Bruce Chen gets the loss, his 7th.

Kris Benson made his return to the rotation and pitched pretty well. He was in line for the win until the bullpen blew the game. He went 5 innings, allowing 6 hits (2 HR), a walk, and 3 runs. Considering it was his first start back and he was facing the Boston lineup at Fenway, I’d say he did a decent job. Todd Williams, Tim Byrdak, and LaTroy Hawkins combined for 3 and a third scoreless innings, but that was after we gave up our 4 run lead. Chris Britton was the culprit this time. In 2/3rds an inning he let in 4 runs on 3 hits (including a homerun) and a walk. We we’re tied going into the 10th inning, and Bruce Chen came in. He walked the first batter, then intentionally walked David Ortiz to get to Manny Ramirez, who promptly knocked in the game winning run with a single. I don’t see how you intentionally walk Ortiz in this situation. Its not like hes guaranteed to hit game winning shots. There were no outs and a runner on first. So you walk the guy to intentionally put someone in scoring position, still with no outs, with Manny Ramirez coming up? I sure as heck wouldn’t. I would take my chances with the lefty – lefty matchup and see what happens. I would rather they he earned his way on, as opposed to just handing them a runner in scoring position with no outs. Sorry Sammy P, you get an F on this one.

The offense did a good job at hoping out to an early 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the 6th. But that was all we could manage. After the Red Sox tied the game, we couldn’t put any more runs on the board. Brian Roberts had a couple of hits, so did Brandon Fahey, including a double. Nick Markakis had 2 more hits today and another double. Jeff Conine had a double and 2 walks. Melvin Mora was the only starter that didn’t have a hit, but he did have a sacrifice fly. Fahey made a bonehead move getting thrown out at 3rd with our 3-4 hitters coming up. He also had 2 errors. We just can’t seem to make smart decisions on the bases or anywhere for that matter.

Markakis watch: 2-4 (.298)

Tomorrow we can try to avoid the sweep. Daniel Cabrera (5-7, 4.95) gets his second start since coming back from AAA, hopefully its as good as his first. The rookie Jon Lester (5-2, 3.86) has been great so far, he gets his first shot at the O’s. I think Cabrera will do his part, go O’s.

Adam Loewen gets his 4th loss of the season. Lets mark this one down as a learning experience.

Loewen could only manage to get through 2 innings before he was pulled from the game in the third, only recording one out. He gave up 6 hits and 2 walks, which resulted in 6 runs allowed. He struck out 3. It was his first start at Boston and thats always tough. I’m not taking tonights performance too badly, its nice for him to get this experience this year. Rodrigo Lopez followed Loewen with his first relief appearance of the year. He didn’t fair too well, but he did save the bullpen. He managed to go 4 and 2/3rd innings. He allowed 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs. He had 5 strikeouts. I think he could be an asset coming out of the bullpen, much more so than in the rotation. Russ Ortiz pitched the last inning and it was his first appearance that didn’t result in disaster.

Brian Roberts was the star of the show for the sticks tonight. He was 3-5 with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. Corey Patterson also had a good game, with 2 hits including his 11th homerun of the season. Nick Markakis and Kevin Millar each had a double. Melvin Mora and Fernando Tatis were the only starters without a hit. But even though we had 11 hits and 2 walks, we only managed 2 runs which was no where near enough to win tonight.

Markakis watch: 1-4 (.295)

Tomorrow is an afternoon game, and Kris Benson (9-9, 4.71) makes his return to the rotation. He’ll be facing ex-Oriole Jason Johnson (3-11, 5.96) who has struggled this year. I forsee an Orioles win. Go O’s.