The Boston Red Sox ineptitude
ended briefly in front of their own crowd at the 100th Anniversary of
Fenway Park. 100 years ago the Sox were the best team in the American
League and this year they looked like one of the worst, falling to
1-5 on the year. Not today....today they looked like worldbeaters,
pounding the Tampa Bay Rays and their ace David Price. The Sox knocked Price out after the third inning and used a massive 8 run rally in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away. Josh Beckett (1-1, 5.68 ERA) looked like himself for the first time since last August. He tossed 8 outstanding innings and allowed just 1 run. The only bad news was the loss of Jacoby Ellsbury to a shoulder injury in the fourth inning. Apart from that, everything came up Red Sox as they beat the Rays 12-2 at Fenway Park.
Beckett got the ball in the top of the first inning and Desmond Jennings flied out to a running Darnell McDonald to start. Old friend Carlos Pena doubled just over the head of McDonald off the Monster but Evan Longoria popped up to left. Matt Joyce flied out to center to end the inning. David Price got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a grounder to third. Dustin Pedroia popped up to shallow left and Adrian Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Beckett got tagged in the top of the second as Ben Zobrist grounded a base hit up the middle to start. Jeff Keppinger hit a grounder just out of the reach of Youkilis that turned into a double to score Zobrist. The Sox have trailed in all seven games to start the season. Keppinger moved to third on the grounder to second by Steven Vogt but was stranded when Jose Molina grounded out to Aviles. Reid Brignac grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 1-0 Rays.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the first as Kevin Youkilis ripped a base hit to center to begin. David Ortiz walked but both Darnell McDonald and Cody Ross watched strike three go by. Mike Aviles grounded out to second to end the inning.
Beckett cruised in the top of the third inning as Jennings flied out to right to start. Pena grounded out to first and Longoria grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox busted through in the bottom of the third inning as Kelly Shoppach was hit with a pitch to start. Ellsbury blooped a double down the left field line and Pedroia walked to load the bases. Gonzalez slapped a base hit in the hole at third to score Shoppach with the tying run. Youkilis hit a sac fly to right to score Ellsbury to put the Sox ahead and move Pedroia to third. Ortiz accidentally hit a swinging bunt to third to score Pedroia with another run. McDonald drew a walk but Ross grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
Beckett kept the lead in the top of the fourth as Ross made a great diving catch to rob Joyce of a hit to start. Zobrist drew a walk but Keppinger flied out to center. Vogt grounded out to first to end the inning. Burke Bandenhop came in to pitch the bottom of the fourth when tragedy struck. Aviles grounded out to short but Shoppach doubled to center. Ellsbury dropped a base hit to right to score Shoppach but was injured on a double play ball hit by Pedroia to end the inning. Brignac landed on Ellsbury's shoulder and he had to be hauled off on a gurney and headed to Mass General's ICU with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Molina popped up to first to start the top of the fifth with Ryan Sweeney now in for Ellsbury in right with Ross moving to center. Brignac flied out to center and Jennings grounded out to second to end the inning. Wade Davis came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Gonzalez flied out to right to start. Youkilis grounded out to third and Ortiz grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pena flied out to the centerfield warning track to start the top of the sixth before Longoria also flied out to deep center. Joyce ripped a base hit over the head of Aviles but Zobrist grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the sixth as McDonald flied out to right to start. Ross grounded out to third but Aviles reached on an error when Pena bobbled a throw from short. Shoppach hit a seeing eye single into right to move Aviles to third. Shoppach did a belly flop onto second base for a stolen base but Sweeney popped up to Brignac to end the inning.
Keppinger popped up to first to start the top of the seventh before Vogt popped up to left. Molina lined a base hit to left and Luke Scott pinch hit for Brignac. Scott flied out to a running McDonald in front of the Monster to end the inning. Elliot Johnson came in to play short for the bottom of the seventh and Pedroia went down hacking to start. Gonzalez squeezed a base hit just inside the first base bag but Youkilis struck out swinging. Ortiz went down hacking to end the inning.
Beckett returned for one final inning in the top of the eighth and McDonald made a great sliding catch to rob Jennings of a hit to begin. Beckett struck out Pena swinging on a nasty curve and Longoria grounded out to first to end the inning. That was it for Beckett who was masterful, holding the Rays to one lone run in 8 innings of work.
Beckett gets it done
The Sox exploded in the bottom of the eighth with Joel Peralta now on the mound as McDonald doubled off the Monster to start. McDonald took third on a wild pitch as Ross walked to put runners at the corners. Aviles walked to load the bases and Shoppach doubled into the left field corner to score McDonald and Ross. That was it for Peralta as Josh Lueke came on in relief. Sweeney then blooped a single in a right that scored Aviles and Shoppach to increase the lead. A husting Pedroia beat out a grounder with a head first slide into first then Gonzalez blooped a single to left to load the bases. Youkilis ripped a base hit to center to score Sweeney and Pedroia and Ortiz doubled to the left field wall to score Gonzalez to add to the lead. McDonald walked and Ross wrapped up the scoring with a sac fly to center to score Youkilis. Aviles singled in the hole at second to load the bases but Shoppach popped up to short. Sweeney flied out to left to end the inning but the Sox put eight runs on the board to lead 12-1.
Mark Melancon had mop up duty in the top of the ninth and Joyce flied out to center to start. Zobrist hit a home run all the way to Argentina to cut the lead but Keppinger grounded out to first. Vogt took strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 12-2.
Hero of the Night is Josh Beckett. He shut down the Rays for 8 innings and held them to just a single run.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored before leaving.
Ryan Sweeney was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Adrian Gonzalez was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 4 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 rbis.
Darnell McDonald was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Kelly Shoppach was 3 for 4 with a hit by pitch, 2 rbis and 3 runs scored.
The Bad:
Mark Melancon allowed a run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and drove in 2 runs.
Cody Ross was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Mike Aviles was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Great win but losing Ellsbury was certainly a worst case scenario. Last year's MVP runner up was supposed to be a catalyst for this offense with Carl Crawford on the shelf. With Ellsbury gone, that's another top of the order million dollar bat on the Disabled List. Still, if Ortiz, Youkilis, Pedroia and Gonzalez hit to their abilities, they may be able to hold out until Crawford and Ellsbury return. Its a shame Ellsbury got hurt because everything else went great. The bats beat around David Price and Beckett was outstanding. If the Sox hadn't rallied in the bottom of the eighth Sox manager Bobby Valentine was going to led Beckett finish the job. Apart from Mark Melancon, there's not much to complain about today. Hopefully this can be the start of the Sox getting on track and getting back to where they were from May to August last year. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox are back in action against this same Rays team. Clay Buchholz gets the start for the Sox up against Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays. The game begins at 4:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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