And absolutely no need to remind David Ortiz, who ran the Sox out of a chance to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning by unsuccessfully trying to stretch a single into a double.
"This game's not nice to you all the time," said Nixon, whose pinch single with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth erased a 4-1 deficit before Embree gave up the game-breaker to Alfonzo.
Embree retired the first two batters in the eighth before A.J. Pierzynski lined a single just over the leaping shortstop Cesar Crespo and the Giants sent out the righthanded-hitting Alfonzo to bat for Damon Minor. Sox righthander Mike Timlin was not available because he pitched 2 2/3 innings the night before. And righthanded closer Keith Foulke was warming up for a potential matchup with Michael Tucker a batter later.
So Sox manager Terry Francona stuck with Embree, who had allowed Alfonzo one hit in four career at-bats and had fanned him twice. Trouble was, Embree misplaced a breaking ball on a 1-and-1 pitch and Alfonzo smacked it over the left-field wall.
"He just left a breaking ball right in the middle of the plate to a guy who knows what to do with a breaking ball right over the plate," Francona said.
Embree concurred.
"It was a situation where I didn't make my pitch," he said. "It was a strike and it wasn't supposed to be a strike, and he hammered it. That's all there is to it."
Embree has struggled since the Sox rested him for a while. In his last seven outings since May 30, he has allowed eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings for a 15.42 ERA.
"It seems like the last five outings I've been in a little bit of a rut," he said. "I feel good. It's just a matter of getting me going again. I need that one outing to get me going. Right now, it seems like it's not happening."
Yet the Sox had a chance to get him off the hook when Ortiz rifled a ball down the first base line with one out in the ninth. However, the lumbering Ortiz never hesitated rounding first and was easily gunned down as he bellyflopped into second.
"A big dump truck like me, I ain't got no brakes," Ortiz said.
The gaffe was as clear as the brilliant sky above.
