This one escalated quickly, I mean,
man, it really got out of hand fast!
This is one of those games that if you’re a fan of the Red Sox you’re
loving it but having been on the other end a couple times this year (vs.
Minnesota and vs. Cleveland), I feel a little for the Rangers. But just a little. You see the Rangers swept the Sox in three
games early last month so it was nice to see the bats get a little revenge to
start the series.
The Sox offense had it going on
last night. They banged out 17 runs on 19
hits. They were 6 for 17 with runners in
scoring position and had 13 extra base hits.
It seems like if the pitcher made a mistake it was hit a long, long way.
The top 2 guys in the order,
Daniel Nava and Mike Carp both went 3 for 4 and were on base 4 times each (they
both had a walk as well). Nava had 2
doubles and drove in 1 while scoring 4 runs.
Carp had his 4th homerun and drove in 3 while scoring 3 runs.
David Ortiz went 2 for 6 with a
double and a triple. Yes, you read that
right, Big Papi had a triple his 1st of the year and 1st since
April 2011. Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 3
for 5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. He
had his 6th homerun of the year and also had his 15th double. Stephen Drew had himself a night as well
going 4 for 5, scoring 3 runs and driving in 2. He had 2 doubles and his 5th homerun
of the year and was a triple shy of the cycle.
The kids even got in on the
action. Jose Iglesias went 2 for 5 with
2 runs scored and 2 RBI. He had his 6th
double of the season and remains red hot since being called back up from the
minors. Jackie Bradley Jr. had only 1
hit but it was a big one. JBJ hit his
first career homerun (a 3-run blast over the bullpens in right) in the 2nd
inning. It was his only hit on the night
but it was a memorable one. He hit the
ball hard it 2 other at bats but unlike many balls they found some glove.
Dustin Pedroia was quiet with
only 1 hit. It was his 17th double
of the year and he extended his current hitting streak to 8 games. The only Red Sox hitter without a hit was
Mike Napoli who went 0 for 2 with 2 walks and a sacrifice fly.
The Red Sox offense was brutal
with the bats against rookie Justin Grimm but he shouldn’t feel too bad as the
Sox have terrorized rookie pitchers this year.
They are 5-2 against 7 rookie starters and the rookies have a combined
12.93 ERA.
When the offense is cruising like
it was, you just want your starting pitcher to get outs and that’s exactly what
Ryan Dempster did.
Dempster went 7 strong innings,
giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. He walked
only 1 and struck out 6. It’s important
when you have a big lead to minimize walks and pitch to contact and it seems
that’s exactly what Dempster did last night.
It wasn’t a great performance but with the cushion the bats gave him it
was more than efficient.
Clayton Mortensen was a bit shaky
in his 2/3 of an inning worked. He
allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and walked 1.
He continues to be the weakest link in the bullpen and with Rubby De La
Rosa doing really well in the minors, he better start pitching better or he
could lose his job. Andrew Miller
pitched the last inning and a third and got through it without allowing a base
runner while striking out 2.
It was just one of those nights
at Fenway when every ball hit seemed like it was going to either leave the
ballpark or bounce off the wall.
Sometimes you just wish you can hold onto some of those runs for games
that you can’t get the bats going. That’s
baseball though; you can score 17 like the Sox did last night and then come out
tonight and get blanked. Let’s hope that
doesn’t happen.
The Sox will send John Lackey
(3-5, 2.96) to the mound tonight who’s been on a roll as of late. He’ll be opposed by Alexi Ogando (4-2, 3.08)
who is coming back from a brief stint on the DL. He pitched against the Sox on 5/4 and was
brilliant going 6 innings giving up only 1 run.
Let’s hope Lackey can get it going and the bats stay hot.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Stephen Drew. Drew had 4 hits and 3 of them were for extra
bases. He drove in 2 runs and scored 3
more. It’s going to get very interesting
when Middlebrooks returns because Drew is hitting right now and so is
Iglesias. The Sox are going to want to
keep both bats in the lineup.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Clayton Mortensen. With the score the way it is, all you need to
do is deliver outs. Mortensen only
pitched 2/3 of an inning but was scorched for 4 hits (1 a homerun) and 2 runs
with a walk.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The 1st career homerun
for Jackie Bradley Jr. in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Love seeing a guy hit his first ever
homer. Bradley crushed it over the right
field bullpens then hustled around the bases like he’s been there before. In fact he almost caught up to Jose Iglesias
who had hit a double in front of him.
NEXT
Tonight, Wednesday, June 5th
vs. the Rangers.
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