Sox can't get handle on it

"That's why you like to have good pitching, because when you lose a game or two in a row, you're throwing out a good pitcher."

The Sox believe they have two such pitchers ready for games in Baltimore tonight and tomorrow in Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett. But Julian Tavarez, the team's No. 5 starter, gave them no chance to win last night, allowing six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Tavarez blamed himself for the loss.

"I can do better than that," he said. "We scored three runs against one of the best pitchers in the game and I couldn't keep it close. That's my fault."

The same pitching matchup last week in Toronto resulted in a 5-3 Red Sox win. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons might have erred in removing Halladay in the eighth inning then, but he didn't make the same mistake twice.

He allowed Halladay to throw 112 pitches and pitch through the eighth with a seven-run lead. The Red Sox had bad swings and bad at-bats against Halladay, some coming from Jason Varitek, who fanned three times, and Wily Mo Peña, who struck out twice.

"We didn't play well," said shortstop Julio Lugo, who managed two hits and two steals and was one of the Sox' bright spots. "We didn't play well in the field. You can't give them extra outs, and Halladay pitched a very good game. We've got to be better than we were tonight."

Francona started two reserves -- Pena, who spelled the injured Coco Crisp, and Eric Hinske, who filled in at first for Kevin Youkilis. Both players, not known for their defense, made errors.

Pena dropped Adam Lind's two-out liner in the sixth inning, an out that would have kept the Sox' deficit at a manageable 6-3.

Instead, the drop allowed one run to score and set up three to follow.

Vernon Wells (4 hits, 4 runs, 3 RBIs) drove home two with a single, stole second and moved to third on Jason Varitek's throwing error, and scored on a Frank Thomas single.

That was that.

The Sox have committed 15 errors in 19 games. In the offseason, they decided to give up a little defense in order to go with Lugo. As it turns out, Lugo has been the least of their problems as he has made only one error in 83 chances.