Jonathan Papelbon said he felt pretty good out there and also did not admit he forgot how many outs there were on a comebacker that allowed Luke Scott to score the game's final run.
"He was probably going to be safe at home and I'm trying to get some outs," Papelbon said. "I'm already in a situation that's knee deep, so I'm not gonna risk…I'm trying to get the outs that I can get."
When Terry Francona was asked if Papelbon lost track of how many outs there were, this was his reply: "Looked like it."
Really, it doesn't matter in the end, we just wanted to share some of the postgame chit-chat. Aside from that there wasn't much to talk about. The Orioles, on the other hand, were on cloud nine in the visiting clubhouse. They are 61-90 but playing very good baseball and no longer losing every night to the Red Sox.
Look for more on their recent success in a separate story on the site.
Baltimore will go for its first three-game sweep in Boston since 1994 when the teams tangle Wednesday. First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
Final, Orioles 9-1: The Orioles clinch at least a tie of the season series after running away with this one.
It's pretty amazing that we were looking at a Clay Buchholz 1-0 lead not too long ago. This one got away from the Red Sox in a hurry.
Heading downstairs to see what the scene is like in the clubhouse. Will wrap this one up for you in a bit.
Mid 9th, Orioles 9-1: This is fun. Myself and the remaining 47 fans got to watch Jonathan Papelbon first give up four straight hits (one of which also involved an error), then uncork a wild pitch with a runner on third and then later forget how many outs there were.
A rusty Papelbon threw to first with a runner dashing in from third for the second out and started to walk to the dugout. While going home to get the guy there may not have mattered much, he definitely would've had an out there and his body language after realizing there were only two outs certainly suggested he never considered it.
What a miserable homestand this has been.
End 8th, Orioles 5-1: In my opinion if Jonathan Papelbon is jogging into a game that his team is losing by four runs they do not need to play his entrance music. Just doesn't serve to intimidate the opponent when you're on just to mop things up.
Mid 8th, Orioles 5-1: Adam Jones could've walked home from third on a long fly to center by Robert Andino. Jones doubled off Matt Fox to start the inning.
The Sox are in danger of falling to 1-4 on the homestand and 14-18 in their last 32 here at Fenway. Whatever happened to this place being a huge advantage?
End 7th, Orioles 4-1: David Ortiz is now 0-for-5 with three strikeouts against Mike Gonzalez after the latter gets the former looking at a called third strike.
The Red Sox have ended the last two innings by staring at a fastball over the plate with two runners on. They have left nine men on.
Matt Fox has taken over on the mound for Hideki Okajima.
9:54 p.m.: Alfredo Simon does his job, walking Victor Martinez to bring David Ortiz to the plate as the potential tying run. Mike Gonzalez is on to face Ortiz.
Ortiz is 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the lefty.
9:49 p.m.: Bill Hall led off the bottom of the seventh inning but there are now two outs and he hasn't gone anywhere. Alfredo Simon is the third Orioles pitcher of the night.
Mid 7th, Orioles 4-1: Scott Atchison and Hideki Okajima have been grouped together in recent discussions of Red Sox relievers who are on a roll. Atchison's roll came to an end in the seventh, but Okajima's continues.
After Atch hands Baltimore the lead Okajima comes on to strike out both men he faces. Okie extends his scoreless streak to 10 innings with the effort.
He may come out to begin the eighth as well.
9:30 p.m.: Perhaps Scott Atchison was due to get hit. And hit he was. A single, double and a home run by Ty Wigginton gives Baltimore a 4-1 lead. Hideki Okajima is on with one out and the bases empty.
End 6th, 1-1: Some bad luck for the Red Sox in the sixth keeps them from taking the lead and will keep Clay Buchholz from getting a chance to pick up a win.
With Jed Lowrie on first Ryan Kalish crushed one to the triangle in center. If it bounced around Lowrie would have scored, but it made its way into the stands on a hope and runners were left at second and third.
Daniel Nava then watched strike three go by him and the inning is over.
Scott Atchison takes over for Buchholz.
Mid 6th, 1-1: Although he hasn't been particularly sharp for much of the night, Clay Buchholz should've been through six scoreless innings. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. A dropped pop by Marco Scutaro leads to an unearned run and ties this one up.
Adam Jones was on first base with two outs when Felix Pie lofted a major league popup to Scutaro. At the last second Scutaro began to back up, but it was not enough as the ball fell behind him. Jones was off on the pitch and scored easily.
Buchholz is likely done after 112 pitches. If so, he finishes with an ERA of 2.39, now just .04 off Felix Hernandez's league lead.
Scott Atchison was up and warming in the pen.
End 5th, Red Sox 1-0: There have been nine outs in this game recorded on grounders to second base and J.D. Drew is leading the way. He has rolled one over to second in all three of his at-bats.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 1-0: Brian Roberts has managed to draw four walks in eight plate appearances in this series. His latest goes nowhere as Clay Buchholz records his 11th straight scoreless frame.
End 4th, Red Sox 1-0: Ryan Kalish's first caught stealing as a major leaguer helps Brad Bergesen overcome a pair of walks in the fourth.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 1-0: The Orioles have had a runner on third base in each of the last three innings but remain in search of their first run. Clay Buchholz has now thrown 10 consecutive scoreless innings.
