Red Sox Tease Fans Again In Heartbreaker (53-55)

Buchholz lowered his ERA to 4.48

The Red Sox have practically entered a new league of heartbreaking as they've blown leads and lost in back-to-back games against the lowly Minnesota Twins. They started off strong, with Ryan Kalish working a leadoff walk against Cole DeVries in the first. He would score almost immediately on an RBI double by Carl Crawford to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. It quickly became 2-0 in the second inning when Mike Aviles lifted one over the green monster. After that, DeVries settled down and Clay Buchholz continued his masterful outing as nobody else scored until the fifth. That was when Jamey Carroll singled with one out, and advanced to second on a faulty pickoff throw by Buchholz. He would score on a throwing error by Kelly Shoppach to cut it to 2-1. It took them until the eighth, but after putting men on first and second, they tied the game on a Justin Morneau sacrifice fly.

Ciriaco hit his first major league homer

That was when the real excitement started to happen, as Pedro Ciriaco came in to pinch-hit for Ryan Kalish leading off the eighth. Ciriaco delivered by hitting the first home run of his major league career over the green monster to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. They continued in that inning as Dustin Pedroia stole second base with two outs, after reaching on a hit by pitch. Cody Ross delivered with a clutch RBI single to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead heading into the ninth. After Alexi Casilla doubled with one out, the Twins quickly made it a one-run game on an RBI single by Jamey Carroll. They then put two men on with two outs and two strikes to Joe Mauer. Alfredo Aceves painted the corner with a fastball, which was called a ball that ran it to a full count. The next pitch was left up and Mauer devoured it, going the other way for a three-run homer to make it 6-4. That was it, the Red Sox had broken our hearts again.

Bright Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Pedro Ciriaco- 1-1, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Carl Crawford- 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 RBI
Mike Aviles- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Andrew Miller- 0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB
Alfredo Aceves- 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 K, L (2-7)
Kelly Shoppach- 0-3, 3 K, 1 LOB
Nick Punto- 0-3, 1 K, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:
Clay Buchholz- Buchholz tragically did not win this game because of a horrible bullpen, but his seven strong innings were the highlight of the night-- he is now 9-3/4.48/80.