Bard writes another tragedy, as Sox lose 5-4

Ian Browne, mlb.com

BOSTON -- Near automatic for the last two seasons, Daniel Bard is currently in the throes of the worst slump of his career.

Boston's hard-throwing righty couldn't snap out of it on Wednesday afternoon. Instead, his recent woes continued as the Red Sox fell to the Blue Jays, 5-4.

Bard came on with a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth, and the Jays stormed back for three runs, two of which were earned.

This isn't a small problem for the Red Sox. Given what Bard has meant to the success of the team, and the point of the season it is, it's a must fix.

"His fastball is kind of cutting on him a little bit, probably when he's not trying to," said manager Terry Francona. "We've got to get him back to being the Bard we all have come to trust, because he's such an important part of what we're doing."

To get to where they want to go -- not just the postseason but deep into it -- the Red Sox need a highly-functioning Bard. They need the righty they've had for most of the summer.

"The timing with my delivery is just not there," Bard said. "I can feel it on every pitch. Something feels a little bit different. I've been through it before. I think the effects of it are kind of magnified by how big these games are. Sometimes you go out there and your mechanics are kind of off, and you get through an inning when they swing at a few pitches out the zone and it gets you back in it. Unfortunately for me, they haven't been doing that lately."

With 14 games left in the season, the Red Sox are 86-62. Both the Yankees and Rays lost on Wednesday night, so Boston trails New York by four games in the American League East while leading Tampa Bay by four in the AL Wild Card standings.

The Rays come to Fenway for a pivotal four-game series that begins Thursday night.

"We've just got to find a way this next series to go out there and play good baseball," said first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. "We did that yesterday; we did that today. Splitting the series, winning three out of four or sweeping them, that's what we need to do."

Bard is likely to be a big factor in the series either way. This was the third straight outing he's been scored on, and third time in the last five appearances. Since Sept. 5, Bard's ERA has gone from 2.10 to 3.10.

"You guys haven't seen me do it a lot up here, because it hasn't happened much," Bard said. "It has happened to me before and I've gotten through it. Like I said, it has been kind of magnified because of the hitters' approach to the location of the pitches. It's something I've fixed before and I'll fix it again. I'll do what it takes the next couple of days to put in the work and find my delivery again."

This one got away from Bard in a hurry. He opened the inning by walking Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson. Mark Teahen then tried to give the Red Sox an out with a bunt toward third base, but Bard made a low throw to first baseman Lars Anderson and everyone was safe. The error was given to Bard. A fielder's-choice grounder by J.P. Arencibia trimmed Boston's lead to 4-3. Adam Loewen then came up with a big hit, a line-drive two-run single that put the Jays ahead by one.

"It was exciting for me because the crowd was going nuts," said Loewen. "They wanted him to get me out, but I quieted them."

The one-run deficit proved to be too much, as Toronto lefty Ricky Romero grinded out eight innings for the win, and Frank Francisco closed it out with a scoreless ninth.

John Lackey would have gotten the win if not for the bullpen malfunction. The big righty allowed seven hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out four.

The Jays struck for a couple of quick ones in the first, thanks to two-out RBI singles Encarnacion and Johnson.

"Really, even the first inning, again, probably the 0-2 pitch I gave up a hit on was really the only one I'd give back," Lackey said. "Made a pretty good pitch on Johnson, jammed him, it fell in for another run. After that, it was pretty much just going with 'Tek. We mixed it up pretty well. I was locating my fastball pretty decent."

Back came the Red Sox in the second. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis led off with singles. Ryan Lavarnway belted a grounder to third that Brett Lawrie botched for an error, allowing Pedroia to score. Jason Varitek hit a fielder's-choice grounder to second, tying the game at 2.

Jacoby Ellsbury continued his red-hot pace with a leadoff triple in the third, extending his hitting streak to 18 games. Marco Scutaro got him home on a sacrifice fly, and the Red Sox had their first lead at 3-2.

The Jays seemed close to at least tying the game on a couple of occasions. In the fifth, they had runners at the corners with one out, but Lackey induced Encarnacion into a shallow liner to left and Johnson into a grounder to first.

In the sixth, Toronto's threat was more serious. Lawrie was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and when he stole second, it worked out even better than that, as Varitek's throw got away. That bumped Lawrie up to third with nobody out. Lackey again did a nice job of keeping the Jays at bay, getting Arencibia on a lineout to center that was too shallow to get a run home. Manager Terry Francona then went to his bullpen, bringing on Franklin Morales.

The lefty did a nice job, getting a crisp grounder off the bat of Loewen. With Pedroia playing in at second, he was in perfect position for a peg to the plate. He got the ball there in time, and Varitek somehow hung on, despite a fairly vicious collision with Lawrie.

"You don't win those battles in my position," Varitek said. "Thankfully, Pedey gave a good throw and allowed me to stay in there and absorb the hit."

Morales then helped himself by picking off Loewen to end the threat.

The Sox added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Gonzalez, who hammered home run No. 26 on the season over the Boston bullpen in right-center. Gonzalez left the game in the seventh with tightness in his left calf.

During other junctures of the season, three runs would have been more than enough for Bard. But this is a different time.

"I'll put this to rest with Daniel," said Varitek. "Daniel has been a huge part of this bullpen, he and Pap. He's had a tough little stretch for his last few outings. We need Daniel. Daniel is going to pitch well, period."