Go-getters

“That was a game that we really had to have,’’ Jason Bay said. “We’ve got Josh [Beckett] going and obviously they’ve got Halladay going tomorrow. It was a game that early on I think guys were comfortable that we had it with the way Josh had been pitching. He’s human. I think people forget that. It was back and forth, but ultimately one we had to have.’’

There was little beauty in the way they won. Not only did the Sox squander a four-run lead, but their winning inning, the eighth, began with a poorly executed Alex Gonzalez bunt, far too close to the pitcher’s mound. The play continued with a muffed pickup of the ball by pitcher Casey Janssen, and ended with his throw sailing past first baseman Lyle Overbay for an error. The Sox got three runs in the frame, and held on through more than a few tense moments to take a 10-9 win.

In that winning eighth, Ortiz came chugging home from third on the attempted bunt, and Nick Green moved to third. Jacoby Ellsbury’s sacrifice fly scored Green, and Victor Martinez’s double knocked in Gonzalez. The Sox should have won this game, just not in the way they did. And it shouldn’t have been nearly so hard at the end.

Like in the Toronto eighth, when Daniel Bard allowed two singles after getting two outs. Papelbon came on and walked his first batter, then gave up a two-run Marco Scutaro single that narrowed the gap to just one run. Papelbon, whom manager Terry Francona called “sluggish,’’ re-loaded the bases by walking Aaron Hill, bringing up Adam Lind. Lind hit one all the way to the warning track, until Bay tracked it down to end the inning.

Papelbon put two more men on in the ninth before first baseman Kevin Youkilis ranged to get to a long foul ball in right field to finally end the game.

“I felt 10 pounds overweight today,’’ said Papelbon, who added that he sat in a spa for four hours Monday. “After an offday like that I had yesterday, I just, my body wasn’t clicking. It wasn’t in that usual state that it’s in after the offday.