Game 58: A's 8 Sox 9

What a crazy ninth inning! Beckett starts the game strong and leaves in the 7th with a 5-2 lead thanks in part to a Gonzalez home run, his 11th. With 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th, Papelbon is already warm so he comes in to protect a 4 run lead in the ninth. No problem right? Here's what transpired:

- Single, walk, swinging K gets two on with 1 out. Papelbon feels like he's being squeezed but the K-Zone thing NESN uses shows that the umpire is getting the calls right.

- Tailor-made double play ball is hit right at Pedroia who muffs it. 1 run scores, runners at 1st and third.

- Double by Pennigton scores a run and Varitek is thrown out as he immediately starts screaming at the umpire for the perceived injustice.

- Single scores two more runs, tie ball game.

- Papelbon throws a strike to the next batter and makes an exasperated expression trying to understand why that was a strike and the others weren't. Umpire starts yelling at him and he blows up getting tossed from the game as well.

- Jenks comes in a gives up a single before striking out two to get out of the inning.

I have no problem with Vartiek getting tossed; if you don't like the calls, pitch better and don't commit errors in the field. Papelbon getting tossed rubbed me the wrong way as I felt the homeplate umpire initiated the argument by jawing off at Papelbon instead of just letting him be frustrated. The umpire's supposed to be the grown up in that situation.

It looked like the Sox were going to lose the game in the 11th as Aceves gives up a walk, a double and a sac fly to start the inning off. But he gets the next batter to ground the ball right to a drawn in Lowrie who throws the ball home for the tag out. (by the way Saltalamacchia did a great job of applying the tag without putting himself in a position to get hurt like Buster Posey did earlier this year). Aceves gets out of the inning giving up only the one run. Lowrie and Drew strike out to start the bottom half of the inning but on the first pitch he sees, Saltalamacchia scrapes the wall for a double and Ellsbury doubles him home to tie the game.

In the bottom of the 14th, with two outs, Crawford hits a double for his 4th hit of the game. Lowrie is intentionally walked to get to Drew who rewards the Nation with a game winning single. Phew! Glad to eek by with that one in a game we should have won handily in regulation.