That leaves his ERA at 2.42, now just 0.07 behind Felix Hernandez.
End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: The Yankees are up 5-2 on Tampa Bay in the Bronx. If these two scores hold up the Red Sox will be within 5 1/2 games of the wild card. The dream remains!
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Clay Buchholz is playing with fire and throwing a lot of pitches but has managed to keep the Orioles off the board.
A walk and a single put runners on the corners before Buchholz got the dangerous Luke Scott to ground to second.
Buchholz has thrown 55 pitches. His ERA is down to 2.43.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: It was like a slow bleed for Brad Bergesen in the second. Not much of what the Red Sox hit was hit hard but they are on the board anyway.
Jed Lowrie led off with a double on a ball that hit off the glove of second baseman Brian Roberts and trickled toward the line in right. Daniel Nava's RBI single one out later was a soft liner to left.
Lars Anderson added a base hit that softly fell over the head of first baseman Ty Wigginton. Roberts backed it up but was too late with his throw to first.
Bergesen had to throw 24 pitches in the inning.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Matt Wieters leads off the second with a long double and moves to third on a sacrifice bunt. Clay Buchholz is up to the task, getting Felix Pie on a grounder to second on which Wieters has to hold and then striking out Robert Andino.
Buchholz's ERA: 2.45
End 1st, 0-0: Brad Bergesen threw a complete game in under two hours in his last time out. Like Clay Buchholz he issues a two-out walk but otherwise speeds through the first.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Clay Buchholz has had some first-inning issues recently. He gave up three runs in the opening frame two starts ago in Oakland and allowed his only run in the first inning at Seattle last time out.
Although he issued a two-out walk in this one Buchholz gets out of the first with a zero on the board.
Just for fun we'll track Buchholz's ERA by inning, just to see how close he can get to Felix Hernandez (2.35). After one it is at 2.46.
6:27 p.m.: When you get to this point of the season and playoff possibilities are all but lost, it's still fun to look at milestones and awards and all that comes with the offseason.
Clay Buchholz still has an opportunity to claim the American League ERA crown, coming into this one with a 2.48 mark, 0.13 behind Seattle's Felix Hernandez. If Buchholz does what he did his last time out (seven innings, one earned run) that margin would be down to 0.08.
Hernandez is scheduled to pitch Thursday against Toronto. David Price is third with a 2.79 mark. He would need to put up a ton of zeroes and have Buchholz and Hernandez get hit hard to have a chance — for now it is a two-man race.
Having a Red Sox pitcher win an ERA crown is nothing new. Between Pedro Martinez's four crowns and Roger Clemens' four, Boston has won eight of the last 25 titles.
Luis Tiant won it in 1972 and Lefty Grove had four such titles in the 30s. Babe Ruth, Smoky Joe Wood, Dutch Leonard and Cy Young each did it once with the team.
Buchholz figures to get two more starts after this one so there is still plenty of time for some movement. Interestingly enough, his only two career shutouts came vs. Baltimore. If history means anything he will keep the heat on Hernandez on Tuesday night.
5:20 p.m.: Another relatively quiet pregame here at Fenway, but we do have a few notes to pass on before heading back to the clubhouse.
Felix Doubront is going to throw from 60 feet Wednesday afternoon and the lefty will likely do a bullpen session the last weekend of the regular season. He obviously will not pitch again for the Sox this year but they want to make sure he has no issues with his pectoral injury before he heads off for an all-important offseason.
"When he exits make sure there's not a reoccurrence or something grabs at him and then we'll go from there," said Francona, who did not know yet what Doubront's offseason will consist of, whether he will be going to Fort Myers or a fall or winter league or what.
There were also quick updates on Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury, but not much to report.
Youkilis is doing some strengthening of his thumb/hand area and light exercise. Ellsbury spends a lot of time in the pool. Neither have resumed any baseball activities.
Francona also spoke at length about Darnell McDonald, glowingly, of course. When McDonald was in Fort Myers he spent much of his time with a wrap around his torso, basically not playing much at all.
So to see him as one of the key components to what should be a 90-win team is a bit of a surprise, to say the least.
"He's had a long route," Francona said. "I'd love to sit here and say we saw this. We only saw him about a week in spring training, he was hurt. He comes up his first game and bangs one off the wall.
"Saw against left-handed pitching where he could help. He's actually done just about as well against right-handed pitching. He's stole some bases. He's hit some home runs. He's played all three outfield positions. He's been a model citizen. Yeah, it's hard not to be happy for him."
Francona said McDonald is a sure-fire major leaguer now. Whether that will be with Boston in 2011 remains to be seen.
3:14 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where the last day of summer sees the Red Sox and Orioles likely preparing for similar autumns. We have the Boston batting order, and it is as follows:
Marco Scutaro, 2B
J.D. Drew, RF
Victor Martinez, C
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Ryan Kalish, CF
Daniel Nava, LF
Lars Anderson, 1B
8 a.m.: Clay Buchholz will continue his quest for an American League ERA crown when he faces the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Buchholz enters the contest trailing Seattle's Felix Hernandez by 0.13 in the ERA race. The Red Sox righty is coming off a gem against Hernandez's Mariners last week.
After a 4-2 loss in the series opener Boston remained 6 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the wild card race. Only 12 games remain, leaving the Rays' magic number at a scant seven.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
