The fact they won the first two games of the series, their third straight series win on the trip, was hardly consolation.
"I don't care about the first two," manager Terry Francona said. "This one hurts. I'll sit here and finish the questions and then we'll move on, like we always do. We played our hearts out, we just lost a really tough game."
And, moments later, general manager Theo Epstein made it all worse. As Francona finished his postgame press session in the tiny visiting manager's office at Yankee Stadium, Epstein announced that ace Josh Beckett would be scratched from his start tonight. Instead, he will consult with Dr. James Andrews about his ailing right elbow.
Not that the day had been going all that well for the Red Sox, even before that news.
Despite the start by Lester (6 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 1 run), the bullpen couldn't hold a 2-0 lead. With Lester at 118 pitches and two outs in the seventh inning, he allowed a double to Cody Ransom. (And, yes, you'll be excused if you say, "Who?") So Francona went to Okajima. Yankees manager Joe Girardi went to Giambi.
After a foul pop out of play, Giambi did his damage. The game was tied, 2-2, and the 55,092 requested a curtain call.
"If [Lester] makes a mistake where he's at in that game, I have a hard time living with myself," Francona said. "We brought in Oki in case they wanted to hit, and the worst thing happened. It's hard to take. He threw the first pitch, I think, right where he wanted it. I actually thought the popup was in fair territory and it blew out. Tried to get a fastball down and he left it belt-high, and he crushed it. It's certainly not what we're looking for."
Neither was the outing from Justin Masterson, though it started well. After Okajima got the first two outs of the eighth, Francona brought in Masterson to face Alex Rodriguez. That was the matchup that resulted in Rodriguez hitting into a double play Tuesday night with the bases loaded in the seventh. This time, it was a strikeout.
