Oh well. It's the nature of having Tim Wakefield as a pitcher on your team; sometimes he'll give a really stellar performance (like his last start against Detroit) and sometimes he'll just totally crap out. As far as I can tell, there's no way to tell what that ball is going to do or is not going to do after it comes out of his hand until he starts to throw. More often than not, the really good performances even out with the truly terrible ones and he'll end up with a winning record based on his performance during the bulk of his games-not spectacular but certainly not terrible, just good solid pitching.
That said, the Wakefield who pitched tonight was hideous. He made it only two and two-thirds of an inning into the game before Francona pulled him. In that time he gave up seven runs on seven hits, including two home runs (a three-run shot and a two-run shot, both in the second inning.) He also walked two and struck out two.
Tavarez replaced Wake in the third inning and got a fly out to end things. He also pitched the fourth inning. He started off strongly enough (he got a strike out and a ground out) but then things started to fall apart. He walked a batter, gave up a hit, and then walked another batter to load the bases. The next batter reached safely, courtesy of a throwing error by Mike Lowell, and knocked in another Twins run.
Aardsma pitched the fifth and sixth innings and did quite well. He got three quick outs in the fifth inning. With one out, he did give up a hit, followed by a walk in the sixth inning but got himself out of the situation by inducing a double play. Timlin pitched the seventh and beginning of the eighth inning and did a good job of it, as well. Yes, he did give up a lead off home run and I can guess that the blame for the loss is probably going to be placed squarely on Timlin's shoulders when he's not responsible for it. If there is someone to be blamed for the fact that the Twins had an extra run at the end of the game, blame Lowell for the error or Cash for the passed ball in the third or Ellsbury for not having a hit on the night. [Aside: Normally, I'm not the type to spread blame around. Blaming someone for the loss makes it seem as if they owed me a win when, of course, they didn't. Also, every single one of those players wants to win more than I want them to win. They're not out there to lose.] I believe that I read somewhere that Timlin was pretty sure that this was going to be his last year. So far it probably isn't turning out as swansong-y as he would have liked. Anyway, after Timlin gave up the home run he had a quick inning, getting a ground out, a fly out, and another ground out in the seventh. Then he got two quick outs in the eighth with a fly out (greatly assisted by a running/diving/sliding catch made by Ellsbury) and a pop out. Lopez took over the responsibility of getting the last Twins batter of the night out and got him to fly out to left on a three-two count.
The impressive thing about play of the Red Sox was that they came back to nearly win the game (if the Twins had a Derek Jeter caliber short stop, then the base hit by Manny would probably have made it through and the game would have been tied.) The Red Sox got their first run of the night in the third inning. Ellsbury was hit by a pitch, Pedroia was hit by a pitch, and Ortiz singled. Youkilis lined out to third and Mike Lowell hit a sacrifice fly that brought Ellsbury around, for the first two outs. Drew lined out to shortstop to end the inning.
Coco started off the fourth inning with a triple and Kevin Cash hit a single to bring him around. Cora then got a base hit. Ellsbury lined out for the first out of the inning. Pedroia followed him by hitting into a fielder's choice that forced out Cora at second but allowed Cash to score. Pedroia then took second on a throwing error. Ortiz walked. Youkils then hit a single and knocked in Pedroia.
The next time that the Red Sox scored was in the seventh inning. With two outs, Drew hit a single. My hero, Coco then hit another home run to bring the Sox within striking distance. They would put more runs on the board again in the ninth inning. With one out, Youkilis got a base hit and then Lowell got a base hit, as well. Drew doubled to bring in Lowell. Coco hit into a fielder's choice for the force out at third but he did pick up another RBI. Coco stole second but Manny grounded out before he could think about stealing third and maybe, eventually, home plate.
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