Projo Sox Blog

The first home run, a line-drive slice by Johnny Damon off Daniel Bard, slapped the Red Sox in the face like a splash of ice cold water. It erased a 2-1, eighth inning Boston lead, and meant that the victory that seemed so close moments before was suddenly no guarantee.

The second home run, coming a few short moments later, was a punch to the gut, the kind that drops jaws and spirits. Mark Teixeira sent Bard's breaking ball high into the second deck in right field, and gave New York a lead they would never relinquish. Within the half hour, the Red Sox were limping back to Boston carrying their sixth straight loss across their backs.

"With not a lot of offense, we're feeling like, go ahead and win this game. And it changed so fast. It was a big shift in emotions," manager Terry Francona said.

New York added three insurance runs later on, but they were just that; the damage was already done on the back-to-back home runs. The Red Sox fell, 5-2, as the New York crowd chanted 'Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!' in their lavish new stadium.

Luck and timing and everything else have been against the Red Sox during this miserable stretch, and Dustin Pedroia was very conscious of that.

"It happened really fast, but we need breaks to win sometimes. We didn't get any tonight, and we haven't gotten any in a while," Pedroia said.

Jon Lester did everything he could to pitch his team to a win. But one of the best players the baseball history did him one better. After six scoreless innings of work, Lester threw a 1-1 fastball to Alex Rodriguez, and Rodriguez sent it 400 feet over the wall in left-center field. Yankee Stadium rocked as Rodriguez rounded the bases, slammed his chest into his teammates in the dugout, and popped out for a curtain call. It was the first home run Lester had allowed in 63.2 innings.

Lester said that nothing he's seen over the last six games has changed his opinion of this team.

"We're playing hard, we're playing the game the right way, and we're fighting to the last out. If this team continues to do that, I think we're going to turn it around, and win more than we lose," Lester said.

Victor Martinez had turned everything around a half-inning later, hitting two-run homer well into the left-field stands off New York's Phil Coke to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. The Sox dugout was ecstatic. Then Damon and Teixeira took Bard out of the ballpark.

"They weren't terrible pitches," said the hard-throwing rookie, Bard. "I think I've gotten a little bit comfortable with a lot of guys swing-and-missing at balls down the middle, even in those counts. I think I got a little comfortable.

The back-to-back homers punted Boston an uncomfortable 6.5 games out of the AL East lead, and into a tie with the Texas Rangers for the American League wildcard.

Ortiz said it's not too early for the team to shift its focus to the wildcard, rather than on the division lead.

"Not really, I mean we're what, six weeks away from the end of the season?" Ortiz said with a brief nod. "That's all I have to say."

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Daniel Bard Victor Martinez

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