GAME OVA: RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 3, 4:11PM

Jonathan Papelbon, pitching for the second time in as many days (he also warmed up in the bullpen on Friday), had a rough go of it in the ninth inning, as the Jays tagged him for three straight hits and two runs to start the inning. But thanks to the insurance run plated by Ortiz, the Sox held on to win for the third time in the four-game set against Toronto, and Papelbon set a new career high with 38 saves, besting the mark he achieved last season. Papelbon needed 18 pitches to get through his inning, and it seems reasonable to wonder whether he will be available for Monday’s game in Tampa Bay. Here’s a good read about Papelbon’s performance when pitching in three consecutive games. 

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH INNING: RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:55PM

David Ortiz added an insurance run by claiming his first triple of the year and then skampering home on a sac fly. Ortiz isn’t exactly Sam Crawford, but he also isn’t Kevin Millar. Ortiz has 13 career triples, and has collected at least one three-bagger in every seasons since 2000. 

A random aside: why do Crawfords hit triples? The freakishly speedy Carl Crawford has averaged 13 triples a year since 2003. 

TOP OF THE EIGHTH INNING: RED SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:45PM

Jon Lester’s day is done — he just got the congratulatory handshake from Terry Francona after eight innings, four hits, one run, six strikeouts and 103 pitches. The Jays hitters took a curious approach in the eighth–Marco Scutaro, Jose Bautista and Alex Rios saw a total of just six pitches. I’m just guessing, but I would imagine that’s the quickest inning of Lester’s career. 

Roy Halladay is also done for the day, after seven innings, 116 pitches and three runs (two earned). He seems likely to endure his fifth loss of the year in a game in which he’s submitted a quality start (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs), a number that would be tied for fifth most in the majors this year. Tim Wakefield is among those who also has suffered five such tough losses. 

TOP OF THE SEVENTH INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:35PM

Jon Lester escapes a two-on, one-out jam by eliciting a double-play grounder from Jays shortstop John McDonald. The double-play has been a big weapon for Lester this year. The southpaw, who entered today’s game tied for eighth in the American League in the most double play grounders this year, has gotten 25 twin-killings this year. He has also become a big friend of bat companies, thanks to his tendency to leave splinters in his wake.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:21PM

Both Lester and Roy Halladay are pitching like men who want to finish this game in time to catch the Pats and Jets (although I’m guessing that Halladay, a Denver-area native, is more partial to the Broncos…unless he’s got a Deltha O’Neal jersey stashed in the recesses of his locker). 

Prior to the 2006 season, the Jays signed Halladay–in the middle of a four-year, $42 million contract–to a three-year, $40 million extension. There is little question that the major-league leader in innings pitched is a relative bargain at that price. Blue Jays officials believe that the current core of their club can contend through 2010, a notion that has likely been reinforced after the team won 11 of 12 contests prior to this series against the Red Sox. All the same, it would be fascinating to see what kind of return Toronto might be able to command if they did make Halladay available in a trade. 

The Indians were able to net four prospects for this mountain of a man——–>

But the Brewers were only going to get a couple of months of Sabathia’s services. What would two very affordable years of Roy Halladay be worth? Certainly more than Johan Santana following the 2007 season… This line of speculation is likely irrelevant, since the Jays seem unlikely to contemplate moving the ace. All the same, if the team tanks early next year, it would be interesting to see whether a Halladay sweepstakes might follow. 

TOP OF THE SIXTH INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:15PM

In 2006, Jon Lester reported to the major-league camp in spring training. Lester was coming off a season in which he went 11-6 with a 2.61 ERA en route to being named the Pitcher of the Year in the Double-A Eastern League. Manager Terry Francona had this to say that spring of Lester and fellow phenom Jonathan Papelbon:

“When you talk to the player development people, and you go over those reports, they’re still flipping a coin as to who’s going to be a better pitcher,” Francona said that spring.

Now, at the end of 2008, it is fair once again to dust off the quote and wonder: which pitcher would you rather have? Papelbon is a game-changing force at the back end of a bullpen, but Lester is becoming a workhorse at the front of a rotation. Papelbon has a better, more consistent track record of success, but Lester is just 24 years and 8 months old–almost the exact same age (give or take a couple days) that Papelbon was when he made his big-league debut in 2005. Lester has a 3.18 ERA this year (through the sixth inning today) over 195.1 innings; Papelbon is amidst his third straight season of a sub-2.00 ERA, having a 1.86 mark in 63 innings. 

