The bad news was the Boston Bruins lost in triple overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the good news was the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays. One day after the Red Sox supposed ace lays an egg, the guy a lot of people doesn't even want pitches a gem to propel the Red Sox to victory over the Rays. Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves stepped up big time. Jose De La Torre saved the bullpen for tonight and he was demoted in favor of Aceves for tonight's game.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second when Mike Napoli struck out, Mike Carp flied out and Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out. Vulture ran into trouble in the bottom of the second when Evan Longoria worked a lead-off walk. James Loney flied out but Desmond Jennings also walked. Luke Scott flied out but Jose Lobaton walked to load the bases. Vulture escaped the jam by getting Yunel Escobar to ground out.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third. Will Middlebrooks and PU Drew opened the top of the third. Ellsbury singled and stole second then advanced to third on the bad thrown by Lobaton. Nava then continued to make his case for the all-star team by swatting his 9th home run of the season to give the Sox a 2 run lead.
Pedroia singled and Ortiz walked but Napoli ended the rally by striking out. Matt Joyce walked and Sox killer Ben Zobrist singled. Vulture worked out of it by striking out Kelly Johnson and getting Longoria to bang into a double play to end the threat.
Carp singled to lead off the 4th but Salty struck out. Middlebrooks walked but Drew struck out. Ellsbury walked to load the bases but Nava struck out to end the threat. Archer had thrown 103 pitches in 4 innings but had struck out 7. Aceves responded by retiring the side in order.
Kyle Farnsworth relieved Archer in the top of the 5th and got the first two outs before Napoli walked. Mike then shocked the whole world by stealing second base. Carp flied out, mostly in shock that Napoli stole.
Moved by Napoli's effort, Aceves continued to pitch shut out ball in the bottom of the 5th. Escobar singled with one out but was thrown at second trying to stretch a double. Joyce doubled but Zobrist flied out to end the inning.
Farnsworth got the first two outs in the top of the 6th and Rays manager pulled Kyle for Jamie Wright. Drew popped up to end the inning. Aceves began the bottom of the 6th by getting Johnson to strike out. Longoria then broke up the shut out with a home run but Aceves finished his night by getting the next 2 outs. Thanks to the 14 inning marathon, Aceves was brought in to save the rotation and unlike Jon Lester, he did.
Ellsbury struck out to begin the top of the 7th and Joe Maddon lifted Wright for Jake McGee. McGee punched out Nava and got Pedroia to fly out. The Sox bullpen took over as Junichi Tazawa pitched the bottom of the 7th by striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Joel Peralta relieved McGee and worked around a 2 out single by Carp (Victorino ran for him) to retire the side. Nava took over in left and Victorino took over in right. Craig Breslow took over for Tazawa and struck out two of the 3 batters he faced. He allowed a double to Johnson and Sox manager John Farrell pulled Craig for Koji Uehara. Uehara struck out Longoria to end the inning.
Alex Torres pitched the top of the 9th and struck out Middlebrooks before retiring the next two batters. Sox batters have struck out 11 times. On the flip side, the Rays ended up striking out 10 times themselves. Andrew Bailey came on, looking to put his failure 2 days ago behind him. Loney hit a leadoff single and Sam Fuld ran for him. Desmond Jennings flied out and Scott struck out. Fuld stole second but Lobaton struck out to end the game. The Sox had prevailed 2-1.
THE GOOD:
Hero of the night is the unlikely Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves. He scattered 4 hits and 4 walks for 6 innings of 1 run ball. His only mistake was the homer by Longoria and he struck out 3. He improved to 3-1 on the season.
Other do-gooders include Jacoby Ellsbury who was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 steals and a run scored. Daniel Nava hit the 2 run home run that ultimately won the game. Mike Carp was 2 for 4 before being pinch ran by Victorino. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless inning by striking out 2. Koji Uehara struck out the one batter he faced. Craig Breslow got the first two outs of the inning.Andrew Bailey struck out 2 out of the 4 batters he faced to earn his 7th save of the year.
THE BAD:
Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Jarrod Saltalamachia was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
THE UGLY:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
THE UGLY:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
The offense sputtered again but luckily the recharged bullpen and Aceves was up to the task. 4 shut out innings by the Orient Express, Bailey and Breslow was just what the doctor ordered. The win moved the Sox to 41-26, 3 games in front of the Yankees who lost to Oakland again. The Sox have won yet another series and are now 2-1 on the road trip. They travel to Baltimore tomorrow with Felix Doubront going.
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