The title says it all. Justin Masterson made his major league debut this afternoon and had a chance to walk off with the win after a stellar six innings. But then the bullpen took over.
Masterson took the mound at 1:35 eastern and proceeded to pound the Angels with his sinking fast ball. Only two Angels batters, Gary Matthews, Jr. and catcher Mike Napoli, would connect their bats with the ball over the six inning beaut. Sure the young pitcher gave up four walks, but not one of them lead to a run. He also struck out four. It may not have been the amazing effort Clay Buchholz showed last season in his debut, but it was something all Fenway Nation could be happy about. Especially since the Sox pitching staff has been hit hard by injury and sickness of late. Masterson could walk off that mound at the end of the sixth happy with his start and confident in a win.
Those hopes were dashed when the Javier Lopez took the mound in the 7th. The side-arm pitcher faced only two men - and they both reached. Kotchman walked and Izturis drove the ball back up the middle. So with the go ahead run coming to the plate in Mike Napoli, the man who hit the solo home run in the 5th, Francona decided to make a change. Unfortunately his choice was Manny Delcarmen.
The Other Manny, as Dad likes to call him, missed the last two games because of the flu. And based on today's outing, Delcarmen is still sick. Like Lopez before him, Delcarmen also faced only two batters and again, both got on base. Napoli walked to load the bases and then Aybar got an infield single to drive in Kotchman. So the bases are still loaded and there's still no body out. Time for another pitching change.
This time it's Okajima. Okay, I thought, now the inning will end with the Sox lead still intact. Wrong. Chone Figgins singles to right field and drives in the tying run in Maicer Izturis. Still bases loaded. Still nobody out. Then Gary Matthews, Jr comes to the plate. The man who hit two home runs last night had no signs of slowing down as he hit a double up the middle to drive in two more runs and give the Angels a 5-3 lead. Even though Okie had given up two more hits to drive in three more runs Francona left him in. So, to play it safe (and maybe get his focus back) Okajima intentionally walked Guerrero. Then Garret Anderson and Torii Hunter both struck out and Kotchman, who started off the inning with a walk, popped out to Lugo to end to this very painful inning.
The Sox looked like they were going to make a stand when Manny made it to 2nd on a fly ball to deep center that caused Hunter and Matthews to collide. But that hope was dashed when Youkilis grounded out to Aybar to end the 7th.
Aardsma came in for the 8th and I actually thought we might have a 1,2,3 inning after Izturis grounded out to Pedroia and Napoli struck out. But Lowrie took his eye off Aybar's bunt and allowed him to reach first and then steal second. Then Figgins walked and Matthews is suddenly back at the plate readying his bat. And surprise, surprise, he doubles off the monster to drive in Aybar. 6-3 Angels. The 8th inning ended the same way the 7th did. Only instead of Kotchman popping out to Lugo, it was Guerrero popping out to Crisp in shallow center.
Scot Shields came in for the 8th and I was hoping he'd have a repeat of Tuesday's outing. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Lowrie, Lugo and Crisp all grounded out for another 1,2,3, inning.
Tavarez came in for the 9th and after the first pitch it was clear Mr. Hyde was gracing us with his presence. Garrett Anderson, who up until this point was 0-4 on the day, lined one to right and then proceeded to steal 2nd because Tavarez wasn't paying any attention to him. Lowrie saved Tavarez when he made an amazing catch to knock out Hunter and keep Anderson at 2nd. But that save lost its meaning when a pitch to Kotchman got away from Cash and moved Anderson to 3rd. Izturiz did fly out to left field, but the ball was deep enough to get Anderson home. Another run was in and now the score was 7-3 Angels.
There was one more inning for the Sox. We only needed four runs. And the top of the order was coming up. It was possible. It looked even more likely when Ellsbury who was 0-4 on the day singled to left. Ellsbury's speed saved Pedroia's ground ball to 3rd from becoming a double play and then Big Papi stepped into the batter's box. The man who's known for being the best clutch hitter in baseball was also 0-4 for the day. But based on the sudden track record, I was sure Papi was going to shine. And boy did he shine. Scot Shields threw the ball and Papi crushed it to right - almost the exact same spot as last night. 7-5 Angels. And Manny was up. But Angels manager Mike Scioscia wasn't going to take any chances. He pulled Scot Shields for their closer Francisco Rodriguez.
Now Manny homered off Rodriguez last year during the ALDS, so there was still the possibility of a win. And when Manny smacked that ball it looked like it was going out to the seats in straight away center field. But the wind that helped the Sox get their early lead in the fourth inning held the ball up long enough for Torii Hunter to get under it and make the catch for the final out of the game. So the Sox came up short and lost the series 2-1 to the Angels.
It was a tough loss for the Fenway Faithful and the Red Sox staff. But I bet the person hit hardest was the young pitcher making his major league debut. Masterson walked off that field feeling like a million bucks and was forced to watch those more experienced than him lose it all on several misplaced pitches and one very long inning.
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