Tic Tac Toe by Jared Carrabis
Sox Lose Three In A Row

Worried? Not so much. Frustrated? Absolutely. Exhausted? You betcha. The Boston Red Sox finally drew their world tour season opening road trip to a close on Sunday afternoon by dropping their third straight game to the Toronto Blue Jays. The return of Josh Beckett proved to be not enough as the feisty Blue Jays out-slugged the defending World Champs 7-4 (Boston would win the in-game home run derby however, 3-2) Unfortunately for the Sox, their three home runs would come all during the wrong situations, no men on. Of course you will take a home run when you can get one, but in a game where you’ve given up a two-run job and a grand slam, solo home runs won’t do the trick.


The Red Sox crawled through this entire series like a dehydrated man in a desert. The Sox have been dying to get back to Fenway and rest up. With an off day tomorrow and no scheduled team workouts or practice, the local nine will be looking to catch up on their rest to be fresh for the home opener at Fenway Park.


With hopes of salvaging the series against Toronto before heading home, Boston sent their ace, their postseason hero, the man who has not pitched a meaningful game since game one of the 2007 World Series, Josh Beckett. Beckett took the mound in his first start of the 2008 season in hopes of getting over the hump of being the runner-up for the Cy Young award and maybe taking the whole thing this year. Beckett seemed to have no skipped a beat while cruising through the first three innings not letting up a run, striking out six and at times hitting anywhere from 96-98 MPH on the gun.


In the top half of the third inning, Jacoby Ellsbury connected for his first home run of the season giving Boston the 1-0 advantage over Toronto’s ace, Roy Halladay. Little did Ellsbury know that he would be the first of many home runs at the Rogers Centre during this contest. Toronto would answer not long later in the bottom half of the fourth when Vernon Wells launched his second home run of the season into left for a two-run home run. The Sox would not allow Toronto to carry a one-run lead for very long as the captain, Jason Varitek, led off the top half of the fifth with a solo shot to straightaway center to tie up the proceedings at two runs a piece.


The excitement was short lived. Josh Beckett took the mound for what may have been his last inning of work regardless of the outcome, but what the outcome turned out to be was not what Red Sox fans had hoped. The Boston ace struck out the first batter he faced in John McDonald and then followed that at bat by inducing a groundball out to third baseman Mike Lowell. Then the wheels came off. Aaron Hill got things going with a two out single to center. Alex Rios waited in the box as Hill swiped his first bag of the season and then worked a walk. With two men on and two out Vernon Wells walked on four straight pitches to load the bases on Josh Beckett’s second consecutive base on balls.


The walk would ultimately seal the deal on Beckett’s outing as Terry Francona took the ball from his ace and put it in the hand of the flame-throwing righty reliever, Manny Delcarmen. Frank Thomas stepped in with 514 home runs to his credit and on the first pitch that Delcarmen released towards home plate, the “Big Hurt” added number 515 to his resume. The grand slam off the bat of Frank Thomas put Toronto on top 6-2 and the Blue Jays never looked back.


JD Drew would go on to rifle his second home run of the season deep into right field but again, with no men on, this would only chip away at a lost cause as Boston failed to prevent the sweep. Beckett suffered the loss in the 7-4 stumble against Toronto. The Red Sox defense would also factor in to another loss as Julio Lugo committed three errors (four in the past two games) but you must give credit where credit is due. Doc Halladay had his best stuff working for him today as he went eight strong innings, striking out six and giving up four earned runs on eight hits. Not his best line, but enough to bury the Sox in the season finale as their three home runs off Halladay proved to be harmless.


The Red Sox will head home for the first time all season carrying a mediocre 3-4 record but believe me, things could be a lot worse given the circumstances. Boston will open up their first of 81 remaining home games in 2008 on Tuesday when they host the new and improved Detroit Tigers. Detroit, the team who hasn’t gotten off to the best start a team with this amount of talent could have should certainly not be underestimated. Don’t let their record fool you, they are capable of scoring early and often. After the 2007 World Series rings are distributed to our beloved World Champion Boston Red Sox, expect Daisuke Matsuzaka to take the mound for his third start and third opener (Japan, Oakland, Boston). Opposing Matsuzaka will be the lefty veteran, Kenny Rogers. Rogers will be headed to Fenway Park, a park in which is one of five parks he holds a losing record (5-6) and the Boston bats will hope to keep it that way and make their second ring ceremony game in four seasons another memorable one.


Final Score: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 7

Published on April 06, 2008

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