TOP OF THE FIFTH INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 3:00PM

Jose Bautista came within about five feet of hitting his second homer of the game, but his cloud-scraping fly ball drifted a few feet foul. Bautista has gone deep twice in the same game on two prior occasions in his career: on May 2nd of this year, and August 25, 2007. He didn’t repeat the feat in his third at-bat today, instead staring at a 94 m.p.h. fastball from Jon Lester for a called third strike.

Lester, who has allowed just Bautista’s first-inning solo homer today, has never given up more than two homers in a game in his career. He has been taken deep twice in five of his 56 career starts prior to today. The only player to take him deep twice in the same game was Gary Mathews, Jr., who did the deed this April 23, when Lester made a start against the Angels on three-days’ rest. 

TOP OF THE FOURTH INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 2:50PM

Just noticed that Gregg Zaun doesn’t wear batting gloves. Maybe it’s something about catchers: Zaun joins the likes of Jorge Posada and Doug Mirabelli as a catcher who doesn’t wear batting gloves while hitting. The technique, of course, gained considerable infamy about four years ago when Moises Alou told ESPN broadcaster Gary Miller that he toughened his hands by urinating on them.

Mirabelli was rather non-plussed when I asked him around that time whether he did anything to treat his hands so that he could hit without batting gloves, well aware of the Alou-related subtext of the question. “That’s disgusting,” he said. 

Anyhoo, while some players do employ the technique, it represents folk wisdom more than it does a notion with medical merit, at least according to this article. 

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 2:39PM

Roy Halladay has thrown 58 pitches through the first three innings, and since he is pitching on short rest, it seems fair to wonder how much he has in the tank today. All the same, it seems a pretty safe bet that he’ll get through at least six innings–he’s done so in all but two of his starts this year. In a rather unsurprising development, Halladay is attacking the strike zone relentlessly today, and has yet to issue a free pass. As mentioned here, he entered today with just one walk in 35 career innings while pitching on three-days’ rest. 

TOP OF THE THIRD INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 2:29PM

With two outs, Alex Rios drove a double to the warning track in right-center that fell between Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury. No small feat, that: one member of the Blue Jays was raving before today’s game about the amount of ground that the two outfielders cover. “There’s just not a lot of room for a ball to fall between them,” he said, adding that he feels that Crisp is a Gold Glove-caliber centerfielder thanks to unparalleled route running, but that Ellsbury is emerging as a “plus-plus” glove in the outfield.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND INNING: RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 2:13PM

This is setting up, quite clearly, as a day for small ball. After Jason Bay hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the second, Jason Varitek squared to sacrifice on the second pitch of his at-bat. He ended up swinging away, pulling a grounder to second to advance Bay to third, and was greeted by substantial applause from the Sox dugout. With one out and a runner on third, the Jays infield played in with Alex Cora at the plate, clearly anticipating that today’s will not be a high-scoring affair.

While Cora whiffed, the Sox scored thanks to a Coco Crisp two-out single. Crisp is now hitting a major-league leading .443 since August 18, and is making a pretty strong case to claiming a starting job from Jacoby Ellsbury whenever J.D. Drew returns to the lineup. Ironically, one year after Ellsbury pushed Crisp aside in the postseason, Crisp may be positioning himself to do the same to Ellsbury this year. Earl Hickey might suggest that karma is kicking in. 

TOP OF THE SECOND INNING: BLUE JAYS 1, RED SOX 1, 2:05PM

A belated thought on the first-inning bomb that Blue Jays designated hitter Jose Bautista launched off of Jon Lester: Lester has been quite stingy with the longball this year, allowing just 14 in 190+ innings this year. Lester, in fact, ranks seventh in the American League for lowest slugging percentage allowed. Opponents have just a .377 mark against him. The A.L. leader? That would be Lester’s teammate, Daisuke Matsuzaka (.325), and it’s not even close. Entering today, the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay ranked second with a .349 slugging mark allowed. 

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST INNING: BLUE JAYS 1, RED SOX 1, 1:55pm

Jacoby Ellsbury wasted little time in swiping his 48th bag of the year, taking off on the first pitch. He is now six steals off of Tommy Harper’s 35-year-old team record of 54 with 13 games left after today. Ellsbury, it is worth mentioning, is now 5-for-11 in his career against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.

Dustin Pedroia dropped a sac bunt against Halladay to advance Ellsbury to third. Pedroia is second on the Sox with seven sacrifice hits. While the strategy has its flaws–especially in the first inning–the second baseman’s prior history against Halladay might have something to do with the approach. Pedroia is 4-for-27 (.148) in his career against the Jays ace.