Sox Bullpen = #epicfail Against A’s

Leading by three runs in the ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon couldn’t close out the A’s, who tied up the game on his watch, and then Oakland scored more two runs in the 11th inning off Manny Delcarmen to pull out a 8-7 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Amalie Benjamin has a pair of Nick Green throwing errors in the ninth inning leading to Papelbon’s downfall. Michael Silverman has the bullpen handing this one over to the A’s. Robert Lee has the Sox letting one slip away last night. Eric Avidon has a late-inning letdown doing in the Sox. Ron Chimelis has the Sox coughing it up in the late innings. Jim Fenton has the bullpen finally letting up after not being scored upon since before the All Star break.

Benjamin has the Red Sox visibly frustrated and disappointed over Daisuke Matsuzaka’s public criticisms of the Red Sox training methods. Silverman notes that there was considerable emotion coming from the Sox on this issue. Joe McDonald says that Dice-K’s comments are not being taken well by the Red Sox.

Dan Shaughnessy, who took a little ribbing yesterday for only showing up at the park when something stupid is going on, looks at the fall from grace of Daisuke. Ron Borges says that Dice-K just wants to do things his way. Dom Amore has a look at the two sides at odds over training methods. Mike Fine has more on the situation.

Ben Collins examines the bullpen meltdown. Rich Thompson has Clay Buchholz with nothing to show for his work yesterday. Lee says that this was a rare meltdown for the bullpen last night. McDonald looks at Green’s ninth-inning miscues which led to the A’s being able to tie the game. Jennifer Toland observes that usually a three-run lead and Jonathan Papelbon on the mound are enough to win.

Alex Speier looks at the toughest 24 hours of the Red Sox season. David Willis says that it would be worth giving up Buchholz in order to get Roy Halladay. Joe Haggerty has Buchholz ignoring the trade rumors.

Lenny Megliola has a memorable week coming to a fitting end for Jim Rice. Jennifer Toland has more on the honor by Rice, who was emotional at Fenway last night. Thompson looks at Jim Rice’s uplifting moment last night, and Collins has more on No. 14 being retired by the Red Sox. Chris Helms has Rice proud to be among the Sox elite. Chimelis has another Hall of Famer joining the ranks of retired numbers.

Check the Bay Area Sports Media for West coast coverage of last night’s game.

The Herald notebook has the Sox still in the thick of the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. Benjamin’s notebook has Clay Buchholz making it through this outing with better results than his last. The Projo Red Sox journal has the Sox trading Mark Kotsay to the White Sox for outfielder Brian Anderson. Their postgame journal has Buchholz’s solid start being wasted. Avidon’s notebook  has more on Dice-K being at odds with the Sox. Chimelis’ notebook has more on the trade with the White Sox. Toland’s notebook also examines the Dice-K issue.

Patriots

Over at Patriots Daily, the first post of the day is a look at the defensive line by Chris Warner.

Mike Reiss looks over the training camp roster and sees a pretty stacked team. Shalise Manza Young lists the teams to beat in the NFL this year. Glen Farley previews the special teams. Karen Guregian looks at Tom Brady’s approach for this season, and whether his knee will be on his mind.

Hector Longo says that all eyes will be on Tom Brady tomorrow. Rich Garven says that the Patriots are aiming for a return to the postseason this year. Mark Farinella says that the Patriots defense still has issues. Longo says that the offensive talent can’t be touched, but there are still questions on defense. Christopher Price looks at the linebackers.

Celtics

Chimelis has former Celtic Dee Brown being named head coach of the Springfield NBA DL team. Jessica Camerato has Rajon Rondo trying to be a leader by example. Frank Dell’Apa says that Gabe Pruitt’s time with the Celtics might be coming to an end.