On the night Ray Allen hit the game winning jumper for the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their first round playoff series with the New York Knicks, Jon Lester (1-1, 3.20 ERA) rediscovered his groove for the Boston Red Sox. Lester was outstanding against the Toronto Blue Jays by tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball to put the Sox in position to win. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a 3 run bomb, Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove in 3 runs and the Sox pounded out 8 total runs off 8 hits. The Sox look to be rebounding from their horrid start with an 8-1 victory over the Jays at Fenway Park.
Lester got the ball in the top of the first inning and Yunel Escobar grounded out to third to start. Corey Patterson struck out swinging but Jose Bautista hit a ground rule double into the right field seats. Adam Lind grounded out to first to end the inning. Jesse Litch got the ball for the Jays in the bottom of the first and Carl Crawford led off with a swinging strikeout. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to third but Adrian Gonzalez ripped a base hit up the middle and moved to second on a passed ball, but Kevin Youkilis struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Jays struck first in the top of the second as Aaron Hill walked to start and JP Arencebia singled through the hole at second. Travis Snider banged into a double play but Juan Rivera walked. Rivera got himself in a run-down trying to steal second but it worked as Hill scored to give the Jays the lead. Rivera was tagged out but the Jays led 1-0.
The Sox roared back in the bottom of the second as David Ortiz grounded out to first to start. Jed Lowrie hit a pop up down the left field line that somehow blew fair, keeping Lowrie at first. JD Drew rifled a base hit into center to move Lowrie to third and Jarrod Saltalamacchia scored Jed with a base hit past the diving Hill. Ellsbury put the exclamation point on the inning with a 3 run blast to give the Sox a commanding lead. Crawford grounded out to first and Pedroia grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Lester continued to work his way out of trouble in the top of the third as Nix walked to start. Escobar's bat shattered as he banged into a double play but Patterson hit a double off the Monster. Bautista was rung up for strike three to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the third as Gonzalez grounded out to second to start. Youkilis grounded out to short and Ortiz also grounded out to short to end the inning.
Lester cruised in the top of the fourth as Lind popped up to Crawford to start. Hill grounded out to third and Arencebia struck out swinging to end the inning. Litsch cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Lowrie waived at strike three to start. Drew struck out swinging and Saltalamacchia grounded out to first to end the inning.
Snider took strike three to start the top of the fifth before Rivera grounded out to short. Nix singled high off the Monster and stole second, but Escobar went around on a strike three to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Ellsbury flied out to right to start. Crawford tried to bunt his way on but Litsch snuffed it out and Pedroia popped up to shallow center to end the inning.
Patterson grounded out to first to start the top of the sixth and Bautista grounded out to third. Lind singled under the glove of Lester into center but Hill lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the sixth although Gonzalez flied out to center to start. Youkilis went down hacking but Ortiz broke up the string of 13 in a row with a base hit up the middle. Nix bobbled a grounder by Lowrie for an error and Drew walked to load the bases. Saltalamacchia dropped a base hit to right and Ortiz scored easily. Lowrie came home but Drew tried to score as well, getting thrown out at home to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-1.
Lester returned briefly for the top of the seventh as Arencebia beat out an infield single to short to start. Snider hit a double play ball to Lowrie but he bobbled it at second and failed to throw out Snider at first for an error. That was it for Lester who allowed just 1 run in 6 plus innings of work to give the Sox a chance to win. Daniel Bard came in and Rivera hit a bullet to Pedroia who doubled off Snider at first for the double play. Nix walked but Escobar was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
Casey Janssen took over for the bottom of the seventh and Ellsbury's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Nix to begin. Crawford grounded back to the mound and Pedroia grounded out to short to end the inning.
Felix Doubront came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Patterson walked to start. Bautista flied out to center but Patterson swiped second. Lind walked but Patterson was thrown out at third trying to steal. Hill dumped a base hit to center and that was it for Doubront. Sox manager Terry Francona brought in Bobby Jenks to pitch to Arencebia. Jenks blew away JP to end the inning. The Sox got some more runs in the bottom of the eighth against new pitcher Shawn Camp. Gonzalez doubled into the left field gap to start and Youkilis was plunked. A passed ball moved both runners over and Ortiz walked to load the bases. Lowrie hit a routine grounder to first...UNDER THE GLOVE OF LIND! Gonzalez and Youkilis scored to wrap up the scoring. Drew struck out swinging and Saltalamacchia popped up to center to chase Camp. Jason Frasor came in and caught Ellsbury looking to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-1.
Dan Wheeler had mop up duty in the top of the ninth and Snider popped up to third to start. Rivera flied out to right and Nix flied out to left to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-1.
Hero of the Night is Jon Lester. He tossed 6 gutty innings and held the Jays to just 1 run. He scattered 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5.
The Good:
Adrian Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
JD Drew was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
Daniel Bard tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Bobby Jenks struck out the only man he faced.
Dan Wheeler pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Carl Crawford was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Jed Lowrie was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in a run and scored twice.
Kevin Youkilis was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 3 run home run.
Felix Doubront walked two batters and gave up a hit in 2/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
To quote the great Lou Brown, "if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak". It would be nice if the Sox could ride the momentum of the last few games to go on a winning streak to get back into contention. First Beckett had a good start, now Lester pitches well. If those two can keep up the pace, the Sox will be in good shape this season. Like it was mentioned many times before, the offense will come and today it did. The Sox benefitted from some miscues but that's what you need to do to break out of a slump. Lester was good and he'll be good moving forward. Hopefully this is the start and the momentum can continue in the next few days. Tomorrow its the special Patriots Day morning game for the Red Sox against the Blue Jays. Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) looks to get back on track against Ricky Romero of the Blue Jays. The game begins at 11:00 AM at Fenway Park.
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