Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Wild Card Fever—Catch It!; Red Sox Lose 3-2

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Early in last night's game Ryan Vogelsong could not have been more hittable if he pitched for the Methuen American Legion team. And yet, the Red Sox let him off the hook on the way to a crushing 3-2 loss in San Francisco. The Boston bullpen blew 2-0 and 2-1 leads achieved by gutsy pitching by Jake Peavy, capped off by a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. These are games that championship teams win—and for the first time in a while the Red Sox are not looking like that kind of team. By the way, Xander Bogaerts' debut was highlighted only by a slick fielding play—as he went 0-3 at the plate. A 'rubber match' day game looms today. In the meantime, Boston is out of first place by percentage points.