Fister took the mound in the top of the first inning and Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to second to begin. Shane Victorinio popped up to Prince Fielder in foul ground but Dustin Pedroia dumped a base hit to right. David Ortiz grounded out to second to end the inning. Peavy took the ball in the bottom of the first and got Torii Hunter to ground out to third to start. Miguel Cabrera froze on a curveball for strike three and Prince Fielder grounded out to third to end the inning.
As usual the Sox did nothing in the top of the second inning although Mike Napoli doubled off the glove of Cabrera to begin. Daniel Nava moved Napoli to third with a groundout to second but Jarrod Saltalamacchia popped up to third in foul territory. Stephen "PU" Drew took a high strike three to end the inning. Peavy crapped his pants in the bottom of the second inning as Victor Martinez poked a base hit to left before Jhonny Peralta walked. Alex Avila walked to load the bases but Peavy got a big out when Ellsbury ran down a sinking liner by Omar Infante to keep the Tigers from advancing. The Tigers took command when Austin Jackson walked to score Martinez. Jose Iglesias hit a double-play ball to Pedroia but he booted it, only able to get Avila at second as Peralta score to put runners at the corners. Hunter doubled down the left field line to score both men to ice the game early. Cabrera put the exclamation point on with a base hit to center to score Hunter. Fielder grounded out to second to end the inning but the Tigers had jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Down five runs, the Sox needed to make a stand in the top of the third inning but failed. Will Middlebrooks whiffed and Ellsbury hit a line drive over the head of Hunter in right but a cannon throw by Torii kept Ellsbury at first. Victorino was rung up on a check swing breaking ball but Pedroia walked. With a chance to club back in to the game....Ortiz grounded out to second to end the inning. Peavy returned for the bottom of the third and got Martinez to ground out to short to start. Peralta grounded out to short and Avila flied out to a running Nava in left to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing against Fister in the top of the fourth as Napoli and Nava both whiffed to start. Saltalamacchia singled to right center but Drew flied out to right to end the inning. Peavy returned for the bottom of the fourth inning but immediately regretted it as Infante pounded a ground rule double to left over the head of Nava to start. Jackson singled off the glove of Pedroia and Infante came all the way around to score. Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough and lifted the incompetent Peavy after allowing 6 runs (so far) in just 3 innings.
Brandon Workman got the call to relieve Peavy and Jackson immediately stole second base. Iglesias dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance Jackson to third but Workman got Hunter to ground back to the mound. Cabrera put the exclamation point on the game when he slammed a single to center to score Jackson. The supposedly hobbled Cabrera swiped second but Fielder whiffed to end the inning with the Tigers up 7-0.
The Sox did not respond against Fister in the top of the fifth inning as Middlebrooks whiffed to start the inning. Somehow Ellsbury doubled past Peralta in left but Victorino popped up to a running Iglesias at short, nearly doubling Jacoby off second base. Pedroia grounded to third and was out on a bang bang play at first to end the inning. Workman returned for the bottom of the fifth inning and Martinez lined out to second to begin. Peralta whiffed but Avila walked. Infante flied out to right to end the inning, good work Brandon.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the top of the sixth briefly with Don Kelly taking over in left for Peralta. Ortiz flied out to center but Napoli sliced a single to right. Nava hit a ground ball up the middle for a base hit and Saltalamacchia singled home Napoli to put the Sox on the board. PU Drew killed the rally with a strikeout then Mike Carp pinch hit for Middlebrooks....only to ground into a force to end the inning but the Sox would not be shut out, 7-1.
Ryan Dempster replaced Workman for the bottom of the sixth with Xander Bogaerts taking over at third. Jackson started the inning by dumping a single to right. Iglesias beat out a double play ball but Hunter grounded into one to end the inning.
Somehow the Sox scored in the top of the seventh inning with Phil Coke now pitching to Ellsbury. Jacoby sliced a single to left and that was it for Coke. Al Alburquerque came in an Victorino doubled in Ellsbury. Pedroia failed to move Shane over when he grounded out to third and Tigers manager Jim Leyland brought in Drew Smyly to pitch to Ortiz. David did what Pedroia couldn't and advance Victorino to third on a ground-out but now there were two outs and Napoli popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox down 7-2.
Franklin Morales took over in the bottom of the seventh and Ellbsury robbed Cabrera of extra bases with a great running catch to begin. Fielder flied out to center but Martinez singled. Kelly popped up to second to end the inning.
Ramon Santiago took over at third for Cabrera with Jonny Gomes pinch hitting for Nava to start the top of the eighth inning. Gomes popped up to short, Saltalamacchia whiffed and Drew popped up to left to end the inning. Felix Doubront came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and began by hitting Avila....good start huh? Well Felix recovered to induce a double play from Infante although Jackson walked on a 3-2 pitch that just missed inside. Iglesias sliced a single to right but Doubront blew away Hunter on a full count to end the inning.
Joaquin Benoit came on to close out the top of the ninth with a 4 run lead and Bogaerts greeted him with a ground rule double to begin. Ellsbury slashed a line drive off the bag at first base into the right field corner for a triple that scored Bogaerts. Another base hit would have made it interesting but alas, Victorino whiffed and Pedroia whiffed badly on a ball in the dirt. Ortiz flied out to right to end the game. The Tigers had evened the series with a 7-3 win.
Jackass of the Night is Jake Peavy. He got hammered for 7 runs in just 3 plus innings and put the Sox out of reach early.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 4 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Mike Napoli was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Xander Bogaerts doubled and scored in the ninth inning.
Brandon Workman pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Ryan Dempster pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Franklin Morales pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Felix Doubront pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
David Ortiz was 0 for 5.
Jonny Gomes was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Mike Carp was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Shane Victorino was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Apart from the 8th inning rally in Game 2, the top four starters by Detroit have allowed TWO combined runs in the first four games. Apart from a once in a lifetime grand slam and a home run by Mike Napoli, this series could easily be over now. As it is, the series is just tied with Game 5 coming tomorrow night. The Sox are going to have to find a way to score some runs because they can't keep continuing to be shut down and pull a rally out their collective asses in the playoffs. Luck runs out eventually and maybe that will be the case in Game 5. Tomorrow night Jon Lester looks to get revenge on Annibal Sanchez in a Game 1 rematch at 8:05 PM at Comerica Park.
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