The Red Sox would be facing the same Scott Diamond that completely shut them down just 11 days ago, throwing 7 shut out innings without a single runner reaching second base. This time Diamond pitched like a lump of coal. Jacoby Ellsbury led the game off with a single but Jonny Gomes popped up but Dustin Pedroia singled. Ortiz brought them both in with a 3 run bomb to right-centerfield to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Mike Napoli singled but Daniel Nava banged into a double play to end the inning.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Dempster showed why he is a .500 pitcher. Things did look good in the bottom of the first when Jamie Carroll struck out swinging. Joe Mauer flied out to left but Justin Morneau singled. Josh Willingham popped up to end the inning. One of the downfalls for Ryan was a downfall for the Twins as well, home plate umpire Paul Schrieber had the smallest strike zone seen yet.
The Sox threatened in the second when Will Middlebrooks led off with a single but he was erased on a Ryan Lavarnway double play. Pedro Ciriaco flied out to end the inning, Dempster then began to play with fire in the bottom of the second. Ryan Doumit and Oswaldo Arcia drew back to back walks. Dempster got Trevor Plouffe to ground out but both runners advanced. Then Aaron Hicks hit a grounder but the alert Middlebrooks gunned Doumit down at home. What should have been new life only delayed the inevitable as Pedro Florimon singled home Arcia to cut the lead 3-1. Carroll walked as well but Dempster struck out Mauer to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third. Ellsbury grounded out but Gomes walked and Pedroia beat out a bang bang play at first. Ortiz brought home Gomes with a single, giving him 4 rbi's on the day. Napoli struck out and Nava flied out but the Sox had a 4-1 lead.
Staked to a 4-1 lead, Dempster continued to play with fire in the bottom of the third. Thanks to the postage stamp strike zone, Morneau flied out but Willingham doubled. Doumit walked but Arcia and Plouffe both walked to load the bases. Hicks flied out to end the inning but the strike zone was a problem.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the fourth inning. Middlebrooks walked but Lavarnway lined out. Ciraco flied out and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning. The Twins refused to go quietly and struck again in the bottom of the 4th. Florimon flied out and Carroll grounded out, but Mauer doubled. Morneau singled him home to cut the lead 4-2 with Dempster's pitch count rising. Willingham flied out but it was doubtful Dempster could last more than one more inning.
The Sox offense continued to lend as much support as they could in the top of the 5th. Gomes and Pedroia hit back to back doubles to increase the lead 5-2. Ortiz made his first out via a groundout but it moved Pedroia over to third. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had seen enough and pulled the ineffective Diamond for Anthony Swardzak. The small strike zone contributed to the hits as much as the walks because both pitchers were forced to throw more pitchers down the middle with the corners being taken away. Mike Napoli worked a walk to set up the 1st and 3rd but Gomes hit a sac fly to make it 6 to 2. Middlebrooks singled but then the Sox got greedy. Ryan Lavarnway singled and Napoli beat out the throw home but Middlebrooks was gunned down at 3rd trying to advance to end the inning. Still, the Sox had a 7-2 lead.
Now Dempster had a 5 run lead and only needed 3 outs to earn the win. Once again he couldn't get it done as Doumit doubled and was moved to third on a groundout by Arcia. Plouffe grounded out as well but Doumit scored. Still, it was 7-3 but now Dempster just needed one more out. His pitch count was well over 100 but if he could get one of the Twins hit a ball at someone for a change, he'd get the win for sure. Instead he got lazy. He walked Hicks who promptly stole second with Ryan not even bothering to keep track. Then Florimon singled home Hicks. Sox manager John Farrell went to the mound and instead of pulling his pitcher, he asked him to get one last out. No dice, Florimon then swiped second off a sleeping Dempster and HE scored on a single by Jamey Carroll. That was it for Dempster who played with fire all night but was burned in the bottom of the 5th. His final line was 8 hits and SIX walks, 5 runs in just 4 2/3 innings.
Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen came in to finish it off but even he couldn't get it done easy, allowing a single to Mauer but getting Morneau to pop up to end the disastrous inning with the Twins now down 7-5.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the sixth inning. Ciriaco grounded out, Ellsbury flied out and Gomes popped up to end the inning. The Twins nearly tied it in the bottom of the sixth. Mortensen got Willingham to fly out but Doumit singled again. Arcia worked Minnesota's 7th walk of the night to chase Mortensen before he could get a chance for the win. Craig Breslow replaced Mortensen and walked Plouffe to load the bases. Fortunately lady luck shined on the Sox as Pedroia ran into right field to snag a pop fly and Doumit headed for home. Pedroia gunned the ball into Lavaranway who was bowled over by Doumit, only Lavarnway stood his ground and held onto the ball for the third out to keep the lead intact.
The Sox instantly made the Twins pay for failing to score the previous inning. Pedroia led off the 7th with a walk and Ortiz belted his second homer of the day and his 6th rbi to up the lead 9-5. Napoli walked and that was it for Swarzik, replaced by Casey Fien. Daniel Nava greeted Fien with a 2 run blast of his own to put the game away. Middlebrooks grounded out, Lavarnway struck out and Ciriaco popped up to end the inning with the Sox up 11-5.
Now all Breslow needed to do was not to poop his pants and the game was as good as over in the bottom of the 7th. Florimon grounded out but Carroll singled. Mauer grounded into a fielder's choice then Morneau hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Ryan Pressly came on to pitch the top of the eighth. Ellsbury flied out to right, Gomes flied out to center and Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Red hot rookie Alex Wilson took over in the bottom of the eighth and got Willingham to strike out. Doumit and Garcia grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the 9th. Ortiz and Napoli worked back to back walks then Nava singled to load the bases. Middlebrooks struck out but Lavarnway brought home Ortiz with a sac fly to make it 12-5. Ciriaco flied out to end the inning. Wilson returned for the bottom of the ninth and gave up a single to Plouffe. Hicks struck out and Florimon grounded into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won 12-5.
Hero of the Night is pretty obvious at this point. David Ortiz singlehandedly beat the Twins by going 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 6 runs batted in.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and 3 runs scored.
Mike Napoli was 1 for 2 with 3 walks and 2 runs scored.
Daniel Nava was 2 for 4 with 3 rbi's including a 2 run home run.
Will Middlebrooks was 2 for 4 with a walk.
Craig Breslow got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Alex Wilson threw 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Pedro Ciriaco was 0 for 5.
Ryan Dempster stunk, giving up 5 runs in just 4 2/3 innings, walking six men.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Jonny Gomes was just 1 for 4 with a walk but scored 2 runs.
Ryan Lavarnway was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs and made a defensive gem on Doumit.
Clayton Mortensen retired only 2 of the 5 batters he faced.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the bullpen had to bail out another starter not named Buccholz or Lester but luckily the bats were alive to save the day. Its nice to see Ortiz getting back on track after slumping recently and its always good to see batters taking advantage of a hitter's umpire. Scoring 12 runs is nothing to sneeze at and they played some great defense along the way. All in all it was a great win that put them at 26-17 on the season, 1 game behind the Yankees for the division lead. The Sox have now won 4 straight games on the road after their putrid homestand and if John Lackey can get his head out of his ass tomorrow, the Sox could walk into Chicago with a 5 game winning streak. Last year on May 18th, the Sox were 18-21 so they are way ahead of the curve this year.
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