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Game Story: Gagne blows late lead, Sox fall to Jays »
September 18, 2007
TORONTO -- The Red Sox had hopes that Eric Gagne would recover from the problems that plagued him after his acquisition from Texas and become the reliable eighth-inning bridge to Jonathan Papelbon that they'd envisioned when they brought him aboard.
Those hopes may have officially vanished Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre.
Entrusted with a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning, Gagne easily recorded the first two outs and seemed prepared to hand the one-run -- or more, depending on what the Red Sox did in the ninth -- lead to Papelbon.
And then, for the fourth time since the Sox traded for him, Gagne imploded.
He walked Frank Thomas. He allowed a single to Aaron Hill. He walked Matt Stairs, loading the bases. He walked Gregg Zaun, allowing the tying run to score. And then he gave up a two-run double to pinch-hitter Russ Adams, allowing the winning runs to score as the Blue Jays rallied for a 4-3 win over the Red Sox.
Boston's loss, coupled with the Yankees' victory, cut the Sox' A.L. East lead to 2 1/2 games.
Sox starter Jon Lester had troubles in the first inning, as he walked the leadoff batter, Vernon Wells; allowed a one-out RBI double to Alex Rios; then gave up a single to Thomas and a walk to Stairs to load the bases with two outs. But Lester struck out Zaun for the final out, keeping the Blue Jay lead at 1-0, and was dominant the rest of the way, allowing only one hit and two walks over his final 5 2/3 innings.
The Sox tied the game against A.J. Burnett (9-7) in the fourth. With one out, Mike Lowell singled off the glove of third baseman Hector Luna and J.D. Drew walked. After Eric Hinske struck out for the second out, Varitek lined a double into the left-field corner, scoring Lowell and making it 1-1.
In the fifth, they pushed across the go-ahead run after Burnett had retired the first two batters of the inning. Dustin Pedroia singled to center and Ortiz, swinging at the first pitch, lined a double up the gap in left-center field, scoring Pedroia from first base.
With a runner on first and two outs in the seventh, manager Terry Francona lifted Lester in favor of Manny Delcarmen with Wells at the plate. Delcarmen retired Wells on a liner to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury for the final out of the inning.
Gagne's performance denied Lester the chance to increase his record to 5-0. Papelbon was warming up in the Boston bullpen in the eighth and, when the troubles started, speculation began that Francona would turn to Papelbon for a four-out save. But Francona left Gagne in, almost to see if the Sox would be able to count on him in the postseason.
He may have gotten his answer with the last five Toronto batters of the eighth (walk/single/walk/walk/double; the third out was recorded when Zaun was cut down at the plate trying to score on Adams' double). It was a costly lesson, however, as the Yankees creeped ever closer in the division race. The Sox' 2 1/2-game lead is their smallest since April 26.
Julio Lugo's two-out homer off Burnett in the ninth made the score 4-3, and prompted manager John Gibbons to lift him in favor of left-hander Scott Downs. Downs struck out Ellsbury for the game's final out
Burnett, who had a devastating curveball working all night, struck out 11 in his 8 2/3 innings.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 10:03 PM | Permalink
