Postgame, Red Sox 6-4: The story of this one was Tim Wakefield and a pair of hitters, namely Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis.
Look for a bit more on the efforts of Ellsbury and Youkilis on the site.
We will close up the live blog for the night with the updates on Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, straight from the horse’s mouth, the horse in this instance being Dr. Tom Gill:
“Clay Buchholz was seen in consultation by Dr. Craig Brigham today in Charlotte. Dr. Brigham agreed with the team’s assessment that the back symptoms can be treated with rehabilitation. Clay will be advanced in his activities as his symptoms allow.”
“Jon Lester had an MRI today which confirmed the diagnosis of a latissimus strain. He will be treated with a period of rest from throwing, followed by progressive strengthening program. There is no specific timeframe for his return at this time. His status will be better defined following the All-Star break.”
Somewhat vague, but Terry Francona stressed that the team was very happy to get these diagnoses. Now they can move forward knowing there is nothing too severe with either pitcher.
Final, Red Sox 6-4: No throws from Darnell McDonald to Jason Varitek were needed in this one, but it still was a bit of a grind for Jonathan Papelbon.
Papelbon hit one batter and later gave up an RBI single to Yunel Escobar. That got the tying run to the plate in the form of rookie Eric Thames, who struck out on a 95 mph fastball.
Papelbon did record all three outs via the K.
That’s six wins in seven games for the Red Sox.
Heading down for reaction and likely some updates on Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. Stay tuned.
End 8th, Red Sox 6-3: Jonathan Papelbon was probably a bit fortunate to pick up his 18th save last night.
He will look for a cleaner effort this time around while protecting an identical three-run lead. If and when he finishes things off, Tim Wakefield will be just two wins shy of 200 for his career and eight behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young for the all-time franchise lead.
Chippin’ away, he is.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 6-3: Dan Wheeler continues his impressive resurgence by striking out Aaron Hill to end the top of the eighth.
Jonathan Papelbon is getting loose out there.
I’m getting tight. This bleeping song does it to me every night. You know the one.
10:04 p.m.: The delay was 40 minutes. We are back up and running with Dan Wheeler on the mound.
9:54 p.m.: The game is expected to resume at 10:05 p.m. When it does, the Blue Jays will have two outs and nobody on base.
Dan Wheeler is warming in the bullpen and will come on to try to get the last out.
9:25 p.m.: Tarp is on the field. Smile is off my face.
End 7th, Red Sox 6-3: The Red Sox leave two runners in scoring position after J.D. Drew and Josh Reddick fail to do anything.
With that, we move to the eighth and bid adieu to Tim Wakefield. He allows three runs on nine hits while striking out a season-high seven, and is in line for his 198th career win.
Daniel Bard is on for the seventh time in the team’s last 11 games.
9:12 p.m.: Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis both have a home run and two doubles.
Youkilis just ripped his second two-base hit of the game to push David Ortiz to third with one out and prompt John Farrell to pull the plug on Jon Rauch.
Lefty Luis Perez is on to face J.D. Drew and Josh Reddick, who is 7-for-9 against left-handers this year.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 6-3: Jose Bautista is not pleased with a strike three call that ends the seventh with a man on second.
Jon Rauch is on for the Blue Jays. His last time on the mound resulted in this wild scene.
Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves were both up in Boston’s pen.
End 6th, Red Sox 6-3: Derek Jeter is hitless and the Yankees are losing in Cleveland. If these scores stay the same, Boston would be just a game out in the loss side.
Tim Wakefield is out there to begin the seventh. Some stirring in the pen again.
Although the Sox didn’t score in the sixth, Jacoby Ellsbury had his second double and third extra-base hit of the game. He was thinking three on the play, and if he made it would be a single shy of the cycle.
Quite a night for Ellsbury so far.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 6-3: With Alfredo Aceves warming in the bullpen, Tim Wakefield survives a two-out double and a passed ball.
Wakefield is up to 91 pitches. With the way the pen has been used up in the past two days, Terry Francona would love to get one more out of his starter.
End 5th, Red Sox 6-3: Josh Reddick pinch hit for Darnell McDonald once Shawn Camp came on in relief.
Reddick lined Camp’s second pitch right at second baseman Aaron Hill, who threw to first to double off J.D. Drew.
Like the guys who killed Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) said in “Goodfellas” as blood poured out of his head, “And dat’s dat!” They could’ve said “inning over,” but it wouldn’t relate as well.
Anyway, inning over.
8:39 p.m.: It’s amazing how much Ricky Romero struggles against this team.
His two starts in Fenway Park this year have both lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Romero’s ERA in his career vs. the Sox is 8.13 and could rise if Shawn Camp is unable to clean up the mess in the fifth.
After David Ortiz flew to left, Kevin Youkilis doubled to center and J.D. Drew walked to end the night for the Toronto lefty.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 6-3: We just had one of those I’ve-never-seen-that-before moments.
With a man on first and one out, Tim Wakefield gave up a long fly to left-center field that Jacoby Ellsbury tracked down with a leap at the wall. The crowd went nuts, we all marked an “8” in our scorebook and then turned our attention to the next hitter.
Only the next hitter was the same hitter. Apparently, before he nearly had an extra-base hit, Eric Thames called time and was granted it. He only swung to protect himself, but time was granted by Tim McClelland.
No worries. Terry Francona was given the explanation and Wakefield made it a non-issue by striking out Thames. It was career K No. 2,101 for Wakefield.
One batter later, Wakefield was out of the inning and is now qualified for career win No. 198.
Ellsbury is probably the most upset about the inning. He had to leap against that rather harsh wall out there to haul in the Thames drive.
End 4th, Red Sox 6-3: J.D. Drew had gone nearly one month since his last extra-base hits and nearly two since his last double before ripping a two-bagger off the wall in center.
The rare show of power from the Red Sox right fielder ignited a two-run rally against Ricky Romero, who could be a Cy Young Award candidate each year if he never faced the Red Sox.
Darnell McDonald followed with a single to left to score Drew, tying the game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s bloop single kept the inning alive for Yamaico Navarro, who doubled in a run. Those two then scored when Jacoby Ellsbury doubled off the center-field side of the Green Monster.
Marco Scutaro also walked, making it six straight to reach with two outs.
Romero’s ERA vs. Boston (in 11 starts) is now up to 8.13.
Mid 4th, Blue Jays 3-2: J.D. Drew ain’t hittin’ a lick, but he can still track a ball into the corner at Fenway with grace unlike anyone in the game, perhaps.
Drew tracked down a Travis Snider drive just steps before the wall in right for the second out of a 1-2-3 fourth.
Tim Wakefield is at 56 pitches.
End 3rd, Blue Jays 3-2: Ricky Romero was not entirely pleased with the work of home place umpire Tim McClelland in that inning.
Romero showed some of his disgust during and after a walk to Marco Scutaro.
Dustin Pedroia followed with a pop to the catcher, but between the walk and a long battle by Pedroia, Romero’s pitch count was driven up to 49.
Mid 3rd, Blue Jays 3-2: Riiiiiiide, ride my see-saw.
Back and forth the lead goes early in this one. Toronto has it back after a sacrifice fly by Jose Bautista and an RBI single by Adam Lind.
The inning began innocently with a swinging bunt by Rajai Davis. But the guy whose speed has hurt the Sox so often easily beat it out.
Yunel Escobar followed with a base hit and both runners moved up on a grounder to first. That set up the Bautista fly to left (Darnell McDonald’s throw was up the line this time) and Lind’s single to left-center.
End 2nd, Red Sox 2-1: Much has been made of Ricky Romero’s struggles against the Red Sox. Heck, we just mentioned them an inning ago.
Well, one of the leaders in the anti-Romero campaign has been Kevin Youkilis, who is now 6-for-14 (.426) with three home runs and five RBIs off the lefty after a solo shot in the second.
Youkilis hammered the second pitch of the inning down the line and into the first row of the Monster seats. It is home run No. 12 of the year for Youkilis. Guess the shoulder/neck/headache issue is a thing of the past.
Mid 2nd, 1-1: Travis Snider is not going to allow anyone to forget Lou Brock, but the throw from Jarrod Saltalamacchia to nail Snider trying to steal second was a bullet.
As Terry Francona often says of Saltalamacchia, when he gets it right it looks really, really good.
Tim Wakefield struck out Aaron Hill and J.P. Arencibia to account for the other two outs. Snider had singled.
End 1st, 1-1: Jacoby Ellsbury continues to display very good power. He just crushed a Ricky Romero offering over the Toronto bullpen in right, a no-doubter that gives Ellsbury 10 home runs for the first time in his career.
Romero has a 10.13 ERA this year against the Red Sox. He owns a 2.45 mark against all other teams.
Mid 1st, Blue Jays 1-0: Although Scott Atchison has arrived to help out in the bullpen, the Red Sox really need some innings from Tim Wakefield.
Just 6 1/3 innings combined from John Lackey and Jon Lester has left the relief corps stretched thin.
Terry Francona said that because of it he loses some of his ability to mix and match. That means some guys could be in unfavorable matchups later on.
In his effort to give the boys some quality innings, Wakefield hits an early snag. His third pitch of the game is hit by Yunel Escobar off the Green Monster for a double. One out later, Jose Bautista lined a single to center to make it 1-0.
