Final, 8-4 Red Sox: About 45 minutes ago, nobody thought we'd be seeing Jonathan Papelbon in this one. If he did, it would likely be in a non-save situation.
It was a non-save situation, though the circumstances were rather different than anyone could have expected.
Still, Papelbon got the job done, retiring three batters in order after surrendering a double from Vizquel.
The Sox now lead the wild-card race by 1 1/2 games, thanks to a wild and crazy ninth inning.
Top 9th, 8-4 Red Sox: The top of the ninth inning will go down as the craziest inning of the season.
After Chris Woodward failed to even successfully attempt a bunt, he struck out.
Though Woodward's inability looked like it would bury the Sox in the ninth, it did allow the rare opportunity for Clay Buchholz to pinch run for Varitek. Though Buchholz is faster than Varitek, he showed he doesn't know how to run the bases.
Dustin Pedroia lined a double off the left-field fence, but Buchholz was caught up in between second and third base. David Murphy's throw came in, and Buchholz was gunned down at the plate.
Terry Francona rolled the dice by putting a pitcher on the basepaths, and it came back to bite him.
Or so we thought.
Victor Martinez fouled off three would-be game-ending strikes before lining a double down the line in right, scoring Ellsbury and Pedroia and giving the Red Sox a 5-4 lead.
Ellsbury had driven in a run earlier in the inning to cut the lead to one run.
After an RBI single from Bay, Drew homered to give the Sox an 8-4 lead.
11:28 p.m.: I can say with full confidence that this top of the ninth inning will go down as the craziest inning of the year.
End 8th, 4-2 Rangers: Frank Franciscoand his 16 saves will be taking the mound to face Ortiz, Varitek and Ellsbury.
It'll take some magic from the bottom of the order to get this one started.
Bottom 8th, 4-2 Rangers: Takashi Saito enters the game to face Hamilton. If Saito can hold them, the Sox have a chance.
10:55 p.m.: Sure, it wasn't a hit, but for the second time of the night, Drew hustles down the line to beat out a double play. For a guy who takes quite a bit of criticism for just about everything, there's something to be said about hustling in 90-degree heat.
The first time he was called safe, he was aided by Blalock's foot coming off the bag, but Drew was moving.
End 7th, 4-2 Rangers: Daniel Bard entered the game in relief, but Young was able to drive in another run on a sacrifice fly to right field.
Bard's now given up runs in three of his last five outings after pitching 12 straight scoreless innings.
Middle 7th, 3-2 Rangers: Reddick nearly makes up for his misplay in center by stroking a 1-0 fastball deep to right field. Hamilton grabbed it with his back against the wall, and the Sox are now down to six outs.
10:26 p.m.: O'Day is famous for losing a game in Toronto while wearing Kason Gabbard's jersey.
Video can be seen here.
Top 7th: Jacoby Ellsbury is coming off the bench, pinch-hitting for Nick Green to face new Rangers pitcher Darren O'Day.
End 6th, 3-2 Rangers: Wow. When Jon Lester gets angry, people strike out.
Lester appeared to have a bit of a mean streak all night, but it looks like it worked in his favor. Though Marlon Byrd scored to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead, Lester finished his outing in style, striking out Josh Hamilton, Hank Blalock and David Murphy in order.
Here are the starters' final lines:
Lester: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 11 K's
Millwood: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BBs, 4 K's
10:08 p.m.: For the second straight day, Josh Reddick looks bad in the outfield. That's not what the Red Sox needed after just tying the game.
More work is in store for Lester.
Middle 6th, 2-2: When Millwood walked Ortiz in his first two at-bats, the world wondered why.
Ortiz showed "Everyday" Eddie Guardado why. Big Papi cranked a 3-2 fastball over the wall in right field to even things up. Let's see how Lester, now pitching with a lead, handles himself with his pitch count approaching 100.
Top 6th, 2-0 Rangers: That's absolutely the right way to attack a pitcher who's at 101 pitches heading into the inning. Bay flies out on the first pitch, Drew pops out on the third pitch and Lowell swings at a 1-0 pitch.
Fortunately for Lowell, Millwood is wild and walks him. That's enough to chase Millwood from the game.
End 5th, 2-0 Rangers: Lester records his eighth strikeout and has his first perfect inning. Bay, Drew and Lowell coming up in the sixth. Who will get the harmless single this inning?
9:51 p.m.: The Red Sox fans appear to be out in full force in Arlington, but unfortunately they're not seeing much from the Sox' offense.
Lester's giving them a show, but they're going to need more than three singles to send the Sox fans home happy.
Middle 5th, 2-0 Rangers: At the midway point here after a brisk 100 minutes, and the Red Sox have yet to touch third base.
9:41 p.m.: Old pal Curt Schilling wrote in his blog that by adding Alex Gonzalez and Casey Kotchman, this year's Sox remind him of the '04 Sox, which added Doug Mientkiewicz and Orlando Cabrera.
Pretty optimistic right there.
You can read his full entry here.
End 4th, 2-0 Rangers: Lester walks the first two batters but strikes out the side to keep the score at 2-0. He now has seven K's through four innings, but his pitch count is rising (79).
9:32 p.m.: This game has the pace of a 15-12 game against the Yankees. The only catch is that it's 2-0 in the fourth.
Middle 4th, 2-0 Rangers: "And Varitek strikes out yet again."
–Don Orsillo
That's four runners left on base for the captain, if you're keeping score at home.
9:17 p.m.: Elsewhere in baseball, MLB officials 'want to chat' with Bronson Arroyo after the Reds pitcher opened up about his use of various supplements that are not approved by the league.
If you missed his original comments, read them. You won't regret it.
End 3rd, 2-0 Rangers: It's nice to see that Omar Vizquel isn't letting the fact that he's 73 years old get in the way of his game.
The veteran (actually 42 years old) turned a flashy double play before leading off the third with a single to right. Pedroia showed him how the kids do it, though, by making a diving backhand stab and turning a double play for the Sox.
Lester's now induced two twin killings, and he's needed them both. He's now thrown 52 pitches through three innings, while Millwood's thrown 60.
8:52 p.m.: For anyone wishing Varitek laid down a sacrifice bunt last inning, it should be noted that he hasn't sacrificed himself since 2006. In fact, since 2004, he's sacrificed a grand total of two times.
Still, this is Jason Varitek 2.0, and a bunt certainly seems to be the proper move. But considering heavy hitters Nick Green and Josh Reddick were due up next, a sacrifice wouldn't really guarantee much.
End 2nd, 2-0 Rangers: Jonny's all warmed up. David Murphy roped a first-pitch fastball into center, but Lester induced a double play before striking out youngster Elvis Andrus.
8:47 p.m.: Need to feel good about yourself? Take solace in the fact that you're not a Pirates fan. The Bucs were destroyed by the Cubs today in a 17-2 shellacking.
If you are a Pirates fan, then, well … at least you've got a nice stadium to visit.
Middle 2nd, 2-0 Rangers: Kevin Millwood needed a shamrock and a horseshoe to get out of the second unscathed, but he got them.
Following a Lowell single (now a .400 hitter against Millwood) and a David Ortiz walk, Millwood gets Varitek to watch strike three (after falling behind 3-0). Nick Green then smacks a ball that looks destined to be an RBI double, but Hank Blalock snags it and doubles up Lowell at second.
Millwood's thrown 42 pitches through two innings, but it could have been much worse for him.
8:34 p.m.: Mike Lowell is a career .339 hitter against Millwood in 59 at-bats. He has four doubles, two homers and a triple, but I'd bet the better part of Lowell's contract that he won't be hitting a triple any time soon.
End 1st, 2-0 Rangers: Welcome to Texas, Jon Lester.
The Rangers give Lester a rough welcome in his first-ever start in Texas as Omar Vizquel walks before Michael Young belts an 0-1 fastball over the fence in deep left-center field.
The lefty responded well, though, striking out the side to get out of the first with no further damage. He did, however, throw a Matsuzakian 31 pitches.
8:24 p.m.: Jason Varitek appears to be wearing some darker catching equipment to go with the navy blue Friday night jerseys. He looks like a lobster. Or some sort of crustacean. Maybe an arthropod.
There's no way I'll go three-plus hours without going off on these Friday night jerseys at some point.
Middle 1st: Millwood made short work of Josh Reddick (who still kind of owes the Sox for booting that ball yesterday) and Dustin Pedroia before Victor Martinez worked a walk and Jason Bay took a curveball off his backside.
With two on and two out, however, J.D. Drew fanned on three straight fastballs to end the threat.
8:06 p.m.: Time for the first pitch. Kevin Millwood has pitched unbelievably so far this year. The Red Sox would be fortunate to jump on him and hopefully get to the bullpen early. They did so on Monday against the Tigers, and it helped them win three out of four games.
7:08 p.m.: Former Red Sox pitcher Frank Viola will join Don Orsillo in the NESN booth tonight. By Don's count, that's 26 color commentators he's had this year to fill in for Jerry Remy.
Viola played with the Sox from 1992-94, going 25-21 with a 3.40 ERA. He was a winner of the Cy Young Award in 1988 as a member of the Twins, winning the World Series with them the year before.
6:47 p.m.: Lester owns a 2-0 record and 3.33 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers, though he's never pitched in Texas.
5:30 p.m.: It would have been a good idea to check the starting lineup first — Ellsbury's not starting.
Consider that an early preview of Saturday's game. For the record, he is seven-for-seven in stolen base attempts against Texas in his career.
5:25 p.m.: With the 8:05 p.m. start time, we all have to wait a little longer to catch our baseball this evening. While waiting is never any fun, it does provide some extra time to find some things to watch for this weekend.
For example, Jacoby Ellsbury, if he can get on base a couple of times, can break the Red Sox' single-season steals record Friday night. Ellsbury currently has 52 steals, just two behind Tommy Harper's record of 54, set in 1973.
4:27 p.m.: The Red Sox open up a six-game, seven-day road trip Friday night in a stretch that will undoubtedly have a major impact on the playoff race.
The Sox hold the narrowest of leads for the AL wild care, sitting just 1/2 game in front of the Rangers.
A sweep by either team will open up a healthy lead in the race, but if the Sox can win two of three, they'll leave with a decent lead.
Jon Lester will bear the burden of getting the Sox off to a good start on this road trip. He's coming off an impressive performance against the Yankees in which he lasted seven innings and gave up just one run.
The Rangers will send out the resurgent Kevin Millwood (9-7, 3.38 ERA), who earned a win against the Red Sox on July 20. In that game, Millwood went six innings, giving up two earned runs in a 6-3 Texas win. You may remember that game as the one in which John Smoltz pitched batting practice in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Red Sox already made headlines today by reacquiring shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the Cincinnati Reds.
