Wells' hanger to Iguchi worse than Graffanino's gaffe

	David Wells, now 10-4 in postseason play, couldn't cover up Tony Graffanono's error. AP

CHICAGO -- The myth of David Wells as a big game pitcher died a little more in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

To his resume in his last six postseason starts that already includes the most earned runs ever allowed in a postseason start (in a clinching-loss at that in 2002 to the Angels) and a bailout in the pivotal Game 5 of the 2003 World Series when he couldn't touch his toes the day after bragging fitness was overrated, you can add coughing up a 4-0 lead to put his Boston team on the brink of elimination.

Should second baseman Tony Graffanino have fielded that fifth-inning squibbed grounder off the bat of Jose Uribe? Sure. But Wells made a worse mistake, hanging a breaking ball to Tadihito Iguchi. After Graffanino's error and a subsequent pop fly, the Red Sox were one out away from getting out of the fifth with a 4-2 lead. Graffanino's mistake cost Boston one or two outs. Wells' mistake cost his team the game.

Wells said he tried to "quick pitch" Iguchi and that the White Sox second baseman "was sitting on" the curveball. His location was deadly: middle-in and up. It's a mistake a big game pitcher cannot make, not in that situation, not with Boston left with no room for error.

The rest of Wells' work was exemplary, having not gone to a three-ball count to any of the 26 batters he faced. Well, almost exemplary. When Terry Francona walked out of the dugout to remove him with two outs in the seventh, Wells turned his back on the manager and never looked at him when he turned over the baseball.

"I wanted to hit him to be honest with you," Wells said. "I felt like I was the best man [to pitch] at the time."

Apparently it did not occur to Wells that Francona needs to bring him back on three days' rest for Game 5, with Game 1 starter Matt Clement no longer a serious option. We'll know Friday and Saturday if the Red Sox have fortune on their side again this year by the weather in New England. If a Game 3 or 4 gets rained out, Wells will be able to pitch on full rest. After Game 2, the man who claimed he wanted to slug his manager suddenly didn't sound like a warrior ready to brave it in Game 5 on short rest.

"We'll see how I feel," Wells said. "This was a pretty intense game. We'll see how I feel the next couple of days.''

Oh-kay.

When Wells was asked about the team's predicament -- having to sweep three straight against Chicago to stave off elimination -- his choice of pronoun was interesting.

"We'll see what they're made of," Wells said.

Give a pitcher enough chances to fail in the postseason and he will fail. It happened to Orlando Hernandez, Orel Hershiser and Jack Morris. (Amazingly, it hasn't happened yet to John Smoltz entering his start Thursday night; there is not a clunker among his four losses in his many postseason starts.) As the sample size gets larger the romantic notion of "clutchness" and "big game pitcher" gets subsumed by the inevitability of failure. It caught up with Wells Wednesday night. And it wasn't the first time it did.