The Sox showed life in the ninth. Adrian Gonzalez homered. Marco Scutaro picked up an RBI single to bring the Sox within one.
Then, Mike Aviles, who was running for Scutaro, was inexplicably thrown out trying to steal second with two outs to end the game. Granted, Josh Reddick was down to his final strike, but it's a frustrating to see a runner thrown out by a few feet to end the game.
And oh yeah, Tim Wakefield must sit and wait even more.
End 8th, Blue Jays 11-8: Where do we start? Matt Albers came on to replace Daniel Bard, and he was greeted with a bases-clearing double to give the Jays an 11-8 lead.
It also closes the door on Bard, who walks away giving up a career-high five runs. All things considered, probably his the worst outing of his impressive young career.
The Sox have their work cut out for them now heading to the ninth down by three.
Bottom 8th, 8-8: This really seemed like the night — it really did. However, one of the most dominant Red Sox relievers, Daniel Bard, just cost Tim Wakefield his 200th win.
Bard loaded the bases with no outs before striking out two. With it looking like Bard was about to pull a Houdini act and get out of it, he walked a pair of runs in to tie things up.
Wakefield won't get 200 tonight.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 8-6: When things are going well for you at the plate, balls like Jacoby Ellsbury just hit turn into doubles. Dewayne Wise took a poor first step on an Ellsbury flyball, and it ended up falling in. Ellsbury arrived at second with his 39th double of the season.
Dustin Pedroia is kind of in a slump right now, though. He was unable to bring in Ellsbury, and as a result, he's now just 1-for-15 in this series. In fact, he's just 5-for-29 in September.
End 7th, Red Sox 8-6: Keep it at a two-run game Daniel Bard does. He needs just two pitches to retire Kelly Johnson, and the Sox will take an 8-6 lead to the eighth.
Bottom 7th, Red Sox 8-6: They're not going to make it easy. After a strong showing in the sixth, Dan Wheeler struggled a bit in the seventh. A double and an RBI single bookended the two outs he got in the inning, but Edwin Encarnacion chased the righty from the game.
In comes Daniel Bard trying to keep it at a two-run game.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 8-5: Not much happening in the seventh. Adrian Gonzalez doubled. David Ortiz was intentionall walked. Brett Lawrie made a pretty play (told you he's good). The Red Sox scored no runs.
The real story is still whether or not the Sox can hold this lead so No. 49 can get No. 200.
Let's stretch, shall we?
End 6th, Red Sox 8-5: It wasn't the prettiest half inning, but the Sox get out of it without giving up anything.
Dan Wheeler came on and was able ot get J.P.Arencibia and Mike McCoy to end the inning.
If I'm Tim Wakefield — which I'm obviously not — I'd be hoping for a couple of more runs on that lead. You know, just in case.
Bottom 6th, Red Sox 8-5: Franklin Morales had a nice start to the sixth by striking out Kelly Johnson. Then things got iffy. He gave up a single to Brett Lawrie and then hit Adam Loewen with a pitch. That was enough for Terry Francona who has summoned Dan Wheeler.
As you may have heard, Loewen is making his first major league appearance as a position player. He gave up on pitching three years ago after suffering a stress fracture in his elbow, and this is his big league debut as a hitter. He could have picked a better night to debut. So far, he's had to face Tim Wakefield a couple of times and then get hit by a pitch. He misses pitching at this point.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 8-5: Jacoby Ellsbury picked up his third hit in the sixth, giving him another ho-hum three-hit night, but he was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning.
As stated before, it's in the bullpen's hands now, starting with Franklin Morales who takes over to start the sixth.
End 5th, Red Sox 8-5: Not that you need me to tell you this, but Tim Wakefield is now officially in line for the win. That's not a first on his tour to 200, but it's worth noting for now.
Wakefield tossed another scoreless inning, working around hitting Jose Bautista with a pitch.
For whatever reason, Bautista tried to steal on a 3-0 pitch (with a knuckleballer on the mound!) and was promptly gunned down by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Wakefield appears to be done after five innings, however. Saltalamacchia is pleased.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 8-5: Carlos Villanueva came on in relief of Brandon Morrow and was able to get out of it without any more trouble.
The Sox — and Wakefield — take a three-run lead to the bottom of th fifth.
Top 5th, Red Sox 8-5: David Ortiz probably won't much consideration when it comes to the AL MVP, but maybe he should. He just hit a mile-long home run to give the Sox a three-run lead, and in the process, continued another incredible season for the DH.
It was Ortiz's 29th home run and 92nd RBI on the season, as he continues to torch the baseball. Again, he may not get much consideration as MVP — DH's rarely do — but there's no denying his value for this Red Sox team this season.
Brandon Morrow is done for the night after surrendering a single to Kevin Youkilis. Even if Youkilis doesn't score, Morrow will see his career ERA against the Sox to 9.70.
End 4th, Red Sox 7-5: There's your shut-down inning. Wakefield just worked his first 1-2-3 inning of the game, and it was a quick one. He's thrown 75 pitches, so you would think he's got a couple of more innings in him, but you also would think that Terry Francona isn't going to take his changes in this one. Wakefield has been shaky at best tonight, and Francona will probably be eager to turn things over to his bullpen, especially after an easy night on Tuesday.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 7-5: Well, that was quite the change. Josh Reddick's RBI double got the Sox within one, and then Jacoby Ellsbury anihilated a fastball for a three-run home run to put the Sox back in front.
Now, if Tim Wakefield were to ever come up with a shut-down inning, now would be the perfect time. He's got a second life thanks to his offense, and now he needs to make it stand up.
End 3rd, Blue Jays 5-3: As much as everyone wants to see Wakefield win No. 200, he may not be long for this one — at least if he keeps letting leadoff guys reach base.
Wakefield walked the leader in the third (the third leadoff runner in as many innings) and it came back to hurt him when Jose Bautista laced an RBI double down the left-field line.
Then, after a Bautista steal of third, Brett Lawrie walked. Wakefield, as he often does, tried the old third-to-first move. That didn't work, but the Jays one-upped him with the old first-and-third double steal. That, however, did work, and the Jays what has turned into a Little League game by a score of 5-3.
Mid 3rd, 3-3: If Brandon Morrow works into the sixth or the seventh inning with a strong outing in this one, we'll look back to the third inning as perhaps the main reason.
Morrow just got Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz in order. That's impressive in general, but it's even more impressive when you consider that trio entered the game hitting a combined .485 off of Morrow in their careers.
Could prove to be a huge confidence boost for the righty. Or not. We'll see.
End 2nd, 3-3: Tim Wakefield featured his good knuckleball in the first. In the second, he turned to the not-so-good version.
Wakefield served up a tumbler up in the zone to J.P. Arencibia who deposited it into the left-field seats. Coincidentally, it was the Toronto catcher's first career hit off of Wake. It was a two-run job, so we're back to square one, all knotted up at 3.
By the way, Brett Lawrie is going to be a star for quite some time in this game. Go ahead and write that down.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox, 3-1: The Sox go in order in the top of the second, thanks in large part to a beautiful diving catch by Mike McCoy. While I may think it's beautiful, Jarrod Saltalamacchia may tend to disagree.
Anyhoo, Morrow got Ellsbury to end the inning, which is something pitchers have once again struggled to do as of late. With his first-inning single, the center fielder now has a 12 game hitting streak in which he's hitting .326. He's the anti-Jose Bautista right now.
End 1st, Red Sox, 3-1: Little dicey in the first frame for Wakefield, but he's able to get Reed Johnson swinging to get out of it.
Wakefield's knuckleball seems to be dancing all over the place, but that may have cost him a run in the first. It was an errant knuckler that went as a passed ball on Jarrod Saltalamacchia that led to a Edwin Encarnacion sac fly.
Regardless, the Sox win the inning, and if I'm not not mistaken, if you win every inning, you'll probably win the game.
Mid 1st, Red Sox, 3-0: Well, it's now on Mr. Wakefield.
The Red Sox have had success in the past against Brandon Morrow and they looked poised for even more right now.
Marco Scutaro just delivered a two-run single to extend his hitting streak to seven games and in the process, the Sox take a 3-0 lead.
Kevin Youkilis was gunned down at third to end the inning, but the damage, as they say, has been done.
7:09 p.m. ET: With an open roof above him, Brandon Morrow fires a fastball strike to Jacoby Ellsbury. Things are under way in Toronto.
6:57 p.m. ET: There's plenty at stake tonight for the Sox and trying to get Wakefield to that number, but there's also a chance to make up some ground in the standings.
The Yankees dropped one in extra innings earlier to the Orioles, so Boston has a chance to make up a full game.
6:29 p.m. ET: Not sure if we'll be able to touch on Wakefield before this one gets under way, but you should all know by now that it's been some time since he had a "W" next to his name after the game.
On the other side, AL MVP candidate Jose Bautista is sliding some as we get closer to season's end.
Since Aug. 17, Bautista is hitting just .242 (16-for-66) with 21 strikeouts. He still has a .920 OPS in that stretch, but if Bautista wants to win the MVP, he's going to need to really make a statement toward the end of the season, perhaps even more so than other candidates. That may not be fair, but that's the way it goes when you play for a team that's not in contention.
Perhaps even more interesting, Bautista is hitting just .184 with three home runs, six RBIs and 15 strikeouts at home since Aug. 10. Why is that date important? Well, that happens to be the date that ESPN the Magazine released its story on suspicions around the league that the Jays may be stealing signs and locations at home.
Just sayin'.
5:25 p.m. ET: Just whipped together this little piece about tonight's Red Sox lineup. Without giving too much away, some of the members of the Sox lineup have very, very good numbers against Brandon Morrow.
As promised, here is the Toronto lineup.
Yunel Escobar, SS
Marcus Thames, LF
Jose Bautista, DH
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
Kelly Johnson, 2B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Adam Loewen, RF
J.P. Arencibia, C
Mike McCoy, CF
We'll back in a little bit with more on Wakefield and his quest for 200 as well as a bit of a slump for the guy they call Joey Bats.
5 p.m. ET: Good afternoon, Red Sox fans. Once again, I am not Tony Lee, as much I'd like to think I am. He's away for the night enjoying a hard-earned night off. Before we get going, I'd like to thank him for picking me up a couple of Twitter followers by tweeting me out there earlier. And if this live blog isn't rapid enough for you, follow me on Twitter all night for instant analysis. Shameless. I know.
Anyway, it's a gloomy night in Boston, but Tim Wakefield can brighten things some with a strong outing and some run support from his buddies. If you hadn't heard, Old Man Wake is going for win No. 200. We'll have more on that in a little bit, but for now, check out the lineup that will try to help him out tonight. More on Wakefield as well as the Toronto lineup in a little bit.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Carl Crawford, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Josh Reddick, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8 a.m. ET: If the Red Sox offense does anything remotely close to what it did on Tuesday night, then Wednesday night will be the night that Tim Wakefield finally picks up his 200th win.
The Boston offense exploded for 14 runs on 20 hits in a 14-0 win over the the Blue Jays in Toronto on Tuesday, and a similar showing will finally put an end to Wakefield's quest for 200. That said, the knuckleballer will make his seventh start stuck on 199 against the Jays at Rogers Centre.
Wakefield will have his work cut out for him, though, against a free-swinging Toronto offense. For his career, Wakefield is 6-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 27 appearances at the stadium formerly known as SkyDome. He did, however, pick up a win earlier this season against the Jays.
Brandon Morrow will get the ball for the Jays. He's just 1-2 with an 8.70 ERA against the Red Sox for his career, and he's coming off a tough-luck loss against the Yankees in his previous start.
NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee has a scheduled off day as he gets ready for the stretch run himself, so I'll be keeping you update throughout. First pitch is slated for 7:07 p.m.
