Before game 2 it was learned that David Ross was placed on the 7 day concussion DL and Clay Buchholz was placed on the normal 15 day DL. What this meant was the Sox called up Ryan Lavarnway and Alex Wilson from Pawtucket. It also means unless Jon Lester gets his head out of his ass, the Sox are screwed.
Desmond Jennings opened the game with a single in the top of the first but Sean Rodriguez flied out. Ben Zobrist flied out but a wild pitch moved Jennings to second. Doubront struck out Longoria to end the inning. Rays starter Jake Ordozzi got Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out and Shane Victorino to fly out. Dustin Pedroia popped up to end the inning. Yunel Escobar flied out to begin the top of the second before Will Myers got his first major league hit. The Sox botched a double play when 1st basement Daniel Nava touched first on the force to Luke Scott but threw wide of second, allowing Myers to reach second. Jose Lobaton struck out to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second. David Ortiz lined out to begin the bottom of the second but Daniel Nava swatted his 10th homer of the year to give the Sox a 1-0 lead.
1-0 Boston thanks to Nava
Jonny Gomes struck out and Jarrod Saltalamacchia flied out to end the inning. Kelly Johnson singled to lead off the top of the third but Jennings flied out. Rodriguez then grounded into a double play to end the inning. PU Drew flied out to begin the bottom of the third then Jose Iglesias and Ellsbury both flied out to end the inning.
Felix began to dominate from here on. Zobrist and Longoria grounded out and Escobar flied out. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the third when Pedroia and Ortiz hit back to back one out singles but Nava and Gomes flied out. Doubront struck out Myers to begin the top of the 5th, got Scott to fly out and struck out Jose Lobaton to end the inning. Doubront had gotten through 5 without walking anyone, talk about progress. The Sox continued their incompetence with men on base in the bottom of the 5th. Drew doubled with one out and Iglesias singled him to third....but Ellsbury hit into a double play to end the inning.
Could Doubront continue this hot streak or fall apart and walk everyone like Dice K would have? A groundout to Johnson, a fly out by Jennings and a Rodriguez pop up answered that question. Looks like Doubront is finally going 7. Some offense would help though. They wouldn't get it, Joe Maddon lifted Odorizzi with 2 outs for Alex Torres who allowed a double to Ortiz but Nava grounded out to end the inning.
Doubront got Zobrist and Longoria to fly out then struck out Escobar to retire the side. 7 innings, no runs, no walks....he's going 8 folks. Torres worked around a Salty walk to retire the side in the bottom of the 7th. Could Doubront keep up the momentum? Getting Myers to fly out on the first pitch of the top of the 8th helped. Scott struck out and Matt Joyce hit for Lobaton....and popped up. At 93 pitches, Doubront could...and should...go the distance. Pedroia worked a 2 out walk but retired the side. 2 1/2 scoreless innings for Torres, total hot streak.
Now, would John Farrell keep Doubront with just 93 pitches or go to his struggling closer Andrew Bailey to pitch the 9th? Farrell went with Bailey. 2 pitches to Kelly Johnson later......BANG! Tie game.
Bailey got the next two outs, walked Zobrist and got Longoria to ground into a force. It wasn't fair for Doubront, he pitched his best game of his career and had nothing to show for it. Luckily his team picked him up in the bottom of the 9th. Joel Peralta relieved Torres and walked Nava. Jonny Gomes stepped in and......BANG! Game over, Sox win 3-1
THE GOOD:
Tonight there are Co-Heroes of the Night. The first was the obvious choice. Jonny Gomes hit the walkoff home run to win the game.
The second is Felix Doubront. 8 innings, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts, no runs and NO walks. He was outstanding.
Other good guys include Daniel Nava who clobbered the first home run and scored the winning run after drawing a walk in the bottom of the 9th inning. Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk. David Ortiz was 2 for 4. PU Drew and Jose Iglesias were both 1 for 3.
THE BAD:
For one of the few times all year, the winning pitcher is on the bad list. Andrew Bailey served up the home run to Kelly Johnson which cost Felix Doubront a much deserved win. He's now 3-0 with a 3.22 ERA, not good for a closer. Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino were a combined 0 for 8. John Farrell should go on here too for taking out Doubront at only 93 pitches.
THE UGLY:
Only one name on this list. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 2 but drew a walk.
Final Thoughts:
With Buchholz going on the DL, this is the kind of effort the Sox need out of Doubront until Clay comes back (if ever). I also like how the Sox picked themselves up after blowing the lead. Also, the Sox are now 30-5 when scoring first. It's encouraging to know more often than not that when the team scores first, they usually win. Still, its not so encouraging when the team only scores 1 run off a struggling starter. Hopefully the offense picks it up tomorrow when Ryan Dempster looks for the series sweep against another struggling starter, Jeremy Hellickson. The win moves the Sox to 44-29, 2 1/2 games in front of Baltimore.
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