One Hell Of A Brutal Loss

Tonight's Red Sox-Blue Jays game was the type of game every team goes through during the course of a long, 162-game season. But it still hurts.

The Sox were coasting along, 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth, and Josh Beckett was pitching a terrific game. Then it all seemed to come apart. Beckett hit Aaron Hill and then gave up a two-run homer to Russ Adams (his first home run of the year--UGH!) Then Beckett served one up to Vernon Wells, his second home run of the game. Exit Beckett, enter Mike Timlin.

Timlin worries me right now. He seems to be leaving everything up at the moment, and sure enough he left one up to Troy Glaus, and he blasted one out to tie it up. Timlin had nothing, and the next three hitters reached base (fortunately Lyle Overbay was caught stealing). Jonathan Papelbon came in to put out the fire, and eventually the game went to extra innings.

Before it all came undone, it seemed like a typical Red Sox win was at hand. They played great defense, especially Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta. Big Papi hit a home run, and Manny Ramirez finally busted out and hit two long bombs, his first two HRs of the season. Beckett was crusing along, and had just one bad inning where he gave up a two-run homer to Wells.

Papelbon and Keith Foulke both pitched very well in relief. But I saw disaster coming when, with two outs in the 12th and Foulke just having walked Glaus (the pitch he walked him on looked like strike three to me), Terry Francona decided to bring Rudy Seanez to face Lyle Overbay. This move absolutely boggles my mind. Seanez, who was a total disaster in his first stint with the Sox in 2003, has picked up where he left off and has been putrid this season. I want an explanation as to what Francona was thinking for making such an inexplicable move as this at that point in the game. If Foulke had gotten the last out and the game went to the 13th, Tito would have to have brought in either Seanez, Julian Tavarez or Jermaine Van Buren into the game. But that would have been then. Seanez threw one pitch to Lyle Overbay, and he doubled into the gap to score Glaus and Toronto won, 7-6.

Brutal. Absolutely brutal.

Like I said before, everyone goes through games like this during the season. This one was in the "w" column, and it was snatched away. The loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday night was the kind of loss you forget about five minutes after its over.

This one sticks in your craw.

I better sure as hell not see Rudy Seanez with a baseball in his hand in a clutch situation for the Sox again this season.