Then, in the tenth inning, Gabe Kapler singled, was bunted over to second, and reached third on a Johnny Damon single to right. Bill Mueller then hit a sacrifice fly to left-center. Nomar Garciaparra followed with a slow roller that Eric Chavel threw away, scoring Damon and leading to a 4-2 Red Sox win, putting the club one game up in the wild card, and three games back in the American League East.