Things were looking good for the Red Sox in this game. John Lester pitched pretty well as he worked the first six innings in which he only gave up 4 hits, 4 walks, 2 earned runs while whiffing 5 batters. Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard combined to throw two shutout innings. They then handed over the lead to closer Jonathan Papelbon. The Red Sox were 77-0 this year coming into the 9th inning with a lead. Papelbon got the first two batters out, but that’s when the roof caved in for him with a 3-2 lead. Chris Davis cracked a double and he was replaced by pinch runner Kyle Hudson. Nolan Reimold then ripped a double, knocking in Kyle Hudson to tie this game at 3-3. Then Robert Andino hit a single to LF right in front of Carl Crawford, who had little chance of throwing out Reimold at the plate. The Red Sox blew a 9 game lead at the start of September in the Wild Card Race, and they blew it. This was one of the biggest choke jobs EVER in major league baseball, as the Red Sox season is now over, as the Rays beat the Yankees 8-7 in 12 innings!

The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are likely to play this game like Game #7 of the World Series tonight. Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter has been yapping about putting the Red Sox out of their misery. The Red Sox and Rays are tied for the A.L. Wild Card heading into tonight’s game. If they both win or both lose, there will be a 1 game playoff at Tropicana Field tomorrow afternoon. The Red Sox are going with John Lester on short rest against the Orioles tonight. He has pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 15-9 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. But, in his last three starts, Lester is 0-3 with a 10.54 ERA and a 2.12 WHIP. Lester has a trio of Orioles’ hitters that have given him a hard time so far in his career. 2B Robert Andino is 4 for 7 (.571 avg) with a double against Lester in his career. Outfielder Nolan Reimold is 4 for 10 (.400 avg) with a double and 3 walks against Lester. Catcher Matt Wieters is 8 for 23 (.348 avg) with 1 double and 2 RBIs against Lester. Reimold and Andino might be bunched together as the bottom of the lineup, so Lester is going to have to be careful in this game.

30-year old righty Alfredo Simon is starting tonight for the Orioles. He has pitched in 22 games (15 starts) so far this year and he is 4-9 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Red Sox have not faced the hard throwing Simon a lot. Jacoby Ellsbury is 3 for 3 with a double and a triple in his career against Simon. Josh Reddick should also find his way into the starting lineup tonight as he is also 3 for 3 against Simon with a double and 2 RBIs.

It’s do or die time for the Red Sox tonight at Camden Yards.

The Red Sox are only 1 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card spot in the A.L. and they can thank Jacoby Ellsbury for that as he whacked a 3-run homer against the Yankees in the 14th inning of the second game to give them a 7-4 win. Ellsbury was 5 for 11 against the Yankees in the doubleheader yesterday with 3 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs. Ellsbury will be a finalist for the MVP Award in the A.L. and he might just win it. Ellsbury has played in 155 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 208 for 646 (.322 avg, .928 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 31 homers, 103 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Ellsbury really made up for lost time. In 2010, he only played in 18 games for the Red Sox in which he was 15 for 78 (.192 avg, .485 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 7 stolen bases due to injuries. He has now played in 504 games in his first five years with the Red Sox and he is 607 of 2,018 (.301 avg, .806 OPS) with 339 runs scored, 51 homers, 233 RBIs and 174 stolen bases.

The Red Sox are currently 2.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the A.L. Wild Card. They are playing a day/night double header with the Yankees tomorrow and the scheduled starters for the Red Sox are 32-year old righty John Lackey and 45-year old righty Tim Wakefield. Both of these guys have pitched terrible this year, but all will be forgiven if they pitch well and the Red Sox win tomorrow. Lackey has started 27 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 12-12 despite having a pathetic 6.49 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield has pitched in 32 games (22 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 7-7 with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Red Sox need both of these guys to come up big against the Yankees tomorrow to help them hold off the Rays.

35-year old righty swinging shortstop Marco Scutaro is on fire with the bat for the Red Sox. He has played in 18 games for the Red Sox so far in September and he is 27 for 64 (.422 avg, 1.052 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 18 RBIs. Scutaro has also only whiffed 4 times this month as his bat seems to have a magnet in it. Scutaro has now played in 104 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 109 for 366 (.298 avg, .768 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 6 homers, 51 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Scutaro is doing his part to get the Red Sox to the playoffs, but he’s going to need some help as the Rays are only 2 games behind them for the A.L. Wildcard.