On a night where the Boston Bruins got a much needed Game 4 victory in overtime over the Montreal Canadiens to even their first round playoff series at two games apiece, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 11 innings. Josh Beckett continued his hot streak by throwing 8 innings of 2 run ball but was matched by Tyler Chatwood and the Angels bullpen. Adrian Gonzalez and Jed Lowrie broke the deadlock with rbis in the top of the eleventh. Jonathan Papelbon slammed the door in the bottom of the eleventh and the Sox had pulled it out 4-2 at Angels Stadium.
Chatwood got the ball in the top of the first and JD Drew grounded out to first on the first pitch of the game to start. Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez stroked back to back base hits to center but Kevin Youkilis banged into a double play to end the inning. Beckett got the ball in the bottom of the first as Maicer Izturis flied out to center to start. Howie Kendrick struck out swinging and Bobby Abreu popped up to short to end the inning.
Ortiz doubled to right to start the top of the second and moved to third on the grounder by Jed Lowrie. Carl Crawford failed to do anything by grounding out to first and Jason Varitek struck out swinging to end the inning. Kevin Youkilis had fouled a pitch off his ankle in the first inning and collapsed in the dugout before taking the field. He had to be hauled off on a gurney, loaded into an ambulance and taken to a local ICU. Marco Scutaro was brought in to play short with Jed Lowrie moving to third for the bottom of the second. Torii Hunter grounded out to second to start before Vernon Wells lined out to short. Hank Conger grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a ground out to second. Drew popped up to short but Pedroia drew a walk. Pedroia looked to have been tagged out stealing second but he was ruled safe. Gonzalez was intentionally walked and Scutaro flied out to center to end the inning. Beckett cruised in the bottom of the third as Mark Trumbo grounded out to second to start. Erick Aybar popped up to short and Peter Bourjos looked at a curveball for strike three to end the inning.
The Sox blew another rally in the top of the fourth as Ortiz grounded into the shift to start. Lowrie flied out to left but Crawford walked. Carl stole second and Varitek walked, but Ellsbury flied out to left to end the inning. Izturis walked to start the bottom of the fourth but Kendrick flied out to shallow left. A wild pitch moved Izturis to second but Abreu flied out to left. Hunter grounded out to third to end the inning.
Drew flied out to left to start the top of the fifth but Pedroia blooped a single to right. Gonzalez was rung up for strike three and Youkilis popped up to Wells to end the inning. Beckett cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Wells grounded out to short to start. Conger struck out swinging and Trumbo flied out to Drew at the right field wall to end the inning, that's 5 no-hit innings for Beckett.
The Sox struck first in the top of the sixth as Ortiz walked to start. Lowrie dumped a base hit to left-center and Crawford moved both runners over with a bunt. Varitek struck out swinging on a nasty breaking ball but Ellsbury hit a broken bat looper into right to score both runners and give Boston the lead. Ellsbury was thrown out at second trying to steal second to end the inning with Boston ahead 2-0.
Aybar broke up the no-no with a little roller to Beckett to start the bottom of the sixth and moved to second on the Bourjos grounder to third. Aybar moved to third on the grounder by Izturis but Kendrick took strike three to end the inning.
Hisanori Takahashi came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Drew walked to start. Pedroia walked but Gonzalez popped up to third. Scutaro and Ortiz both took strike three to end the inning. The Angels finally tagged Beckett in the bottom of the seventh as Abreu walked to start. Hunter then hit a home run all the way to Portland, Oregon to tie the game. Wells took strike three, Conger grounded out to first and Trumbo popped up to first to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Fernando Rodney came in to pitch the top of the eighth and the Sox blew another rally. Lowrie grounded out to third to start but Crawford walked. Varitek tried to bunt Crawford to second but ended up getting hit with a pitch. Ellsbury walked to load the bases but Drew whiffed badly to kill the rally. Pedroia popped up to Kendrick to end the inning. Beckett returned for one last inning in the bottom of the eighth and Aybar hit a double down the right field line, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch a triple by Drew. Bourjos grounded out to third and Izturis popped up to short to end the inning. That was it for Beckett who deserved better. He tossed 8 innings of 2 run ball that should have been enough to win the game.
Jordan Walden came in for the top of the ninth and Gonzalez popped up to shallow left to start. Scutaro grounded out to third but Ortiz walked. Darnell McDonald pinch ran for Ortiz and stole second, but Lowrie popped up to center to end the inning. Daniel Bard came in for the bottom of the ninth and Kendrick grounded out to short to start. Abreu struck out swinging and Hunter grounded out to second to send this game to extra innings.
Rich Thompson came in to pitch the top of the tenth and he cruised. Crawford took strike three to start before Varitek watched strike three go by. Ellsbury went down hacking to end the inning. Bobby Jenks came in for the bottom of the tenth and Wells grounded out to third to start. Conger hit one up the elevator shaft and Trumbo popped up to first to end the inning.
The Sox finally took the lead in the top of the eleventh as Drew walked to start. Drew moved to third on the base hit to right by Pedroia and scored on the Gonzalez double into the right field corner. Gonzalez was thrown out at third on the grounder to second by Scutaro and McDonald hit a grounder to third. Pedroia got caught in a rundown but ran around the tag to make it safely back to third to load the bases. Lowrie scored Pedroia with a sac fly to ice the game and chase Thompson. Jason Bulger came in and both runners moved over on a passed ball, but Crawford whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon came out to save the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Aybar grounded out to short to start but Bourjos caught Varitek asleep with a bunt single in front of the plate. A wild pitch moved Bourjos to second but Izturis popped up to third. Kendrick put up a 10 pitch at bat but struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-2 in 11 innings.
Hero of the Night is Adrian Gonzalez. He drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 4 with 2 walks, a stolen base and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Josh Beckett tossed 8 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.
Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Bobby Jenks got the win with a scoreless tenth inning.
Jonathan Papelbon earned his fourth save with a scoreless 11th inning.
The Bad:
Kevin Youkilis was 0 for 1 before leaving the game.
Marco Scutaro was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
JD Drew was 0 for 4 but walked twice, scored a run and threw out a runner at third.
Jed Lowrie was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Carl Crawford was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked and stole a base.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked and was hit with a pitch.
Darnell McDonald was 0 for 1 at the plate but stole a base as a pinch runner.
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
Nice to see the season start to turn around after the horrendous start the Sox had. The Sox offense is still struggling to score runs but that's going to come for sure. The real key to the game was the pitching. Beckett pitched another gem and 9 times out of 10, 8 innings of two run ball should be enough to win. The bullpen slammed the door and if they stay healthy, the trio of Jenks, Bard and Papelbon is going to be deadly. Hopefully Youkilis is okay and just left as a precaution. If Youkilis gets hurt again, that's a bad sign considering how injury prone Lowrie and Drew are. As of now the Sox look to be coming out of their slump and winning a road game in extras is always a tough thing to do. Gonzalez getting the game winning rbi is what the Sox need out of him since he's supposedly the second coming of Manny Ramirez. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Angels tomorrow night when Jon Lester (1-1) takes on Danny Haren of the Angels at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Angels Stadium.
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