“I would like another ground ball, but neither one of those was easy,’’ Green said. “They aren’t routine. I didn’t physically mess them up. I mean I did, but the one play was mental. I don’t throw it, the guy doesn’t go to second, we get out of the inning. That’s something I have to learn . . . learn from it, not make the play next time.’’
Green also threw away a win in Seattle. Ramon Ramirez was on the mound, the throw went up-and-away, and the Sox went down.
It happened twice last night, the bazooka arm firing away and off the mark, and the Red Sox giving up a three-run ninth-inning lead and eventually the game. The A’s, who totaled 21 hits on the night, scored two more in the 11th, and the Sox went down, 9-8, in front of a dispirited and shell-shocked 38,084 at Fenway Park.
“It seems like a long time ago,’’ said manager Terry Francona, speaking more than four hours after the game began. “We got to the ninth with Pap and a lot of things had happened to get there, but we feel pretty good about the game when that happens. I thought Pap’s stuff tonight was explosive.’’
Just not enough, especially when you begin the ninth inning with a three-run lead and the first batter walks.
That was how it started, with Jack Cust heading to first on a free pass. Two outs later, everything came apart. That wasn’t it, though, although the score was tied and the game was heading into extra innings. The A’s needed a bit more help from the heretofore dynamite Sox bullpen, which allowed its first runs since the All-Star break - a whopping seven of them.
“It’s tough,’’ Papelbon said. “What are you going to do? It’s just the way I look at it. Things like that happen. It is what it is. You’ve got to move on and come back tomorrow ready to pitch.
“Especially when I had a three-run lead like that, walking the leadoff hitter regardless of who’s up there is, for me, not what I’m trying to do pretty much.’’
Neither was what transpired in the 11th, although the inning started well for Manny Delcarmen.
