Unrelievable: After Hill's gem, Dodger bullpen blows lead; Red Sox win, 9-6

LOS ANGELES - The manager bore responsibility for the seventh inning. The closer botched the eighth. And in the ninth, with the lead gone and the energy leaking from Dodger Stadium, the tattered remnants of the bullpen imploded.

Call it a historic collapse. Call it a systematic breakdown. Call it the early onset of winter. All apply, yet none precisely captures the bitterness of Game 4 of the World Series, a 9-6 defeat to the Boston Red Sox, when the Dodgers stood on the verge of tying this series and let the opportunity slip through their collective fingers.

"It's a tough loss," manager Dave Roberts said. "Any loss in the World Series is difficult. Obviously."

Few will sting like this