Sox rookie Allen Webster took the ball in the top of the first. Logan Forsythe lined out but Will Venable walked. Webster struck out Carlos Quintin then escaped the inning when Chase Headley flied out. The Sox quickly pounced on Padres starter Eric Stults in the bottom of the first. Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Shane Victorino doubled him to third. Dustin Pedroia cleared the bases with a double to make it 2-0. David Ortiz grounded Pedroia to third but Mike Napoli killed the rally by smashing a liner to Stults who flipped to third. Double play, rally over, inning over.
Jesus Guzman singled to begin the top of the 2nd. Old friend Mark Kotsay flied out, Nick Hundley flied out and Alexi Amarista grounded out to end the inning. Jonny Gomes popped up to lead off the bottom of the 2nd. Brandon Snyder stepped to the plate and belted a solo home run to right to make it 3-0. Ryan Lavarnway grounded out and Jose Iglesias flied out to end the inning.
The Padres got that run right back in the top of the third. Pedro Ciriaco walked, Logan Forsythe was hit by a pitch and Will Venable singled to load the bases. Carlos Quintin flied out to left which was too shallow to score a run. Chase Headley hit a ball far enough and scored Ciriaco with a sac fly, but the good news was there were 2 outs. Guzman walked to re-load the bases but Kotsay grounded out to end the inning, thanks old pal! Victorino singled with one out in the bottom of the third but nothing else happened.
Webster pitched a clean top of the 4th inning and the Sox struck again in the bottom of the inning. Napoli singled but Gomes and Snyder flied out. Lavarnway singled and Jose Iglesias knocked in Napoli with a ground rule double to make it 4-1. Ellsbury was hit with a pitch to load the bases but Victorino flied out to end the inning.
Once again the Padres got that run right back in the top of the 5th. Forsythe struck out but Venable doubled. Quintin struck out but Headley walked. Guzman singled home Venable but Kotsay killed another rally by flying out. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the 5th. Pedroia singled and Ortiz flied out, chasing Stults from the game. Tyson Ross relieved Stults and Pedroia was nabbed at second trying to steal. Napoli hit a ground rule double and Gomes singled to make it 5-2. Snyder struck out to end the inning.
Amarista singled with one out in the top of the 6th and Ciriaco helped the Sox by lining into a double play to end the inning. Webster finishes his day with just 2 runs allowed in 6 innings, good for him.
The Sox poured it on in the bottom of the 6th. Lavarnway singled and Iglesias bunted his way on. Ellsbury singled to load the bases...but Lavarnway was out at home on the force by Victorino. Pedroia popped up and it looked like they were going to waste a bases loaded nobody out situation..."Not so fast!" said David Ortiz. A single by the DH scored Ellsbury and Iglesias to give the Sox a commanding 7-2 lead. Burch Smith replaced Ross and got Napoli to fly out to end the inning.
Andrew Bailey got the ball for the top of the 7th and this time there were no hiccups, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Burch Smith worked around a ground rule double by Gomes to retire the side in the bottom of the 7th. Alex Wilson took over for Bailey in the top of the 8th as Daniel Nava took over for Victorino in right. Headley struck out but Guzman doubled. Kotsay grounded out but Hundley walked. With 2 men on, Wilson got out of it by getting Amarista to ground out to end the inning. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 8th with....a home run? Yes, it happened! Nava grounded out then Jonathan Diaz hit for Pedroia and flied out. Ortiz doubled but Napoli grounded out to end the inning.
Wilson came back for the top of the 9th and got Ciriaco to pop up. For some reason Farrell pulled Wilson for Craig Breslow with a 6 run lead. Forsythe doubled but Craig got the next 2 outs to end the game with the Sox winning 8-2.
THE GOOD:
Hero of the night is a tough one. Everyone pitched in on offense and the pitching was great. Still, with how he's been pitching lately, got to go with Allen Webster. Webster mixed 5 hits with 4 walks but only 2 runs allowed and 4 strikeouts in 6 innings of work. Allen improved to 1-2, earning his first major league win and lowering his ERA to 7.88.
Other babyfaces include virtually the entire team. Jacoby Ellsbury was 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored, a home run and a hit by pitch. After hitting .250 for the first couple of months, he's now hitting .303. Shane Victorino was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis. David Ortiz was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis. Mike Napoli was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Jonny Gomes was 2 for 4 with an rbi, upping his average to .237. Ryan Lavarnway was 2 for 4 and Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with an rbi and run scored. Jose is still hitting .411. Andrew Bailey rebounded to pitch a scoreless 7th. Alex Wilson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless while Craig Breslow escaped the top of the 9th without a run allowed.
THE BAD:
Daniel Nava and Jonathan Diaz both failed to reach in their only at-bats.
THE UGLY:
Brandon Snyder was just 1 for 4 but made the one hit count, hitting his first home run of the season.
Final Thoughts:
18 hits by the Boston offense is typical for the 4th of July fireworks. The team appears to be rolling with quality starts all week including Webster's today. The offense is clicking and the defense has been solid with Iglesias patrolling the infield. The team improved to 8-1 on the homestand and have won 4 in a row. The Dirty Birds lost as well so the Sox improve to 53-34, 4.5 games in front. The Dirty Birds play the Yankees the next 3 games so if the Sox can win the next 3 in a row, they'll gain ground on both or at least 1 if there's a sweep. The Sox head for the west coast and us fans eastside now have to deal with the agonizing 10 PM starts. Felix Doubront goes up against Angels ace CJ Wilson tomorrow night in game 1.
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