The Red Sox fell to the Padres 5-4 Tuesday night thanks largely to a difficult outing from Alfredo Aceves.
Getting the start for Josh Beckett, Aceves escaped a difficult situation in the first inning before running into real trouble in the second. Throwing twelve straight balls at one point, Aceves walked the next five batters he faced to bring in a pair of runs for the Padres. They would double that score in the fifth thanks to three straight hits, all again coming with two outs.
The Sox fought back, however. Having already scored a run in the first on an RBI double from Kevin Youkilis, they picked up another in the third when Josh Reddick tripled to lead off the inning. Unfortunately, the Sox would miss an opportunity for a big inning when Adrian Gonzalez hit a hard line drive right off of Mat Latos' glove with two men on and zero outs, allowing the pitcher to turn a double play.
This kind of missed opportunity would become a trend in the game. The Sox would score again in the fourth, but left the bases loaded and couldn't score Marco Scutaro from third with just one out. Kevin Youkilis led off the fifth with a single, but that run, too, was stranded. When they scored again in the sixth inning to tie the game, it came only after Jacoby Ellsbury made a nonsensical steal attempt that left him out at second.
Eventually, it was a ground-rule double over the head of Jacoby Ellsbury in the seventh with a man on first that set up the Sox for a loss. The run would score on a ground ball out when Adrian Gonzalez bobbled the ball, forcing him to go to first instead of taking a shot at home. But really, this game was lost due to Aceves' wildness, and the Sox failing to cash in on earlier opportunities.