Old friend Pedro Ciriaco got the start in tonight's game, he's been hitting .250 with a home run since he was traded last month. It's good to see Pedro keeping active in the majors rather than fumble about in the minors.
Shades of his last start, Lackey totally blew away the first two batters in the top of the first. He touched 95 on the radar gun before inducing a ground out by Carlos Quintin. Padres rookie Robbie Erlin was game but nibbled too much. The baserunning blunders of saturday's game were apparently not corrected as Dustin Pedroia worked a 2 out walk before being thrown out at home on a David Ortiz double. So much for the bottom of the first.
Chase Headley flied out and Lackey whiffed Kyle Blanks to begin the top of the second. Jesus Guzman doubled but Nick Hundley flied out to end the inning. Jonny Gomes stroked a one out single in the bottom of the second but Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Brandon Snyder flied out to end the inning. Old friend Pedro Ciriaco stroked a 1 out single and stole second on the Logan Forsythe strikeout. Chris Denorfia flied out to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the third when Jacoby Ellsbury singled and stole second with one out. Shane Victorino flied out to advance Ellsbury to third but Pedroia flied out to end the inning.
Blanks doubled with 2 out in the top of the 4th but Guzman struck out to end the inning. The Sox finally struck in the bottom of the 4th. Ortiz singled and Napoli walked. Gomes struck out but Saltalamacchia walked to load the bases. Brandon Snyder stepped in with a really long at bat, culminating in a wall ball double that cleared the bases. Snyder got greedy and was thrown out a third, but it was now 3-0 Boston.
Yerrrrrr out! 3-0 Sox
With Erlin's pitch count at 93, Padres manager Bud Black had seen enough and lifted the rookie in favor of Tim Stauffer. Iglesias and Ellsbury singled, meaning Snyder would have scored if he was a bit more patient. Victorino flied out to end the inning. Lackey ran into his only real trouble of the day in the top of the 5th. Hundley doubled and Alexi Amarista singled him to third. Ciriaco did the Sox a favor by hitting a grounder third, keeping Hundley there and getting Amarista out at second. Forsythe popped up but Ciriaco stole second. With runners on second and third, Pedroia made the defensive play of the game by jumping up to steal a base hit from Denorfia. The Sox ran into more outs when Pedroia walked then was thrown out 2 batters later trying to steal on a strike em out, throw em out double play by Napoli.
Lackey pitched a perfect top of the 6th and the Sox got some insurance in the bottom of the frame. Gomes doubled to left to lead off then 2 batters later Iglesias singled him home. Amazingly, the Sox ran into yet another out as Iglesias was thrown out at second trying to stretch.
Staked to a 4-0 lead, Lackey gave that insurance run right back when Jesus Guzman homered leading off the top of the 7th. Lackey recovered to get the next 3 outs, 7 innings of 1 run ball is nothing to sneeze at. Joe Thatcher pitched the bottom of the 7th where Pedroia walked and stole second with 2 out but was stranded when Ortiz popped up to left. Lackey returned for the top of the 8th and used an assortment of breaking pitches to get Forsythe to ground out. Denorfia walked but Quintin struck out. Headley gave one a right but was robbed on a good catch by Victorino to end the inning. Lackey had pitched 8 outstanding innings to give the depleted bullpen a much needed rest.
Dale Thayer pitched the bottom of the 8th and allowed a 2 out walk to Salty. Mike Carp pinch hit for Snyder but struck out. Jonathan Diaz took over at third base as Koji Uehara of the Orient Express took the mound looking for his 5th save. This time there would be no homers as struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced to get the save. The Sox had prevailed 4-1.
THE GOOD:
Hero of the Night is a no brainer. John Lackey continued to dominate by tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball, striking out 6 while scattering 6 hits and a single walk. He finally gets above .500 at 6-5 and lowers his ERA to 2.81.
Other do-gooders include Jacoby Ellsbury who was 2 for 4 with a stolen base, upping his average to .299. Dustin Pedroia worked 3 walks and stole a bag. David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Jonny Gomes was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked twice and scored a run. Brandon Snyder was the offensive hero, driving in 3 of the 4 runs. Jose Iglesias was 2 for 3 with an rbi, upping his batting average to .415, earning him AL rookie of the month honors for June. Koji Uehara bounced back from Saturday's failure to post his 5th save of the season.
THE BAD:
Shane Victorino was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Mike Carp pinch hit for Snyder and struck out.
THE UGLY:
Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 with 2 more strikeouts but walked and scored.
Final Thoughts:
So THIS is the John Lackey the Sox thought they were getting back in 2010. The one that won 19 games and was one of the top pitchers in the AL. Maybe he's finally turned the corner which would give the rotation a huge boost down the stretch. Its nice to once again see Snyder as the offensive hero because a team that wins a division or playoff berth needs contributions from everyone. The Sox have been cooking and its easy to see why: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Victorino and Iglesias are hot and Ortiz continues to drive them in. Every now and then Salty or Napoli pitches in and maybe someday PU Drew will as well. The win put the Sox at 51-34, 3 1/2 games in front of the Dirty Birds for the division lead. Tomorow night Jon Lester looks to get his second straight quality start as he goes up against Edison Volquez.
No comments:
Post a Comment