Timely Pitching and Hitting Aid Sox Win (6/26/13)

Last night the bats knocked around the Rockies for 11 runs off 20 hits, tonight the hits were more timely and got some serious pitching help to sweep the two game set over the Colorado Rockies at Fenway Park.

Happy Spikes

Starter John Lackey was outstanding, but the Rockies scored first. DJ LeMahieu struck out but Carlos Gonzalez singled. Michael Cuddyer struck out but Gonzalez stole second and score on the single by Wilin Rosario. Todd Helton struck out to end the inning, Lackey strikes out the side but the Rockies led 1-0. The Sox wasted no time getting the run right back. Jacoby Ellsbury greeted Roy Oswalt with a double and Shane Victorino singled him home to tie the game. Dustin Pedroia flied out but David Ortiz doubled in Victorino to give the Sox a 2-1 lead.

Ortiz double gave Sox the lead they wouldn't give up

Mike Napoli moved Ortiz to third with a groundout but Nava stepped up and singled home Ortiz to make it 3-1. Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning. John Lackey then sent a statement in the top of the second, hitting 95 on the gun while striking out the side again. Oswalt got the side in the bottom of the second and Lackey continued to dominate in the top of the third. He got the first two outs before Gonzalez beat the shift with a bunt single. Cuddyer flied out to end the inning. The Sox stacked it on in the bottom of the third. Victorino and Pedroia singled then Ortiz walked to load the bases. Napoli lashed a single to score Victorino to make it 4-1 plus advancing the runners.

                                            Napoli's bases loaded single makes it 4-1

Nava then hit a fly ball to deep center and all 3 runners advanced, scoring Ortiz to make it 5-1. Then with a chance to blow the game open.....Saltalamacchia struck out. PU Drew flied out but the lead was now 5-1. Lackey worked around a double to Helton to once again strike out the side in the top of the 4th.

                                             Guess he's healthy again, strikes out side 3 times

Oswalt recovered to retire the side in order in the bottom of the 4th. Lackey gave up a leadoff single to Yorvit Torrealba but got the next 3 batters, including striking out Gonzalez to end the top of the 5th. Pedroia led off the bottom of the 5th with a single but was stranded there. Cuddyer greeted Lackey in the top of the 6th with a home run to make it 5-2. Rosario doubled but Helton lined out. Nolan Arenado singled Rosario to third but Tyler Colvin struck out. Torrealba lined out to end the inning. PU Drew hit a one out triple but was thrown out at home when Iglesias grounded into a fielder's choice. Ellsbury popped up to end the bottom of the 6th. Lackey finished strong in the top of the 7th, getting the first 2 batters before striking out Gonzalez. Lackey set a career high with 12 strikeouts in 7 innings.

                                          Even The Rock is impressed by Lackey's performance

Wilton Lopez relieved Oswalt for the bottom of the 7th. Victorino doubled but Pedroia flied out to right. Ortiz was intentionally walked but Napoli popped up. Nava struck out to end the threat. Junichi Tazawa of the Orient Express relieved Lackey in the top of the 8th and was greeted with another Cuddyer bomb to cut the lead 5-2. Taz got the next 3 batters to end the inning. Saltalamacchia worked a walk in the bottom of the 8th but 2 batters later Iglesias banged into a double play to end the inning.

The other half of the Express, and new closer, Koji Uehara took the mound for the top of the 9th. Uehara blew threw the Rockies, striking out 2 of them to give a grand total of 15 on the day (Taz got one the inning earlier). The Sox had won 5-3.

"Hey Jarrod, HIGH FIVE!"

THE GOOD:

John Lackey takes home Hero of the Night honors with his career high 12 strikeouts to go with 7 innings of 2 run ball. He improves to 5-5 with a 2.99 ERA.

                                                      Hero of the Night

Other babyfaces include Shane Victorino who went 3 for 4 with an rbi. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a run scored. David Ortiz was 1 for 2 with 2 walks, a run scored and an rbi. Daniel Nava was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis. Koji Uehara earned his second save with a clean top of the 9th.


THE BAD:

Not much here. Jose Iglesias was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Junichi Tazawa gave up a bomb in the top of the 8th.



THE UGLY:

Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4 but scored the one time he was on. Mike Napoli was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was an rbi single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 3 with a hat trick but also worked a walk. PU Drew was just 1 for 4.



Final Thoughts:

With the continuing struggles of Lester and Buchholz being fragile, the rest of the staff needs to step up and John Lackey seems to be doing it. He's been one of the better starters in the AL, a victim of low run support and bizarre bullpen ineffectiveness. It was nice to see Uehara get the save so easily. The concern about him is that at 38, his arm may not hold out. Still, after Bailey and Hanrahan failed, its nice to see someone get the job done. The win put the Sox at 47-33, 3 1/2 games in first as both the O's and Yankees lost. This means that the Sox will most likely spend the rest of the month in first place. Tomorrow Jon Lester tries not to stink opposite former Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang.