As the Red Sox and Orioles exchanged plenty of early runs but never established much separation, the Tampa Bay Rays fell behind early in New York. If Terry Francona found himself glancing in that direction, he might've been pressed to go for the jugular.
A win, coupled with a Rays loss, would have cut Boston's magic number to clinch the wild card to six.
And so, when Daniel Bard emerged from the bullpen to begin the seventh and protect a one-run lead, Francona's intentions were clear. It was Bard, who hadn't appeared in a game that early since April 20, and Jonathan Papelbon for the final nine outs.
That sat just fine with Francona, for opportunities to use his two shutdown relievers have been few and far between.
"We hoped to get into a situation where we could get to Bard and Pap," Francona said.
Bard motored through the seventh but put two on with one out in the eighth. Just as the Rays game was going final, Francona turned to Papelbon, who had been virtually untouchable for a two-month span and had not blown a save for over four. It seemed like a pivotal moment in the wild card chase, the downtrodden leader picking itself off the mat with its star closer while the underdog Rays could only hope and pray from the visitor's clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.
"We went to [Papelbon] early," Francona said. "We had told these guys we probably would. But I think we had gone far enough [with Bard] where we wanted Pap to face the lefty and get one and piece it together.
"It didn't work."
When Robert Andino dropped in a three-run double off Papelbon, Francona's plan to go for it when he had the chance had fallen flat, and the Sox would soon be on the same side of the fence as the Rays, losers on a night when an opportunity was there to increase the pressure on the other team.
