As for the game, once again the Red Sox looked like they were sleepwalking through another game. Once the Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the eighth, all hope looked lost. Suddenly the Sox rallied in the bottom of the eighth. Who else but David Ortiz hit the 3 run shot off reliever Neil Cotts to put the Sox ahead. Koji Uehara slammed the door in the ninth inning and the Sox stole one against the Texas Rangers 4-2 at Fenway Park.
Jake Peavy got the start for the Red Sox and Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch of the game over the head of Jackie Bradley Jr for a double to start. Elvis Andrus hit a grounder to Napoli but Choo didn't run to third. That was a huge mistake as Prince Fielder grounded out to second and Choo went to third. Alex Rios walked and stole second but Mitch Moreland struck out swinging to end the inning. Robbie Ross Jr got the start for Texas and Jonny Gomes grounded out to third to start. Dustin Pedroia also grounded out to third and David Ortiz was retired on a dribbler in front of the plate to end the inning.
Peavy cruised in the top of the second inning as Donnie Murphy struck out swinging on a nasty changeup to start. Leonys Martin popped up to left and Robinson Chirinos took strike three to end the inning. Mike Napoli and Xander Bogaerts drew back to back walks to start the bottom of the second but Daniel Nava took strike three. Ryan Roberts banged into a double play to end the inning.
Josh Wilson struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Choo walked. David Ross threw out Choo trying to steal and Andrus grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third as Ross hit one up the elevator shaft to start. JBJ and Gomes both walked and Pedroia hit a dribbler in front of the plate. Ross Jr threw the ball away allowing JBJ to score and Pedroia to take second. Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning but it was 1-0 Sox.
Peavy turned up the heat in the top of the fourth as Fielder, Rios and Moreland all struck out swinging in short order. Napoli grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth but Bogaerts walked. Nava was called out on strike three and Bogaerts overslid the bag on a steal attempt for a double play to end the inning.
Murphy popped up to Pedroia to start the top of the fifth but Martin hit a routine grounder to third. Roberts threw the ball wide of first for a "single". Chirinos popped up to Roberts in foul territory and Wilson popped up to second to end the inning
Choo walked to start the top of the sixth and moved to second on the swinging bunt by Andrus. Fielder moved Choo to third with a grounder but Rios flied out to third to end the inning. Pedroia began the bottom of the sixth by striking out swinging before Ortiz doubled off the garage door in center. That was it for Ross Jr as Alexi Ogando came in to pitch. Napoli popped up to short on the first pitch and Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
The Rangers finally tagged Peavy in the top of the seventh when Moreland hit a home run all the way to Santo Domingo to tie the game. Murphy grounded out to short and Martin went down hacking. Chirinos walked and that was it for Peavy after 109 pitches. He made one mistake to Moreland but was outstanding otherwise. Kevin Kouzmanoff pinch hit for Wilson and Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch. Kouzmanoff singled to right but Choo flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Nava took strike three to start. Mike Carp pinch hit for Roberts and also took strike three. Ross whiffed to end the inning.
Jonathan Herrera took over at third with Andrew Miller on the mound for the top of the eighth. Andrus doubled into the right field corner to start and moved to third on the grounder by Fielder. Rios hit a fly ball to JBJ with Andrus and Jackie fired home...safe! Andrus scored and the Rangers took the lead.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the eighth as JBJ walked to start. AJ Pierzynski pinch hit for Gomes and dumped a base hit down the right field line. Grady Sizemore pinch ran for Pierzynski and was erased by the Pedroia force. Neal Cotts came in to pitch to Ortiz and Big Papi swatted a 3 run bomb just over the Pesky Pole to give the Sox the lead. Rangers manager Ron Washington wanted the call reviewed and when the umpires looked at the tape, nobody had any clue where the ball landed so it was upheld. Napoli whiffed and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox led 4-2.
Koji Uehara came in to pitch the top of the ninth with Sizemore now in to center, Nava now in left and JBJ in right. Murphy grounded back to Koji to start and Martin whiffed. Jim Adduci pinch hit for Chirinos and popped up to Herrera in foul territory to end the game. The Sox had stole one 4-2.
Hero of the Night is David Ortiz. His 3 run home run was the difference in the game.
The Good:
AJ Pierzynski singled as a pinch hitter.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked 3 times and scored 2 runs.
Jake Peavy deserved the win by going 6 2/3 innings while allowing just the home run to Moreland. He struck out 8 batters.
Junichi Tazawa retired the final batter of the seventh inning.
Koji Uehara got the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Daniel Nava was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts.
Ryan Roberts was 0 for 2.
Mike Carp struck out as a pinch hitter.
David Ross was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Andrew Miller vultured the win by allowing a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Jonny Gomes was 0 for 2 but walked.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 and got caught stealing but walked twice.
Honorable Mention:
Grady Sizemore pinch ran for Pierzynski in the bottom of the eighth.
Jonathan Herrera played third base in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
That was a good comeback win but it would be nice for the offense to not fall asleep for seven innings day after day. Jake Peavy pitched his ass off but has nothing to show for it because the bats were quiet for most of the game. The Ortiz homer bailed out another bad offensive performance and something's not right with this team. They hit into more double plays than they score runs it seems. Losing Jacoby Ellsbury severely impacted team speed but who would have thought it would be this bad? Still, a win is a win even if its better late than never. Ortiz has been bailing out the Sox for 11 years now and they're gonna miss him when he's gone. As mentioned earlier, Craig Breslow has been activated so they have the trio that got them to the World Series last year back. The Sox now travel to the Bronx for a set with the New York Yankees. Clay Buchholz takes the mound for the Sox opposite Michael Pineda of the Yan kees. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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