G161: Orioles 5, Red Sox 4

Heckuva job, Mike.

Timlin comes in to save a 4-3 Red Sox lead -- and he allows four hits to five batters. Millar gets the big blow, driving in the two runs that give Baltimore the victory.

Ortiz came close to tying in as a pinch-hitter leading off the ninth, but flew out to deep center, just to the left of the bullpens. ... Manny hit home run #35 and also picked up a single and a walk.

***

Adam Loewen (5.30) / Tim Wakefield (4.63), 7 PM

Red Sox lineup -- Ortiz out, Manny in:

Pedroia, SS
Loretta, 2B
Lowell, 3B
Ramirez, DH
WM Pena, CF
Nixon, RF
Mirabelli, C
Kapler, LF
C Pena, 1B

G160: Red Sox 4, Orioles 3

No taters for the Big Man -- he took three walks, smacked a double and scored twice.

***

Erik Bedard (3.67) / Julian Tavarez (4.52), 7 PM

G159: Devil Rays 11, Red Sox 0

Tampa scores nine times in the seventh (six off Beckett, three off Corey).

Bonus Headache: FSN/Rays announcer Joe Migraine pronouncing Pedroia's last name as both "Ped-row-a" (multiple times) and "Pedroza".

***

Tim Corcoran (4.73) / Josh Beckett (4.82), 7 PM

Edes Answers His Critics

Gordon Edes received a ton of mail after his column on Manny Ramirez ("Time To Close Curtain On This Act") ran last Saturday.

In a special edition of his mailbag, he answers his critics

I would like to think that after 10 years of covering the Sox for the Globe, most of you have found me to be reasonably even-handed, but clearly that is not the case for everyone and I accept that. ... In the time he has been here, there hasn't been a single occasion in which Manny Ramirez has acted in any way toward me that could be characterized as abusive or overtly hostile. I would suggest that given what I've written about him on occasion, it would have been understandable had he responded differently.

and then posts 23 of the messages (pro and con) he received.

Matt Clement had exploratory shoulder surgery on Tuesday and doctors found what Terry Francona called "significant damage ... it was a little more extensive than we had hoped for".

I wish I could have seen the pregame ceremony last night, with Nanci Foxx Canaday (Jimmie Foxx's daughter) and Linda Ruth Tosetti (Babe Ruth's granddaughter) honoring David Ortiz. NESN did have a brief interview with the two women during the game.

Pitchers for the final series, against Baltimore: Julian Tavarez, Tim Wakefield, and then either Devern Hansack, Kason Gabbard, or Kyle Snyder.

G158: Red Sox 5, Devil Rays 1

Curt Schilling (7-5-1-4-9, 101) allowed a first-inning run, but David Ortiz tied the game with his 54th home run of the year in the third.

Then, with two outs and Jason Varitek at second in the fourth inning, Eric Hinske doubled to left-center (2-1), Alex Cora tripled into the triangle (3-1), Kevin Youkilis walked, Mark Loretta walked, and Ortiz singled to left-center (5-1).

Tizzle finished the night 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Hinske was also 3-for-4.

The Tigers beat the Blue Jays 4-3, so we're back in second place.

***

Jason Hammel (7.01) / Curt Schilling (4.07), 7 PM

Carl Crawford is 14-for-43 (.326) vs Schilling with four doubles and a home run.

Scoreboard Watch: The second-place Blue Jays -- one-half game in front of Boston -- are in Detroit.

G157: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 0

Cable problems prevented me from posting anything today. Then I was at Skydome watching Cy Marcum cut down the Red Sox in a quick 2:03.

Two ground ball singles -- Cora in the sixth and Hinske in the eighth -- and only Hinske's made it into the outfield. Two long balls off Wakefield (Rios and Molina) in the middle innings was more than enough.

0-2 at Skydome this season (the other game was Beckett's night of BP and Wells's three home runs on May 30). Bah.

