Pitching and defense. Run prevention. Right. The Red Sox fell perilously close to the Third Rail of Elimination with a heartless 5-2 loss to the surging, but still woeful, O's of Baltimore. Pitching? Well, Beckett did pitch well enough to win—7 innings and only 2 earned runs. But, this time the bullpen couldn't keep the game close, with Felix Dubront coughing up two late runs to put the game out of reach.Defense? Marco Scutaro—a warrior all year—flubbed a throw to second base that ended up in right field and led to 2 runs. More like run facilitation.
In any event, the white flag is being carefully unfurled on Yawkey Way, as evidenced by the minor (yet long overdue) departure of Manny Delcarmen as the only waiver deadline deal.
