Papelbon fails to close out Angels, Boston’s season ends with 7-6 loss

Ace closer Papelbon can’t save Boston’s season

BOSTON — Ace closer Jonathan Papelbon couldn’t save Boston’s season.

The intimidating right-hander had never allowed a run in any of his 26 postseason innings before Sunday. But he gave up three in the ninth, capped by Vladimir Guerrero’s single.

And that rally came after Papelbon inherited a pair of runners from Billy Wagner in the eighth and let them score.

All that added up to a 7-6 comeback win for the Los Angeles Angels and a sweep of their AL division series.

“My team fights to put me in that situation and you do it all season long and you’ve done it time and time again in the preseason,” Papelbon said with a halting voice and a blank stare, “but I just wasn’t able to come out ahead this time.”

It was a grim ending for a pitcher who had 38 saves and a 1.85 ERA in the regular season and threw the final pitch of Boston’s sweep of Colorado in the 2007 World Series. And a stunning finish to a Red Sox season that seemed headed for at least one more game Monday night.

They led 5-2 when Papelbon came in from the bullpen with two outs and runners at second and third in the eighth. Soon, it was 5-4 after Juan Rivera singled in two runs. Papelbon ended the inning by picking off pinch runner Reggie Willits.

Then Papelbon retired the first two batters in the ninth and had an 0-2 count on Erick Aybar. One more strike and there would be at least one more game.

But Papelbon never got another out.

“Your team fights. It puts you in that situation to call upon you and you let ‘em down,” said Papelbon, wearing a dark blue shirt with the words “RESCUE SQUAD” on the back. “It’s a feeling that there’s a lot of weight on your shoulders because your team expects you to pull through and preserve that win for you and when you don’t its definitely not a good feeling.”

That feeling built quickly after Papelbon set down Maicer Izturis on a foulout and pinch hitter Gary Matthews Jr. on a fly ball.

Then Aybar singled.

“When it’s 0-2, two outs, you start thinking about playing tomorrow,” Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay said. “Then one thing leads to another.”

And another and another.

Aybar took second on defensive indifference. Chone Figgins walked. Bobby Abreu doubled in a run. Torii Hunter was walked intentionally, loading the bases.

“It’s tough to walk the bases loaded,” Boston manager Terry Francona said, “but Pap throws strikes and he had had a lot of success against Guerrero.”

Guerrero was only 2 for 12 against Papelbon in the regular season and postseason before the at-bat. Hunter was 3 for 8 with a home run.

Guerrero then lined a first-pitch fastball for a go-ahead, two-run single after driving in one run in his previous 19 postseason games. Hideki Okajima relieved for the Red Sox after the hit.

Papelbon threw 16 pitches, all fastballs, not counting the intentional walk.

His teammates came to his defense.

“I don’t think anybody in here looks at it as Pap’s fault,” Bay said. “No one’s perfect.”

“He is the best closer in the game,” said Clay Buchholz, Sunday’s starter. “Everybody has a bad day. I’d give him the ball every time I pitch.”

Papelbon appreciated the support but knew he failed.

“That’s the kind of teammates that I have,” he said, “but, at the same time, I definitely feel like a lot of this is on me.”

A lot also is on an offense that produced one run and eight hits in the first two games before breaking out with five runs but just seven hits Sunday.

“We had a better team than this,” said Bay, who can become a free agent after his 36-homer season. “In these three games, we didn’t do a lot of things that would warrant winning.”

The bullpen, seemingly a big advantage for the Red Sox in the series, failed for them. Then again, Boston infielder Kevin Youkilis said, it didn’t matter what the prognosticators predicted.

“People that write that stuff are the same ones that pick the Cubs to win the World Series,” Youkilis said.

Wagner, whose 385 saves are second all-time among lefty pitchers, knows the struggles he and Papelbon had were surprising.

“You wouldn’t expect that with the bullpen we have,” said Wagner, who started the eighth after Daniel Bard’s two scoreless innings.

The Red Sox obtained Wagner in a trade with the New York Mets on Aug. 25 and he pitched very well down the stretch as a setup man rather than in his usual closer’s role.

Wagner would like another chance to close and may not return to the Red Sox after the offseason.

An offseason that began late Sunday afternoon when one of their most reliable pitchers finally gave up postseason runs.

An offseason in which Papelbon said he’ll use his failure to spur him on.

“Who knows,” he said, “I may be replaying this on the TV in my weight room in the offseason and give me a little bit motivation for next season.”