Anatomy of a disaster

After 5 full innings, the Red Sox led the Yankees 2-1. And then came the 6th. After Bill Mueller led off with a ground ball to 2nd, the next 10 men reached base safely via hit or walk. Sounds great for Boston, doesn't it?

Didn't work out that way...

Payton doubles.

Bellhorn singles, Payton to 3rd.

Damon singles, Payton scores, Bellhorn to 2nd. So far, so good.

Edgar Renteria gets the Red Sox' 4th consecutive hit, grounding the ball into left field. 3rd base coach Dale Sveum decides to test Tony Womack's arm, and Bellhorn's out at the plate.

David Ortiz gets the Red Sox' 5th consecutive hit on a ground ball that Robinson Cano knocks down behind 2nd base. Damon attempts to score from 2nd after slowing up while going into 3rd. He's thrown out.

So, in the top of the 6th, Randy Johnson gave up a double and 4 consecutive singles, on just 9 pitches. And the Red Sox scored 1 run. Only 1 run from all of that, with two men thrown out at the plate.

So they take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th.

Williams walks.

1st pitch to Cano, home run. After all the work in the top of the 6th left Boston with only a two-run lead, it took New York only 2 batters to tie it.

After Jeter singled against Wakefield...

Alan Embree came in and gave up a weak jammed shot that just made it over Bill Mueller's head.

Then Gary Sheffield went into the upper deck.

6-3 Yankees. That was the final score.

The Red Sox had 5 consecutive hits and scored 1 run. The Yankees had a walk and 4 consecutive hits and scored 5 runs. And that was the story of the game. That and the Red Sox getting the tying run to the plate in the 9th and failing, again, to do anything with it. And the Red Sox complete inability to score base-runners again. They collected 11 hits and 6 walks on the night, 17 base-runners, and plated 3 of them. The Yankees scored 6 of their 15 base-runners.

It was not a pretty night...