Tonight marked the nadir of Jose Contreras' career, but Boone Logan wasn't far behind.
Contreras, who looked good in the first inning-plus, ruptured his achilles after running to cover first on a grounder to Nick Swisher, bringing an end to his season and forcing the bullpen to cover all but 1 2/3 innings of the game.
But after D.J. Carrasco contributed 4 1/3 quality inning, it all went to pot on Logan's watch.
Ozzie Guillen sent Logan in to face the top of the Red Sox's order in the seventh inning, with two lefties (Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew) and one switch hitter (Jason Varitek). He didn't retire any of them, allowing two singles and a walk.
Guillen came out, but didn't pull Logan, choosing to have him go against Dustin Pedroia with another lefty, David Ortiz on deck.
Pedroia singled, and then Ortiz cleared the bases with a shot off the wall to turn a 1-1 game into a 5-1 game. Ellsbury and Jim Thome traded solo homers, and that was the ballgame.
It probably would've taken an impossible effort by the bullpen to pull this one out considering the Sox spoiled the chances they had against Daisuke Matsuzaka. A.J. Pierzynski grounded into double plays in the Sox's two best scoring chances.
In the third inning, Juan Uribe walked and Dewayne Wise reached when Matsuzaka couldn't handle his popped up bunt. Orlando Cabrera tried to remove the force, but he popped it up a little farther for one out, and Pierzynski grounded into double play No. 1, 6-4-3.
Nick Swisher led the fifth off with a walk, and Juan Uribe's popped up bunt stuck in fair territory for a single. Wise showed bunt twice, but pulled back and watched the ball go by for strikes. He'd eventually nub one for a 6-4 fielder's choice.
Cabrera finally put the Sox on the board with a flare to right center for a 1-0 lead and Wise moved to third to keep the runners on the corners. Pierzynski, though, would end the threat by grounding into a 4-6-3.
Record: 64-51 |
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