Big Papi....the New Lugo?

The Red Sox lost the rubber game of a three-game series against the Halos in Anaheim today. Brad Penny started in his usual fashion by giving up a run in the first and two more in the third. He did settle down after that and kept the Sox in the game; allowing the offense to tie it up in the fourth inning. Dustin Pedroia had a monster game with 4 hits and a walk and the much maligned Julio Lugo had 5 hits in the game and is now batting .349. The Sox lost the lead in the 7th but tied it back up in the 8th and with the help of some great defense sent the game into extra innings.

The bullpen (except MDC) continued to pitch extremely well in relief of Penny. Oki went one scoreless inning and RR went 2 2/3rds innings with no hits. Paps again did a Dice-K impression by giving up a hit and a walk before getting out of a jam in the 11th. MDC had a bad night and gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 11th but you have to put the blame for this loss on David Ortiz.

Big Papi set a new AL record in todays game with 12 players left on base! Ortiz went 0-7 with 3 Ks and is now hitting .208, never mind the no home runs. The patience of Red Sox Nation is gone; everything was OK as long as Papi was getting RBI's but this game will bring the scorn. Like this, or this. Lugo had been a nice distraction for Ortiz to get through the slump without much ire, but with Lugo's 5 hits and no errors today Big Papi has nobody to hide behind. Ortiz already had the off day with the "stiff neck" to get his head straight and it did not work. If he does not produce in Seattle he will have to be moved to the bottom third of the order.

Ortiz said this after the game:

"I'm sorry guys, I don't feel like talking right now. Just put down, 'Papi stinks.'"

Red Sox Lose 5-4 BOX SCORE

	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Red Sox	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	15	0
LA Angels	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	11	0