The Indians struck first in the top of the first. Drew Stubbs whiffed before Mike Avilies grounded out to second. Asdrubal Cabrera singled and stole second before scoring on a Nick Swisher double. Mark Reynolds flied out to left to end the inning with the Indians up 1-0.
In the bottom of the first, the Sox exhibited the second and third problems they've been having, inability to hit in the clutch and inability to hit left handed pitching. Jacoby Ellsbury drew a leadoff walk against Cleveland starter Scott Kazmir but Jonny Gomes popped up to second. Dustin Pedroia whiffed but David Ortiz drew another walk. Mike Napoli flied out to center to end the threat.
Lester settled down in the top of the second inning as Carlos Santana whiffed to start. Yan Gomes grounded out to third but Michael Brantley singled. Ryan Raburn hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second. Daniel Nava whiffed and David Ross struck out for the second out, but Jose Iglesias beat out a ground ball and advanced to second on a balk. Iglesias was singled home by the much maligned Pedro Ciriaco to tie the game. Ellsbury flied out to center to end the inning but it was now 1-1.
Just as soon as the Sox tied the game, Lester gave the lead right back i n the top of the 3rd. Stubbs drew a walk and advanced to second on an Avilies ground out. Cabrera doubled in Stubbs and ran toward home on a single by Swisher but Gomes threw him out. Reynolds was hit by a pitch and the Indians got yet another two out rbi when Ciriaco kicked a ball hit by Santana, allowing Swisher to score. Gomes struck out but it was now 3-1 Cleveland.
The Sox failed to score in the bottom of the third as Gomes grounded out to third to start. Pedroia doubled but Ortiz whiffed. Napoli flied out to center to end the inning.
Lester came back in the top of the fourth and gave up a leadoff double to Brantley. Raburn grounded out to third, Stubbs popped up to second and Avilies grounded out to second to start. The Sox got a run back in the bottom of the 4th when Nava worked a leadoff walk, Ross struck out for the second time but Iglesias doubled, Nava scoring on the error by Raburn. Ciriaco moved Iglesias to third but Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
Lester cruised in the top of the fifth inning as Cabrera and Swisher both flied out to right to start. Reynolds singled but Santana whiffed to end the inning. The Sox failed to score in the bottom of the fifth as Gomes whiffed to start. Pedroia walked but was forced out when Cabrera let a pop up hit by Ortiz drop. Napoli singled but Nava grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Lester turned up the heat in the top of the sixth inning. Gomes and Brantley both looked at strike three before Raburn whiffed to end the inning. Bryan Shaw came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and the Sox struck again. Ross whiffed for the hat trick but Iglesias singled. Ciriaco caught Cabrera asleep with a bunt and he threw the ball away, putting runners at the corners. Ellsbury was intentionally walked to load the bases and Gomes scored Iglesias with a sac fly to tie the game. Pedroia flied out to right to end the inning but it was now 3-3.
As soon as the Sox tied the game, Lester coughed up the lead in the top of the 7th. Stubbs grounded out to short but Aviles and Cabrera hit back to back one out singles, Avilies advancing to third. Pedroia snatched a Swisher line drive for the second out. All Lester needed was one more out but he couldn't get it. Cabrera swiped second and Lester uncorked a wild pitch that scored Aviles and moved up Cabrera. Reynolds struck out to end the inning but the damage was done, 4-3 Indians.
The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the seventh inning with Joe Smith on the mound. Ortiz whiffed and Napoli flied out to right, but Nava walked. Ross earned the golden sombrero with his fourth strikeout of the day.
That was it for Jon Lester as Junichi Tazawa (4-2, 2.53 ERA) replaced him for the top of the 8th. Taz struck out Santana and Gomes before Brantley grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the bottom of the eighth with Michael Bourn in for Raburn and Vinnie Pestano on the mound. Iglesias grounded out to second but Ciriaco then doubled. Ellsbury struck out and with the Sox one out away from going into the 9th down a run, Mike Carp pinch hit for Gomes and doubled in Pedro to tie the game. Pedroia then doubled in Carp to give the Sox their first lead of the game 5-4. Indians manager Terry Francona had managed David Ortiz for 9 years and he was well aware of Ortiz late inning heroics, Tito took no chances and had Big Papi walked. Napoli took a conventional walk to load the bases. The Sox then got another clutch hit when Nava knocked in Pedroia and Ortiz with a single for some insurance. Ross then capped off his crappy afternoon by striking out for the FIFTH time today. If 4 strikeouts is a golden sombrero, 5 must be a platinum donut. Still, the Sox had gone into the inning down 4-3 and ended up on top 7-4.
With the Sox now leading, Andrew Bailey came on to close out the game but not without some nail biting. Bourn singled to right to lead off but pinch hitter Jason Kipnis (for Stubbs) struck out. Bailey got Aviles to pop up as Bourn sashayed to second base. Cabrera flied out to end the game as the Red Sox had won it 7-4.
Hero of the Night is Dustin Pedroia. His rbi double in the eighth gave the Sox the lead for good
The Good:
Mike Carp doubled in the tying run and scored the go ahead run.
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 rbi's and a run scored.
Jose Iglesias was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Pedro Ciriaco was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Junichi Tazawa got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Andrew Bailey earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
David Ross earned the rare platinum donut by going 0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Jonny Gomes was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
David Ortiz was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored a run.
Mike Napoli was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Jon Lester gave up 4 runs off TEN hits in 7 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
This was a good, gutsy come from behind win that showcased what Iglesias can do when given the chance. He's not going to hit 40 homers and he may not hit .240 but at least he's going to give you prime defensive efforts when he's out there. It was nice to see Lester grit his teeth and take his lumps to go 7 and save the rest of the bullpen (save Tazawa and Bailey) for tomorrow with Felix Doubront slated to pitch the finale. Its promising to see the bullpen not give up more runs when behind, allowing the offense at least a chance to tie or go ahead. It was nice to see the role players such as Carp and Ciriaco step up, guess all Pedro needed was the promotion of Iglesias to light a fire under his ass. The Sox will have some problems of who stays and who goes when Victorino, Middlebrooks and Franklin Morales are ready to come off the DL, but they'll cross that path when they come to it. The win puts the Sox at 30-20, 1 game behind the victorious Yankees for 1st place in the AL East. Tomorrow is the finale of the four game set with the Indians with Doubront on the mound against Corey Kluber at 1:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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