Last night's 7-6 loss to Minnesota was a hard one to swallow, but let's not line up on the Zakim Bridge because Papelbon has blown two saves in a row. The bottom of the 9th was a very strange inning. A leadoff single up the middle, a sacrifice bunt, then Young steals third base, which wound up being the difference in the game. Gomez walks, then steals second. Had Young not taken third beforehand, surely the twins wouldn't have put on a double steal with 2 outs, and the go ahead run wouldn't have gotten into scoring position. But it did, and Lamb hit a bloop single which knocked in both Young and the speedy Gomez.
It wasn't as if Papelbon got knocked around, or had trouble throwing strikes. Give credit to the Twins for playing good aggressive small ball. Most of the time, the Red Sox will win this kind of game. But Friday night was Minnesota's.
Julio Lugo once again hurt the club with his glove, committing his 11th error of the season. It was a simple error doing something that Major League short-stops should be able to do in their sleep. And it allowed 2 unearned runs to score.
It's time to send Jed Lowrie back to AAA Pawtucket. He needs to get his regular at-bats down in the minors so he can replace Lugo in '09, or perhaps sooner. Right now, he's not ready to be a full-time short-stop. But with a few hundred more AAA at-bats, he will be.
Daisuke goes against Glen Perkins, who is making his first career start.
Source:
ESPN.com
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Paul Battaglia
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