G156: Blue Jays 13, Red Sox 4

Bright spots from an ugly game:

David Ortiz hit HR #53 in the first inning. If he can go deep tomorrow night (with me in attendance!), he'll set a new record for most road homers in a season. Right now, he's tied with Babe Ruth with 32 (1927).

Mike Lowell doubled twice, Kevin Youkilis singled and tripled, and Alex Gonzalez and Wily Mo Pena both singled and doubled. ... Kason Gabbard pitched 2.2 hitless innings, walking two Jays who eventually scored.

Which brings us to the ugliness.

Snyder faced nine batters in the third, and left after that inning trailing 4-2. Gabbard took over and retired eight of nine hitters -- with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Toronto led 4-3. Then the next 14 Blue Jays batters unloaded:

Gabbard in 6th: walk, walk
Delcarmen in 6th: 2-run triple, rbi-single, rbi-double, groundout
DiNardo in 7th: walk, double, 2-run single, popout, single
Burns in 7th: rbi-double, rbi-sac fly, rbi-double

With the Yankees' loss to Tampa, Boston is 10.5 GB and Toronto is 11.

***

Kyle Snyder (6.28) / Gustavo Chacin (4.87), 1 PM

Click

Final: Twins 8, Orioles 5.

The Red Sox are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

G155: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3

Hansack pitched quite well (5-6-3-0-2, 80), allowing only three balls out of the infield before surrendering back-to-back home runs to Lyle Overbay and Troy Glaus in the fourth. That gave Toronto a 2-1 lead (Dustin Pedroia had led off the game with his 2nd home run).

Boston tied it at 2-2 in the sixth on Jason Varitek's one-out grounder, but Trot Nixon bumbled on the basepaths and was caught off second for an inning-ending double play. Hansack allowed two hits to start the home sixth and was relieved. One of those runners scored and the Jays added two more runs off Mike Burns in the eighth.

Manny Ramirez walked in a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh. In addition to the home run, Pedroia singled, walked and lined out twice. David Ortiz singled twice, as did Mike Lowell.

***

Devern Hansack (ML Debut) / A.J. Burnett (3.97), 4 PM

The Pain Of Manny

Who can speak for another man's pain? But the flip side of that question is in professional sports, everyone is hurt to one degree or another, and a measure of a player's commitment often revolves around his willingness to deal with that pain.

Gordon Edes writes Manny a new one in today's Globe.

Do you suppose that 20 years from now [after Manny has cashed $32 million in deferred payments], Ramirez will feel even the slightest bit of remorse for the way he quit on his Red Sox teammates in 2006, refusing to honor the code that is an article of faith for Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell, Curt Schilling and Coco Crisp, Trot Nixon and Alex Gonzalez, and Mark Loretta -- even the now-departed fat man, David Wells -- that you do all within your power to play hurt.

Barring a midlife conversion experience, I doubt it.

Edes claims that Manny has once again, through his agent, told the Red Sox he wants to be traded this winter. Does Manny want out? Who the hell really knows? I haven't paid a lot of attention to the sports pages this past week, but I must have missed this. Edes doesn't quote or attribute this bit of news to anyone.

Edes also tells us that

While the Red Sox crumbled when Ramirez went on hiatus -- last night was the 22d game out of 30 Ramirez has missed since taking himself out of the last game of the Yankee massacre Aug. 21 ...

Is Edes actually implying that the Red Sox crumbled after August 21 when Manny started sitting out? I didn't want to believe it at the time, but the five-game sweep by the Yankees was simply the nail in the 2006 coffin.

From August 1-20, Boston went 6-13. Since then, when Edes says Manny went "on hiatus", the Red Sox have been 14-17. So they actually haven't crumbled at all, they have improved. You'd think Edes would use that as his argument.

But if Edes is saying that with Manny's bat in the cleanup spot, Boston would not have "crumbled", well, he couldn't telegraph his biases any clearer than that.

