GAME 54 – 5/29/2013 – in Philadelphia vs. the Phillies

RESULT – LOSS 4-3

I thought they were going to do it again and this time it would have been twice as sweet doing it against the former closer, Jonathan Papelbon.  But as he’s shown us many times before, Papelbon scares you just enough but gets the job done to stifle a late Red Sox rally and win the game 4-3.

In the 9^th, with 2 outs and Stephen Drew at first (after a walk), Jonny Gomes kept the Sox in the game with a single and Jacoby Ellsbury blooped in a double to score Drew.  Gomes was held at third and I agree with holding the runner in that situation.  You never want to make the last out at home and Jonny Gomes isn’t exactly a burner out there.  With runners on 2^nd and 3^rd it looked like the Sox were in line for another come from behind victory but Papelbon settled down and got Daniel Nava to ground out to first for the end of the ball game.  No heroics this time and as I watched I remember how crazy Papelbon would make me and think the Philly fans will have many more of these type of games in their future.

The offense couldn’t do much of anything against starter Kyle Kendrick or relievers Antonio Bastardo and Mike Adams.  They let up only 2 runs on 5 hits until the 9^th inning outburst and walked 3 while striking out 7.  I was impressed by Mike Adams who pitched a perfect 8^th and struck out 2.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 2 for 5 with a run and RBI, Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia both chipped in with 1 hit and 1 RBI apiece.  Nava’s only hit was his 7^th homerun of the year.  Napoli and Iglesias were the only other players with a hit.  The last two games, the Red Sox have done nothing offensively scoring a total of only 4 runs.  Let’s hope they can figure it out in time to even the series tonight.

John Lackey turned in his 3^rd consecutive quality start going 6 innings giving up 6 hits and 3 earned runs.  He walked 3 and struck out 5 but 3 of the hits he let up were homeruns.  They weren’t hit very far but in Citizens Bank Park a lot of balls will leave the yard.  Lackey has to keep the ball down if he’s going to have any success in this ballpark.  He kept the Sox in the game but was lifted after six for a pitch hitter because they playing under NL rules.

Koji Uehara gave up a homerun in the 8^th (a solo shot) to give the Phillies some much needed insurance and I’m getting concerned that the relief pitchers are giving up way too many homeruns when they enter ball games.  If Uehara doesn’t let up that homerun, the ninth inning becomes a lot more interesting.  Koji has surrendered 4 homeruns this year and only has 5 earned runs allowed.

The Sox will go at it again tonight to try and get a series split as Franklin Morales will get the start.  It will be Morales’ first appearance of the year as he’s filling in for Clay Buchholz who is still nursing a bad collar bone.  It’s not serious though as he’s slated to start the last game of the Yankee series this weekend on Sunday night.  He’ll be opposed by Jonathan Pettibone who’s 3-0 on the year and has pitched well as of late.

SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE – GAME MVP

Jacoby Ellsbury.  Ellsbury went 2 for 5 and scored a run and drove in one as well. He had a double and has been hitting the ball well since the game winner at the beginning of the week.

ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP

Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  Salty went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and was the worst of the bunch offensively for the Sox.  They haven’t hit in the last 2 games and hopefully they’ll find it before the series finale.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Dominic Brown’s solo blast in the bottom of the 8^th.  It made the game 4-2 and the Phillies wound up needing that extra insurance run as Papelbon wasn’t sharp closing out the game.

NEXT

Today, Thursday 5/30 in Philadelphia vs. the Phillies.