And so it went last night for the embattled Foulke, whose seventh batter of the inning summed up the Sox' evening, a night that ended with a 9-3 loss. Behind, 5-0, after Toronto hung a five-spot on Matt Clement in the second inning, and as close as 6-3 after six innings, the Sox were unable to chip away any more after Foulke entered and allowed two runs, with Edgar Renteria's major league-leading 27th error doing nothing to help the confounded and ineffective righthander.
This came on a night when the Yankees put up 17 runs in St. Petersburg, Fla., scoring five in the first, five in the second, and seven in the sixth to pound the Devil Rays, 17-3, and pull within 2 1/2 games of the American League East lead. The Yankees improved to just 6-11 this season vs. Tampa Bay. If they'd played a game over .500 vs. Tampa Bay to this point, they would be leading the AL East by half a game.
And what the Devil Rays have been to the Yankees, the Blue Jays have been to the Red Sox. The Sox fell to just 4-9 vs. Toronto and must face the Blue Jays five more times (tonight, and at Fenway Sept. 26-29).
The role of spoiler, a role Toronto enjoys?
''Absolutely," said Jays left fielder Frank Catalanotto, who doubled and scored in the fifth inning off Clement, then walked and scored against Foulke in the seventh. ''We can get some satisfaction out of going out there and affecting the race one way or the other.
''Obviously, Tampa's had New York's number until tonight, and we've played well against Boston."
Last night, one big inning set the tone. Clement, who'd lost just once in 13 road starts, was roughed up in the Toronto second, when the Jays sent eight men to the plate and struck for five runs on just four hits.
Corey Koskie began the inning with a walk, and Shea Hillenbrand followed with a double to left. Clement fanned Hinske, but catcher Gregg Zaun followed with a two-run double to right on a 1-and-2 pitch.
''The pitch that's staying with me is the double by Zaun," said Clement (13-5, 4.33 ERA). ''I had him."
