We lose, they win, so it's a 1.5 game lead. 2.5 over Balty, 3 over the Raze.

The umps seemed to be having a contest for who could make the worst call tonight. Joy Boy mentions several, but there was also that really long at bat early on against Lack Attack, where the ump just wouldn't call a strike. The guy ended up doubling, and Lackey did a fine job of getting the next three guys without allowing a run, but it still effed him up and upped his pitch count. And then in the ninth, Nathan (who Don called "Nathanson") threw a strike that was so high, Dennis "I gotta have that" Eckersley said "I wouldn't even want that."

So between that stuff and the closeness and the stranding of runners, this was a tough one. Tougher than most losses this year. It seems like after each one I'm able to say "I'm okay with that loss." Which is a byproduct of being in or close to first place all season long. But it also shows that we're not having the ultra-frustrating type of losses that have been pretty common the last couple of years. So that's a good thing. Tonight I had to have though.

Tomorrow that funny guy goes against Lester in the condom contest.

Remember that ball Salty hit down the line to cut it to 3-2 in the 8th? It got stuck under the padding. The Fenway ground* rules don't say anything about balls stuck in padding. So I guess the umps did the right thing to just let the outfielder play the ball. But I wonder why Don and Eck didn't at least mention it. You could see Beltre holding up both hands on the replay, which to me was clearly the "hands up because somethin' ain't right here" signal, like outfielders do at Wrigley when balls get stuck in the ivy, and not a "throw me the ball and/or hold it" signal. It led me to do some research, and I guess a select few parks have "stuck in padding" rules, but for the most part that's a thing of the past. But at least one member of the defense thought the correct move was to raise the arms and that it should be a dead ball. Good thing it wasn't, woulda cost us a run. Maybe. Who knows. (Bonus thing the announcers missed** on that play: a small splinter broke off from Salty's bat on the hit.) Then on the next play, Drew's inning-ending groundout, it seemed like the first baseman's foot came off the bag way early. No mention from Don/Eck, no replay. I could be way off on that one but I would have liked to have another look.


*Michael Kay always says "grounds rules" and acts really smart about it. I don't know which is right, but it doesn't matter, I'm happy to go the anti-Kay way.

**I think. I didn't bother to rewind that time.