Going into the bottom of the 8th inning, the Sox held a 3-2 lead despite having stranded 7 baserunners thanks to J.D. Drew's 2-run homer. But as usual, when the bullpen took over, things went downhill in a hurry.
Hideki Okajima gave a leadoff double up to David DeJesus. Daniel Bard got a huge strikeout with DeJesus having moved to third by way of a sacrifice bunt, but a broken bat blooper into left field scored both DeJesus and Alberto Callaspo, who Bard had walked immediately out of the pen.
Down 4-3, Mike Cameron lead off with a single to left, but ended up the 8th stranded runner after Ellsbury struck out looking and Pedroia flew out to right after a valiant battle against Royals closer Joakim Soria.
Tim Wakefield pitched a strong game, giving up only 2 runs over 7 innings on back-to-back solo shots in the 6th.
Game Notes:
- David Ortiz was ejected quickly while arguing a check-swing. He was replaced by Jeremy Hermida, who singled in his only at bat.
- This is the third straight loss for the bullpen.
- Some very questionable baserunning tonight as Jacoby Ellsbury was thrown out trying to stretch a shallow single into a double in the first at bat of the game, and J.D. Drew was thrown out trying to steal 2nd (perhaps a missed hit-and-run sign by Cameron?)
- Slow start for the Red Sox? Nothing new. The 2007 team started out 2-3, the 2008 team went 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6, and the 2009 team of course started 2-6.
- The Red Sox have only been outscored by 3 runs to start the season. This will even out too.