Sox Comeback Falls Just Short

It was mostly a very unsatisfying night at Fenway Park on Friday night, as the Red Sox lost to the lowly Baltimore Orioles, 9-8. Baltimore came in on a nine-game losing streak. The Sox staged a near-dramatic comeback from being down 9-3 in the sixth, but fell tantilizingly short.

Julian Tavarez filled in for Tim Wakefield because he had a sore back. (Nothing serious, and it sounds like Wake will take his regular turn again next week.) Tavarez was good for three innings, but he gave up four runs in the fourth and was pulled. Mike Timlin was absolutely hammered in the sixth, giving up four runs on the night when Sarge became just the 13th pitcher in history to pitch in 1,000 games. (What a way to celebrate it.)

The Sox looked cooked, but they scored three in the seventh and two in the ninth, before Jason Varitek ended it with a DP grounder with two on to give Baltimore the win. David Ortiz hit a home run, Eric Hinske drove in three runs and Dustin Pedroia had four hits in the losing cause.

I thought the Sox were going to pull it out, as they were belting interim Orioles closer Danys Baez all over Fenway Park. It would have been a bigger win than the one they pulled out over the O's on Mother's Day. It left me very deflated, especially since the Yankees were hammered by the Devil Rays (yes, those Tampa Bay Devil Rays), 9-1. The Rays scored more runs in one night there than the Sox scored in the previous series. Ugh.

The Red Sox can't count on teams like Tampa Bay to take care of business for them. They did them a favor on Friday night, but they have to put their own stamp on this division race.

At least the Red Sox lost no ground, but missed a valuable shot at putting some more distance between them and that second place team.

The Yankee loss means the Magic Number has dropped down to the number of one of my favorite Sox players, who we honor here with a photo. He's one of those stars known by just one name.

Looie.