The Red Sox lost their first series in June, dropping their rubber match against the Padres 5-1 in a game that was delayed by rain four times.
For the second straight night the Sox’ bats produced double digit hits, but not the runs to match them. Despite Adrian Gonzalez’ 4-for-4 night being surrounded by a 2-for-3 performance from Dustin Pedroia and two more hits from Kevin Youkilis, the Sox collected only one run from the trio.
One of the biggest problems was David Ortiz, who seems to be entering into something of a slump. Ortiz grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the first inning to end the threat, and then lined out to short with more men on in the third. All told, he left seven men on base.
The Red Sox would need a good few runs, too, thanks to a dismal outing from starter John Lackey. After being made to wait a half hour for the game to start, Lackey put a 2-2 slider over the middle of the plate to Wil Venable, who took it out of the park to give the Padres a 1-0 lead after the first at bat.
After a couple of shaky innings, during which Lackey had to wait through another delay, he came out in the fourth with nothing left. After loading the bases, Lackey gave up a walk to Wil Venable and then hit Jason Bartlett with a pitch, allowing two runs to walk in much like Alfredo Aceves had the night before.
Unlike Aceves, however, Lackey was unable to hold the Padres to just two in the inning, throwing a ball over Jason Varitek’s head and allowing a single before being pulled from the game with a 5-0 deficit.
The Sox finally got on the board in the fifth after a third rain delay, but were unable to add any more. With the rains returning in the eighth, everyone had seen more-than-enough, and the game was finally—even mercifully—called.