"That last inning just got away from us," Johnny Damon said, a week after the Orioles stunned the Sox, 3-2, in 13 innings in Baltimore. "They've got our number now in close games and we have to change that."
Miguel Tejada stunned the Sox as he opened the 11th by homering over the Green Monster on a 2-and-2 hanging curve from Bronson Arroyo, the sixth reliever trying to pick up Martinez after the ace's disappointing start.
"That was just a really bad 2-and-2 pitch to Tejada," Arroyo said, "and things went downhill from there."
Arroyo, who is scheduled to start against the Yankees Monday and had not pitched for six days, then surrendered a single to Rafael Palmeiro and a run-scoring triple to Jay Gibbons before Baltimore loaded the bases on Bill Mueller's second error of the game.
"It was a horrible outing for me," Arroyo said. "It was unfortunate I let down a lot of guys in the bullpen who came out and did the job [from the sixth inning through the 10th]."
With Arroyo on the ropes, Sox manager Terry Francona summoned lefthander Phil Seibel, newly called up from Triple A Pawtucket, to extinguish the fire. No such luck. In his major league debut, Seibel induced a grounder by Larry Bigbie that first baseman Kevin Millar booted to clear the way for a run. Then Seibel walked in another run, prompting Francona to yank him as well. On came Frank Castillo, Boston's ninth pitcher of the game, who finally ended the misery by getting Tejada to bounce into a double play.
"Thank God Tejada hit into the double play," Damon said, "or we might still be out there."
Martinez's rough outing, which helped force extra innings, was the last thing the Sox needed after three days of rest seemed to provide their bedraggled relief corps the respite it badly needed. The extended affair marked the third time the Sox have played into extra innings in their first eight games, and the unexpected workload taxed the pen yet again on the eve of the Yankee series.
Still, Francona insisted the pen would be fine.
