Remember the scene in the original Austin Powers when Powers commandeers the steamroller and the guard strikes that doomed pose and screams "NOOOOOO!!!!" And then keeps screaming again and again because the steamroller is 150 feet away and he doesn't move until he was finally crushed? That sums up watching Boston's inexplicable 11-10 loss to the Orioles last night. You keep screaming for someone to make a pitch or get an out and it just never happens.
It should have been a celebration for John Smoltz. He pitched well in his second outing, four strong innings with three hits and just one run.
It should have been a night to celebrate Youk's getting out of a slump with a 3-5 performance, including a two-run shot in the first and 3 RBI on the night.
Instead, it was a night to watch Boston throw away a 10-1 lead in two innings.
It was a night to watch Boston's bullpen, the best in the majors, completely and utterly implode. Ten earned runs in two innings. Masterson and Okajima looking like shell-shocked rookies.
There isn't much you can say about it. It'd be like trying to pick apart the crash of the Hindenburg after witnessing it on the ground. You just take in the totality of the disaster and babble incoherently for a while in a vain attempt to explain what you saw.
If there is a silver lining to be found, it is that the odds of this occurring again is pretty slim. One disaster does not crush a season. The bullpen is still solid and they will lock down many, many games to come.
Also, even with the brutal loss the Sox are 5-3 on this road trip. Any road trip that ends .500 or better is a good one, and with Beckett on the mound tonight the Sox have every chance to end this one at 6-3. And let's not forget that the Boston bats came alive last night, something that hasn't really happened since they beat Washington 11-3 over a week ago.
But for now, the team and it's fans have to taste the bitter ashes of a win that was thrown away. Blech.
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