Verlander, the reigning Cy Young and MVP, shut down the Boston attack in the top of the first inning. Jacoby Ellsbury popped up to left to start before Dustin Pedroia popped up to second. Adrian Gonzalez flied out to left to end the inning. Lester took the mound in the bottom of the first. Austin Jackson greeted Lester's first pitch by driving it into centerfield for a base hit. The Sox defense recovered when Lester induced a double play from Brennan Boesch. Kevin Youkilis snared a broken bat liner off the bat of AL Batting champion Miguel Cabrera to end the inning.
David Ortiz got the Sox first hit of the season with a double down the left field line. Kevin Youkilis could not move him along as he grounded out to short. Newcomer Ryan Sweeney did manage to move Ortiz to third but his groundout to second put them at 2 outs. Another newcomer, Cody Ross looked at strike 3 to end the inning. Hometown hero Prince Fielder made his debut with a single off Lester but was erased on the Delmon Young double play. Ryan Raburn struck out to end the inning.
Verlander then got hot in the top of the third, striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and newcomer Mike Aviles to open. Ellsbury grounded out to first to end the inning. Jhonny Peralta opened the third with a base hit to center giving the Tigers the lead runner for the 3rd consecutive inning. Lester recovered when Alex Avila lined out to right, Ramon Santiago popped up to short left and Jackson flied out to center to end the inning.
Verlander remained red hot in the top of the fourth. Pedroia popped up to right, Gonzalez took strike three and Ortiz flied out to center to end the inning with Verlander throwing a mere 9 pitches. Lester induced a ground out from Boesch but then walked Cabrera on 4 pitches to start the bottom of the fourth. Lester recovered to punch out Fielder on his 52nd pitch. Young popped up in foul territory to end the inning.
Youkilis popped up meekly to shallow center to open the top of the fifth. Sweeney then poked one into center for a base hit but Ross missed a home run by inches in a fly out to right. Saltalamacchia grounded out to second to end the inning. Lester then got into trouble as Peralta singled past Aviles to open the bottom of the fifth and Raburn walked. Lester then struck out Avila after he failed to drop a bunt down and got Santiago popped up to shallow left. Lester labored but got Jackson to fly out to right to end the inning.
Aviles led off the sixth with a meek ground out to short and Ellsbury meekly popped up in foul territory. The Sox caught a break when a Pedroia grounder went under the glove of Miguel Cabrera at third. Gonzalez worked a walk to get 2 men on for the first time all day. Unfortunately Ortiz whiffed to end the rally. Boesch opened the 6th with a lineout to Avilies on the first pitch. Lester jumped out 0-2 on Cabrera but walked him again. Lester jumped out to 0-2 on Fielder as well and this time got Fielder to bang into a double play to end the threat.
Youkilis whiffed badly to open the top of the seventh and so did Sweeney. Ross then popped up to left to end the inning. The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the seventh. Lester got Delmon Young to fly out to right and Raburn to fly out to center, but Jhonny Peralta and Avila hit back to back doubles to give the Tigers the lead. Lester struck out Santiago but the damage was done. That was it for Lester. He was outstanding but left trailing 1-0 after giving up just 1 run in 7 innings.
The Sox had one last crack at Verlander but failed in the top of the eighth. Saltalamacchia flied out to center, Aviles lined out to short and Ellsbury grounded out to second to end the inning. Verlander was just as good as ever with eight innings of shutout ball.
Vicente Padilla made his Red Sox debut by allowing Jackson to triple to lead off the inning. The infield was pulled in and it worked briefly as Boesch grounded out to short without Jackson scoring. Cabrera was intentionally walked and Sox manager Bobby Valentine pulled Padilla for lefty Franklin Morales. Morales did manage to get Fielder to pop up but it was to noodle-armed Jacoby Ellsbury who hit the mound with his throw allowing Jackson to score and Cabrera to reach second. Young flied out to right to end the inning but the insurance run was knocked in as the Tigers led 2-0.
Clete Thomas replaced Young in the left field with Don Kelly in right for the top of the 9th as Detroit closer Jose Valverde (49-49 in save opportunities last year) was brought in to close out the game. The Sox pulled off a miracle rally as Pedroia doubled in the gap in left center to start and Gonzalez singled to move Pedroia over to third. Ortiz could only bring home Pedroia with a sac fly. Darnell McDonald pinch ran for Gonzalez as Youkilis made a very un-clutch strikeout to bring up Sweeney. McDonald stole second base and scored on the triple from Ryan Sweeney to tie the game. Cody Ross lined out to short to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 2-2.
Nick Punto took over at third as Youkilis moved to 1st with Mark Melancon (0-1) on the mound for the 9th. Raburn gave the ball a ride but flied out to Sweeney on the warning track. Peralta capped off his great day with his 3rd single of the day. Avila also singled to chase Melancon as Bobby V brought in Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves. Danny Worth pinch-ran for Peralta at this point. Aceves hit Santiago on the foot to load the bases for Jackson. Jackson singled past Punto at third to end the game. The Tigers had won Opening Day 3-2 on a walk-off by Jackson.
Jackass of the Night is Alfredo Aceves. Yes Melancon put the two runners on but Aceves responded by hitting Santiago in the foot and allowing the walkoff by Jackson.
The Good:
Adrian Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Darnell McDonald scored a run as a pinch runner.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Ryan Sweeney was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Jon Lester pitched great. He tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball on 6 hits and 3 walks.
Franklin Morales got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 4.
Kevin Youkilis was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Cody Ross was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 3.
Mike Aviles was 0 for 3.
Vicente Padilla allowed a run in just 1/3 of an inning.
Mark Melancon took the loss by getting charged with the winning run.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Nick Punto played third base in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. The bottom line was the Sox only managed two hits off Verlander even with Gonzalez, Ellsbury, Ortiz, Pedroia, etc. Lester was outstanding and 9 times out of 10, 1 run in 7 innings will win the game. Jacoby Ellsbury being unable to throw out Jackson at home was also a key moment. Still, Verlander is arguably one of the best in the game and not every starter is going to be as indomitable. Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves certainly didn't do the Sox any favors out of the bullpen either. The Sox will hope to bounce back Saturday afternoon against the Tigers with Josh Beckett taking the mound against Doug Fister at 5:05 PM Eastern time at Comerica Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment