Inning by Inning analysis - Red Sox vs. Mariners

Bad news for the Sox: they have failed to take advantage of the Yankees 1-4 record since the massacre.  Worse news:  Manny's out with a hurt hammy.

Top 1 - Coco draws a walk, but Loretta lines into a double play.  After a walk to Ortiz, Youk flies out to right.  Baek had to throw a lot of pitches in the first, hopefully that and his wildness will come back to hurt him.

Bottom 1 - Snyder gives up a hit, walks a batter, another infield hit, but strikes out Brussard on a nasty curve to end the inning.  The way Snyder is going, he'll be lucky to make it through five.

Top 2 - Baek cruises through the second inning.

Bottom 2 - The M's announcer makes some comment about how the Sox defence is "not even close" to the M's defence.  What the heck is he talking about?  Youk misplays two flys, dropping one, and the M's get runners on 2cd and 3rd with one out.  Ichiro gets intentionally walked to load the bases.  Snelling gets a sac-fly, and Coco gets a fly ball to retire the side.  1-0 Mariners.

Top 3 - Easy third inning for Baek.  The Red Sox cannot afford to play like this against teams like the Mariners.  When Johan Santana is pitching, anything more than 3 runs is good.  When Baek is pitching, anything less than 4 is no good.

Bottom 3 - Lopez throws out a base stealer!  For the first time in a Red Sox uniform!  Maybe we should put Jason Johnson behind the plate.  He has a good arm, and it's not doing any good on the mound.

Top 4 - Baek cruises right through the middle of the lineup.  How is this happening?  A no-hitter through 4 for Baek.

Bottom 4 - A very quick inning for Snyder, score remains 1-0 Mariners.

Top 5 - With one on and none out, Pedroia has a 13 pitch walk.   Javy avoids his usual clutch double play by striking out, and Cora follows with a strikeout of his own.  6 pitches, two strike outs.  Coco hits a grounder to first that the first baseman throws away.  Hinske scores, but Pedroia gets caught off second and is thrown out for the third out.  1-0-1 for the Sox, 1-4-1 for the Mariners.

Bottom 5 - Snelling hits a double to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out.  Beltre walks on four pitches to load the bases for Raul Ibanez, who hits a grand slam.  Well, we got swept by the Yankees, why can't we get swept by the Mariners?  Hey, I have an idea, instead of seeing how many games we can win without catching the Yankees, why don't we see how many games we can lose without dropping into third place.  So much more fun, right?  Snyder is gone one batter later.  Tavarez is on, loads the bases, and, wait for it, gets a chopper to first!  To home for one, and into leftfield for another error (thanks Lopez!), scoring a run.

Just a counter on how many times the M's announcers say something like "we KNOW the Red Sox don't have the best fielding in the league," or "that fielding percentage they have is very deceptive" - it is now up to 4 conversations about the topic.  We get the point!  It is better to throw the ball into the stands than let the batter get an infield hit!  Other than these frequent anti-Sox comments, the broadcast surpasses NESN's by a good deal.

Now back to the game - Snelling K's to end the inning.  6-1 Mariners.

Top 6 - Baek back out their, has thrown 90 pitches with no hits.  It is now or never; their relievers should be able to hold a lead for three innings better than a tired Baek can for 6.  With one out, Ortiz crushes a homer.  One batter later, Lowell follows suit, and Baek is gone.  Hinske, trying to prove he's just like Pena minus the homers, strikes out.  6-3 Mariners.

Bottom 6 - Tavarez makes quick work of the M's, who still lead 6-3.  Tavarez has stepped it up a notch recently, lowering his ERA from above five down to 4.85.

Top 7 - With two down, Cora draws a walk but Crisp grounds out.  6-3 Mariners.

Bottom 7 - Delcarmen relieves Tavarez and throws a six pitch inning.  Has anybody else noticed how well the bullpen does when they don't have a lead to protect?

Top 8 - Two outs, a walk, and another out and the Red Sox are gone in the eighth.  6-3 Mariners.

Bottom 8 - Delcarmen throws 4 pitches and gets 3 outs.  He has thrown a total of 10 pitches in 2 innings.  At that rate, he could concievably throw 24 innings, or throw 9 on 45 pitches.

Top 9 - The Putz is on to try and close the door, and gets Hinske on a fly ball.  Pedroia follows with a K.  Lopez bats after Pedroia, so I might as well stop watching right now.  I don't and get to see one final strike out to end the game.  Lopez struck out 3 times today.

The Red Sox drop to 6.5 games behind the Yankees and 5 back from the Twins in the wildcard.  Not very surprising when you consider that Clement, Wakefield, Veritek, Nixon, Pena, Gonzalez, and Manny are all unable to play.