The Sox struck first in the top of the first although Jacoby Ellsbury led the game off with a ground out. Daniel Nava hit a ground ball to Brian Dozier who graciously threw it to a fan in the 1st row, allowing Nava to reach second. A ground out by Dustin Pedroia moved Nava to third and David Ortiz singled him home for a 1-0 lead. Will Middlebrooks grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had the lead.
Sox starter Clay Buchholz got the ball in the bottom of the first and retired Dozier grounded out to second. Chris Parmalee and Josh Willingham both froze on strike three to end the inning,
Twins starter Vance Worley settled down in the top of the second inning. Stephen "PU" Drew lined out to left and Jonny Gomes grounded out, but Mike Carp walked. Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning. Buchholz turned up the heat in the bottom of the second inning. Justin Morneau, Ryan Doumit and Oswaldo Arcia all whiffed to begin and end the inning.
Worley cruised in the top of the third inning, Ellsbury flied out but Nava walked....only for Pedroia to bang into a double play to end the inning, The Twins struck back in the bottom of the third. Trevor Plouffe doubled to right and a ground out by Aaron Hicks moved him over to third. This led to Pedro Florimon hitting his second homer of the year (both against Boston) to give the Twins a 2-1 lead just like that. Dozier flied out and Parmalee popped up to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Robin Hood's reaction to Florimon's home run.
The anti-clutchness continued in the top of the 4th. Ortiz singled to center but Middlebrooks flied out. PU Drew worked a walk but Gomes lined out and Mike Carp grounded out to end the threat. Buchholz played with fire in the bottom of the 4th but first he got Willingham to pop up. Morneau grounded out but both Doumit and Arcia worked back to back walks. Plouffe whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox threatened again in the top of the 5th when Saltalamacchia worked a leadoff single. Ellsbury flied out but Nava hit a single. Pedroia hit into another double play to end the inning, The Twins had a chance to break the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth. Hicks singled but Florimon popped up. Dozier walked and Parmalee singled to load the bases but Clay got a huge out by striking out Willingham. Morneau flied out to end the inning, good work Clay.
"Bases loaded and one out? No problem."
Ortiz continued his hot streak by singling to lead off the 6th but Middlebrooks hit into a double play to end that threat. PU Drew flied out to end the inning. Vance Whorley had been one of the worst starters in the American League thus far in the season but had just pitched 6 innings of 1 (unearned) run ball. Luckily Buchholz kept them in the game in the bottom of the sixth. Doumit struck out, Arcia grounded out and Plouffe lined out to end the inning,
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the 7th which must have made Whorley want to jump into the lake. Brian Duensing took over for Whorley and walked Jonny Gomes. Carp struck out looking but Saltalamacchia singled. Ellsbury then singled off the glove of Florimon to score Gomes with the tying run. Nava struck out but Ellsbury stole second. With runners on second and third, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire brought in Casey Fien. Pedroia had a chance to give the Sox the lead but he popped up...causing him to go nuts in the dugout.
Pedroia un-clutch? Say it ain't so!
Buchholz came back for the bottom of the 7th and cruised. Hicks tried to reach on a bunt but Buchholz gobbled it up and threw him out. Florimon grounded out and Clay whiffed Dozier to end the inning. He had gone 7 innings and gave up the one mistake to Florimon, but left tied.
Jared Burton relieved Fien in the top of the eighth inning, Ortiz and Middlebrooks grounded out but PU Drew doubled and Gomes worked a walk. Mike Carp struck out to end the threat. More bawfulness with runners in scoring position. Andrew Miller relieved Buchholz and continued to pitch well. Parmalee watched strike three go by, Willingham flied out and Morneau struck out to end the inning.
Twins closer Glen Perkins got the ball in the top of the ninth. Saltalamacchia whiffed, Ellsbury grounded out and Nava struck out to end the inning. Could the Sox send the game into extras in the bottom of the ninth? Miller got Doumit to ground out and whiffed Arcia. That was it for Miller as rookie Alex "Mr." Wilson came in to retire Plouffe to end the inning.
Twins skipper Gardenhire felt that he needed to save Perkins for another day so he sent Josh Roenicke to the mound in the top of the 10th. Pedroia atoned for his bawfulness by lashing a single. Smoking hot Ortiz worked a walk to put the go-ahead run on second base. Pedro Ciriaco pinch ran for Ortiz and advanced to second (Pedroia to third) on the picture perfect sacrifice bunt by last night's hero Will Middlebrooks. PU Drew was intentionally walked (what is Gardenhire smoking?) to load the bases for....Jonny Gomes. Normally this would mean strike 3 but not tonight. Gomes did basically all he had to do which was hit a ball to the outfield, right to centerfielder Aaron Hicks. This allowed Pedroia to score the go-ahead run and give the Sox the lead. Carp grounded out but the Sox now led 3-2.
Now Red Sox manager John Farrell had a decision to make. He had already used one half of the Orient Express, Junichi "Taz" Tazawa the night before for 2 innings. He could go back to his closer or he could go with someone else. He chose to go with the other half of the Express, Koji Uehara to finish off the 10th. Uehara got Hicks to fly out and stuck out Florimon. Wilkin Ramirez pinch hit for Dozier and Uehara struck him out to end the game. The Sox had come from behind to win 3-2.
Hero of the night is a tough one this time. It could be the relief pitching that didn't allow a single baserunner the final 3 innings or the herculean effort of David Ortiz. Still, I'm gonna go with Jonnny Gomes. He hit the game winning sac fly in the 10th.
The Good:
Daniel Nava was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
David Ortiz was 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Stephen Drew was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4.
Clay Buchholz pitched great, tossing 7 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 9.
Andrew Miller struck out 3 of the 5 men he retired.
Alex Wilson earned his first major league win by retiring the last man of the 9th.
Koji Uehara earned his first save by retiring the side in the bottom of the 10th
THE BAD:
Mike Carp was 0 for 4 and all 4 outs were rally killing.
THE UGLY:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 5 but drove in the first run.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but scored the winning run.
Normally Will Middlebrooks would be on the bad list by going 0 for 4 but one of the outs was a crucial sacrifice bunt in the top of the 10th which led to the game winning sac fly.
Honorable Mention:
Pedro Ciriaco ran for David Ortiz in the top of the 10th inning.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox continue to have offensive woes but are beginning to get it done in the clutch. Still, more clutch hits would mean a lot more runs which would take the pressure off the pitching staff. It was another gutty win and yet another comeback win. A win is a win and it puts the Sox at 25-17, 1 game behind the Yankees for the AL East lead. This year's team was never expected to contend but halfway through May they're still in contention. An honorable mention goes to Alex Wilson the 26 year old reliever who got his first win and lowered his ERA to 1.46 in the process. Tomorrow, the Sox hope Ryan Dempster can keep the winning streak going opposite old nemesis Scott Diamond in Game 2 of this series at Target Field at 7:05 PM.
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