Last night Brett Anderson of the Oakland A's dominated the Boston Red Sox weak right handed hitting lineup. Gio Gonzalez....not so much. Kevin Youkilis, JD Drew and Jed Lowrie all hit home runs and the Sox pounded out 10 total hits as a team. Clay Buchholz (1-2, 5.31 ERA) labored but allowed just a single run in 5 1/3 innings. Oakland shot themselves in the foot by leaving 15 men on base but still managed to rally in the later innings. Jonathan Papelbon wasn't as sharp as he usually was but he still nailed down the save to hold off the A's. The Sox won their first road game of the season 5-3 at Oakland Coliseum.
Gonzalez got the ball in the top of the first and JD Drew struck out looking on the outside corner to start. Dustin Pedroia flied out to right and Adrian Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning. Buchholz got the ball in the bottom of the first and Crisp hit a home run all the way to Osaka, Japan to give the A's the early lead. Daric Barton popped up to third in foul territory and David DeJesus grounded out to short but Hideki Matsui walked. Ryan Sweeney flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
The Sox fought back in the top of the second as Kevin Youkilis dumped a base hit to right to start. DeJesus jumped into the right field wall to rob a hit from Jed Lowrie but Marco Scutaro singled to right. Carl Crawford dropped a base hit to center to score Youkilis to tie the game. Crawford was thrown out at second on the strike em out, throw em out double play by Jason Varitek to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Mark Ellis led off the bottom of the second by slapping a single to center but Landon Powell struck out swinging. Kevin Kouzmanoff lined a base hit to right but Cliff Pennington beat out a double play ball. Crisp lined out to right to end the inning.
Jacoby Ellsbury took strike three to begin the top of the third and Drew watched strike three go by as well. Pedroia drew a walk but Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning. Barton lined out to left to begin the bottom of the third and DeJesus popped up to second. Matsui struck out swinging to end the inning.
Youkilis led off the top of the fourth inning with his third home run of the year to give the Sox the lead. Lowrie got a base hit to left and Pennington looked to have robbed Scutaro of a hit but Ellis dropped the throw at second. Crawford beat out a double play ball but Varitek grounded into one to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Sweeney grounded out to first to begin the bottom of the fourth but Ellis doubled down the third base line. Powell flied out to center and Kouzmanoff flied out to right to end the inning.
Gonzalez cruised in the top of the fifth as Ellsbury was rung up for strike three to start. Drew flied out to deep left and Pedroia whiffed to end the inning. The A's threatened in the bottom of the fifth although Pennington grounded out to second to start. Crisp hit one up the elevator shaft but Barton walked. DeJesus hit a seeing eye single into left but Matsui flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth as Gonzalez led off with a bloop single to left. Youkilis struck out swinging but Lowrie hit his third home run of the season over the left field wall into the rain to increase the lead. Scutaro hit a seeing eye single up the middle but Crawford flied out to center. Varitek popped up to left to end the inning but the Sox led 4-1.
Buchholz fell apart in the bottom of the sixth as Sweeney doubled to the left field wall to start. Ryan moved to third on the grounder by Ellis and Powell walked. Conor Jackson pinch hit for Kouzmanoff and walked to load the bases. Sox manager Terry Francona had seen enough but Buchholz was NOT happy being taken out of the game. He screamed, shouted and kicked dirt as he made his exit. He did leave with a lead after giving up just 1 run in 5 1/3 innings. Daniel Bard came in and blew away Pennington before getting Crisp to pop up to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh with Andy LaRoche at third and Jerry Blevins now on the mound. Ellsbury took strike three but Drew mauled his first home run of the year to increase the lead. Pedroia singled to left but Gonzalez banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Bard came back for the bottom of the seventh and Barton popped up to second to start. DeJesus flied out to left but Matsui blooped a base hit to center. Sweeney grounded out to first to end the inning.
David Purcey came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Youkilis lined out to short to start. Lowrie flied out to right in foul territory and Scutaro flied out to right to end the inning. Bobby Jenks came in for the bottom of the eighth and Ellis struck out swinging to start. Powell walked, LaRoche singled past Scutaro and Pennington ate up Marco for an infield single to load the bases. Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young came out to tell Jenks that The Apartment won Best Picture in 1960 and Jenks was so bored he allowed a single to Crisp that scored Powell. Jenks managed to strike out Barton swinging but Francona wanted Jonathan Papelbon for the four out save. Papelbon blew away DeJesus to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the ninth as Crawford struck out swinging to start. Jason Varitek also went down hacking and Ellsbury popped up to short to end the inning. The A's rallied in the bottom of the ninth as Matsui began with a base hit to center. Sweeney popped up to short but Ellis was plunked. Powell singled to center to score Matsui and put the tying run on. Kurt Suzuki pinch ran for Powell with Josh Willingham pinch hitting for LaRoche. Willingham popped up to Gonzalez 10 feet in front of home plate and Pennington popped up to short to end the game. The Sox had survived 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Jed Lowrie. He was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run, giving the Sox a big lead.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 runs scored.
Marco Scutaro was 2 for 4.
Clay Buchholz got the win with 5 1/3 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and 4 walks.
Daniel Bard tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jason Varitek was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Bobby Jenks allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
JD Drew was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo home run.
Adrian Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Carl Crawford was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Jonathan Papelbon got the save but allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
Its nice to see the Sox back on the winning track and getting the West Coast games out of the way early is never a bad thing. Buchholz didn't look that great but timely hitting and timely pitching got him the win. The resurgence of Jed Lowrie is pretty fun to watch as he was the last guy anybody expected to contribute to the season. If he keeps hitting like this somebody may get traded because it was supposed to be Ortiz, Youkilis, Gonzalez, Pedroia and Scutaro on the infield going into the season. Still, to have Lowrie as a possible sixth man type of utility player gives the Sox a superior bench compared to most of the league. Hell former all-star Jason Varitek is the backup catcher. The bullpen was a bit of an issue with Jenks and Papelbon giving up runs but Bard looked pretty shop. In essence the Sox have two closers in Jenks and Papelbon yet the future could be Bard. The offense didn't look that great but they got some timely long balls and rbi at bats. A win is a win and they all count, no matter how ugly or pretty it looks. Tomorrow night the Sox head to Anaheim to play the....ready for it.....Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Josh Beckett (2-1) looks to make it 3 wins in a row for him when he takes on Tyler Chatwood of the Angels. The game begins at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Angel Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment