Major Winchester approves of the win
Felix Doubront (2-0) took the hill in the top of the first inning and old friend Coco Crisp grounded out to begin the frame. Chris Young lined out and another old friend, Brandon Moss, struck out to end the inning. AJ Griffin cruised for the A's in the bottom of the first inning. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to second, Shane Victorino lined out to second and Dustin Pedroia flied out to end the inning in short order.
The A's struck first in the top of the second inning. Yet another old buddy, Jed Lowrie, walkled to start the top of the second inning but Derek Norris looked at strike three. Josh Donaldson doubled Jed to third and...stop me if you've heard this....old friend Josh Reddick singled home both runners to give the A's a 2-0 lead. Nate Freiman flied out and Andy Parrino struck out to end the inning. The Sox did manage to fight back in the bottom of the second inning, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli stroked back to back doubles to cut the lead in half. Napoli was stranded as Daniel Nava lined out, Will Middlebrooks whiffed and Jarrod Saltalamacchia flied out to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Doubront recovered in the top of the third inning. Crisp and Young grounded out before Moss whiffed to end the inning. Griffin kept the lead intact in the bottom of the third inning. Stephen Drew flied out to right but Ellsbury doubled. Victorino flied out but it was deep enough to advance Ellsbury to third. Pedroia popped up to end the inning.
Doubront settled down in the top of the fourth inning. Lowrie popped up, Norris struck out and Donaldson grounded out to end the inning. The Sox roared back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ortiz struck out but Napoli was plunked. Nava doubled to deep left and Middlebrooks crushed a 3 run home run into the Monster Seats to give the Sox a 4-2 lead. Saltalamacchia struck out but Drew singled. Ellsbury popped up to end the inning.
Middlebrooks makes it 4-2.
The A's struck back in the top of the fifth inning. Reddick struck out but Freiman walked. Parrino singled and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Crisp walked to load the bases and Young scored Freiman with a sac fly. Crisp stole second and Lowrie walked to re-load the bases. Doubront recovered to get Lowrie to fly out to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 4-3. The Sox put the game away with a furious rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Victorino singled and Pedroia reached on an infield error by Parrino. Ortiz walked and Napoli sent the crowd into a frenzy with a grand slam to give the Sox an 8-4 lead. Nava lofted a ball that Moss dropped for an error and that was it for Griffin. Chris Resop was brought in and Nava was erased on the Middlebrooks fielder's choice. Saltalamacchia doubled home Middlebrooks and moved to third on the Drew fielder's choice. Ellsbury walked and stole second before Victorino walked to load the bases. Pedroia grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had batted around to put themselves up 9-3.
Napoli says "Down with those Oakland bums!"
With a commanding lead, Doubront pitched with confidence in the top of the sixth inning. Norris struck out but Donaldson walked. Reddick struck out and Freiman popped up to end the inning. Jerry Blevins was brought in to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning. Ortiz and Napoli whiffed and Nava popped up to end the inning.
Doubront came back for the seventh but was on a short leash. Parrino grounded out and Crisp lined out and that was it for Felix after 113 pitches. 6 2/3 innings of 3 run ball is pretty solid so it was a good effort.
Felix gets a big hand
Clayton "Viggo" Mortensen got Young to ground out to end the inning. Sean Doolittle got the call in the bottom of the seventh inning. Middlebrooks and Saltalamachia both whiffed then Drew and Ellsbury both walked to chase Doolittle. Jesse Chavez replaced Sean and got Victorino to ground out to end the inning.
The A's clawed back in the top of the eighth inning. Moss walked but Lowrie struck out. Norris was hit with a pitch and Donaldson doubled both runners home. Reddick doubled home Donaldson to chase Mortensen. Seth Smith pinch hit for Freiman and rookie Alex Wilson came in to pitch to him. Smith walked and Sox manager John Farrell lifted Wilson for Junichi Tazawa. Eric Sogard pinch hit for Parrino and lined out. Crisp grounded out to end the inning but the game was closer with the Sox ahead 9-6. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pedroia and Ortiz popped up and Napoli struck out to end the inning.
Andrew Bailey was brought in to close the game out in the top of the ninth. Young walked but Andrew struck out both Moss and Lowrie. John Jaso pinch hit for Norris and grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-6.
Hero of the Night is Mike Napoli. His grand slam proved to be the difference in the game.
Hero of the night: Mike Napoli
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a stolen base.
Stephen Drew was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Felix Doubront earned the win by tossing 6 2/3 innings of 3 run ball. He did walk 5 but struck out 8
Junichi Tazawa slammed the door in the 8th inning.
Andrew Bailey earned his 4th save with a clean ninth inning.
The Bad:
Clayton Mortensen allowed 3 runs in just 2/3 of an inning
Alex Wilson walked the only man he faced.
The Ugly:
Shane Victorino was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run,
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 5 but scored a run.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored twice.
Daniel Nava was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Will Middlebrooks was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a 3 run home run, he also scored twice.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox have been finding ways to win for much of April and this time it was "outslug your opponent". Putting up 9 runs usually means a victory and this was a big win coming off the heels of the double-header sweep. The bats got hot and Doubront pitched well again. If he can rediscover the form he had last year, combined with Buchholz and Lester, this rotation could be dangerous. Tomorrow night Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves gets the start with John Lackey on a rehab assignment opposite Bartolo Colon in Game 2 of this 3 game series.
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