The Red Sox handed the ball, and the game, over to Jonathan Papelbon with a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Just six batters later, the game was tied, the bases were loaded, and there was still only one out recorded. Tito Francona made the move to go to Daniel Bard, but in a nearly impossible situation, he gave-up the game-winning sacrifice fly. Afterward, Papelbon spoke on his sixth blown save of 2010:
"You want to finish games, that's my job. I want to finish games. But I think the fact of the matter is that I didn't execute my job and you pass it on to somebody else."
"I didn't have much power or energy in my delivery today," he explained. When asked if he felt like that warming up in the bullpen, Papelbon responded, "Just most of the day. Just kind of a groggy day for me."