The Boston Red Sox are heading into New York for a big series with the Yankees on a high note after taking game 4 of the 4 game series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Tonight the Sox scored 4 runs in the first inning and never looked back. Franklin Morales (1-0, 3.60 ERA) made his first start of the season and got the win with 5 strong innings. The Sox won the game 9-2 and spanked the Phillies quite like this demonstration:
The Sox struck first in the top of the 1st against ineffective starter Jonathan Pettibone. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single and Daniel Nava singled him over to third. A ground out by Dustin Pedroia scored Ellsbury and advanced Nava to second. David Ortiz walked and Mike Carp singled home Nava to increase the lea. Stephen "PU" Drew struck out but Jarrod Saltalamacchia made up for yesterday by doubling home Ortiz and Carp to put the Sox up even more. Jose Iglesias grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Just as soon as the Sox took the lead, Morales nearly gave it back in the bottom of the first. Ben Revere grounded out to second to start but Cesar Hernandez singled. Jimmy Rollins flied out to left but Delmon Young hit a 2 run bomb to cut the lead in half. Domonic Brown continued to be a thorn in the side of the Sox by getting a base hit but this time Saltlamacchia threw him out trying to steal to end the inning with the Phillies down 4-2.
Morales himself whiffed to start the top of the second. Ellsbury walked but Nava flied out to second. Ellsbury stole second and went to third on a single by Pedroia, but Ortiz flied out to end the inning.. Morales got Kevin Frandsen to ground out to second to start the bottom of the second. Erik Kratz flied out to center and Freddy Galvis grounded out to third to end the inning.
Carp whiffed to open the top of the third inning before Drew worked a walk. Saltalamacchia went down swinging before Iglesias lined out to second to end the inning. Morales cruised in the bottom of the third as Pettibone took strike three to start, Revere lined out to left and Hernandez did the same to end the inning.
Morales watched strike three go by to begin the top of the fourth inning but Ellsbury singled and swiped second again. Nava flied out to center and Pedroia flied out to right to end the inning. The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Rollins walked to start. Young whiffed but Brown singled and Frandsen walked to load the bases. Morales got a huge out by getting Kratz to bang into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fifth as Ortiz walked to begin. Carp flied out to center and PU Drew banged into a double play to end the inning. Morales had one last inning in the bottom of the fifth and Galvis popped up to short to begin. Michael Martinez pinch hit for Pettibone and lined out to third. Revere lined out to second to end the inning. Morales stepped up with 5 innings of 2 run ball to keep the Sox in front.
The Sox struck again in the top of the 6th against Jeremy Horst. Saltalamacchia whiffed and Iglesias singled but was foolishly thrown out at second. Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Morales and....BANG! 400 foot bomb to extend the lead. Ellsbury than did his best Tommy Harper imitation by swiping second AND third after being hit with a pitch.Nava walked but Pedroia failed to bring them home with a lineout to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
THAT'S how you pinch hit!
Craig Breslow replaced Morales for the bottom of the 6th and got Hernandez to ground out to third to start. Rollins also grounded out to third and Young whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh when Ortiz led off with his 9th home run of the season. Mike Napoli pinch hit for Carp and flied out to center. Drew struck out swinging and Saltalamacchia popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox up 6-2.
In the bottom of the 7th, Jackie Bradley Jr took over in left and Napoli replaced Ortiz at first. Breslow struck out Brown and Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen replaced him. Frandsen grounded back to the mound but Kratz was plunked. Galvis grounded out to first to end the inning
Michael Stutes took over for the top of the 8th and Iglesias grounded out to second to start. Mortensen actually came to the plate and struck out. Ellsbury singled yet again then took off for second, the throw sailed into center and Ellsbury raced for third. That was be the 5th steal of the night and a new Red Sox record. Nava was hit with a pitch but Pedroia flied out to end the inning. Its amazing that David Ross couldn't pinch hit for Mortensen if they were planning on bringing in a new pitcher anyway, guess he was too busy singing Shania Twain in the dugout....yes of course I'm serious.
Junichi Tazawa replaced Mortensen for the bottom of the 8th and Lance Nix pinch hit for Stutes only to strike out swinging. Revere was frozen for strike three but Hernandez singled. Rollins grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox tacked it on in the top of the 9th off Chad Durbin. Jackie Bradley Jr singled and Napoli singled him over to third. PU Drew scored Bradley with a ground out and Napoli advanced to second. Saltalamacchia then doubled to score Napoli and Iglesias doubled to score Salty. Pedro Ciriaco pinch hit for Tazawa and struck out as Ellsbury was retired for the first time all night on a grounder to second to end the inning with the Sox up 9-3.
Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey pitched the bottom of the 9th if nothing else than just to get some work in before the big series with the Yankees. Young lined out to center before Brown whiffed. Frandsen doubled to right but Kratz struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had averted losing 3 out of 4 with a 9-2 win.
Hero of the Night is Jacoby Ellsbury who set a Red Sox record with 5 stolen bases in one game including a 3 for 4 with a walk performance.
The Good:
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3 with a walk, hit by pitch and run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and his 9th homer of the year.
Jackie Bradley Jr pinch hit for Ortiz, singled and scored in the 9th.
Mike Carp was 1 for 3 with an rbi and run scored.
Mike Napoli pinch hit and was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 5 with a run and 3 rbis.
Jose Iglesias was 2 for 5 with an rbi and played flawless defense.
Jonny Gomes pinch hit and smacked his 3rd homer of the year.
Franklin Morales pitched great for his first game back, allowing just a 2 run homer to Young over 5 strong innings.
Craig Breslow was perfect in 1 1/3 innings of relief to lower his ERA to 1.38.
Vigo Mortensen pitched 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Junichi Tazawa struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.
Andrew Bailey struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.
The Bad:
Pedro Ciriaco struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Bring on the Yankees! The Yanks are going to be pissed off after getting swept 4 straight by the New York Mets. If the Sox can win 1 of the games this weekend, they'll remain in first place. The Sox have no excuses as they are tossing both Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz at New York. As for this game, if they could have used some of the offense for the previous two games they could have swept the series. Still, being defeated by Cliff Lee isn't the end of the world and they won 2 games of the 4. If Iglesias is singlehandedly improving the defense and can contribute on offense, they may have yet another on base threat with Ellsbury beginning to catch fire. Either way let's see how this turns out. The Sox win and the Yanks loss put the Sox 2 games in front of the Yankees at 33-22. Tomorrow night CC Sabathia goes for the Sox up against Jon Lester (6-1). The showdown begins at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment