Postgame, Orioles 4-2: Daisuke Matsuzaka seemed at a bit of a loss to explain why he has been struggling over the past six weeks or so.
One issue has been the walk totals. He has issued 13 free passes over his last three starts and 11 in his last 14 innings.
Not that he had a ton of help in this one. Boston provided very little offensive support and Daniel Bard allowed two inherited runners to score, making all the difference on the board.
The Sox will get back at it Tuesday night with Clay Buchholz on the mound opposite Brad Bergesen. That one will start at 7:10 p.m.
Final, Orioles 4-2: There didn't seem to be a lot of life at Fenway Park early Monday night and the Red Sox didn't provide much to alter the tone.
Boston manages just five hits — four singles and a double — against four Baltimore pitchers and drops to 1-3 on this nail-in-the-coffin homestand.
We will go see what the fellas have to say about this one, although there really isn't too much to say, is there?
Mid 9th, Orioles 4-2: Michael Bowden needed a good inning with the way a few of his outings have gone lately. He does give up a double in the ninth but also struck out the side.
Orioles closer Koji Uehara is on for the save.
Baltimore is on the verge of improving to 28-17 since Buck Showalter took over as manager. The Red Sox would fall to 22-21 since that day.
End 8th, Orioles 4-2: Adrian Beltre entered the night ranked third in the American League by grounding into 23 double plays. His 24th takes the wind out of the Red Sox' sails in the eighth.
Michael Bowden will begin the ninth for Boston.
Mid 8th, Orioles 4-2: Hideki Okajima remains unscored upon since coming off the DL in August as he works a perfect eighth.
End 7th, Orioles 4-2: At the rate with which fans are flooding out of this place there will be a few dozen left by the time the last out is recorded. At the pace this game is being played that last out will be recorded just before midnight.
Hideki Okajima is the new Boston pitcher.
Mid 7th, Orioles 4-2: That elusive quality start for Daisuke Matsuzaka remains elusive. Daniel Bard allows both inherited runners to score and Matsuzaka has now allowed four runs or more in seven straight starts.
9:30 p.m.: Daisuke Matsuzaka's chance to record a quality start for the first time since Aug. 5 now rests on the right arm of Daniel Bard.
With two men in scoring position and just one out in the seventh Bard has taken over. He will face Ty Wigginton.
End 6th, 2-2: Well, that didn't go so well. The Red Sox get the tying run on a Bill Hall single but run themselves out of the inning on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out play that sees Jed Lowrie gunned down trying to come home from third.
Hall was on first and Lowrie on third with Jason Varitek up. Varitek struck out as Hall broke for second. He was a dead duck and stopped short of the bag to force the Orioles' hand.
As Lowrie raced home Cesar Izturis threw to catcher Matt Wieters for an easy play at the plate. If Izturis chased after Hall and Lowrie slid home before he was tagged the Sox would've had the lead. Alas.
Mid 6th, Orioles 2-1: Daisuke Matsuzaka has not allowed a hit since Josh Bell's two-out single in the fourth. He picks up his fourth strikeout to finish the sixth, ending it with a pitch count of 93.
Brian Matusz threw 101 in his five innings of work. Righty David Hernandez has relieved him to begin the bottom of the sixth.
End 5th, Orioles 2-1: Brian Matusz looked pretty rough in the first inning but he has since reminded us of how much he dominates the Red Sox. After another scoreless frame he has allowed eight runs in 29 2/3 innings vs. Boston, good for a 2.43 ERA.
Mid 5th, Orioles 2-1: If you are scoring at home the run that the Orioles scored in the fourth is earned. It was originally ruled as an unearned run but further review has altered the ruling. I'm sure many of you are sitting there with your scoresheets, so make the change.
End 4th, Orioles 2-1: Bill Hall is 3-for-26 with six strikeouts after he whiffs for the second time in this one. Jason Varitek is hitless in seven at-bats since returning from the DL after lining out to end the fourth.
Mid 4th, Orioles 2-1: Two more hits and a walk give Daisuke Matsuzaka another tough inning but his defense failed him this time. A throwing error by Victor Martinez prevented a possible inning-ending double play and allowed the go-ahead run to scamper home.
The second outfield assist by Bill Hall in left, this time to third base, prevented that from being worse than it was.
End 3rd, 1-1: Victor Martinez is back up above .400 (.401, 57-for-142) against lefties after hammering a double in the third. Adrian Beltre followed by drawing a walk but they were left right there when Mike Lowell popped to first.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: You never run on Bill Hall! Brian Roberts found out why in the third. He is gunned out by Hall trying to score from second on a single by Luke Scott.
Roberts never had much of a shot but if you're the Orioles, why not send him. Not much to lose.
Regardless, Baltimore should have more opportunities against Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has given up three hits, two walks and needed a diving stop by Marco Scutaro in the third to prevent another hit.
End 2nd, 1-1: Brian Matusz follows Daisuke Matsuzaka's lead by having a much smoother second inning than first. Strikeouts of Bill Hall and Jason Varitek precede a foul pop by Ryan Kalish.
You know the baseball season is winding down when a feverish debate breaks out in the press box about who the best goaltender in Bruins' history is. It's been raging for a solid inning now.
Mid 2nd, 1-1: In case you've stopped paying attention to the A.L. East race, the Rays are in New York for four straight starting Monday night.
Not just because they are the Yankees, it makes sense to root for Tampa Bay. The tiny shred of hope that the Red Sox have is to sweep this series, have the Rays win their series in the Bronx and then have Boston go down to New York on Friday with a deficit of four or five games.
Likely wishful thinking, but it bears watching just for a few more days.
End 1st, 1-1: After Daisuke Matsuzaka throws 22 pitches in the top of the first inning, Brian Matusz throws 38 in the bottom half. Nice pace to this one.
Victor Martinez continues his onslaught on lefties by ripping an RBI single to account for the Boston run.
Mid 1st, Orioles 1-0: The Orioles get an early run but Daisuke Matsuzaka should thank the wind for making sure it wasn't three or four.
After giving up a single and a walk to open the game, Matsuzaka allowed a drive to center off the bat of Ty Wigginton. With a stiff breeze blowing in the ball died just shy of the 379-foot sign at the far end of the Green Monster.
Brian Roberts, the runner at second, moved to third and then scored on another fly to center by Luke Scott.
Matt Wieters also got into one that Darnell McDonald tracked down at the wall in right. The wind may have had an effect on that one, too.
6:38 p.m.: Saw this little nugget from baseballreference.com regarding a recent Red Sox batting order that featured Daniel Nava and Yamaico Navarro batting back-to-back with similar starts to their last name.
Then I looked up and for the first time saw that the first six letters in Monday's two starters are nearly identical, Matusz and Matsuzaka.
In a list of players currently in the bigs these two are separated alphabetically only by Gary Matthews Jr.
That's about where the similarities end. While Matsuzaka, a 30-year-old right-hander who made $8 million this year, is 1-2 with a 7.19 ERA over his last six starts, Matusz, a 23-year-old lefty who made $500,000, is 5-1 with a 2.66 ERA over his last eight outings.
The O's youngster started his hot streak when manager Buck Showalter took over, which is when a lot of things started going right for Baltiimore. His last outing saw him leave after just one inning after getting hit in with a liner.
5:22 p.m.: You know it is late in the season when the shadows cover the infield before batting practice even gets going. For much of the summer the field is sunny while both teams go through their drills.
Terry Francona gave his daily address moments ago and told us that Adrian Beltre is good to go. He may have his left wrist taped, but even if it is sore he doesn't expect Beltre to tell him.
"I don't see anything slowing him down much. He's not going to say anything," Francona said.
The manager was asked about two of his better relievers of late, Hideki Okajima and Scott Atchison. Okajima has thrown 8 1/3 scoreless innings since returning from the disabled list and Atchison owns an ERA of 2.25 in the second half of the season.
For Okie, it's been one part physical and one part mental, as Francona explained:
"Location. His fastball," Francona said of what has made the difference for Okajima. "Although it's always the same, 87-90, every game since he's been here, when he locates it sets up his off-speed stuff, he does some things very well.
"He just seems a little sharper than before. You can even see it, it's like his attitude, he feels a little bit lighter about things. He feels good about himself."
Prior to hitting the DL Okajima had said that mentally he was going through some things, being somewhat isolated due to language barriers and what not. The anguish showed after a few rough outings when he did not want to speak to reporters. He seems to be on a better course right now.
As for Atchison, it was always about throwing strikes — as long as he did that consistently he would be effective, Francona said. And he has. Atchison has walked six men in 28 innings since the break and his flexibility has been big for a staff that has had inconsistencies both among its starters and in the pen.
"He has the ability to come in in the third inning and give you multiple innings and come in in the ninth and finish up games," Francona added. "He's been a nice addition to our bullpen. I think in this day and age you have to find guys like that. Every team is trying to. He's been a real good find for us."
The rest of the meeting with reporters saw Francona discussing winter and fall leagues and sharing stories of his time as both a player and manager in some of those circuits. We should have more for you on that in a bit. Some good nuggets in there.
3:19 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where just six games remain, three against the A.L. East elites and three against the dregs of the division, Baltimore, which visits Monday night.
Of course, the Orioles have been a pretty good team for more than a month now.
Here is the Red Sox batting order for the opener:
Marco Scutaro, 2B
Darnell McDonald, RF
Victor Martinez, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Mike Lowell, DH
Jed Lowrie, SS
Bill Hall, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Ryan Kalish, CF
8 a.m.: The Red Sox second-to-last home series of the season begins Monday night when they welcome the Baltimore Orioles to town for the first of three straight.
The Sox are coming off a 6-0 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday which helped them avoid a series sweep. They are 6 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the wild card race with only 13 games to play.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has not thrown a quality start in well over a month, will look to get back on track. Lefty Brian Matusz goes for the Orioles. He is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA in four starts vs. Boston this year.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
