As for the game itself, it was a pleasure to watch. A 2 hour 30 minute masterpiece that was devoid of long waits between pitches, endless guffawing from the NESN telecasts and drop in ads up the wazoo. In the end the opponent had won but it was a great, exciting game....just didn't end well. In the end Cliff Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies were too much for the Sox as the Phillies took the second game of this set 3-1 at Fenway Park.
Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster (2-6, 4.45 ERA) got off to a rocky start as Ben Revere grounded back to the mound to start, but Michael Young launched a towering home run over the monster for a quick lead. Jimmy Rollins lined out to center and Ryan Howard struck out to end the inning but the Phills were up 1-0.
The Sox struck back in the first inning. Jacoby Ellsbury singled but Jonny Gomes flied out to right. Jacoby stole second and scored on the single by Dustin Pedroia. Unlike other games, with Cliff Lee on the mound, its more believable that this would be the last run scored by the Red Sox just 3 batters into the game. David Ortiz popped up to third and Mike Napoli whiffed to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Dempster settled down in the top of the second inning as Delmon Young and Domonic Brown both flied out to right. John Mayberry struck out to end the inning. Lee froze Daniel Nava for strike three to begin the bottom of the second inning. David Ross whiffed and Stephen Drew popped up to short to end the inning.
Dempster worked out of trouble in the top of the 3rd as Freddy Galvis walked to open the frame, but Erik Kratz grounded into a double play. Revere singled and stole second but Michael Young grounded out to third to end the inning. Jose Iglesias grounded out to second to start the bottom of the third before Gomes whiffed to end the inning.
Dempster again pitched out of trouble in the 4th although Rollins began with a flyout to center. Howard whiffed but Delmon Young singled off Dempster. Brown whiffed to end the inning. Lee caught a break in the bottom of the fourth. Pedroia grounded back to the mound and Ortiz absolutely crushed a ball deep to center field, centerfielder Ben Revere ran all the way to the wall, reached up and grabbed it. It was a 418 foot out, 17 feet further than Michael Young's home run yet it was just a loud out. If Ortiz had hit it 20 feet in either direction it was gone but he happened to hit it to the one part of the park it could be caught. Talk about bad luck. Napoli whiffed to end the inning.
Dempster hung tough in the top of the fifth as Mayberry popped up to short to start. Galvis flied out to left but Kratz walked. Revere grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox tried some small ball it the bottom of the 5th. Nava singled and David Ross bunted him over to second. Unfortunately he was stranded when PU Drew popped up and Iglesias struck out to end the threat.
Dempster was in trouble again in the top of the sixth. Michael Young grounded out to second but Rollins walked. Howard singled but Delmon Young flied out to right. Brown flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the 6th as Ellsbury grounded out to second to start. Gomes lined out to right and Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Phillies executed small ball just a little bit better in the top of the 7th. Mayberry singled and Galvis sacrifice bunted him over to second. Unlike PU Drew, Kratz singled to score Mayberry. Dempster got Revere to ground back to the mound and Michael Young to ground out to short to end the inning. A 2-1 lead for Lee may as well have been 7-1. That was it for Dempster after 7 solid innings with just 2 runs allowed.
The Sox couldn't crack Lee in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ortiz grounded back to the mound, Napoli grounded out to third and Nava flied out to center to end the inning.
Craig Breslow replaced Dempster for the top of the eighth and whiffed both Rollins and Howard. Delmon Young grounded out to short to end the inning. Lee returned for one last inning in the bottom of the eighth. Ross whiffed and PU Drew flied out to center, but Iglesias singled. With the tying run on first, Ellsbury whiffed to end the inning. Lee was damn near unhittable for eight innings.
The Phills put the game away in the top of the 9th off Junichi Tazawa when Brown clobbered a home run to dead center to start the inning. Mayberry watched strike three go by and Galvis lined out to center, but Kratz singled. Revere singled but Michael Young struck out to end the inning. Now the score was 3-1 and all but over.
Guess who came in to close out the game? Old friend Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon had been 9 for 9 in save opportunities coming into this game. Gomes whiffed, Pedroia grounded out to third and Ortiz grounded out to short to end the game. Sweet revenge for Papelbon as the Phillies won it 3-1.
Jackass of the Night is David Ortiz. He was 0 for 4 and with the Sox needing just a run, he never delivered.
The Good:
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3.
Jose Iglesias was 1 for 3.
Ryan Dempster was the hard luck loser but didn't pitch like a loser. He went 7 strong innings and allowed just 2 runs.
Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless 8th.
The Bad:
Jonny Gomes was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
David Ross was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 3.
Junichi Tazawa gave up a huge insurance run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4 but stole a base and scored.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the Sox have trouble with a lefty although this time the lefty happens to be one of the best in the game when healthy. Dempster pitched very well, just came up a bit short. With the Sox traveling to Philadelphia tomorrow, the Sox are headed for interleague play and have to play National League ball for 2 games. Speculations are the Sox are thinking of bringing up an extra bat for pinch hitting purposes and demoting one of their pitchers. I'd bring up Jackie Bradley Jr and send down Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen with the way he's been struggling but we'll see what happens. As for this game, not much to say, Cliff Lee is damn good...not much you can do when he's on. The loss put the Sox at 32-21 but a loss by the New York Yankees tonight means the Red Sox are in first. John Lackey (3-4, 2.72 ERA) goes tomorrow against Kyle Kendrick at 7:05 PM at Citizens Bank Park.
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