A: Big donkey balls*.
The offense rebounded nicely from the previous night's shutout, but it wasn't enough to make up for the crappy pitching. Wade Miller struggled again, taking 118 pitches to get through 5.2 innings, while giving up 5 runs. Sox came back, and were even up by three, thanks to a 5-run 6th, but the bullpen blew it. In the 8th Timlin let on two baserunners, and was pulled from the game in favor of Foulke. Foulke let both inherited runners score, and returned in the 9th with a 1-run lead. He came within a strike of ending it, but instead gave up a double to tie it. Next three batters reached, and then Travis "Extra-Base Hit King" Hafner hit a GS to put the Sox away, 12-8.
Foulke's ERA went up almost a full point, to 6.03 (Timlin's also increased sizably, from 1.2 to 1.6). Shockingly, that was only Foulke's 3rd blown save this season. What's also weird is that he seems to do very well when the game isn't on the line. When he comes in for a non-save situation, with the score not tied (that is, if the Sox are up by more than 3, or are trailing, when he comes in) , he hasn't given a single run, in 9.2 IP. All 25 earned runs he's given up were when the game is close, giving him an ERA in those situations of 8.13. Not good.
* for those of you who found this site by googling "big donkey balls", this probably isn't the site for you (unless your query was in specific reference to last night's loss). Sorry to disappoint.
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