Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

At 9:55 p.m. ET, the Red Sox were three outs and a two-run lead away from victory over the Yankees.

At 11:18, the Red Sox fell victim to their 92nd loss of the season in the bottom of the 12th inning, courtesy of a walk-off single by Raul Ibanez off Andrew Miller that resulted in a 4-3 loss.

"He did a good job of going with it and the hole that was there," Miller said. "But shouldn't have been in that situation. Worst-case scenario that's a single, but I walked two guys to put a guy on second base and that cost us the game."

And it was Ibanez who originally spoiled Boston's prospects as spoilers in the ninth inning. With a baserunner aboard, Ibanez crushed Andrew Bailey's fastball into the right-field seats, collecting his 19th home run of the year.

The eventual loss dropped the Red Sox' record in extra-inning games to 2-10 on the season, but it also meant more than that. As a result of this loss — and Toronto's victory on Tuesday — the Red Sox were guaranteed to finish in last place in the American League East.

"We didn't start the season to finish fifth or sixth, fourth or third," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "I'd just like to say congratulations to the winning team. They battled hard and deserved to win."

Bailey and Miller's blemishes overshadowed a strong performance by Boston's bullpen. Aside from the pair's miscues, Rich Hill, Junichi Tazawa, Craig Breslow, Mark Melancon and Vicente Padilla each threw scoreless outings.

For Bailey, it marked his third blown save in 19 appearances. While the closer hopes for a chance to redeem himself in Wednesday's season finale, he admitted his failures would make for an agonizing offseason.

"I've let the team down a couple times," Bailey said. "It's my fault. There's no one else to blame. It's a mixture of not getting ahead of guys, making bad pitches when I've got to put people away. That's a situation where I've got to put people away, and I didn't.

"There's no reset button for me. For me, my numbers speak for themselves. Unfortunately, we have a long offseason. This game is what's going to keep me pushing forward to next year."

For Bailey and the Red Sox, there will be no shortage of errors to motivate.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox are fielding weaker lineups by the day.

With Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury out, Red Sox manager
Bobby Valentine was forced to start six players — Pedro Ciriaco, Mauro Gomez,
Jose Iglesias, Daniel Nava, Che-Hsuan Lin and Ryan Lavarnway — who began the
season in Triple-A Pawtucket.

That's not counting Danny Valencia, who spent most of the
season shuffling from the majors to the minors before getting dealt to the Red
Sox last month.

It was a depleted lineup, far from the imposing squads the
Red Sox are accustomed to fielding against the Yankees. And starter CC
Sabathia capitalized on Boston's weakness in the 10-2 win, fanning seven
batters through eight innings.

"You just play the cards that you have," Valentine said. "That's
what we have right now."

The team's lone weapon, Clay Buchholz, ran out of gas in Monday's start. He only lasted 1 2/3 innings, having surrendered eight runs, six hits — three home runs — as well as two walks in his brief appearance.

In his sixth season with the Red Sox, Buchholz exceeded his career highs for innings (173 2/3 in 2010), tallying 189 1/3 frames in 29 starts. But after suffering his eighth loss of the season, Buchholz denied that fatigue hindered his performance.

"I felt as good today as I felt all year, the second half of the season," Buchholz said. "The ball was going out fine. It's tough whenever you leave pitches out of the middle of the plate and every one of them gets hit. That's what this team is known for. They hit mistakes. They did that [Monday]."

On the flipside, the Red Sox offense had little to hang their hats on. Only Daniel Nava managed to take advantage of a Sabathia mistake, launching a home run to right field in the fourth inning.

But that's what Boston's lineup has boiled down to — leaning on their players from
Pawtucket.

"The season as a whole, everybody's got to learn from it," Buchholz said. "I don't think anybody in this clubhouse is happy about the position we're in right now. We've got a lot of key guys that have been hurt throughout the season for an extended period of time, and that takes its toll.

"We just haven't been the standard now that everybody expects from us. You've got
to learn from it. I hope it leaves a bad taste in everybody's mouth and comes to spring training ready to go."

At this point, all the focus is on the future.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

For the first time since 1966, the Red Sox have tallied a
90-loss season.

It's the fourth time in the last 80 years that Boston has
reached the plateau. And on Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox suffered defeat No. 90 with
another forgettable performance from pitcher Zach Stewart.

As a result of the defeat, the Red Sox have dropped five
straight games, including nine of their last ten. From Bobby Valentine's
perspective, this one was as painful as all the other 'L's' before him.

"Every
loss hurts — all 90 of them," Valentine told reporters in Baltimore.

Making his second start of the season for the Red Sox,
Stewart –– who came in the Kevin Youkilis trade –– struggled from the get-go, giving up
a leadoff home run to Baltimore's Nate McLouth.

Shortly thereafter, Stewart dug himself into a deeper hole,
surrendering three singles and nailing Adam Jones with a pitch. Stewart
served up one more shot to J.J. Hardy in the third inning before getting pulled
for Clayton Mortensen.

"Those guys are on the gas pedal," Stewart told
reporters. "They had their foot on our throat and pressed down. I didn't
feel like I was very consistent. They're good and showed what they can do. Just
trying to do damage control and keep it at that score, but I didn’t do that.

"For the most part, I felt like my slider and changeup
were OK. For the most part, it was mostly my fastball that was
inconsistent."

In 5 2/3 innings of work for the Red Sox this season,
Stewart has been lackluster, surrendering 14 earned runs –– via four long balls
–– and just three strikeouts. The hurler recognized he needed to improve over
the offseason.

"Just going to take all the mistakes — there were a
lot of them — and work from there," Stewart said. "I felt like my
last starts in Pawtucket were good and I'm going to build on that."

The
lone positive from the loss is the Red Sox officially clinched a top-10 draft
pick for next year's draft. It's slated to be their highest spot in the draft
since 1993, when the organization selected outfielder Trot Nixon.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

On paper, it
was simply another "L" in the standings.

But the Red
Sox were able to take solace in one facet of Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles — Felix Doubront's dazzling end to the season. For the second straight game,
the lefty racked up double-digit strikeouts while logging seven innings.

On this
night, Doubront struck out 10 batters, just one shy of the season high that he
set last week against Baltimore. In his last two starts, the 24-year-old has
tallied a 2.57 ERA and allowed 11 hits while issuing just three walks.

"I've
seen a very good pitcher," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "A
guy who has learned all season — learned from his mistakes and learned from
his successes. I know he wasn't stubborn. He learned what he had learned as the
season went on. He changed his tempo. … I think that made a difference in
September."

It's the
perfect building block for the future, considering Doubront is expected to be a
staple of the rotation for years to come. In the process, the lefty showed an
ability to identify and correct his problems.

Just weeks
ago, Valentine and his staff were contemplating shutting Doubront down for the
season. They cited fatigue and "the rookie wall" for the five
straight starts in which he surrendered four or more runs.

Now,
Doubront has silenced his critics, peeling off four consecutive quality outings
to punctuate a strong rookie campaign.

"What
I've seen in a guy really maturing," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia told
reporters. "He's really starting to mature and go out there and see what
he's all about. He proved to everybody what he needed to prove. Last two
outings I've caught him, he's been a lot quicker. There's a happy medium, and I
think he knows that now."

But Doubront
still needs to limit his home runs. This season, he's yielded 24 long balls — second to Jon Lester, who has piled up more innings than the youngster.

After 29
starts this season, though, Doubront has certainly made strides from spring training.

"Just
preparing myself for next year," Doubront said. "A lot of challenges
and a lot of learning [experiences]. It was a pretty good season for me in my
first full year. I think I figured out something for next year and I need to
keep working."

His future
is a silver lining for the Red Sox.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

One year later, the divide between the Orioles and Red Sox
is massive.

On this date last year, Baltimore capped Boston's September
collapse by defeating them in a one-run game. This time around, the Orioles
dismantled the Red Sox, limiting their AL East foes to one hit — a leadoff one
at that — in a 9-1 victory.

"They're hot right now and they're swinging the ball
well," catcher Ryan Lavarnway told reporters in Baltimore. "We don't
have all our guys right now, so that’s what we got. We had some good at-bats,
didn't fall. Tough one."

When Scott Podsednik dropped a bunt for a single to start
the game, it turned out to be the offense's only sign of life. After that, only
Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia managed to reach base by drawing walks.

Even more lethargic was Aaron Cook's performance. Making his
last start of the season — and likely in a Red Sox uniform — the sinkerball
pitcher flopped, lasting just one inning-plus while surrendering six runs.

"When the balls go over the fence, it's not a good
combination," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said, referring to the two
blasts Cook allowed in his only inning of work.

It capped the end of an inconsistent season for the pitcher.
Back in spring training, Cook told NESN.com that he anticipated his reunion
with pitching coach Bob McClure would help revive his career.

Nearly seven months later, McClure has been fired and Cook
finished with a 4-11 record with a 5.65 ERA. He wasn't in any position to exact
revenge on the Orioles, who toppled the Red Sox in a 4-3 win last season to
knock them out of the postseason.

And the Orioles didn't waste any time dispatching the Red
Sox on Friday. They tagged Cook for five hits in the first inning, including a
two-run homer by Chris Davis and a grand slam from Ryan Flaherty.

"I wasn't making pitches," he told reporters. "I
was behind, and when I'd come in there, they'd hit them over the fence."

Once
Cook walked the first two batters he faced in the second inning, Valentine
pulled the plug. By the end of the season, Cook had surrendered 15 long balls
in just 94 innings of work.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON — This year, there was no home field advantage.

After falling to the Rays in a 4-2 loss on Wednesday, the
Red Sox finished with a 34-47 record at Fenway Park. It was the franchise's
worst home record since the 1965 team logged the same record.

Like the most of this month, the drawback was lack of run
support. Despite six solid innings from starter Jon Lester, the Red Sox only
mustered up four hits while striking out 12 times.

Always the optimistic, Boston manager Bobby Valentine tried
to unearth a positive from the negative situation.

"We
didn’t walk off many and we didn’t score enough runs here," Valentine
said. "We have a lot stored up for next year."

The
Red Sox can only hope they rebound, especially since they wasted an outstanding
start from Lester. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Jeff
Keppinger singled to left field.

All
at once, the Rays picked up him apart. Once Keppinger trotted on base, Lester
surrendered a two-run blast to Carlos Pena in the ensuing at-bat. Then, the
lefty unraveled a second consecutive home run to Ben Francisco.

"Two
pitches," Lester said. "A good pitch to Keppinger. He did a good job
of keeping his hands inside the ball. I felt like I threw a pretty good
fastball down and away to Pena. The ball kind of backed up on me on the second
homer. But, yeah, two pitches."

But
he still flourished despite being under weather. During his postgame news
conference, the southpaw spoke with a nasally voice and admitted he was
battling sickness over the past few days.

"I
was down in the tank because I was sick," Lester said. "I’m still
taking the ball. I’m still grinding it out. I’ve just been under the weather
the last couple of days. That fifth inning really took a lot out of me. I
didn’t think it was fair for me to go back out there when I didn’t have anything.
I just went ahead and told them that."

Despite
the shortened outing, Lester allowed just three runs and four hits over six
frames. He tallied his 17th quality start of the season — including seven in
his last 11 starts — to lead the team.

Lester
also believed he executed with his best location of the season, even his
decisive pitch to Pena. But it simply didn't work out, leaving Lester with a
9-14 record heading on the road.

"Who
would have thunk it’s big Carlos Pena against left-handers that beat us?"
Valentine said. "But I guess that’s the way the season’s been going."

Especially at home.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON –– There's a reason David Price is vying for a Cy
Young.

Amid a last-second playoff push, the Rays pitcher absolutely
dominated the Red Sox on Tuesday en route to handing them a 5-2 loss. In a
complete game effort, he fanned 13 batters and surrendered just seven hits.

It marked his 19th victory of the season, tying Angels
starter Jered Weaver for the most in the American League. His arsenal of
pitches earned an impressive endorsement from Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine.

"He
can win the Cy Young, yep," Valentine said. "He’s got a shot at 20
games and 200 strikeouts and a lot of innings, great durability. Great
competitor. He could be a Cy Young Award winner."

That's
not to say the Red Sox lacked a formidable counterpart in Clay Buchholz. But on Tuesday, he
uncharacteristically sputtered early on, yielding three runs in the second
inning before dropping his fourth straight decision.

Unlike
the previous losses, Buchholz admitted to losing his feel. Entering the game,
he hadn't surrendered a home run in over 31 innings, but relented in the second
inning by allowing a three-run shot to Jeff Keppinger.

"Hadn't
felt that way since all the trouble was going on early in the season,"
Buchholz said. "It was just in good time it would happen sooner or later.
You want to go out there and win, but when you don't have feel for pitches you
usually throw for a strike or throw in the area you want to throw them, it's
tough to go out there and win."

Given
the Red Sox started six players who began the season in Pawtucket, Price had a
field day. His 13 strikeouts matched Felix Hernandez and Stephen Strasburg for
most punchouts by a pitcher against the Red Sox this season.

"Price
was outstanding," outfielder Cody Ross said. "It just goes to show
why he's one of the elite pitchers. He got himself in some trouble early and
probably didn't have his best stuff early on, but he reached back and found it
and was dominating after that. He just kept coming out with big strikeouts and
ground balls. His stuff was as good as anybody's."

It
showed since he eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark while tossing his second
complete game of the season. With those credentials –– along with a 2.56 ERA ––
a Cy Young could be well within reach for Price.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON –– Felix Doubront's gem almost never happened.

In the top of the first inning, Orioles slugger Adam Jones
pounded Doubront's pitch and sent it screaming towards the seats around Pesky pole. Fortunately for Doubront, right fielder Cody Ross rescued him by
snagging the ball over the wall.

"It was a home run," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine
said, had Ross failed to make the catch. "It was a Pesky Pole on Pesky Day
and he was there keeping it in the ballpark –– both Johnny and Cody."

That's all the assistance that Doubront needed as the
left-hander extended his streak of quality starts to three games, allowing just
one run over seven innings while tallying a career-high 11 strikeouts.

In the process, Doubront became the second Red Sox pitcher
this season to record a double-digit strikeout performance, joining Jon Lester. At 24 years
and 336 days old, he is the youngest southpaw in franchise history to record 11
strikeouts in a game in the DH era.

"I’m
learning a lot," Doubront said. "This is the year that I’m looking at
a lot of challenges and learning from them. Next year, when I get those
challenges, it’s going to be easy for me."

With
the performance, he silenced all the critics that clamored for Valentine to
shut him down for the season. Through all the adversity, Doubront was
determined to push through his problems and he relayed that message to his manager.

"He
came back and just wanted to prove that these innings aren't something for us
to be concerned with and that he's a good pitcher," Valentine said.
"He had some hurdles to get over and when he's not pitching, you can't get
through those hurdles. And I've seen him get through them and continue to get
better."

After
bailing Doubront out in the first inning, Ross saved his teammates once again
in the eighth inning. With Dustin Pedroia on second base in the eighth inning,
Ross ripped a double to left field to score the go-ahead run.

When
asked which play was more gratifying, Ross offered the politically correct
answer.

"They’re
both equally as great," Ross said. "You don’t necessarily think a
play in the first inning will be a game-saving catch. It ended up being a big
play but if you do something later on the innings –– seventh, eighth or ninth
–– that’s definitely more gratifying."

So
was the result for Doubront.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON — Alfredo Aceves' season is spiraling out of control.

Fresh off a late-game debacle on Wednesday against the Rays, the Red Sox reliever crumbled in the 12th inning of Saturday's 9-6 loss to the Orioles, allowing three runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Facing Jim Thome, Aceves yielded a ground-rule double to the veteran that pushed in the go-ahead run. After Endy Chavez delivered another RBI, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine decided to pull Aceves.

But the damage had already been done.

"It's kind of like a box of chocolates right now, you never know what you’re gonna get," Valentine said, referring to Aceves' outings. "You know, he's got 94, he's got a breaking ball, he's throwing a cutter. He's just getting hit."

The sudden regression is light years away from Aceves' production last season, when he was typically former manager Terry Francona's first option out of the bullpen and a mainstay on the mound.

Now, Aceves has surrendered 19 earned runs over his last 10 appearances. By the time he exited Saturday's game, the former closer had raised his ERA to 5.31.

"It's definitely surprising," starter Aaron Cook said. "He had a real rough one today. He's been so good for us for most of the year and he's always tough to see. Me, personally, I'm pulling for him because he's a great guy."

During his last 10 appearances, Aceves has only tossed three spotless outings. It's a complete turnaround from an impressive performance in July, when he allowed just three runs in 12 outings.

Like Valentine, catcher Ryan Lavarnway reiterated the notion that Aceves was unpredictable.

"He kind of mixes his stuff every time up he goes out there, so it's tough for me to pinpoint one specific thing," Lavarnway said. "It's consistently different stuff. He's kind of his own animal. He goes out there and does what he can and it ended up the cutter doesn't quite get off the plate like we wanted it to."

Aceves' implosion also ruined a superb game from the bullpen, considering Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon enjoyed clean innings from the eighth to the 11th inning.

Have a question for Didier Morais? Send it to him via Twitter at @DidierMorais or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON — With the exception of two innings,
Jon Lester came through against the Orioles.

But as it's been all year, it wasn't quite enough. During Friday's 4-2 loss, Lester tossed seven strong innings,
striking out three batters while yielding four runs — two in the fourth and
two in the sixth.

As far as Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is
concerned, he's satisfied with Lester's progress over the past two months. It's
a far cry from the string of miserable starts that he experienced back in July.

"Every time I go out there, I
learn something about myself, about the other team, and just the adjustments we
had to make at the All-Star break, just continue to work on those," Lester
said. "I’ll try to pitch as many innings as I can. That’s all I can
control."

This loss, however, resulted
in Lester's first career loss against Baltimore. Coming into Friday's game, the
southpaw owned a spotless 14-0 record versus the Orioles in 20 career starts,
the longest active win streak by any active pitcher against a franchise.

A lack of offensive support
hurt his cause. Despite RBI singles from Pedro Ciriaco and Dustin Pedroia, the
Red Sox couldn't answer back when the Orioles peeled off two runs in the sixth
inning.

In the bottom of the ninth — with a man on base — Red Sox pinch hitter Mauro Gomez missed his chance to
deliver and struck out against Orioles closer Jim Johnson, essentially sealing
Lester's fate.

"I die with him every time he's out
there," Valentine said of Lester. "We don't get the runs in double
digits to give him a cushion and he has to make every pitch a crucial pitch and
every once in awhile it just doesn’t work for him."

And for Lester, it came down to two pitches
against catcher Matt Wieters.

During the fourth inning, the Orioles
backstop rifled a single that drove in J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones. Two innings
later, Wieters uncorked a fastball for a double that brought Jones home once
again.

Aside from those at-bats, Lester would've
cruised all night long. But even after the game, the hurler insisted the
pitches to Wieters nailed their intended spots and indirectly attributed the
outcome to bad luck.

"[The pitches] were where
I was trying to go with them," Lester said. "He did a good job of
sticking his nose on one and hitting it down the line, and then he turned on
one. I’ve just got to keep trying to execute the pitch. The process was there.
The intent was there. The game plan was there. It just didn’t work."

So the search for his elusive 10th win of the year
continues.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

For the second straight game, all momentum collapsed in one
inning.

During Thursday's 7-4 loss to the Rays, the Red Sox caved in
the decisive ninth inning –– a day after falling apart in the sixth. But
entering the bottom of the ninth frame, the Red Sox owned a 4-1 lead.

The game appeared in hand with closer Andrew Bailey, who was
5-for-6 in save opportunities, coming in. Instead, he uncharacteristically
unraveled by allowing five runs and four hits in 1/3 inning of an inning.

With the game deadlocked at four apiece, Vicente Padilla
spelled Bailey and attempted to minimize the damage. But Tampa's B.J. Upton
unloaded on Padilla's fastball and delivered a walk-off shot to end the game.

Just like that, a shot at victory resulted in heartbreaking
defeat.

"We
would've liked to take another win, but we couldn't," Red Sox manager
Bobby Valentine told reporters of the series.

"It was a really good game up until then. There were a lot
of good things that happened in that game. It ended on a sour note."

It turned into an anti-climactic scene, considering that one
inning before shortstop Jose Iglesias launched his first career major league
home run. He capped his memorable day with a three-hit performance.

Shortly after Iglesias rounded the bases, he received the silent
treatment from his teammates in the dugout. After he took off his arm pads,
everyone exploded and offered him high-fives.

"I'm going to stay positive no matter what every single day
and try to get better," the shortstop told reporters. "When you stay
positive in this game and you don't focus on the results, good things are going
to happen."

But in a span of minutes, the positive feelings disintegrated.
In addition to spoiling Iglesias' career night, Bailey and Padilla also negated
seven shutout innings from starter Clay Buchholz — who was in line for the
victory.

"There's nothing that I did right that inning," Bailey
told reporters. "It's inexcusable. I've got to find a way to get out of
that inning … Buchholz deserved a lot better of an outcome than that."

It's
just another obstacle in a season's worth of troubles for the Red Sox.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

The final nail was drilled into Boston's coffin.

For the first time since 1997, the Red Sox will finish a
major league season with a sub-.500 record. A disastrous pitching performance
in a 13-3 loss to the Rays sealed the team's 82nd loss in a 162-game
season.

But the final score of Wednesday's game doesn't indicate how
close the game was at one point. Heading into the sixth inning, the Rays were
leading the Red Sox by a slim 5-3 margin.

The relief pitching then imploded in the bottom of that
frame, a nightmare inning that lasted roughly 28 minutes. Walks doomed the Red Sox,
with Alfredo Aceves, Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller combining to issue six
walks in the span.

Their woes resulted in seven Tampa Bay runs, even more
eye-popping since the Rays only mustered up four hits in the frame.

"It's tough for the guys standing around and watching
that," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine told reporters in attendance.
"They got to find the strike zone."

The inning demonstrated the severity of Boston's fall from
grace over the past year. Last season, the Aceves-to-Bard sequence in the
bullpen was a staple of the Red Sox' winning ways in tight contests.

One year later, both are mere shells of themselves — especially Bard. In 1/3 inning of work, the former set-up man experienced his
worst outing since his call-up, tossing 16 pitches with only four landing for
strikes.

Once again, his velocity and command was nowhere to be
found.

"It looks like he's just trying too hard," Valentine
said. "We're trying to get him where he can have some kind of good feeling
about this season at the end. It's tough."

In the process, Bard issued three walks en route to allowing
three runs. Before his struggles cropped up, Aceves walked two batters and
wound up being charged for four runs to raise his ERA to 5.00.

Things snowballed when Miller — who entered with a 3.29 ERA and
allowed 16 walks in 49 appearances — gave up two bases on balls before getting
pulled. It took a fourth pitcher, Scott Atchison, to stop the bleeding.

"It just got away from us," Valentine said. "It
was tough to look at."

And
it sums up the pitching problems that have plagued the Red Sox.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

Felix Doubront has about as much pure "stuff" as any pitcher in baseball.

The 24-year-old left-hander features an almost inumerable number of pitches — two and four-seam fastballs, a sinker, a cutter, a changeup, a curveball and a slider — which all have wicked movement, and can touch the mid-90s with a minimal amount of effort. When Doubront is locked in, he is capable of being as dominant as any pitcher in baseball.

However, listing Doubront's main issues as a starting pitcher begins to sound like a broken record to anyone who's read or written about the lefty throughout the season. And Tuesday was a microcosm for everything that Doubront is about in technically his rookie season.

Doubront cruised through the first two innings, retiring six of the first seven Rays he faced. Then came the third inning, where the southpaw walked the bases loaded with one out — all the walks were consecutive — before yielding a Ben Zobrist two-RBI single and an Evan Longoria sac fly.

Starting that that sacrifice, however, Doubront managed to put down 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, sandwhiching brilliant pitching around an inning where he seemed to completely lose control of what he was trying to do out on the mound — both with his arm and in his mind.

"I saw [Doubront] lose his command and I saw him lose his composure a little bit in the third inning," said manager Bobby Valentine after Boston's 7-5 victory over Tampa Bay. "Three runs later he buckled down and just gave up [one] hit, and that's a pretty good outing. He deserved to win."

The problem is, though Doubront suffered a rough two months while trying to earn his 11th victory of the season — his 10th coming in a July 18 start against the White Sox — it's difficult to look at Tuesday's outing as a step forward. As well as Doubront pitched as compared to most of the past couple moons, he further proved that until he can improve his command and his composure out on the hill, there's a definitive ceiling to how good he can be — in spite of how limitless his potential actually is.

In short, it was the same old story for Doubront — suffer one bad frame, run up the pitch count throughout the contest and fail to work deep into the ballgame. Doubront absolutely has the stuff to get away with far more mistakes than most of his major league counterparts, but in his first season he's thoroughly taking after the Daisuke Matsuzaka school on pitching — nibbling and trying to get hitters to chase rather than challenging them.

The thing is, Doubront always says the right things to reporters after he pitches. He always acknowledges that his job is to get his pitch count down and work deeper into ballgames, and he always takes responsibility for those times, like Tuesday, when he can lose his cool on the mound. Moreover, if you were to not watch the game or see the score, it would be impossible to tell whether the Red Sox won or lost only going on Doubront's postgame demeanor — which speaks very highly of his character.

All that being said, it will be up to Doubront to take the next step in the 2013 season. Throughout 2012 he's been the pitcher he is, and we haven't seen much progress or much regression, either. But Doubront clearly knows what he needs to do, now it's up to him whether he's going to utilize that great talent or remain stagnant.

With Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester definitely slated for rotation spots in 2013, having Doubront make that jump and become the pitcher he's capable of would give Boston a potentially dominant top three  in the rotation. That's the way you remake yourself into a contender overnight.

So, again, now it's all on Doubront. Is he capable of implementing his own plan, or is he destined for the Groundhog Day outings he's posted throughout 2012?

The Red Sox' ability to compete next year may well depend on the answer to that question.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the
day for the Red Sox.

Usually, it's been the other way around.

The Red Sox have always been the ones getting into dugout
altercations or making untimely errors and failing to come through with the big
hit. On Monday, though, it was Tampa Bay's turn to take on the role of the imploding
squad, as the Rays continued a perilous slide that could make them just as
irrelevant as the Red Sox during the season's final weeks.

Tampa Bay came into Monday night's affair as losers of five
of its last six, having been swept by Baltimore and only managing a single
win against New York in its last two series. The Rays badly needed a win, and the last-place Red Sox have
been as good a place as any to find one lately.

Except this time, the Rays played the part of a team in
turmoil. Despite carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning, starter Alex Cobb fell apart quickly after losing
his bid on a two-run home run to Jacoby
Ellsbury. He then got into an altercation with catcher Jose Molina in
the dugout, with pitching coach Jim Hickey stepping in to separate the two.

"There seemed to be a little dissension on their
team," Red Sox manager Bobby
Valentine quipped after the game. "Seemed like something wasn't going
right."

In a season during which very little has gone right for the
Red Sox, it had to give Valentine immeasurable pleasure to be able to point his
finger at the Rays. After all, they're the ones led by the magnanimous Joe
Maddon, who never shows up to the ballpark earlier than he needs to.

But Maddon's wise sayings and Twitter barbs were no help between
the lines, where the Red Sox capitalized on the Rays' mistakes — a costly Ben Zobrist error, for example — and looked every bit the spoiler they are capable of being down the stretch.

"This has been ongoing," Maddon said of Tampa Bay's offensive struggles, according to The Associated Press. "This is a seasonal misadventure."

The Red Sox came through when they needed to Monday, and the Rays did not.

Both teams may have had misadventures this year, but for one night, watching the Red Sox, you would never have known.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

It was another day, and another decision that Bobby Valentine would have to explain to everyone else after the Red Sox lost 5-0 to the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

During the top of the seventh inning, with two out, Red Sox third baseman Pedro Ciriaco singled, and stole second while Jose Iglesias was at the plate. With a 2-2 count, manager Valentine decided to pinch hit for the light-hitting shortstop — Daniel Nava promptly bounced back to the box, ending Boston's chance to break a 0-0 tie and get a win on behalf of starter Jon Lester.

When Valentine spoke after the game, he cited both a cutthroat desire to win, and a compassionate desire to secure a "W" for Lester, who had an otherwise stellar outing amid a difficult season. Nonetheless, it was obvious to all that Valentine would need to further explain his rationale.

"Just trying to get a run for Jon, obviously," said Valentine after the game. "Told Daniel if [Ciriaco] steals second, you’ve got it. Otherwise, I
was all set to play defense. I was pinch-hit for with
the bases loaded, 3-2 count, and it didn’t ruin my confidence. I talked
to [Iglesias]. He’ll get over it. He said, 'Whatever's right for the
team.'"

When hearing it put like that, it actually sounds like a plausible explanation for a eyebrow-raising move. However, the problem isn't so much the rationale behind it, but the fact that it's a move that will indeed evoke uneeded attention.

The truth is, Valentine is absolutely right on several levels. He's right to want to make any move possible to make a nice geasture for Lester. He's right when he says that the move shouldn't affect Iglesias' confidence — if it does, he probably wasn't big-league material to begin with. And Valentine is even right in the very strategy of the move, as whether Ciriaco is at first or second does make a huge difference in how the at-bat should be approached.

"I don’t think it was a make-or-break situation," said Valentine of Iglesias' confidence. "He'll
have an opportunity to get some hits. It’s not kindergarten here. You
don’t think it was a good decision. So what? I think it was the right
thing to do to try to win a game for a [pitcher] who’s busting his butt
out there."

The problem is, it doesn't really matter whether Valentine is right or wrong at this point. The longtime manager has never, ever been one to eschew the duty of being a lightning rod, but some of his decisions lately — hitting Scott Podsednik third in the batting order, his usage of Alfredo Aceves, the now-infamous "weak roster" comment — is unduly inviting attention upon the ballclub, and it seems largely unfair to have the current roster have to answer for July's incarnation of the clubhouse.

Regardless, Valentine is what he has always been, someone who's going to be the focal point of the media's attention, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It can bring down unwarranted wrath upon a team, but it can also shield its individual players through a veil of responsibility.

In this case, however, Valentine is riding a fine line between shielding a player and exposing him.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

Bobby Valentine may have lit a fire under his club.

After calling his roster weak on Friday afternoon, the Red Sox have responded to his statement with two straight victories. It's the first time since August 26-27 that Boston has claimed consecutive games.

With two outs in the ninth inning of Saturday's contest, Pedro Ciriaco continued his memorable campaign, smacking a double down the left field line that lifted the Red Sox to a 3-2 victory.

"It's just an attitude that's good to see," Valentine told reporters of his team's resilience.

It came one day after Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Nava and Mauro Gomez emerged as the team's unsung heroes in Toronto. The trio exploded on Friday, combining for all eight runs in the 8-5 win over the Blue Jays.

But Ciriaco's clutch heroics have become old hat. Known as the Yankee killer for his late-game hits, the utility man said he takes pleasure in rising to the occasion when the pressure is on.

"Close situations, I'm a little bit more focused," Ciriaco told reporters. "Today, I had a little bit more patience. Two at-bats earlier, I was pulling a little bit. That one, I just got my pitch and tried to hit it hard somewhere."

That focus and patience helped the Sox' pitching staff as on Saturday, as well. Through seven innings, starter Clay Buchholz dominated the Blue Jays lineup, yielding just four hits and two runs — one earned — while racking up five strikeouts.

It was a bounce-back outing for Buchholz, who surrendered at least four runs in each of his last four starts. Although he didn't receive the decision, the pitcher gave a worthy performance.

"It's a shame it didn't happen at the beginning of the season, when I wanted it to or expected it to," Buchholz told reporters. "This game's humbling. You can go out there and feel great and give up six runs. Then you can go out there and not have your best stuff and get through seven innings. I feel good about it."

Weak roster or not, the Red Sox have answered Valentine's comments over the past two nights.

Editor's
note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox will be relying on more
reinforcements.

After the Pawtucket Red Sox finished their
season by claiming the Governor's Cup on Friday, Red Sox manager Bobby
Valentine indicated the team would likely recall "one or two" more
guys to the major league roster.

That's because, according to Valentine, his
current corps just isn't cutting it. Since the group has lost nine of 11 games
in September, it prompted the skipper to offer some harsh — but honest — criticism.

"This is the weakest roster we've ever had in September
in the history of baseball," he said. "It could use help
everywhere."

Let's compare Friday's lineup against the
Blue Jays to the Opening Day lineup against the Tigers on April 5.

Friday:

Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Mike Aviles, 2B
Cody Ross, RF
Mauro Gomez, DH
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Daniel Nava, LF
James Loney, 1B
Jose Iglesias, SS

Opening
Day:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Cody Ross, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Mike Aviles, SS

While the Opening Day lineup boasted a star-studded
cast, it ultimately never equated to victories. As a result, the Red Sox
elected to trade away Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Gonzalez – among others — at different
points of the season.

Injuries also gradually sapped the team's
competitive fire. Despite playing one game in August, David Ortiz has essentially
been sidelined since July 16 with an Achilles injury that prematurely ended his
season.

Dustin Pedroia is currently attending to his wife,
Kelli, who delivered their second son back in Boston. Ryan Sweeney has also been
shelved for the season after suffering a fractured knuckle while punching a
door.

There were also additions in between the
Opening Day lineup and Friday's game that were sidetracked by setbacks.

Before getting traded to the Dodgers, Carl
Crawford missed the majority of the season with a troublesome elbow that
required Tommy John surgery. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks suffered a broken
wrist last month that shattered his rookie campaign.

That's not to mention the pitching staff's
yearlong nightmare. With the exception of Jon Lester, each member of the Red
Sox rotation this season has spent at least one stint on the 15-day disabled
list.

Five of Friday's starters began the season
with the Pawtucket Red Sox. So clearly, Valentine needs all the help at his
disposal.

"If there are
people that could be brought up, we should bring them up," Valentine said,
referring to players in Triple-A. "But I don't know that there's a lot of
guys left."

It's not the
roster that Valentine expected to inherit last December. But with the overhaul,
he's trying to stay afloat.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON — Even in losses, the Red Sox resort
to finding victories.

Although the Yankees blanked the Red Sox 2-0
on Thursday, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine beamed with pride about starter
Felix Doubront. It was an important outing for the southpaw, who is one of the
team's building blocks for the future.

Over his past five starts entering Thursday
night, Doubront had yielded at least four runs while failing to cross the
five-inning plateau each time. But the 24-year-old finally snapped the slump,
surrendering just two runs over 6 1/3 innings against the Yankees.

"You deal with
the player and, talking with him, he was very determined to right his ways,"
Valentine said. "I think today was a good step in that direction. If we
scored some runs, he would have gotten a win."

It was a huge boost in
confidence for Doubront. Minutes after his lackluster start against the Blue
Jays on Sept. 7, Valentine said the team was contemplating shutting him down
for the season.

These are the growing
pains for a youngster. Despite the adversity, he responded by striking out five
and logging his fourth quality start of the season against the Yankees. The
last Red Sox lefty to achieve that feat was Bill Lee in 1974.

"This
year, the first half was very good, and then I [was] struggling in the second
half, and I learned from that," Doubront said. "I got a lot, a lot of
challenges to see, and I think I responded well. I think the second half wasn't
that good, but I just want to finish strong and get them next year."

His future prospects made this
start all the more significant. Had Doubront floundered again, the Red Sox
would've been overcome with additional pressure to shorten his 2012 season. His
mental toughness may have been challenged.

But he rebounded with a gutsy effort, throwing 105 pitches while doing his best to keep the Yankees in check. It's the type of
progress the Red Sox want to see as they evaluate Doubront's future with the
organization.

"I was just ready [for] when I see that kind of
situation again [and] how I was going to respond, and I responded pretty well," Doubront said. "I was happy with
myself, in that situation. I limited the damage in that [fourth] inning."

That was a "W" in itself for
Boston.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON –– During Tuesday's walk-off win, the Red Sox displayed an outpouring of emotion. A day later, in Wednesday's 5-4 loss, the team endured various other emotions, with tempers even flaring.

It started in the seventh inning with Alfredo Aceves on the mound. Minutes after yielding a home run to Curtis Granderson and a double to Nick Swisher, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine signaled for a pitching change and emerged from the dugout. Pitchers typically hand the manager the ball before exiting. Due to Aceves' frosty relationship with Valentine, however, he offered the baseball to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, refused to look at the skipper and avoided bypassing Valentine on the way out.

For Aceves, it's one of multiple confrontations he's experienced with Valentine. Aceves slammed the skipper's door in Boston, waved Valentine away in the dugout in Oakland, and he's now disrespected him on the mound.

"I'll have to look at it," Valentine said of the replay. "Who cares if he showed me up? If I have to explain Aceves' actions, I'll wind up going across the river and work for Harvard."

Aceves, who was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team back in August, denied any friction with Valentine.

"I'm good," Aceves said. "Ask him if he's good. I don't know."

The Red Sox' feistiness was only amplified in the eighth inning, when home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez called Cody Ross out on a controversial third strike. The call, which replays indicated was close, prompted Ross to go ballistic.

Ross approached Marquez and launched into a tirade about the call. For a split-second, Ross held the bat over his head –– like a sledgehammer –– while eyeing Marquez, but he then managed to control his emotions.

Shortly thereafter, Marquez was on an ejection spree, tossing Ross, Valentine and third base coach Jerry Royster. By the end of the night, bench coach Tim Bogar was acting as the team's manager and third base coach.

"Cody was really upset," Valentine said. "I was just doing everything I could to get Cody away from him. He should be upset. He's battling his butt off and he's representing the tying run and winds up getting called out. So he's upset. He's trying, he's trying hard."

By getting tossed for the sixth time this season, Valentine set the record for most ejections in a season by a Red Sox player or manager in franchise story. Saltalamacchia appreciated his manager's passion.

"He's not quitting either," Saltalamacchia said. "He wants to win. He's taken a lot of scrutiny. He's taken a lot of bad publicity. He wants to win. He doesn't want to finish the season on a sour note either."

That fervor was contagious on Wednesday, even if the end result wasn't what the Red Sox were hoping for.

Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby
Valentine's words. Each game day, we will select a Valentine quote that sums up
the day for the Red Sox.

BOSTON — Apparently, the Red Sox still have a pulse.

Despite dropping 11 of their last 13 contests, the Red Sox
rose to the occasion and knocked the Yankees one step closer to falling from their perch atop of the
American League East. The 4-3 victory sent the Yankees into a tie with the
Orioles for first place in the division.

Although the Red Sox are all but out of postseason contention, they
played their spoiler role to the tee on Tuesday. A dominant effort from the
bullpen and a game-winning hit by Jacoby Ellsbury proved to be the difference-makers to edge New York.

"I told the guys before the game that the fans are
still pulling for us and they want to see us play well," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "The season's not over and we owe it to them, to the
organization, to give it everything we had, and I think we did tonight."

Last September, it was Boston that crumbled under pressure.
Now, the club is trying to deliver a dose of that medicine to the Yankees and
leaning on Pedro Ciriaco –– who owns a .486 average against the Yankees –– to
star in Robert Andino's villain role.

At third base, Ciriaco made two spectacular diving stops and
throws to halt New York's offense. At the plate, the utility man went 2-for-3
with a double and two runs to notch his fifth multi-hit game versus the Yankees
this season.

"Ciriaco
has done a phenomenal job," catcher Ryan Lavarnway said. "I don't
think we can ask any more of him. I've
had the pleasure of watching him all year in Triple-A. I don't think I ever saw
him go two days in a row without getting a hit. And if he didn't get a hit one
day, he's going to get three the next day. He's amazing."

The Red Sox
pitching staff also held up its end of the bargain. Despite walking a career-high
seven batters, starter Jon Lester managed to minimize the damage by yielding
just three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings.

When Lester
exited the game, the bullpen picked up the slack. Relievers Junichi Tazawa,
Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey combined to stifle New York's lineup, allowing
just one hit through 3 2/3 scoreless frames.

"Right
now we're just trying to win games," Lester said. "We're trying to
win as many games as we can, finish out strong this year and try to have
something positive going into next year. If we end up being the spoiler, that's
great. That's kind of where we're at right now."

It
resulted in Boston's third, walk-off victory of the season. Although there were
no Gatorade baths this time around, there were signs of life after snapping a
four-game losing streak.

Unfortunately
for the Yankees, it's at their expense.