Lackey was looking every bit the eleventeen bazillion dollars the Sox dropped on him tonight, going 8 strong innings, allowing 1 unearned run on 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 Mariners. Unfortunately, Manny Delcarmen imploded in the top of the 9th. He faced 4 batters and did not register an out. Papelbon needed 30 pitches to finish out the inning, but before he did that, he allowed the 2 Manny baserunners in to score, tying up the game and earning him his 4th blown save of the season. Yup, the Sox had a 6-1 advantage going into the bottom of the 9th against the lowly, sunken Mariners, and managed to sink to their depths, at least as far as this game was concerned. (Is Pap done? His trade value just dipped again, that’s for sure.) Bard and Okajima pitched the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings.
In the top of the 13th inning, Youk singled, Cameron walked, and Patterson knocked them them both in with a double, giving the Sox an 8-6 advantage. Ramon Ramirez pitched a 1-2-3 13th inning on 10 pitches. Okajima gets the win, Ramirez earned his 2nd save of this season.
A 6-1 win over the Mariners would have been a huge boost to the confidence of the Sox, but the ineffectiveness of Manny and Pap in the 9th inning may haunt the Sox during the remainder of this west coast trip.
Sox 8 Mariners 6 BOX SCORE
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