As for the game, another close loss for the Red Sox. The Philadelphia Phillies may be a .500 team without Roy Halladay but they aren't about to roll over and die as the Sox found out. They're getting timely pitching and some big long balls. John Lackey (3-5, 2.96 ERA) served up 3 gopher balls in 6 innings of work. The Sox were held to just 2 runs by Kyle Kendrick and the normally reliable Koji Uehara served up a bomb to Dominic Brown. The Sox rallied in the ninth but ultimately fell 4-3 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Sox struck first in the top of the first inning against Kendrick as Jacoby Ellsbury tripled to lead off the first although Daniel Nava began his up and down night by flying out without scoring Jacoby. Dustin Pedroia hit a ball further than Nava did to center which managed to score Ellsbury. Mike Napoli (starting over David Ortiz) singled to left but Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded out to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Lackey cruised in the bottom of the first as he got Ben Revere to ground out to short to start. Kevin Frandsen grounded out to second and Jimmy Rollins whiffed to end the inning.
Kendrick cruised in the top of the second as Mike Carp grounded out to short to start. Stephen "PU" Drew grounded out to second before Jose Iglesias whiffed to end the inning. The Phillies struck back in the bottom of the second as Ryan Howard slaughtered a 900 foot home run to tie the game. Delmon Young singled to center but was erased on the Domonic Brown force. Eric Kratz flied out to right but Brown stole second. Luckily Freddy Galvis grounded out to end the threat, but the Phillies tied it 1-1.
The Sox shot themselves in the foot in the top of the third although Lackey himself grounded out to third to start. Ellsbury flied out to left but Nava walked before moving to third on the Pedroia. On a blown hit and run, Napoli swung and missed and Pedroia was gunned down at second to end the threat with the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Kendrick grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Revere grounded out to second. Fransden singled and stole second before Rollins walked. Lackey caught Howard looking for strike three to end the inning.
Kendrick cruised in the top of the fourth as Napoli lined out to left to begin. Saltalamacchia whiffed and Carp grounded out to first to end the inning. The Phillies took control in the bottom of the 4th although Young grounded back to the mound to begin. Brown hit his 3rd home run of the series to give Philly the lead before Kratz hit a 413 foot bomb to center to extend the lead. Galvis whiffed but Kendrick himself beat out an infield single to third. Revere grounded out to first to end the inning but the Phillies led 3-1.
PU Drew walked to begin the top of the fifth but Iglesias whiffed. Lackey dropped down a bunt to move Drew to second but Ellsbury flied out to right to end the inning. Lackey cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Frandsen whiffed to start. Rollins flied out to right and Howard whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the 6th when Nava led off with a home run. Pedroia beat out a booted ball by Ryan Howard and advanced to second on a Napoli walk. Unfortunately there would be no small ball as Saltalamacchia lined out rather than bunt. Sure enough, Mike Carp hit into a double play to end the threat with the Sox down 3-2.
Young led off the bottom of the 6th with a walk and pinch runner John Mayberry Jr stole second, the third stolen base of the night. Mayberry took third on the grounder by Brown before Kratz walked. Galvis banged into a double play to end the inning and Lackey's night. He served up 3 gopher balls but lasted 6 innings, trailing 3-2.
Antonio Bastardo took over for Kendrick in the top of the seventh and PU Drew whiffed to start. Iglesias doubled to left and Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Lackey only to be plunked. Ellsbury too strike three and Nava grounded into a force to end the inning. Andrew Miller came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh with Gomes taking over for Carp. Cesar Hernandez pinch hit for Bastardo and flied out to center to begin. Revere singled and stole Philly's 4th base of the night before Frandsen walked. Rollins walked to load the bases but Miller punched out Howard. That was it for Miller as Koji Uehara got Mayberry to pop up to short to end the inning.
Mike Adams came in to pitch the top of the eighth and cruised. Pedroia flied out to right before Napoli and Saltalamacchia both were caught looking to end the inning. The pain in the ass Brown led off the bottom of the 8th with his second home run of the night and 4th in the last 3 games. Kratz flied out to left, Galvis whiffed and Hernandez grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 4-2 Phillies.
Unlike the previous night, Jonathan Papelbon was mortal in the top of the 9th. Jackie Bradley Jr pinch hit for Uehara and did what he normally did, strike out. PU Drew worked a walk and David Ortiz pinch hit for Iglesias. Ortiz flied out but Gomes kept the Sox alive with a base hit. Ellsbury then lofted a fly ball that Brown misplayed and it turned into a double that scored Drew to make it 4-3. How big was the home run by Brown off Uehara now? With the go-ahead run at second base, all Nava needed was a base hit, especially with Papelbon on the ropes. Instead, Nava swung at the first pitch and grounded out to end the game. The Phillies held on to win 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and allowed 4 stolen bases to 4 different men.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Mike Napoli was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Stephen Drew walked twice and scored a run.
Jose Iglesias was 1 for 3.
Jonny Gomes was 1 for 1 with a hit by pitch.
The Bad:
Mike Carp was 0 for 3.
Jackie Bradley Jr struck out as a pinch hitter.
David Ortiz was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Daniel Nava was just 1 for 4 but walked and the one hit was a home run.
John Lackey took the loss by serving up 3 home run balls but didn't pitch that bad, allowing just 3 runs in 6 innings of work. He was 0 for 1 at the plate too.
Final Thoughts:
It was nice to see the Sox battle back in the 9th but Nava swinging at the first pitch was just bawful. Its one of those situations where you want to throw the TV out the window because they had Papelbon on the run and he was in danger of blowing his first save of the year. Its nice to see Jackie Bradley and Jose Iglesias on the big club, Iglesias is already playing solid defense and his getting his hits, it would be great for Bradley to step up until Victorino comes back as well. Sox manager John Farrell is pushing Clay Buchholz back so he could have both Jon Lester and Clay ready for the New York Yankees. If the Sox can win tomorrow, they'll go into that series in first place. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-22, 1 game in front of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox wrap up the 4 game series against Philly with Franklin Morales making his season debut taking on Jonathan Pettibone at 7:05 PM at Citizens Bank Park.
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