The Morning After
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 22, 2010 3:00PM
Sox Fall To Mariners
The Sox were going for the sweep in Seattle last night and, for a few minutes, it looked like they'd pull it out. But, instead, the Sox suffered another tough walk-off loss as the Mariners pulled off a 2-1 win in 11 innings. Gavin Floyd pitched a sharp seven innings of shut-out baseball but Seattle's King Felix was just as sharp - if not even better - and the Sox offense was as quiet as Seattle's. After 10 scoreless innings, the Sox were the first to break through in the top of the 11th on an Omar Vizquel RBI single. But in the Seattle half of the inning, Bobby Jenks struggled, allowing two of the first three hitters on base and then gave up the winning hit, a two-run single by Franklin Gutierrez. As for Jenks, his role as closer tenuous due to recent struggles including Sunday's walk-off loss to the Twins, it looks like Ozzie is considering that role wide-open now: "Our options are open now. I get paid to win games. That's my job, win games. And I'm going to put the guys there with the best shot." The Sox get the day off today before heading down to Oakland where they'll wrap up the current road trip with a three-game series in the Bay Area.
Cubs Fall In Extras
If Hell is reliving our worst moments over and over, then our personal hell will be Lou signaling to the bullpen to bring in Bob Howry into a clutch situation. Over and over and over and over. For eternity. Not that yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Astros was completely his fault. He only allowed the first few runners on base in the top of the 12th and then the Astros knocked the runners home off of Jeff Stevens. But still, we've seen enough Howry performances over the years to know what was coming when he got the ball yesterday. And not that the Cubs didn't have a chance at a comeback, either. A two-run homer by Soto in the bottom of the 12th brought the Cubs within a run and then they had two more men on - the winning and tying runs! - but couldn't bring 'em home. The Cubs get a breather before the Cardinals come to town for a weekend series starting Friday afternoon.