Giants Walk Red Sox 10 Times, Then Walk the Walk in 5-4 Win

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ June 26, 2010 at 3:07am ⋅ Post a comment

Tim Wakefield (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

The Red Sox have run into a bit of trouble on the current road trip out west. They lost two of three to the Rockies, including an excruciating loss during Jonathan Papelbon’s blown save on Wednesday night. Looking for a fresh start in San Francisco, the Sox got off on the right foot on Friday night.

Kevin Youkilis got the party started with a three-run shot off Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez in the first inning. It seemed as if the Red Sox were going to get back on track, starting in the first inning of the first game of the series. The party wasn’t very fun for the Red Sox the rest of the way, as they were shut out over the next seven innings by Giants pitching, despite a total of 10 walks on the night.

Spotted a 3-0 lead, 43-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield coughed up three runs right back in the second inning. After allowing an RBI single to Buster Posey, Wakefield, who’s normally a strong fielder and a good athlete, made an errant throw to first off Sanchez’s bunt, allowing two more runs to score.

The G-Men took a 4-3 lead the next inning on Juan Uribe’s home run, but were held scoreless until the eighth inning as Wakefield settled down. In the 8th, the Giants scored what became a huge insurance run off Ramon Ramirez, who was pitching in for relief of Wakefield (7 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 K). Old friend Freddy Sanchez did the trick, clubbing a sac fly to right to give the Giants a 5-3 lead.

SF closer Brian Wilson had a tough night, and had to throw a season-high 42 pitches over an inning and a third, but he managed close the game after allowing a run. Darnell McDonald grounded out with the bases loaded and two outs, marking the third time in the game the Red Sox had left the bases loaded. The Sox bats just didn’t have enough in the end, losing 5-4.

Sox Stud of the Game: Kevin Youkilis

Kevin Youkilis was the only Red Sox batter to collect two hits, and he was part of both of the team’s scoring plays. He hit a three-run shot in the first inning, and scored a run in the ninth on a Victor Martinez RBI single. He had tripled in the inning.

Sox Dud of the Game: Ramon Ramirez

The mediocre second season with the Sox continued for Ramirez, who allowed a crucial run in the eighth inning, giving the Giants a two-run cushion a the time.

Game Notes:

W: Jonathan Sanchez (6-5)
L: Tim Wakefield (2-6)
SV: Brian Wilson (21)

Bill Hall did not put the ball in the field of play on Friday, as he drew two walks and struck out three times.
Former Sox infielder Freddy Sanchez finished 0-3 with a walk and a sac fly.
Kevin Youkilis now has 15 HRs on the year.
The error was Wakefield’s first since the 2008 season. In fact, before Friday, Wake had only one error in the last five years.