This one got a lot closer than it needed to be, but the Red Sox were able to pull it out in the end, and that's all that matters to me right now.
Jon Lester got his third start against the Devil Rays in his cancer-shortened season. It wasn't his best work, but really only a couple of pitches ruined his line. He did well through the first four innings, only giving up a two-run home run to Carlos Pena in the first inning. That pitch he would definitely like to have back. Then in the fifth inning, he got into some trouble. He got a fly out to lead off the inning, then Gomes hit a single to center. Gomes advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then Josh Wilson walked. Navarro grounded into a fielder's choice, and there were runners at the corners with two outs. Then Iwamura came up and hit a ball that barely cleared the left field wall. That made it a 7-5 game, and suddenly things were a lot closer.
The Red Sox offense came mostly in the fourth inning. Ortiz reached on squibber down the third base line, narrowly avoiding the tag that the first baseman tried to apply. Mike Lowell was hit on the hand by a pitch, then J.D. Drew hit a single. Bases loaded, nobody out. Varitek hit a single to left field, scoring Ortiz and reloading the bases. Coco Crisp hit a two-run double, and then Lugo did the same thing. 7-2, Red Sox. The Red Sox would add an unearned run in the top of the seventh, and then the Devil Rays did the same in the bottom of the seventh, but that was it for the scoring.
Lester lasted 5.1 innings, then gave the ball to Delcarmen in the sixth. Delcarmen got a double play, then got two outs in the seventh, and Okajima came in. With two outs in the eighth, Francona brought in Papelbon, sort of obviously choosing to not call on Gagne. Fine by me. Papelbon struck out Gomes, then came back for the ninth and struck out two more before getting the final out on a pop-up. It was Papelbon's 30th save of the season, and he became the first Red Sox pitcher to record back-to-back 30 save seasons. Not too shabby.
The Yankees looked like they would lose big against the Angels, but things have gotten closer in the third inning. If the Angels hang on, the AL East lead will be six games. Go Angels! And now please excuse me while I vomit.
Player of the Game: David Ortiz (2-4, including a rare triple, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI)
Record: 76-50
Jon Lester got his third start against the Devil Rays in his cancer-shortened season. It wasn't his best work, but really only a couple of pitches ruined his line. He did well through the first four innings, only giving up a two-run home run to Carlos Pena in the first inning. That pitch he would definitely like to have back. Then in the fifth inning, he got into some trouble. He got a fly out to lead off the inning, then Gomes hit a single to center. Gomes advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then Josh Wilson walked. Navarro grounded into a fielder's choice, and there were runners at the corners with two outs. Then Iwamura came up and hit a ball that barely cleared the left field wall. That made it a 7-5 game, and suddenly things were a lot closer.
The Red Sox offense came mostly in the fourth inning. Ortiz reached on squibber down the third base line, narrowly avoiding the tag that the first baseman tried to apply. Mike Lowell was hit on the hand by a pitch, then J.D. Drew hit a single. Bases loaded, nobody out. Varitek hit a single to left field, scoring Ortiz and reloading the bases. Coco Crisp hit a two-run double, and then Lugo did the same thing. 7-2, Red Sox. The Red Sox would add an unearned run in the top of the seventh, and then the Devil Rays did the same in the bottom of the seventh, but that was it for the scoring.
Lester lasted 5.1 innings, then gave the ball to Delcarmen in the sixth. Delcarmen got a double play, then got two outs in the seventh, and Okajima came in. With two outs in the eighth, Francona brought in Papelbon, sort of obviously choosing to not call on Gagne. Fine by me. Papelbon struck out Gomes, then came back for the ninth and struck out two more before getting the final out on a pop-up. It was Papelbon's 30th save of the season, and he became the first Red Sox pitcher to record back-to-back 30 save seasons. Not too shabby.
The Yankees looked like they would lose big against the Angels, but things have gotten closer in the third inning. If the Angels hang on, the AL East lead will be six games. Go Angels! And now please excuse me while I vomit.
Player of the Game: David Ortiz (2-4, including a rare triple, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI)
Record: 76-50
No comments:
Post a Comment