Yesterday is why I love the 2013
Red Sox. One day removed from a very
frustrating defeat that could send a team into a downward spiral, everything
was back to normal and the bats came out in full effect.
With a barrage of hits and an
absolute gem pitched by Felix Doubront, the Red Sox rolled to a 12-1 victory
and a series win in San Francisco.
It all starts with pitching and Felix
Doubront was on yesterday. The lefty
fired 8 strong innings allowing only 1 run (a solo homer in the 2nd
ining) on 5 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1. He seemed confident yesterday and threw a lot
of first pitch strikes. His curveball
was downright nasty yesterday and in one at bat against Hunter Pence, who he struck
out twice, Pence swung and missed when the ball was already in the mitt. The curveball just disappeared on him and was
on point all night long.
Koji Uehara, in a non-save
situation, pitched a perfect ninth in what I’m guessing was just a chance to
get some extra work in because he hadn’t pitched in a few games. He struck out 1 in the inning.
The offense showed up in a huge
way. They left only 4 men on base and
were 6 for 15 with runners in scoring position.
Every starter except for David Ortiz, who left with back soreness, and
the pitcher had a hit. Hopefully Ortiz’s
injury isn’t serious and maybe just some soreness because he’s had to play the
field the last 2 days.
Jacoby Ellsbury went 3 for 4 with
a double and his 46th stolen base.
Shane Victorino went 3 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI. Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 4 with 2 runs
scored and an RBI. Both his hits were
doubles and he now has 30 on the year.
Will Middlebrooks stayed hot and hit his 11th homer of the
year and drove in 2. He also walked once
and is scorching hot since coming off the DL.
Stephen Drew also homered and drove in 3; it was his 10th
homer of the year. Jonny Gomes had 1
hit, 1 run scored, 2 RBI and also walked once.
Salty went 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI in the win as well.
The Sox had a ton of RBI come
with 2 outs. 8 of the 12 runs scored on
the day came with 2 outs. That’s some
big clutch hitting. Both homers in the
game (Middlebrooks & Drew) came with 2 outs and are absolute back-breakers.
Xander Bogaerts came in late in
the game and reached base on an error.
He is still looking for his first hit of his career. Mike Napoli, who came in for Ortiz, went 0
for 2 with a strikeout and still looks lost at the plate.
It was a good series win on the
road and now they get a much needed day of rest before heading to Los Angeles
to face the ridiculously hot Dodgers.
They’ll meet some familiar faces out there with Carl Crawford, Nick
Punto, Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez all in Dodger blue now
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Felix Doubront. No matter how good you hit, you have to have
a good pitching performance and Felix was on point yesterday going 8 strong
innings of 1 run ball. It was possibly the
best I’ve seen him in a good month and a half.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
David Ortiz. Ortiz went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts before exiting
with back pain. He has looked absolutely
terrible in his 2 games on the west coast National League road trip. Let’s hope the injury isn’t serious and Ortiz
can get back to mashing. He just looks
lost up there right now.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Jonny Gomes’ 2 run single in the
top of the 3rd to put the Sox up 5-1 and the game out of reach for
the struggling Giants.
NEXT
Friday, August 23rd,
in Los Angeles vs. the Dodgers.
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