Green, Delcarmen Throw It Away

Sox lose it in the Ninth, Comeback in the 11th Not Strong Enough

Up 7-4 in the 8th inning with Papelbon coming on many TV sets in Red Sox Nation were switching off. Buchholz had given the Sox a quality start, the bats had come alive, and the dynamite Sox pen looked as if it were about to seal the deal against the lowly A's. Shortstop Nick Green, the embedded Yankee, had other thoughts.

"I really like Baseball," Green said after game, "and I wanted to keep playing. Sometimes nine innings just isn't enough."*

With Papelbon looking for his 29th save of the season, Green's rocket-arm turned two groundballs into errors by sending the throw meant for first-base somewhere between the bag and the moon, and three Oakland runs.

The A's tied the game in the 9th and went on to win it in the 11th against a shaky and tired-looking Manny Delcarmen. In other news, Delcarmen also looked like he had a vagina on his face.

Oak (42-57) 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 2 < >< >< >9 21 0
Bos (58-41) 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 < >< >< >8 14 3

Buchholz 5.2IP 9H 2ER 5K
R. Ramirez 1.0IP 1H 1ER 1K
Okajima .2IP 3H 1ER 1K
Bard .2IP 1H 0ER
Papelbon 1IP 3H 2ER 1K
Delcarmen 1.2IP 3H 2ER 1K
Saito .1IP 1H 0ER

Stuff you need to know:
The Sox retired Jim Rice's #14 jersey last night, after his Cooperstown induction on Sunday.
Last night was just the second time ever that Papelbon blew a three-run lead.
Before last night the Sox' bullpen hadn't allowed a run in 25 innings.

Boston Globe game report
Herald game report

3 Strikes

• Daisuke's frustrated with his re-hab and throwing program.

That's funny, because everybody else is frustrated with him sucking. And then complaining about it.

• The Sox traded outfielder/high-fiver Mark Kotsay and cash to the White Sox for outfielder/albino Brian Anderson (stats).

So? Just thought you might want to know who the new guy is. Plus, he's really goofy-looking. The new Brian Scalabrine? Only time will tell.

• Mark Buehrle set the major league record by retiring 45 straight batters (over two games.)
  

After tossing a perfect game over the weekend, he had a perfecto going into the 7th last night. And he's on both of my fantasy teams.

Big News:
The Sox are rumored to be pursuing Roy Halladay, but there are conflicting reports as to the package Theo's offered the Jays.
Team sources denied that they had offered Buchholz, pitcher Michael Bowden and outfielder Ryan Westmoreland, as old friend Gordon Edes first reported. Thankfully, the team reportedly told Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi that Daniel Bard was untouchable.

Tonight:
Oak (42-57)
Anderson (5-8) 4.32ERA
at
Bos (58-41)
Penny (7-4) 4.71ERA
Game time 7:10pm