To Morrow, Tomorrow, I Love You, Tomorrow
You’re only a walk away.
Brandon Morrow couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat (and other cliches) while John Lackey nearly squandered a three-run lead in the fifth. It was a game that neither team deserved to win, but the rules of the game dictate that a squad must win, no matter how unworthy the method.
Alex Gonzalez contributed to that lead with a second-inning shot that appeared to clear the left field wall but was ruled a double by replay. Scoring-wise the umpires’ ruling was rendered moot as he was driven in by John Buck, but the shortstop has one less home run to his already impressive total of 10 longballs.
Blue Jays pitchers passed out seven free passes; the crowd at Fenway must have been annoyed hearing clips of “Walk This Way” over and over again. The base on balls epidemic reached its height in the home half of the second: the idiom “batted around” didn’t quite apply as six of the baserunners reached by walking.
Dustin Pedroia walked with the bases loaded to bring his team within a run. Aaron Hill contributed to the fiasco with a throwing error on a tailor-made double play ball off the bat of Victor Martinez; Hill’s Nick Green-like missile allowed two runs to score. David Ortiz plated a run with a two-out single to right. At the end of second Toronto’s two-run lead was converted into a two-run lead for the local nine.
All the outstanding pitching performances came from both teams’ bullpens. From the fifth inning forward Rommie Lewis and Casey Janssen held Boston batters to two hits and no walks. If Cito Gaston had a quicker hook on Morrow (it was only 1 and two-third innings but seemed like many more) this game could have easily gone the other way. Red Sox relievers Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, and Jonathan Papelbon responded to the challenge and held the one-run lead.
It was too chilly to reunite the bullpen band so the relief corps has to find other ways to while away the hours. While Ramon Ramirez repeatedly tossed a baseball into his glove Tim Wakefield swiped Ramirez’s hand warmer. Being a nice guy and therefore a terrible prankster he gave it back moments later.
| Game 33: May 10, 2010 | ||
| Blue Jays 19-15 | 6 | L: Brandon Morrow (2-3) |
| 2B: Alex Gonzalez (13), John Buck (9) HR: Jose Bautista (7) | ||
 Red Sox17-16 | 7 | W: John Lackey (4-1) H: Hideki Okajima (5), Daniel Bard (7) S: Jonathan Papelbon (9) |
| 2B: Dustin Pedroia (12) | ||
