WILY MO PENA

A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Bumbles and bad plays cost the Sox

August 7, 2007 ... Terry Francona was on his own to reflect upon the numerous transgressions committed by the Red Sox in a 10-4 beating by the Angels, one that had Boston fans wishing their vehicles were not equipped with rearview mirrors.

A line drive over Wily Mo Pena's head. Coco Crisp throwing a rainbow over the cutoff man's head. Tim Wakefield walking the leadoff man right after being handed the lead. Julio Lugo stumbling over his own feet and botching a double-play ball for the second straight night. Manny Ramirez missing another cutoff man while a run scores. Kevin Youkilis bobbling a ball, losing a chance for a force at second. Manny Delcarmen undone by two balls, one that barely made it to the mound, the other a trickle in front of the plate. Third base coach DeMarlo Hale waving Mike Lowell home with no outs and the Sox down by three. Crisp again, playing soccer in center and kicking away his club-record errorless streak.

And there they are, the New York Yankees, now a mere five games behind the Sox, the closest the AL East race has been since May 2, and a far cry from the 14 1/2 games the Bombers were in arrears back on May 29.

The Sox, the team with the best record in the league, looked last night like a team that had been playing under an assumed identity in losing for the second straight night to the Angels, who are No. 2 in the league, with a bullet. The Angels, who run at will, thrive on taking the extra base, and live to put pressure on the opposition defense, did most of their damage in the fifth inning, when they sent 11 men to the plate and scored five times.

That uprising came after the Sox seized a 4-2 lead in the top of the inning on Doug Mirabelli's towering two-run home run, a bloop single by Dustin Pedroia, and a double by Youkilis. But Wakefield, who had won six of his last seven starts, walked Chone Figgins to open the fifth, and Figgins immediately stole second, no surprise in a matchup of the team that has stolen more bases than any other the league (99 at the start of the night) against a knuckleballer first in the league in stolen bases allowed (26).

Orlando Cabrera doubled Figgins home, and Wakefield just missed on two straight pitches to Vladimir Guerrero, walking him to load the bases. That's when Garret Anderson hit a double-play ball to Lugo, who clumsily went to his right, then failed to field the ball cleanly. E-6, bases loaded. They didn't stay that way for long, as Gary Matthews Jr. shot a ball through the left side for a two-run single. That was all for Wakefield, in his shortest outing since he was KO'd after 3 2/3 innings in a 9-5 loss to the Yankees June 1.

The Sox fared no better with Delcarmen in the game. Casey Kotchman, who had doubled over Pena's head in the second and scored on a single by Macier Izturis, Crisp making a wasteful throw home, followed with a ground ball to Youkilis, whose bobble cost him a chance for a force at second. Izturis then hit a chopper that Pedroia fielded and threw to the plate, too late to apprehend Anderson, and Jeff Mathis dropped a suicide squeeze that Delcarmen couldn't handle.

The Sox tried to answer in the sixth, when Lowell singled and Crisp doubled. But Hale gambled that unless the Angels made a perfect relay, they would never get the slow-footed Lowell. The Angels added two more runs in the seventh, Guerrero leading off with a double off Julian Tavarez, Matthews doubling him home, then scoring on Kotchman's double, which Crisp kicked as he was attempting to backhand the ball. He had gone 153 games (with 427 chances starting the night) without an error.

The Sox generously assisted the Angels when they scored to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Izturis singled with two outs and never stopped running on a double by Mathis, perhaps anticipating that Ramirez would airmail his throw over cutoff man Lugo. Matthews hit a home run in the eighth off Kyle Snyder to make it 10-4.

Wily Mo Pena has cleared trade waivers, meaning the Red Sox can negotiate a deal for him with any team. Pena came into tonight's game against the Angels batting .218 with just 5 home runs and 16 RBIs, not the kind of numbers that are going to cause contenders in search of a bat to fall over each other.

It traveled 435 feet into the right-center-field bleachers at AT&T Park at 8:51 p.m. PST last night. Barry Bonds, the new home run king, stood at home plate after making contact, raised his arms and watched the ball sail to the left of the Bank of America sign, where one lucky 22-year-old fellow from Queens, N.Y., caught it and was quickly escorted out of harm's way. The moment had been building when Bonds doubled and singled in his first two-at-bats against Washington Nationals lefthander Mike Bacsik, whose father had pitched to Henry Aaron when Aaron was at 755 home runs but got better results than his son.