"Of all the reasons for the Red Sox' 5-4 loss to the Orioles last night, the play on which a fly ball fell behind second baseman Dustin Pedroia and in front of center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the fourth inning was the most avoidable.

Derrek Lee lofted a fly ball that sent Pedroia backpedaling. After initially breaking back on the ball, Ellsbury broke in on it but was unable to close the gap. Pedroia also came up short.

Outfielders typically are supposed to take command on those plays, but there appeared to be no communication between the two fielders. Neither Ellsbury nor Pedroia touched the ball, so it went in the book as a double, and Lee went on to score the first of three runs in the inning.

"That was obviously a huge play. Any time you give extra outs, we talk about it all the time, it doesn't have to be an error,'' manager Terry Francona said. "It looked like Jacoby broke back because he was coming hard. That ball was up there a long time. You could see (Pedroia) fighting it. It's not an error, but you end up giving them an extra opportunity and it ends up giving them three runs.''

After the game, Ellsbury said he and Pedroia did not communicate on the play and still had not spoken."