Red Sox Can't Afford to Lose Games Like That

The Red Sox lost another game to the Angels yesterday making them 2 and 4 on the season. The Sox had their ace on the mound and were given a break when Torri Hunter was ejected. The Red Sox offense had some early fireworks with homers by Youk and Drew but the Angels fought back with 3 runs in the third. Ian Browne of redsox.com summed up the pivitol moment of the game:

The bases were loaded with one out in the top of the eighth inning and the Red Sox were down by a run. Scot Shields had lost the strike zone, as evidenced by the three walks that put Lowell in the opportunity he was in. The count was 2-0. Lowell has been around long enough to know that Shields had no choice but to come in with a meaty fastball. So Lowell looked for it and got it just where he wanted -- belt high and over the middle of the plate. And he ... popped it up.

Oki then came in and gave up a long ball to Vlad. The Sox got one back in the 9th but it was not enough.

Papelbon was not available because of his extended outing on Saturday. With Beckett on the mound against a second tier pitcher, one of the Angels best players out of the game early, and an away crowd that had more Sox fans than Angels fans, the Red Sox had everything going for them. They need to win games like that to win the East. This was a very frustrating loss for the team in what has been a frustrating season so far.

The Good: Youk 2-4 with a homer and Green 2-3 (look out Lowrie)
The Bad: Oki gave up a costly homer
The Ugly: Lowell 0-4 2 K's 5 LOB

Red Sox Lose 5-4 BOX SCORE