G154: Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 1

Are you sitting down?

Julian Tavarez pitched a complete game (9-7-1-1-1, 99). His pitch count by innings:

6-21-11 12-8-13 11-8-9 = 99

It was his second career CG; he threw his first for the Rockies, on September 5, 2000.

Sexy Lips recorded 19 outs on ground balls. He was in a bit of trouble in the second inning. Three singles and a walk had loaded the bases with one run in. Reed Johnson drilled a line drive right at Mike Lowell, who got an easy unassisted double play to end the threat.

After that, Toronto managed only three base runners: Lyle Overbay's 2-out double in the 3rd (which fell between Wily Mo Pena and Gabe Kapler and should have been caught), Alex Rios's leadoff single in the 4th, and Vernon Wells's infield hit in the 9th.

Lowell clubbed a two-run home run to get the Sox on the board in the second; Alex Gonzalez doubled twice and drove in three runs, Kapler and Mark Loretta each had two hits.

David Ortiz, who is one home run shy of tying Babe Ruth's record for road HRs in a season (32, 1927), was 0-for-3 with two walks.

***

Julian Tavarez (4.89) / Ted Lilly (4.44), 7 PM

Pedroia, 2B     Johnson, LF
Loretta, 1B     Catalonotto, DH
Ortiz, DH       Wells, CF
Youkilis, LF    Overbay, 1B
Lowell, 3B      Glaus, 3B
WM Pena, RF,    Rios, RF
Mirabelli, C    Molina, C
Kapler, CF      Hill, 2B
Gonzalez, SS    Adams, SS

Crisp -- Surgery On Finger Set For Monday

Gordon Edes, Globe:

Coco Crisp is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left index finger Monday.

We're still awaiting some word of explanation from team medical director Thomas Gill ... but there is a fracture in the bone that will require a pin or a screw to be inserted. ... Crisp is back in Boston. Francona said he will be ready for the start of spring training.

G153: Red Sox 6, Twins 0

And in the seventh, Ortiz (#52) and Lowell (#18) go back-to-back for a 6-0 lead. Beckett brings his too-seldom-seen A-game (8-6-0-0-5, 103) and the Red Sox keep elimination at bay for another day.

***

7:24 PM -- Bottom of the first, none on, 2 outs, first pitch, crushed to deep right-center:


***

Johan Santana (2.77) / Josh Beckett (5.02), 7 PM

If the Twins win tonight, Boston will be officially eliminated from the wild card race.

Dustin Pedroia has hit safely in his last five games (6-for-12).

50

David Ortiz on #50:

It means they're going to remember me for a while. It's a great feeling to be right next to a great player, a superstar, just like Mr. Jimmie Foxx was. To be right there with him is a wonderful feeling. ... I was very excited. At one point it felt like I just hit a walk-off.

The MRI on Manny Ramirez's right knee revealed no evidence of a stress fracture. And Amalie Benjamin of the Globe couldn't resist getting a shot in:

And not long after yesterday's MRI revealed no structural damage, the left fielder appeared in the clubhouse with his teammates. Nothing much had changed in his demeanor -- or walk -- just as nothing much had changed with the revelation that there was no stress fracture ...

(For another example of piss-poor reporting at the Globe, check out Nick Cafardo's recent whopper here.)

Julian Tavarez told the Courant's David Heuschkel that Ramirez is done for the season: "Take my word, I know. If he has one more at-bat, I'll give you one thousand dollars."

Kevin Youkilis (neck spasms) will likely miss a few more games and Wily Mo Pena (right quad) says he may play this weekend. ... Old Hickory was back on the beat.

G152: Twins 8, Red Sox 2

David Ortiz's 50th home run -- tying the Red Sox single season record -- gave Boston a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning. After seven innings, they needed only six outs to grab a win.

