G94: Athletics 5, Red Sox 4 (10)

Red Sox   - 130 000 000 0 - 4 12  0
Athletics - 004 000 000 1 - 5  6  1

Good news: Jonathan Papelbon will be available for tomorrow's f*#@%in' game.

Why? Because he sat on his ass in the bullpen while Terry Francona decided to let Ramon Ramirez, Dustin Richardson*, and Michael Bowden hand-deliver this game to the A's.

* Richardson struck out the one guy he faced, so he should not be saddled with too much blame, but Tito did go to him. (Papelbon was warming up in the top of the ninth.)

Ramirez struck out Coco Crisp to start the 10th (and Ococ was tossed by Hey Look At Me!! Good God I'm Such A Raging Asshole home plate umpire Bob Davidson. Daric Barton singled to center and took second on a balk (which Davidson seemed to take particular delight in calling). The Sox decided to walk Kurt Suzuki and bring in Richardson for Jack Cust. RH-hitting Adam Rosales pinch-hit and fanned on strike four (what should have been strike three was called ball three by Davidson, and an understandably irate John Farrell was ejected).

Bowden came in and got two quick strikes on Kevin Kouzmanoff. Things looked good, but then he missed with two balls before Kouz singled to right field. J.D. Drew's throw was up the first base line and Barton scored the winning run.

The Sox blew an early 4-0 lead as Wakefield (6-3-4-2-5, a season-high 115) melted down in the third -- with one out: double, walk, double steal, HBP, 2-run double, run-scoring passed ball, sac fly to tie the game -- and then, while Wake, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima were retiring 16 consecutive Oakland batters from the third to the eighth, Boston left the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the other innings -- 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th -- they could not get even one runner past first base.

The Yankees lost to the Angels 10-2 and the Rays lost a wild one to the Orioles, 11-10 in 13 innings. The song remains the same: Boston 6 GB and Tampa Bay 2.5 GB.

Tim Wakefield / Dallas Braden

Scutaro, SS
McDonald, LF
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Drew, RF
Cameron, CF
Hall, 2B
Cash, C

Jed Lowrie might be activated tomorrow.

Cafardo says the Red Sox had discussed bringing back Nick Green (who was DFA'd by the Jays) back.

At 7 PM:

Rays/Orioles
Angels/Yankees

July 20:

1965 - Mel Stottlemyre of the Yankees hits an inside-the-park grand slam off Boston's Bill Monbouquette, the first pitcher to hit one since Pittsburgh's Deacon Phillippe in 1910.

1984 - Trailing 3-1 after eight innings, the Blue Jays score 11 times in the top of the ninth and then hang on to beat Seattle 12-7.

1985 - !

2006 - The Oneonta Tigers (New York-Penn League) beat the Brooklyn Cyclones 6-1 in 26 innings.

OT - 000 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 05 - 6
BC - 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 - 1