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Sox Outlast Blue Jays 6-5

As readers of this blog know, I have questioned Josh Beckett’s ace-worthiness before, and Friday night’s game did nothing to ease my mind.

Coming off a terrible start against the Yankees, Beckett managed to make it all the way to the second inning before giving up his first home run of the night, a three-run shot by Aaron Hill. After the Sox tied the game at three in the bottom of the fourth inning, Beckett surrendered a two-run homer to Jays catcher Rod Barajas. Nice.

The Sox offense, however, hung tough. Jason Bay hit his 29th home run of the season, and ninth in the month of August, to tie the game at five-all. The game was still deadlocked when Jason Varitek made the play of the game by blocking the plate and saving a run in the top of the eighth. This was followed by a 49-minute rain delay, which allowed us to switch over to the Patriots pre-season game versus the Redskins. Go Pats!

When the game resumed, Casey Kotchman’s fielder’s choice grounder with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning plated what would be the winning run in a 6-5 final.

Jonathan Papelbon made it interesting in the ninth by loading the bases with one out, before striking out Barajas and Travis Snider to end the game.

Notes

Hideki Okajima earned his fifth win of the season with a mere 1/3 of an inning pitched . . . Beckett has now given up 12 homers in his last four starts, after surrendering only 10 in his first 22 . . . the Jays struck out 17 times, led by Travis Snider with 4.

Tags: Aaron Hill, Casey Kotchman, Jason Bay, Josh Beckett, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays