On a night that saw their front-running rivals in New York get spanked at home and the second-place Tampa Bay Rays choke one away in Baltimore, the Sox saw a prime opportunity to gain ground in the American League East go by the board by dropping a 5-4 decision to Oakland in 10 innings.
It was a night akin to water torture.
At about the same time that the Yankees raised the white flag late in their 10-2 loss to the Angels and the Orioles rallied for a win in 13 innings over the Rays, the Sox were in the process of blowing an early four-run lead in the bottom of the third inning.
That was just the start of the agony.
Bill Hall led off Boston’s fourth with a walk but was caught in a rundown when Kevin Cash swung and missed on a hit-and-run. Like putting salt on the wound, Cash singled two pitches later but would go nowhere.
The Sox then loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and one out in the sixth, but failed to score both times. They stranded another in the eighth and then wasted a walk and a single in the 10th. Boston, which outhit Oakland 12-6, left 12 runners on overall.
“We didn’t get a big hit with two outs,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “The game started off real well. We didn’t tack on. If we tacked on at one point, it would have probably been too much.”
That’s not to say the frustration was entirely on the offensive side of things. A crucial balk call and the ejection of pitching coach John Farrell would come in a wild bottom of the 10th that ended the Red Sox’ ninth loss in 13 games.
After Daric Barton singled with one out, he was awarded second base when Ramon Ramirez apparently made a move toward home plate before becoming set. Home plate umpire Bob Davidson, who also ejected Oakland center-fielder Coco Crisp in the inning, made the ruling.
“I didn’t see it,” Francona said of the balk call. “He saw something that nobody else in our dugout saw.”
An intentional walk put two men on and, after a strikeout of Adam Rosales in an at-bat that saw Farrell get tossed arguing a check-swing call, Kevin Kouzmanoff singled in the game-winner.
The painful result kept the Sox six games behind the Yankees and 3 1/2 behind the Rays.
There are 68 more opportunities for Boston to gain ground in the division. But the Sox lost a golden one Tuesday in Oakland.