After only recording four of those six outs, Minnesota led 8-2. Craig Hansen started the eighth and surrendered: double, wild pitch, walk, three-run HR (by Torii Hunter over the Volvo sign), double. Bryan Corey got out of that inning but allowed three more runs in the ninth -- to 5 batters on only 6 pitches.

***

Manny Ramirez had an MRI on his ailing knee this afternoon. Kevin Youkilis is on the bench with a strained neck.

***

Boof Bonser (4.52) / Curt Schilling (4.13), 7 PM

Hansack Will Start In Toronto

Devern Hansack will be the ninth native of Nicaragua to play in the majors when he gets the ball Saturday in Toronto.

Hansack was considered for last Sunday night's game against the Yankees, but he had to pitch the fifth and deciding game of the Eastern League championship series for Portland. Hansack was in the Astros organization for four years, but was released after 2003. He didn't play in 2004 and spent 2005 playing in Holland before signing a minor league contract with Boston last December.

Tom Verducci has a lengthy feature on Alex Rodriguez in this week's Sports Illustrated.

A-Rod Agonistes
Despite his extraordinary numbers, New York fans are quick to discount his contributions. And when things go wrong for A-Rod, even his teammates find him hard to motivate and harder to understand

Peter Gammons is set to return to Baseball Tonight since suffering a brain aneurysm June 27.

G151: Twins 7, Red Sox 3

Even the most optimistic of us (really, probably only me, and a few mental patients) have to say: It is over. 8.5 back in the wild card with 11 to play.

***

Newest Sock: 28-year-old RHP Devern Hansack, called up from Portland. He made two starts in the Eastern League Championship Series against Akron, going 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (The Sea Dogs won the Championship). For the season, he was 8-7, 3.26. He will wear #68.

***

Matt Garza (5.50) / Tim Wakefield (4.19), 7 PM

With 12 games left in the regular season, the Red Sox trail the Twins by 7.5 games in the wild card race (the White Sox, who host Detroit, are 4.5 games back).

Linescore Of The Day

Yesterday in Atlanta:

Marlins - 001 000 020 4 - 7  9 3
Braves  - 010 000 200 5 - 8 10 0

According to Elias, it was the first time in franchise history (since 1876!) that the Braves had won a game in which they trailed by four or more runs during extra innings. Since 1981, there have been only two other games in which the winning team rebounded from a deficit of at least four runs in the 10th inning or later.

April 21, 1991

Cubs    - 000 003 040 05 - 12 13 0
Pirates - 000 020 041 06 - 13 13 1

September 18, 2004

Tigers    - 002 101 000 400 -  8 10 0
White Sox - 100 030 000 401 -  9 12 1

G150: Red Sox 5, Yankees 4

Alex Rodriguez is more brake than clutch.

With one out and one on in the bottom of the ninth, Slappy, pinch-hitting and representing the winning run, popped out to second. Then Melky Cabrera flew out to left -- denying Derek Jeter another chance to extend his 25-game hitting streak -- and Boston had a sweep of today's doubleheader.

Jorge Posada drove in three of New York's first four runs and with the score tied 4-4 in the eighth, he was robbed of a two-run home run by Coco Crisp, who leapt high over the wall in left-center and pulled his fly ball back.

In the top of the ninth, after Carlos Pena doubled and Alex Cora went in to run, Crisp laid down a bunt in front of the plate. Posada's throw to first was wide, pulling Andy Phillips's foot off the bag. Crisp was safe and Cora took third. Mark Loretta's fly out to short center brought in the go-ahead run, as Bernie Williams's five-hopper to the plate was too late.

***

Late with this one. 2-2 after four.

Kevin Jarvis / Mike Mussina, 8 PM

G149: Red Sox 6, Yankees 3

There will be no Yankee division-winning celebration in this series.

Kevin Youkilis's three-run double in the sixth was the big blow. ... David Ortiz hit #49. ... David Murphy led off the game with his first major league home run.

***

Kyle Snyder (6.54) / Jaret Wright (4.60), 1 PM