The Red Sox lost their first game of their three-game series against the Orioles 4-2 behind a shaky Jon Lester.
While some Sox fans will actually be pleased with the loss, given the playoff implications for the New York Yankees, they'll not be happy with the way it went down. Jon Lester, after all, is still going to be around in 2013, and his success will be important for next year's question. After a strong game against the Jays, Sox fans may have been hoping for more good signs against the Orioles he's so dominated this season.
Instead, he's got his first loss against the birds thanks to a shaky couple of innings. After the Sox took a 1-0 lead in the third, it was Matt Wieters singling past a diving James Loney to drive in two after a walk and double.
The Sox managed to make their way back into a tie when Dustin Pedroia singled home Pedro Ciriaco in the fifth, but as before, the Orioles responded to one scoring effort with a two-run attack, and once again it was Matt Wieters doing the majority of the work. This time the catcher doubled home Adam Jones after a walk, and then scored when Mark Reynolds singled to center, putting the Orioles ahead 4-2.
Though tempers would flare a bit when Robert Andino took a pitch to the back of the neck in the ninth, the issue was largely one-sided-Mark Melancon, after all, is more likely to hit you if he's not aiming for you-and the rest of the game proceeded without incident. For the Sox, that meant no big rally in the ninth, another loss, and perhaps for their fans some satisfaction in frustrating the Yankees.
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