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September 3, 2007
BOSTON -- There was plenty of bad news for the Red Sox on Monday night -- giving up all but one run of a 10-1 lead in the sixth, the disconcerting recent ineffectiveness of Daisuke Matsuzaka, shaky outings from many members of the relief corps until Jonathan Papelbon restored order with a 1-2-3 ninth -- and, Red Sox Nation being what it is, it's safe to say those will be the main topics of conversation from now until the first pitch Tuesday night.
Lost in all of this? The fact that the Sox are marching inexorably toward the A.L. East championship.
Monday night's 13-10 victory increased their lead over the suddenly-struggling-again Yankees back to seven games, and lowered their magic number for clinching the division title to 18. Which is to say, any combination of Boston victories and New York defeats totalling 18 will give the Red Sox the championship.
A three-run homer by Mike Lowell, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games, gave the Sox a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first, and it was a lead they never relinquished . . . try as they might.
And try they did. After his teammates had made it 5-1 with two in the third, then 10-1 with five in the fourth, Matsuzaka cruised into the top of the sixth with a 10-1 lead. But he never got out of the inning, and his first replacement, Javier Lopez, was no better. By the time Manny Delcarmen recorded the final out, eight Toronto runs had scored -- and the tying run was perched on third -- and the Jays had closed to 10-9.
The Sox got four of them right back in the bottom of the sixth, making it 13-9, but Toronto scored off Delcarmen in the seventh. Hideki Okajima (working for the second straight day) and Mike Timlin danced in and out of trouble, but got the game into Papelbon's hands in the ninth at 13-10.
He took it from there, striking out two of the three batters he faced in recording his 32nd save.
Get the box score and the scoring details here.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 11:07 PM | Permalink
Matsuzaka Fan | September 4, 2007 3:57 AM link
Dice-K, go for the 15th!