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Clubhouse reaction after marathon game »
July 28, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Jonathan Papelbon is in the baseball business to save the Boston Red Sox.
Last night the Boston Red Sox saved Jonathan Papelbon.
After suffering only his second blown save of the season, Papelbon had to wait until the 12th inning to see if his mates could bail in out, which they did in a dramatic and entertaining 12-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, Julio Lugo has a keen eye at the plate.
He walked twice with the bases loaded, including his seventh at-bat of the game to push across the eventual game-winning run with two outs in Boston’s 12-inning.
The Sox’ Kevin Youkilis provided some much-needed insurance with a three-run double in the third extra frame of the night before Manny Ramirez added a two-run double en route to the victory.
The Devil Rays’ Jonny Gomes smacked a pair of home runs last night, including a two-run shot off Papelbon in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the second game of this three-game set at 6-6 to force extra innings.
The blown save for Papelbon, only his second of the season, squashed any chance of teammate, friend and starter Jon Lester to earn his second consecutive victory since returning to the majors last Monday in Cleveland after successfully battling cancer in the offseason.
Papelbon suffered his first blown save of the season on May 1 against Oakland, and until last night the hard-throwing right-hander converted 15 straight save opportunities.
Entering last night’s game Boston was 60-1 when leading after the eighth inning this season.
-- Joe McDonald
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 10:37 PM | Permalink
