Who Woulda Thought?

Unfortunately, this will be the final Red Sox recap of the year..... and I hate to say it, but there's only one person to blame..... Jonathon Papelbon.

Surprised? So was everyone who suffered through watching the final two innings. Clay Buchholz pitched as well as we could have asked for, he gave the Sox a 5-2 lead, and kept the Angels at bay all afternoon. Daniel Bard came in with the bases loaded and pitched well only giving up one run when the Sox turned a double play. In the next inning he came out again and dominated. Billy Wagner followed and looked good but was hurt by a misplayed ball by Youk at first.

Then came Papelbon. He came in with two men on and two outs in the eighth and left a fastball over the plate to Juan Rivera and allowed both inherited runners to score. That made it 5-4. After the final out in the eighth the lineup came back with an insurance run in the ninth after a Ortiz single, Gathright pinch-run SB, and a Mike Lowell RBI single. Pap came back in the 9th, up by two, and got the first two outs easy. Then Aybar (the #9 hitter) singled with two strikes, Figgins walked and than Bobby Abreu doubled sending both runners home and tying the game, Vlad singled in Abreu to seal the deal.

No one feels worse about the loss than Papelbon. He had every opportunity to get out with the win and pass Game 4 on to Lester, but he couldn't close the door. Let's hope he comes back next year with a chip on his shoulder to prove he can win the big game. The three runs he gave up today were the first of his postseason career. There's probably little weight to the Papelbon trade rumors but it's clear Bard isn't ready to assume the closer role despite dominating in the series.

Tough season boys. Just couldn't step on the jugular when it mattered most.

NOTES:

-The offense showed up today. Pedroia had a two run double in the third, followed by a V-Mart RBI single and JD Drew added a two run homer to make it 5-1 before the bad stuff happened.

-Look for a series recap tomorrow.

-Look for a minor league season review in the near future and plenty of perspective on what happens this offseason. This could be an abnormally Hot Stove season for the Sox.