Once again the Indians struck first in the top of the 1st and once again it came with 2 outs. Felix Doubront got the start for the Sox as Michael Bourn singled and stole second off Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Jacoby Ellsbury and Stephen Drew played a game of "I got it, I don't got it" and Jason Kipnis reached first. Asdrubal Cabrera whiffed but Nick Swisher singled to load the bases. Mark Reynolds whiffed but Carlos Santana singled home Bourne and Kipnis before being thrown out at second trying to stretch. It was 2-0 Indians thanks to the miscue.
Itt was the Corey Kluber show for the Cleveland Indians in the bottom of the first. Ellsbury and Daniel Nava both whiffed but Dustin Pedroia drew a walk. David Ortiz grounded out to short to end the inning.
Doubront got in trouble in the second although he got Michael Brantley to ground out to second to start. Doubront walked Mike Aviles and Drew Stubbs but struck out Bourn. Aviles stole 3rd off Salty but this time Felix struck out Kipnis to escape the jam. The Sox could barely make contact in the bottom of the second as Mike Napoli and Saltalamacchia both struck out before Mike Carp grounded out to short to end the inning.
Doubront continued the strikeout rampage by getting both Cabrera and Swisher by way of the K before Reynolds grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the third. Stephen "PU" Drew hit a ground rule double and Iglesias got hit with a pitch. Unfortunately Ellsbury hit into a double play but Drew made it to third. Daniel Nava then got a clutch hit to bring home Drew but he was bawfully thrown out trying to advance to second. Still it was 2-1 Indians.
Doubront kept it a one run game in the top of the fourth as Santana grounded out to second to begin. Brantley looked at strike three and Avilies grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Kluber stayed tough in the bottom of the fourth as Pedroia grounded to short, Ortiz grounded to third and Napoli whiffed in short order.
In the top of the 5th, Doubront got Stubbs to groundout and the umpires actually got a call right for a change. Bourn hit a swinging bunt but failed to move out of the way of Saltalamacchia. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione called him out as the fans rejoiced. That rejoicing was short lived as Jason Kipnis hit one of the cheapest home runs in history with a 298 foot line drive that just barely made it over the fence next to Pesky's Pole. Doubront struck out Cabera to retire the side but the Indians now led 3-1 with only one run earned....and barely I might add.
The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the 5th as Saltalamacchia and Carp both struck out before Drew flied out to right to end the inning.
The Indians struck again in the top of the 6th when Nick Swisher hit a more conventional home run into the monster seats to increase their lead. Mark Reynolds popped up to Doubront before Santana grounded out to second. Brantley also grounded out to second to end the inning. That was it for Doubront who left after 6 innings trailing 4-1.
Iglesias grounded out to third but Ellsbury singled and stole second. Both Nava and Pedroia struck out to end the inning.
Alex Wilson replaced Doubront for the top of the seventh and got Avilies grounded out back to the mound to start. Stubbs watched strike three go by but Bourn walked. Salty FINALLY caught someone stealing when he shot down Bourn at second trying to steal to end the inning. Bourn was so upset he argued with second base umpire Tom Hallion for so long, Francona had to go out and get him. Bourn still didn't leave so the 3 of them had to stand there during God Bless America as the crowd roared.
Kluber returned for the bottom of the seventh and managed to get Ortiz to ground out to short to start. Kluber whiffed Napoli but was lifted by Francona after allowing only 3 hits and a walk over 112 pitches. Old friend Rich Hill came in to pitch to Saltalamacchia batting right handed and walked him. One and done for Hill as Cody Allen replaced him to pitch to pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (for Carp). Gomes flied out to end the inning.
Craig Breslow (2-0, 1.69 ERA) replaced Wilson for the top of the 8th and ran into big trouble. Kipnis doubled and Cabrera singled him to third. Then a peculiar situation happened where Swisher hit a fly ball that Gomes barely managed to grab. Jonny fired toward home unsuccessfully but the alert Saltalamacchia managed to catch Cabrera napping off first. Reynolds grounded out to end it but Breslow had allowed his first earned run since his season debut with the Indians leading 5-1.
Trailing 5-1 the Sox had every right to call it a day...they didn't. PU Drew tripled to lead off the bottom of the 8th and scored on the Iglesias sac fly. Ellsbury grounded out to second and Nava flied out to center to end the inning but it was now 5-2.
Breslow redeemed himself in the top of the ninth by getting the Indians to beat the ball in the dirt. Santana grounded out to third, Brantley grounded out to first and Avilies grounded out to short to end the inning. That set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. Indians closer Chris Perez took the mound and walked Pedroia. Ortiz doubled Pedroia over to third and Pedroia scored on a groundout by Napoli. Ortiz then caught everyone by surprise including the hot dog vendors by swiping 3rd base. He too scored on the Saltalamacchia ground out but now the Sox were trailing 5-4 and down to their last out. This is where they showed some serious balls. Gomes worked a walk and hustled all the way to third on the Drew base hit. Iglesias worked the count full as Drew took second base off a sleeping Santana. Iglesias took ball 4 that was really strike 3 as Perez was rightfully frustrated on the mound. Then in the middle of the next at bat against Ellsbury, Perez doubled over in pain and had to be carried out on a stretcher. Ice cold Joe Smith had to come in and on the first pitch, Ellsbury lashed a double over the heard of Bourn that scored Gomes and Drew to win the game 6-5.
Hero of the Night is a no-brainer. Jacoby Ellsbury's walkoff double proved to be the game winner.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Jonny Gomes walked and scored a run in two plate appearances.
Stephen Drew was 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored.
Jose Iglesias walked, was hit with a pitch and drove in a run.
Alex Wilson pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Mike Carp was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Daniel Nava was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 3 but walked and drove in a run.
Felix Doubront was charged with 4 runs (2 earned) in just 6 innings. He gave up 5 hits, walked 2 and struck out 8.
Craig Breslow got the win but allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Yet another huge win for the Red Sox. This was their 12th comeback win of the season and it proves that this team refuses to give up against all odds. Once again Iglesias comes through in the clutch and, like Ciriaco yesterday, his promotion must have lit a fire under Stephen Drew's ass which makes for the good kind of competition. It was nice to see Ellsbury be the hero after having a sub-par year so far. Doubront was a victim of some bad luck but he's seriously taxing the bullpen by going only 5-6 innings (if that) every time out. They're going to need the bullpen now as the Sox received from very shocking, last minute news that Clay Buchholz will miss his start tomorrow due to a sore AC tendon. The reason? He slept funny holding his daughter and his arm got sore. Ugh.....
Not only does this mean Buchholz misses his start against a Philadelphia Phillies team desperate to get back on track, this means the return to the rotation for....*shudders* Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves, the man who basically quit on the Red Sox that rainy night against Oakland and blamed everything else for his shortcomings. Hopefully the negative turns into a positive where Aceves uses his last shot for redemption to pitch a strong game to either remain on the Red Sox or to be a top line pitcher elsewhere. As sad as it may sound with the way this team was assembled, the big weekend series coming up against New York could decide who enters June with the lead in the AL East. Each team is suffering from injuries and incompetence but someone's gotta win, as Kevin Millar would say, why not us? Either way the come back win put the Sox at 31-20, tied for first place with the Yankees, who lost 8-3 as the Tampa Bay Rays pounded Two Ton Sabbathia. Tomorrow the Sox start a three game set with the Philadelphia Phillies with Tyler Cloyd going for Philly at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment