text: Red Sox comeback falls short - Chicago Tribune
  If the Red Sox were to adopt an official team quote from a TV show of yesteryear, it would probably be Maxwell Smart's, "Missed it by that much."
  It's been the story of their season, and was once again in Friday night's 6-4 loss to the Phillies. Starter Daniel Bard couldn't throw his fastball for a strike in the first inning, and it cost the Sox four immediate runs. They mounted a comeback, clawing back to within a run in the eighth, but reliever Franklin Morales gave it right back by serving up a solo homer to light-hitting Freddy Galvis.
  And then came the final near miss in the ninth when Marlon Byrd appeared to beat out a grounder to short that would have put runners on first and third with one out. However, first-base ump Gary Darling ruled him out, prompting manager Bobby Valentine to argue vociferously enough to earn the first ejection of his Red Sox career.
  In one final insult, incidentally, Darling's gum flew from his mouth and bounced off Valentine's chest at the end of the argument. It was that kind of night for the Red Sox, who have followed a five-game winning streak by losing two of three.
  Valentine, for his part, appears to be losing his patience. He was none too happy with Bard, who walked five, including three in the first, all of whom scored.
  "The walks -- they aren't acceptable," Valentine said. "That amount of walks, you can't leave your team out there and you can't keep letting those guys on base. It's tough to hit in the strike zone, might as well throw it in there."
  Bard traced his struggles to the 3-2 slider he threw to leadoff man Jimmy Rollins in the first.
  "Leading off the game, I need to be more aggressive there," Bard said. "It just put me in a little bit of a funk. I didn't respond to it real well. When you get out of your delivery a little bit, the best thing to do is step off, take a breath and hit the reset button. I never did that."
  --Manager Bobby Valentine had argued a number of plays early in the season, but hadn't come close to getting tossed. In fact, he had been rather subdued. That went out the window in the ninth, when he ran onto the field pointing at 1B ump Gary Darling and left it in the same fashion after the ump's gum hit him. Valentine thought Phillies 1B Ty Wigginton had lost the bag on Marlon Byrd's grounder. "I thought he was off," Valentine said. "I thought he had left the base."
  --RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, one night after throwing 6.2 innings for Triple A Pawtucket, said he has made strides in fixing the mechanical problems that plagued him earlier in his minor league rehab assignment. "I was experimenting a lot during my previous starts," he said through translator Jeff Cutler. "I was able to figure out what was good and what's bad." Matsuzaka's 30-day rehab window is set to expire after his final Triple A start on Tuesday.
  --3B Will Middlebrooks was 9-for-22 (.409) with seven extra-base hits through his first five major league games. But he's 7-for-39 (.179) with two extra-base hits over his last 10 games. He went 1-for-3 last night and has consulted right-handed hitting teammates like Cody Ross, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Aviles for advice on ending his slump.
  --OF Cody Ross left the game in the eighth after fouling a ball off his foot. He had X-rays taken that were sent to the Boston medical staff for evaluation. Ross was limping noticeably after the game. "Generally I foul the ball off my shin, but this one got me perfect off the top of my foot," Ross said. "I wear this huge shin guard, but it doesn't cover any of my foot. Hope for the best. It feels all right, so we'll see."
  --C Jarrod Saltalamacchia was among the wounded after suffering a lacerated ear in the fifth inning. The injury occurred after Wigginton was hit by a pitch and the ball ricocheted off his forearm, then off Saltalamacchia's glove and into the side of his head.
  BY THE NUMBERS: 110 -- That's how many at-bats Adrian Gonzalez had gone without a homer before blasting one off the facade in right field in the eighth inning.
  QUOTE TO NOTE: "This loss is definitely on me. A 4-0 deficit in the first -- and I battled as much as I could to keep it there, and they battled to come back. They consistently were chipping away and putting a run on the board in a few different innings. That's all you can ask. Four runs in the first is pretty tough to overcome." -- RHP Daniel Bard.
  --OF Cody Ross (foot) left the May 18 game after fouling a ball off his foot. He had X-rays taken that were sent to the Boston medical staff for evaluation.
  --C Jarrod Saltalamacchia (lacerated ear) was injured in the May 18 game in the fifth inning.
  --RHP Clay Buchholz (sore left heel) left his May 16 start. He didn't require X-rays or other tests.
  --RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (Tommy John surgery in June 2011) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Salem on April 23, then started for Class AA Portland before pitching for Class AAA Pawtucket on May 7, 12 and 17. He will make one more rehab start for Pawtucket on May 22. His 30-day rehab window is set to expire after that Triple A start.
  --3B Kevin Youkilis (lower back strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 29. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Pawtucket on May 16, and he could be activated as soon as May 19.