Not only would the Orioles blow a four-run lead, thanks to four walks by the relief corps -- mainly, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill -- plus a two-run shot by Kevin Youkilis and giving up bases load single to ex-Ray Rocco Baldelli to the the game. The pesky Red Sox would decide the game in the 11th as Julio Lugo plated in the winning run off reliever Danys Baez, and they would steal one from the Orioles, 6-5.

Amazingly, Sherrill struck out two Boston batters -- Jason Bay and David Ortiz -- for two outs in the frame; however, after giving up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury and a walk to Jeff Bailey, Jason Varitek earned a contoversial walk and then the flood gates opened thanks to Baldelli's single.

It was a warm day, and after the amazing come-from-behind-historic-victory last night at the Yard, it looked for about eight innings that the Orioles would get a rare series win over their rival.

What can one say about Brad Bergesen -- who is now easily the best pitcher on the staff. He threw eight innings of four-hit ball and struck out six and walked none. Once again, Bergesen threw strikes and was efficient on the mound, throwing only 103 pitches in his outing.

The Orioles jumped all over a shaky Josh Beckett -- who started for Boston. Baltimore's offense came through in the first four innings as Felix Pie had an RBI-single in the first, then they took a 2-0 lead as Luke Scott homered. They scored twice third to take a 4-0 lead as Nick Markakis had a two-RBI double and Baltimore's final run came as Ty Wigginton homered to put them up, 5-0.

However, after the Wigginton homer, the Orioles would have a hell of a time producing any offense, Crazy enough, the Orioles are only 6-15 in day games this season, and only 1-6 versus the Red Sox this season. Well, I don't know if this loss compares to the Mother's Day Massacre of several years ago when former Oriole manager Sam Perlozzo yanked Jeremy Guthrie in the ninth inning with a 5-0 lead, but to have seen the way that Baltimore lost this game was galling.

It's simple, if the Oriole pitchers had thrown strikes in the ninth -- we would have won. However, the umpiring was very, very questionable in this series -- to the point where there were several discussions from Oriole players/management to the respective umpires -- but Red Sox fought, executed and when they smelled blood, they attacked.

Down 5-3 headed into the top of the ninth, Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer and Rocco Baldelli notched a pinch hit game-tying two-run single.

Julio Lugo drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on an RBI single and the Red Sox pen did the rest.

The bullpen pitched four scoreless innings retiring all 12 batters in a row.

Daniel Bard pitched two innings with four strikeouts and Ramon Ramirez pitched the 10th inning. Jonathan Papelbon closed the door in the ninth for his 20th save of the season.

Including starter Josh Beckett and the bullpen, Boston's pitching retired 24 straight batters to earn the comeback win.

Star of the Game - The team

That was a well fought, hard earned team victory. Yes, I could do the three star system here but I think for the Red Sox to bounce back like that after the previous loss to Baltimore says something about this team.

Next Game - Day off

Boston returns to Fenway to take on Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners

"He will get a couple of starts before the All-Star break and then have a couple of days off," Wakamatsu said. "Hopefully, he will come back pitching well in the second half."

Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett.  Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season. 

Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings.  No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count.

Ricky Romero continues to impress.  He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday.  Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now.  He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox.  He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum.  His next start comes against the Mariners.  If you need a spot start, he's worth another go.

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets.  If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light.

Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings.  His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season.  If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all. 

Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention. 

Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately.  He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add.

Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago.  I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270.

Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit. 

Justin Verlander was touched up last night.  That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row.  I'm not reading much into it.

Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.

Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win.  I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start. 

Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs.  Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts. 

Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs".  Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half.

Nelson Cruz left with a back injury.  It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems.  Keep an eye on the situation.

Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen base.  Can he go 60/20!!?  Not likely, but this is just amazing to watch.

Matt Cain continues to strand runners like crazy.  8 Cardinals left on base and only 3 strikeouts. 

Adam Wainwright struck out a career high 12 in 9 innings.  He's throwing a curveball or slider on nearly 40% of his pitches.  That combined with only 132 innings pitched last season raises a bit of a red flag for potential time missed later this season. 

Think positive. For it is one loss, not ten. I always understand that things like this happen. I mean, if there wasn't a rain delay, the game probably would have ended in our favor anyway. And even with the delay, the best bullpen in baseball would normally have held onto a 4-1 lead. So a 10-1 lead was an eternity away for Orioles hitters.

Remember the "Mothers Day Miracle?" This was baseball's way of evening things out. Because even great teams have days where you question what the heck just happened.

Fans tend to react too strongly to individual losses. And not strongly enough to individual wins. For when a good team loses--"your" good team--it can feel quite bad. But when they win, it doesn't feel as good as that bad is bad, if that makes any sense. Because fans expect their "good team" to win. And if they don't, it is disappointing. If they do, it is what was supposed to happen, what was supposed to take place.

The Red Sox are a great team. They aren't perfect, but no team has ever been perfect...Ever. Their current "Ace" Josh Beckett takes the hill today. And this is one of the benefits of having great pitching. One always feels that they can win each and every day out with a rotation like this. And with Beckett on the mound, that feeling is even stronger, even greater.

Eventually, we will "steal" a win from the grips of losing. And on that day, it will come to light that it really does happen to the best and worst of them.

Ah, but there was a time, my hearties, when this kind of a gut check to the psyche was relatively routine. I'm talking about that mystical period before Yawkey Way was a pedestrian mall. Yes, the dreaded pre-2004 editions of the Olde Towne Team.

I realize that the names Bucky F. Dent, Bob Stanley, Bill Buckner and Aaron F. Boone are simply murky shades from a gloomy past. But, beware. The karma from 86 long years does not diminish into the haze without a fight.

You know that sick feeling in the pit of your soul when relief pitcher after relief pitcher could not get an out? That's it. When Papelbon was destined to cough up a 2-run double after striking out the previous batter? That's it. And, the utter shock when Jason Bay whiffed to end the game with two on? That's it.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to your destiny.

We won in a crazy game, 11-10, which might as well have been two games in one with a rain delays, Boston taking what was an insurmountable lead at one point, hits, a great rally by Baltimore, and more ups and downs than we can count.

John Smoltz was good in a a solid start, but I'd love to know what was running through his head as the action unfolded at the Yard. Yes, and one must still wonder if Rich Hill is indeed on borrowed time as an Oriole...

For us Oriole fans, yes, Tuesday night is only one game, but it comes to show you have play every single out and battle. Now, the Orioles may never have a game like this again, but as a fan, it's a beautiful thing to have seen this team come back and fight against their powerful rival for one night -- especially after a decade plus of losing.

Obviously, Boston had a lot more than talent than Baltimore on paper, but on Tuesday, a bunch of reserves and role players made the difference. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night, and it was funny to see the Red Sox players and staff look bewildered after the loss.

Boston's pen gave up 10 runs in just two innings pitched and the Baltimore Orioles mounted the best comeback in franchise history.

Justin Masterson handed out five runs, Hideki Okajima four and Takashi Saito one to total the 10-run out burst by the Birds.

The Red Sox had a 9-1 lead before a 1 hour and 11 minute rain delay. Boston tacked on another run on an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia in the seventh before witnessing a comeback for the ages.

Goat of the Game - Bullpen

That was just plain terrible including Masterson's performance to come in and eat up innings after John Smoltz went four innings allowing one run on three hits, one walk and two strikeouts before the rain delay.

Next Game - 7/01 vs. Baltimore Orioles - Josh Beckett/Brad Bergesen

Beckett will bounce back with seven shutout innings.

After a month of denial, Smoltzy admitted that his return to major league action was more than just any other start...

"There's been so much going on in the last eight days, I'm kind of glad it's over so I can resume the five-day rotation and do what every pitcher does," he said, "and that's make improvements from game to game."

Therefore, I expect him to look like he did in the last two innings of theat game for five innings tonight in Baltimore.

Smoltz retired the last six batters he faced in order in his last start and fanned the last three, using the pin-point control he has displayed throughout his career. Look for more of that action right out of the gate tonight now that the hype has died down.

One other note: Jeff Bailey has been summoned to Baltimore and it appears that Mike Lowell will be headed to the DL, despite recieving an injection that was supposed to relieve some tightness he was feeling. It's not official yet, but "In Amalie We Trust."

Bailey would presumably help Mark Kotsay man first base, while Youk slides over to third. Bailey was hitting .355 (24 for 92) with a .736 OPS in June.

Jed Lowrie could also be ready to help at 3B soon... but his .220 BA through 10 at-bats in Pawtucket is nothing to get excited about... another week in the Single A "boot camp" should do him some good.

We want him to become the next Johnny Bench, but he'll develop at his own pace as he's only played professional for about a little less than two years now. Remember, Nick Markakis started slow, as did Adam Jones, but now they are both potential cornerstones of a rebuilding Oriole franchise.

At the moment, the only way Wieters should even be sent down is if he is hurting the team at the plate, most notably behind the plate (crucial), and if he's really that overwhelmed. As I see it, he's still learning, so let's all be patient.

Paps closed out the game and earned his 132nd save, tying him with Bob Stanley for the most in Red Sox history... he's also a perfect 20 for 20 in sace chances against the Orioles.

The offense didn;t exactly break out of the recent slump they've slipped into, but four runs was enough to hold down the O's. JD Drew was bumped into the leadoff spot and responded with a 3 for 5 game that included a 2-run ding dong and a triple. He missed the cycle when he grounded out in the eighth...

Bottom Line: The Sox own the O's, but Orioles manager Dave Trembley blamed the Ump and his strikezone... like any good manager of a struggling team does.

"Jon Lester's pitching a great game, and tip your cap to him. But the strike zone was definitely in his favor tonight. And that's the way it was. That was established early," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "It was a big strike zone and he took advantage of it."

Dave... buddy... when you're team cracks the .500 mark, you can start pointing fingers.