Everything's going right for the Boston Red Sox as they continued to roll against the Toronto Blue Jays. After taking 3 out of 4 from the Yankees, the Sox made mincemeat out of the Jays pounding out 14 hits and 14 runs. Shea Hillenbrand led the charge with a 3 run home run in the third to give the Sox a commanding lead. Frank Castillo (1-0, 2.00 ERA) earned his first win of the season with 6 solid innings allowing just a home run to Vernon Wells. Manny Ramirez also homered and a hit parade put the game out of reach. Rolando Arrojo allowed two unearned runs in relief but still slammed the door as the Sox took the game 14-3 at the Skydome.
The Sox wasted no time getting to Toronto starter Brandon Lyon in the top of the first inning as Johnny Damon took strike three to start. Hillenbrand doubled to left and took third on a wild pitch before scoring on the Nomar Garciaparra grounder to short to put Boston on top. Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Castillo got the ball in the bottom of the first and Shannon Stewart grounded out to third to start. Eric Hinske walked but Raul Mondesi banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second as Tony Clark grounded out to second to start. Brian Daubach and Jason Varitek both grounded out to first to end the inning. Carlos Delgado was rung up for strike three to start the bottom of the second before Jose Cruz Jr popped up to third in foul territory. Darrin Fletcher flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Trot Nixon singled to left to start. Nixon swiped second and moved to third on the Rey Sanchez base hit to left. Damon ripped a base hit to left to score Nixon and Hillenbrand capped the rally with a three run home run. Garciaparra grounded out to second but Manny got a base hit to left. Ramirez was forced at second by Clark and Daubach popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
The Jays tagged Castillo in the bottom of the third as Vernon Wells pounded a home run all the way to Calgary to start. Homer Bush and Felipe Lopez both grounded out to first but Stewart singled in the hole at second. Hinske took strike three to end the inning with the Jays down 5-1.
Varitek flied out to right to start the top of the fourth and Nixon watched strike three go by. Sanchez lined out to center to end the inning. Mondesi grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fourth before Delgado grounded out to short. Cruz Jr singled to right but Fletcher popped up to third to end the inning.
Damon flied out to right to start the top of the fifth before Hillenbrand grounded out to short. Nomar popped up to second to end the inning. Wells flied out to center to start the bottom of the fifth before Bush lined out to center. Lopez grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth as Ramirez hit his third home run of the season to increase the lead. Clark popped up to third in foul territory before Daubach and Varitek grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-1.
Castillo returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Stewart grounded out to short to start. Hinske struck out swinging and Mondesi grounded out to third to end the inning. Castillo tossed 6 innings and allowed just 1 run on the home run to Wells. He was pretty good.
The Sox exploded in the top of the seventh with Justin Miller on the mound. Nixon walk and Sanchez singled to left before both runners moved over on the grounder to third by Damon. Hillenbrand hit a routine grounder to Hinske who booted it for an error to score both runners. Nomar doubled to left to score Shea and took third on a wild pitch. Ramirez walked to put runners at the corners and Clark beat out a double play ball to score Hillenbrand with another run. Daubach flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-1.
Rolando Arrojo came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Delgado took strike three to start. Cruz singled in the hole at short and Fletcher walked but Wells struck out swinging. Bush grounded back to the mound but Arrojo threw the ball away allowing Cruz to score. Lopez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Jays down 10-2.
Feliz Heredia came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Varitek got a base hit to left to start. Nixon struck out swinging and Sanchez banged into a double play to end the inning. Lou Merloni came in for Nomar and Carlos Baerga came in for Hillenbrand to start the bottom of the eighth and Stewart grounded out to short to start. Hinske grounded out to first and Mondesi flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox poured it on in the top of the ninth against Bob File as Damon got a base hit to center to start. Baerga singled to right and Merloni singled to left to load the bases. Ramirez pounded a ground rule double down the left field line to score Damon and Baerga and Clark grounded out to second to score Merloni. Manny moved to third on the play and he scored on the grounder to third by Daubach. Varitek flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 14-2.
Arrojo came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and Delgado was hit with a pitch to start. Cruz hit a grounder to the mound but Rolando's throw to second was off-line for an error to move Delgado to third. Fletcher grounded into a double play to score Delgado but Wells lined out to second to end the game. The Sox had won it 14-3.
Shea Hero
Hero of the Night is Shea Hillenbrand. His 3 run home run gave the Sox a commanding lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The Good:
Johnny Damon was 2 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Carlos Baerga singled and scored in his only at-bat.
Lou Merloni singled and scored in his only at-bat.
Manny Ramirez was 3 for 4 with a walk, 3 total rbis, two total runs scored and a home run.
Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Rey Sanchez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Frank Castillo got the win by tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 3 hits and walked 1
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Nomar Garciaparra was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs and scored a run.
Tony Clark was 0 for 5 but drove in 2 runs.
Brian Daubach was 0 for 5 but drove in a run.
Jason Varitek was just 1 for 5.
Rolando Arrojo got the save by tossing 3 innings but allowed 2 unearned runs on his two errors.
Final Thoughts:
Another good win and the Sox definitely avoided a hangover after beating the Yankees three out of four games. Castillo stepped up and pitched a hell of a game and the Sox bats turned it on. Hillenbrand and Ramirez drove in some key runs when it was still a game and it became a laugher in later innings. Not much you can say about a blowout like this other than its always fun to see the team win easy and not have to worry about the game. Arrojo threw the ball all over the field but he saved the rest of the bullpen tomorrow and beyond. If only Tony Clark could get going this offense would be deadly with Baerga and Rickey Henderson coming off the bench. Beating the Jays in a blowout was great but hopefully they can save some of that offense for tomorrow's game. The Sox look to make it two in a row over the Jays tomorrow night when Darren Oliver (2-0, 3.14 ERA) gets the start for Boston against Scott Eyre of Toronto. The game begins at 7:05 PM at the Skydome.
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