A win's a win by Jared Carrabis
Near no-hitter turns into bullpen meltdown, then a win in extras


Just when you thought you had seen it all from this Red Sox team, BOOM! They hit you with something like this.

The unlikeliest of no-hit candidates, entering the night with the highest WHIP in the Red Sox’ rotation (1.58), John Lackey wowed us all with a remarkable performance on Thursday night in Seattle.

The burly right-hander did, however, allow a second-inning run when Milton Bradley made a unique trip around the bases. Reaching first after a five-pitch walk, Bradley swiped second base for his seventh steal of the season, advanced to third on a ground out, and crossing home on a passed ball charged to Kevin Cash.

The unearned run would be the only blemish to Lackey’s near-perfect outing. While Lackey was busy putting up zeros, the Red Sox bats were busy doing work against Seattle starter Ryan Rowland-Smith.

With Mike Cameron aboard with a leadoff double, Bill Hall ripped an 0-1 changeup over the wall in center for a two-run blast. Later in the inning, David Ortiz knocked home Boston’s third run with an RBI single to right.

In the top of the sixth with the Mariners searching for their first hit of the game, the Red Sox added to their deficit. With one away and Kevin Youkilis at first with a single, JD Drew hammered a first-pitch changeup to deep right field for a two-run bomb.

In the bottom half, Lackey struck out the side, two looking, on thirteen pitches.

For the second consecutive inning, the Red Sox would add to their lead. This time, it was Marco Scutaro sitting dead red on a fastball with a 3-1 count. The Brian Sweeney offering to Scutaro was belted to left for a solo job, giving the Red Sox a five-run cushion.

Carrying a no-hitter into the eighth, Lackey retired the first two batters in order, before allowing a single for former Red Sox catcher, Josh Bard. Lackey’s final line was impressive, as the right-hander logged eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while walking one and striking out six.

In the last of the ninth, manager Terry Francona sent Manny Delcarmen to the mound, assuming that a five-run lead was enough of a lead for the righty to handle. Delcarmen, who has been abysmal since June 24, was back to his dreadful ways again.

Allowing a leadoff single to the weak-hitting Chone Figgins, Franklin Gutierrez belted a two-run job to left to bring the Mariners within three runs.

After walking Jose Lopez on four pitches, an E6 charged to Scutaro put two men aboard for Justin Smoak, drawing Jonathan Papelbon out of the bullpen with a save situation now in place.

Burying his splitter, Papelbon struck out Smoak ,swinging, to record the first out of the inning. Former Red Sox property, Casey Kotchman, stung a first-pitch fastball from Papelbon into right field to drive home another run.

Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Jack Wilson chopped a weak grounder out to short, as Scutaro flipped to Hall at second to record the out, and Hall threw a wild toss over to first, as the ball skipped away from Youkilis. The errant throw allowed two runs to come on home, tying the game at six.

Daniel Bard pitched a perfect tenth, as Hideki Okajima hurled a perfect eleventh. Still knotted up at six, Francona sent Okajima back to the mound in the twelfth, but with different results. The lefty allowed a pair of singles to open the frame, as a sacrifice bunt from Figgins put two runners in scoring position with one away.

After intentionally walking Gutierrez, Okajima got both Jose Lopez and Milton Bradley to pop out harmlessly, putting an end to the bases loaded, one out jam.

Youkilis kick-started the Boston offense in the top of the thirteen with a leadoff single. Three batters later with two outs, Mike Cameron worked a five-pitch walk against Garrett Olson. Eric Patterson, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eleventh, was fed a steady diet of breaking pitches, before driving the fourth consecutive curveball in the at bat to the gap in left-center.

The two-bagger for Patterson scored a pair for Boston, as the Red Sox took an 8-6 lead in the thirteenth, with Red Sox fans back home noticing their clocks approaching two in the morning.

In his lone inning of relief, Ramon Ramirez retired the side in order in the bottom of the thirteenth, as the Red Sox picked up a wild win in Seattle.



Final score: Red Sox 8, Mariners 6
WP: Hideki Okajima (3-2)
LP: Garrett Olson (0-3)
SV: Ramon Ramirez (2)
HR: Bill Hall (9), JD Drew (12), Marco Scutaro (5), Franklin Gutierrez (9)

Game notes: The five-run ninth was the largest ninth inning comeback in Mariners history. The blown save charged to Jonathan Papelbon was his fourth of the season. Papelbon had three blown saves in all of 2009. Thursday night was the third time in the last six outings that Manny Delcarmen was unable to retire a single batter. In those six appearances, the right-hander’s ERA is an astronomical 34.84, as opponents are hitting close to .500 over that span.

Eye on the scoreboard: Behind an inside-the-park home run for Derek Jeter, and career home run number 599 from A-Rod, the Yankees rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals, their 60th win of the season. The Red Sox do, however, pick up a game on the Rays, who had an off-day on Thursday. As things shake down, the Sox are seven games back of first place, and four games back of the Rays for the Wild Card.

Tweet of the Night: @GlobeChadFinn: Not to interrupt this meltdown, but it should be noted that apparently a five-run lead is now a pressure situation for Manny Delcarmen.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on July 23, 2010

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