The Athletics have built their lead back up to five runs in the seventh inning, thanks to some poor defensive play from infielder-turned-outfielder Mike Aviles.
It’s hard to blame Aviles, given his lack of experience both in the outfield in general and especially with the Green Monster, but it’s hard to say he didn’t cost the Sox a run. With two outs and a man on second, Cliff Pennington lifted a fly ball to left off of Scott Atchison. Aviles approached the wall, turned around to catch his bearings, and allowed the ball to fall at the very foot of the Monster, bouncing off the bottom. It was absolutely a catchable ball that would have been the third out, instead it was an RBI double.
The Red Sox again had a chance to respond in the bottom of the inning, with a two-out walk from Dustin Pedroia and double from David Ortiz (really a single with a bobble, but we’ve got a generous scorer tonight) setting up the sox with two RISP and Jed Lowrie at the plate. But home plate umpire Brian Runge decided a 2-2 pitch that was well outside was, for whatever reason, close enough, and rung Lowrie up on a terrible called third strike to end the threat.