Suicide? Check. Squeeze? Not So Much.

The Red Sox eliminated the Angels last night, thanks in large part to the Angels.

After a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt, the Angles had a runner on third with just one out with the score tied at two in the top of the ninth. All Erick Aybar (pictured) had to do was hit a mildly-deep fly ball to the outfield ... or of any depth to Jacoby Ellsbury ... and speedster Reggie Willits would have scored easily. So what do the Angels do? They put on the squeeze play.

Aybar misses the inside pitch by Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen entirely and Willits is caught halfway down the third base line and tagged out. In the bottom of the inning, Willits goes for the gusto, diving for a looping Jason Bay fly ball that kicks into the stands for a ground rule double and Jed Lowrie drives him home with a two-out single for the win.

This game was lost for one fundamental reason: Aybar flat out didn't do his job at the plate. When the squeeze play is on, you have to make contact. In fact, I find it close to unfathomable that a major league middle infielder can't make contact with a fastball while attempting a bunt. Contact on a hit and run, that's one thing. But you have the bat in front of you and all you have to do is touch the ball. That's it. There are corpses that can bunt. Ted Williams could do it too, even if you didn't thaw him out first. But Aybar? Not so much.

Enjoy the offseason Angels. No curse to blame here. Just bad fundamental baseball.

Manny Being Pansy?

Manny Ramirez is going to miss tonight's game after taking himself out of the lineup with a sore knee. That was news to Terry Francona who had the enigmatic left fielder pegged to play. It's stories like this, combined with the demands to know his future and claims that the front office keeps deceiving him that makes me think Manny is gone next year. $20 million can go a long way towards options (Mark Texeira, Matt Holiday) that don't include a guaranteed headache.

In other news, SI's Jon Heyman says some GMs are ticked at Jim Bowden for dealing Rauch for only Bonifacio, saying it may have limited the asking prices for other clubs dealing bullpen men. Apparently the Nats were asking for top prospects Michael Bowden and Jed Lowrie from the Red Sox, but only wanted Bonifacio from from D-backs.