Allen Webster finally got himself on track, striking out Jose Reyes to begin the top of the first. Jose Bautista flied out and Edwin Encarnarcion flied out to end the inning. Josh Johnson was equally tough in the bottom of the first, striking out Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorinio to begin the bottom of the first. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Adam Lind singled to lead off the top of the second who was erased on a fielder's choice. Rajai Davis grounded into a fielder's choice but stole second. JP Arencibia grounded out to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second. Mike Napoli drew a one out walk and Daniel Nava singled. Jarrod Saltalamacchia whiffed but PU Drew tripled home both runners. Jose Iglesias lied out to end the inning.
Webster stayed tough in the top of the third, working around a 2 out single to Reyes to retire the side in the top of the third. Doing well so far. The Sox got some more offense in the bottom of the third. Ellsbury singled and took second on a passed ball. Victorino struck out and Pedroia lined out. Jays manager John Gibbons called for an intentional walk to David Ortiz....big mistake. Napoli singled home Ellsbury to increase the lead 3-0. Nava singled but Ortiz was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Webster ran into a little bit of trouble in the top of the 4th. Encarnarcion worked a lead off walk but Lind struck out. Colby Rasmus hit a ground ball to PU Drew who chucked the ball into the third row. Davis grounded into another fielder's choice. With runners in scoring position, Webster got Arencibia out to end the inning, impressive.
The Sox tacked it on in the bottom of the 4th. Drew doubled with one out but pulled up lame and had to leave, replaced by Brandon Snyder making his season debut. Iglesias singled and stole second. Ellsbury singled home both runners to give the Sox a 5-0 lead. That was it for Johnson as Gibbons pulled him in favor of Aaron Loup. A bizarre play happened when Victorino struck out but Ellsbury was called out for interference to end the inning. Losing Drew was not what the Sox needed with Middlebrooks demoted and Snyder just called up.
Snyder moved to third and Iglesias to short. Toronto finally woke up in the top of the 5th. Izturis singled and Bonifacio walked. Reyes grounded out but moved both runners along. Bautista and Encarnarcion hit back to back run scoring singles and Adam Lind brought in Toronto's 3rd run with a sac fly, just like that. Rasmus flied out to end the inning, the jays had cut the lead 5-3. Pedroia and Ortiz singled to lead off the bottom of the 5th but Napoli flied out and Nava banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Jays used some small ball in the top of the 6th. Davis singled and stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sac fly by Izturis. Bonifacio grounded out to end Webster's day. All in all it wasn't a bad start, 6 solid innings with 4 runs allowed. Neil Wagner relieved Loup with one out in the bottom of the 6th, allowed a 2 out hit to Iglesias but got the next batter. The shaky Andrew Bailey took the mound in the top of the 7th. He touched 95 on the gun, striking out Reyes and Bautstia. Hopes were dashed when Encarnarcion smashed a 95 mph heater into the centerfield stands for a game tying home run. Rather than give him a chance to work out of it, Sox manager John Farrell pulled Bailey for Andrew Miller. Miller struck out Lind to end the inning but the game was tied.
Luckily the Sox were ready to pick up Bailey. Victorino singled and Pedroia singled him over to third to lead off the bottom of the 7th. Brett Cecil replaced Wagner and struck out Ortiz but a wild pitch moved both runners over. Napoli walked to load the bases and Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Nava. Gomes smashed a single that scored Victorino with the go-ahead run. Old friend Darren Oliver relieved Cecil and walked Saltalamacchia to give the Sox an insurance run, 7-5. With a chance to break open the game, Brandon Snyder struck out. Iglesias grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had the lead.
THE GOOD:
Hero of the Night is......*drumroll*......Jonny Gomes.
Gomes pinch hit for Nava and singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 7th. Other good guys include Jacoby Ellsbury who was 2 for 5 with a run scored and 2 rbi's. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with a run scored. Mike Napoli was 1 for 2 with a run scored, an rbi and two walks. Daniel Nava was 2 for 3 with a run scored. PU Drew was 2 for 2 with 2 rbi's before leaving with injury. Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Andrew Miller pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Koji Uehara picked up his 4th save of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.91.
THE BAD:
Andrew Bailey...again. He was doing great but made one mistake to Encarnarcion that tied the game at 5.
THE UGLY:
Shane Victorino was just 1 for 5 with a Hat Trick but scored the go-ahead run. David Ortiz was 1 for 4 with a walk. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 3 before drawing a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 7th. Brandon Snyder was 0 for 2 at the plate but scored a run after pinch-running for Drew. Allen Webster improved over his last 2 starts, tossing 6 innings and giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
The good news is the Sox won the game, bad news was Bailey is still having his problems and now Drew is hurt. The official reason is tightness in his hamstring which may not be a DL trip, but it would keep him out a few games. Even though he made a throwing error, Drew has played great in the field and losing him means Iglesias slides over, leaving Snyder at third base. Bailey struggling is really disconcerting because they need him to step up with other relievers beginning to show some arm wear. The drawback of having 5 guys who can't go 7 innings consistently taxes the bullpen tremendously. But, a win is a win. Its great to see Webster rebound to put out a decent outing and its nice to finally have a closer that doesn't walk anyone plus works quickly. The win puts the Sox to 49-33, starting the second half with a win and 3 1/2 games over the Dirty Birds. Tomorrow Felix Doubront goes up against Esmil Rogers.
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