It seems as if it is something new that sinks the Red Sox each and every game. On Friday, for all intents and purposes, it was Bobby Jenks.
"I flat-out stunk," Jenks said after giving up four runs on four hits and a walk and taking the loss in a 7-6 setback against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jenks, who had yet to give up a single hit in four scoreless innings as a member of the Red Sox, entered a 3-3 game in the top of the seventh. Facing No. 9 hitter Jayson Nix, who was only in the lineup because regular third baseman Edwin Encarnacion was on the bereavement list, Jenks issued a leadoff walk, an absolute no-no in that situation.
Now forced to work out of the stretch against the top of a Blue Jays lineup that could smell blood, Jenks came unglued. Yunel Escobar knocked a hit-and-run single through the hole vacated at shortstop to put runners at the corners. After striking out Corey Patterson, Jenks gave up a go-ahead RBI single to Jose Bautista and then another to Adam Lind to give Toronto a 5-3 lead.
A double steal and then a wild pitch allowed Bautista to score and a chorus of groans to flow through the fans at Fenway Park. Aaron Hill capped the rally with another hard single, chasing Jenks from a 7-3 ballgame.
"He wasn't commanding well," manager Terry Francona said, clearly focusing on the leadoff walk to Nix. "Normally it comes down to command. Our guys have good enough stuff [but] we're walking some people."
Jenks was much harder on himself, calling his performance "unacceptable."
"All in all my ball was up, my breaking stuff was flat," he said. "Just didn't have it."
Never one to sugarcoat things, Jenks also offered up a poignant reflection of where the team stood after he contributed to the 10th loss in 12 games.
"It just seems right now that nothing can go our way," he said. "It's not like anybody's not trying out there. We're busting our butt, doing everything we can to win these games, but it just seems like every night, one way or another, we're coming up short.
"I think we're [at the bottom] now. We're in a tough division. To come back right now, it's going to take all year long. We need to get on it now. We need to turn this thing around."
