THE BAD NEWS ISN'T THAT THE SOX LOST, IT'S THAT WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE TBS ANNOUNCERS FOR ONE MORE NIGHT

I've said it before, I'll say it again: the word luck should almost never be used in sports. Teams don't win thanks to luck, nor do they lose because of bad luck. But sometimes, especially in baseball, there is good fortune and bad fortune. To me, the Angels were blessed with a portion of fortune, while the Sox were slightly snake-bitten. But Los Angeles/Anaheim/Orange Country/California/Earth still did what they needed to do in order to win. And the Red Sox still did what they needed to do in order to lose.



Torii Hunter's 2 out single in the 1st was an example of Angelic good fortune. The ball was not hit hard, but it found a tricky place in the Sox' infield defense. Hunter reached to load the bases, Beckett walks Juan Rivera, and it's 1-0 Anaheim.

Mark Teixeira is 5 for 12 in this series. Dustin Pedroia is 0 for 8. But Pedroia's hit the ball much harder than Teixeira. He's just not finding the holes, and he's hitting it right at someone.

But good fortune/bad fortune aside, there are no real angels in the outfield helping Anaheim out. The Sox did more to help the Angels win than Lady Luck did.

Beckett looked rusty, and sluggish on defense. 5 innings, 4 earned is not typical Josh Beckett postseason stuff. Was it rust? Was it a lingering injury? Both, perhaps?



Jacoby Ellsbury deserves nothing but criticism for the way he played in the late innings. Oversliding 2nd base in the 7th, and standing up BEFORE CALLING TIMEOUT?!? That's stupid baseball! And it may have cost the Sox a scoring inning.

In the 11th, Ellsbury struck out looking. The third pitch was clearly outside, but home plate ump Kerwin Danley was itching to ring Jacoby up after he had a mini-tantrum on a close 2nd strike call at the knees. A little bit of immaturity may have cost Ellsbury a strike.

The good news the Red Sox have Jon Lester on the mound later tonight. The bad news is that it's still on TBS, and WEEI/WRKO are 4 seconds ahead of my TV. The game's also at 8:37, an hour later than Sunday's contest. Hopefully the teachers in Red Sox Nation are kind enough not to schedule tests and quizzes Tuesday.

Man of the Game:
Mike Napoli. 3 for 5, 2 homers, 3 RBI, scored game winning run in the 12th



Horrible Announcing Moments:
About Lowell being at the plate in the 10th "This is sweet symmetry." What?
"Everyone here has dry-mouth."

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
AP Photo/Elise Amendola