That was Bautista’s first hit in 10 at-bats against Wakefield, who threw 18 pitches.
7:08 p.m.: Tim Wakefield just allowed a leadoff double to Yunel Escobar. We are off on the wrong foot.
6:05 p.m.: Oh, what, you thought we wouldn’t give you the Toronto lineup? What kind of operation do you think we’re running here?
Actually, when Tim Wakefield pitches, looking at the matchups is always interesting. Not only does the knuckleballer have so much experience, but so many guys either hammer him or look like fools trying to touch Wakefield’s favorite pitch.
Here’s the Toronto batting order:
Yunel Escobar, SS
Eric Thames, LF
Jose Bautista, 3B
Adam Lind, 1B
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Aaron Hill, 2B
Travis Snider, RF
J.P. Arencibia, C
Rajai Davis, CF
The Blue Jays mashers, Bautista and Lind, are just 2-for-21 vs. Wakefield. Hill is a solid 10-for-35 (.286), while Snider is 3-for-6 with a home run and a double.
5:22 p.m.: It’s interesting to note that when Kevin Youkilis was asked if playing third base was one cause of his many minor injuries this year he said he always feels more physical strain at first.
Now, in Youkilis’ return to the lineup after his latest issue, he is at first.
Still, the club felt this was the day to give Adrian Gonzalez his rest. Gonzalez told Terry Francona of his stiff neck Tuesday night and the two made plans to reconnect on the phone this morning. When Gonzalez told him he never saw the ball that well out of Ricky Romero’s hands, and didn’t fight Francona when the manager floated the notion of a day off, it was clear that Gonzalez’s time had come.
It is not only Gonzalez’s first missed day this year (for now…he is available off the bench), but it is also the first time he has been out of the starting lineup since last July 3 with San Diego. He had been penciled in at first base for 166 straight games.
It’s no Cal Ripken-like streak, but when you start every game for a year straight, it’s notable when you can’t go.
Back with a little more in a moment.
4:36 p.m.: As I strolled down to the clubhouse I saw Scott Atchison taking his bags out of a cab on Van Ness Street, the surest sign that Jon Lester was being placed on the disabled list.
Moments later, Terry Francona confirmed.
Lester is back in the clubhouse but the full results of his MRI were not immediately known. However, the plan if he was not to be disabled was to have him skipped Sunday and then to be the last in the rotation after the break. Fifteen days on the DL would get him back within that same time frame, give or take a day or two.
If he goes on the DL today, he can return July 22 at home against Seattle. If he hadn’t and the club went with that original play, it would’ve been the 19th in Baltimore.
So, as Francona said, the decision to DL Lester, even without the test results, was a “no-brainer.” We should know the severity of the lat strain after the game.
Francona has yet to name a starter for Sunday. Atchison will help out a bullpen that has thrown 11 2/3 innings over the last two days.
As for Clay Buchholz, we are still awaiting results of his examination this morning with Dr. Craig Bingham in North Carolina. We may know more on that after the game as well.
Finally, Carl Crawford is all but assured of coming back after the All-Star break, and even then it won’t be immediate. With the team opening up the second half in Tampa Bay, the club will want to keep him off that turf in the Tropicana Dome and make sure he doesn’t have to return under such conditions.
More updates to come.
3:04 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where after 38,000 or so stuff this place on a stifling day, there will be new smells created, most in the right field grandstands.
The Red Sox lineup has a new odor. After all that noise about making sure Adrian Gonzalez stays in the lineup throughout National League play, he now needs a day off due to a stiff neck.
It’s nothing to fear, folks. Just a good day with a tough lefty on the mound to get Gonzalez a break. Terry Francona has indicated in his weekly address with WEEI that Gonzalez is available if needed.
Here is your lineup without the big bopper:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Darnell McDonald, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Yamaico Navarro, 3B
8 a.m.: Tim Wakefield tries again for career win No. 198 when he opposes Toronto’s Ricky Romero in the final of a three-game set Wednesday at Fenway Park.
Wakefield has tried unsuccessfully to move any closer to the 200-win milestone over his last two starts. He has given up 10 runs in 11 1/3 innings in that span.
The veteran has only appeared in relief against Toronto this year. He is 17-14 with a 3.87 ERA in his career versus the Blue Jays.
The Red Sox are hoping to have third baseman Kevin Youkilis back. He sat out Tuesday’s 3-2 win a day after taking a pitch off his left shoulder.
Romero has been on a pretty good roll. He is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA over his last five starts, allowing just one home run in 38 1/3 innings. The lefty has often struggled vs. Boston, including a loss at Fenway in April in which he gave up five runs on eight hits and five walks in just 4 1/3 innings.
Wakefield will toss his first pitch around 7:10 p.m.
