G85: Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2

Blue Jays - 000 000 002 - 2  6  0
Red Sox   - 021 000 00x - 3  7  0

Lester (4-0-0-1-5, 50) left the game with a left lat strain. Early reports are that he will miss two weeks.

The Sox won the game on what looked like a blown call at the plate, one of several in the top of the ninth from plate umpire Brian Knight. What will go into the history books, though, is that after Jonathan Papelbon allowed a lead off single to Corey Patterson and a two-run dong to Jose Bautista, he then allowed a one-out single to Edwin Encarnacion and a two-out walk to J.P. Arencibia, before giving up a line drive single to John McDonald, a line drive to left that Darnell McDonald charged and then launched a perfect throw to home plate, where Jason Varitek blocked the plate and tagged out Encarnacion to end the game, and give Papelbon one of the least-deserved saves of his entire life.

What seems to have happened, however, is that when Encarnacion slid into Varitek's left leg, he got spun around and may have been able to drag his right foot across the plate before the tag. McDonald's throw was there in plenty of time, but Varitek was slow in putting the glove on the base runner. Knight was standing almost directly over Varitek, however, so he certainly had a good look at everything. I was watching the Jays feed and did not get see a super-slow replay where you could look at more than one spot during the play.

Knight blew at least three ball-strike calls in the inning. He failed to call strike three on the leadoff batter, Patterson, and the next pitch was hit into center field for a single.

Knight also missed two strikes in Arencibia's at-bat.

So if Knight also blew the call at the plate, that's four wrong calls in one half-inning. Once again, we have clear evidence that subpar umpiring affected the outcome of this game in a very direct way.

If Papelbon struck out Patterson and/or Arencibia, I want him to get credit for the out(s). And if Encarnacion got his foot on the plate before he was tagged, then I want his run to count.

The main reason why I want an extensive expansion of instant replay? I don't want what the players do on the field to be negated or altered by the imperfect observations of a non-player.

Brett Cecil / Jon Lester

Cecil had a 6.86 ERA in four April starts (including April 15 against Boston) and was demoted to Las Vegas (AAA). He returned on June 30 and allowed six runs in 6.1 innings, upping his ERA to a Lackeyesque 7.24.

After going 9-for-51 (.176) from June 15-29, Jacoby Ellsbury has gotten hot again, batting .555 in the last four games (10-for-18). ... Jose Bautista has hit safely in 61 of his 78 games this season, reaching base via a hit or walk in 73 of 78 games. (In 10 games against Boston this year, he's hitting .211/.302/.395.)

AL East: Yankees/Spiders at 7 PM and Rays/Twins at 8 PM.