Breakdowns kept them stuck in idle

With Ramirez reduced to spectator and runs harder to come by than a "Boston Loves Barry" bumper sticker yesterday afternoon, it would not have been a stretch to think Francona might stray from his usual playbook and order a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second and none out in the sixth, with Johnny Damon, a good bunter, at the plate. Didn't happen. Francona liked Damon's chances of slapping a ball through, especially with a slow runner at second, Kevin Youkilis, and pitcher Bronson Arroyo occupying first.

"Don't get me wrong," Francona said afterward, "that's not a bad time to bunt, even in my book. But I liked our chances swinging."

That didn't work out, either. Damon popped out to left, the next two batters, Mark Bellhorn and David Ortiz, didn't get the ball out of the infield, and no other Sox runner made it past first.

"The way he was pitching," Francona said, "we had absolutely no room for error."

The Sox certainly couldn't afford what happened an inning later, when third baseman Youkilis was blinded by the sun, second base umpire Sam Holbrook apparently was struck blind, Francona saw red, and Mike Timlin watched a ballgame disappear over the left-field fence when he was Alfonzo'ed, which is what happens to Sox relievers here late in the game when Edgardo Alfonzo is the hitter.

Saturday against Alan Embree, Alfonzo, who two years ago turned down a two-year contract offer from Theo Epstein to sign a four-year pact with the Giants, hit a pinch two-run home run. Yesterday, he came to the plate against Timlin and hit a grand slam when the bases shouldn't have been loaded. That's how it went for the Sox on a weekend when their pitching staff handled the great Bonds better than anyone else -- he was retired in seven consecutive plate appearances for the first time this season -- and still lost two out of three.