Game 84: Blue 9 Red 7

Of course it's bad mojo for the Sox to play MLB's only Canadian team on the 4th of July. The Sox were wearing goofy red trucker hats with an American flag as the background to the B logo. The Jays thumbed there nose at Independence day by wearing matching hats with the Canadian flag behind their logo. Boo, MLB. Boo.

Lackey got knocked around a bit but I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as all the vitrol had me believe it might be. He did give up 7 runs in 2 1/3 innings but besides a solo home run by Aaron Hill, none of the balls were hit all that hard. It was just a bunch of singles in a row. At least he wasn't walking batters. With a little better luck, he gets through the game with a relatively decent line. Wheeler pitched well in relief. Tito left Aceves in too long as he gave up 2 runs in 2 2/3 innings. Morales and Albers finished the game.

At the plate the Sox nearly made a comeback out of it after being down 7-0. Ellsbury is looking good with 4 hits including some balls hit with authority. Gonzalez continues to look off at the plate. Youkilis seems like he's been struggling with a myriad of nagging injuries lately. Add to that a HBP high off the back in the 4th inning and he got the rest of the day off. Seems like he would benefit from 3-4 days off. Maybe right before the All Star break.

Tough loss but not as bad as I thought it would be (although this was a very long 3:45 game). Lester's next: Win.