At first, the homers were needed,
and then it quickly got out of hand. The
Red Sox did something they haven’t done in 35 years. They belted a franchise-tying 8 home runs as
they routed the Tigers 20-4 to take another series win.
The homers were impressive too. Most were bombs hit over the bullpen in right
field. I’ve never seen anything like
it. The last time the Sox went deep 8
times in a game was July 4th, 1977, in a 9-6 win vs. the Blue Jays
at Fenway Park.
The Red sox homered in 6 frames,
scored in 7 of the 8 innings and collected 20 runs on 19 hits with 4 walks and
2 hits batsmen.
Only 5 of Boston’s base runners
failed to cross home plate. They were 5
for 9 with runners in scoring position and only left 4 on base. Eight of their 20 runs came with 2 outs.
David Ortiz went 3 for 5 with 3
runs scored, 4 RBI, a double and 2 home runs (26 now on the year). He collected career hit number 2,000 as well
with his double in the 6th inning.
It was a nice milestone and Red Sox faithful gave him a standing ovation
as well as the opposing team. His 2
homers moved him to 47th all time on the home run list as well
passing Billy Williams.
Will Middlebrooks went 3 for 5
with 2 runs, 4 RBI, a double and a grand slam, his 12th homer of the
year. Will has been swinging a great
stick since being brought back to the Majors and his grand slam in the 6th
was an absolute beauty. A line-shot
directly over the Monster. His double in
his next at bat was another bomb off the Monster.
Daniel Nava went 2 for 4 with 3
runs, 2 RBI, a walk and his 11th homer of the year. Stephen Drew went 2 for 2 with 2 runs, 2 RBI,
2 walks and his 12th homer of the year. Mike Napoli went 2 for 5 with 2 runs, 1 RBI
and his 18th homer of the year.
Ryan Lavarnway went 2 for 2 with 2 runs, 2 RBI and his 1st
homer of the year. Jacoby Ellsbury went
1 for 5 with a run, an RBI and his 8th homer of the year.
Every Red Sox starter had a hit
except for Dustin Pedroia who went 0 for 3 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly. David Ross went 1 for 2 and was pulled when
the rout was on for Lavarnway. Mike Carp
pitch hit and walked in his only plate appearance. It came with the bases loaded so he had an
RBI and scored a run on the Middlebrooks granny.
Quintin Berry who came in later
in the game went 2 for 2 with 2 runs and 2 RBI.
Shane Victorino who Berry subbed in for went 1 for 2 with a run scored
and his 19th stolen base of the year. He also made the play of the night as he
leaped into the stands to rob a homer.
It was an offensive explosion and
it was great to see because the Sox will roll into New York next and hopefully
the bats will stay hot.
Lost in all this was Ryan
Dempster. He pitched alright on the
night and the offense definitely helped him out. His final line was 6 innings, 4 runs on 6
hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. It
wasn’t a dominant performance but he struck out a lot of hitters and was able
to get out of some jams.
Brandon Workman went 1 inning
giving up just 1 hit and striking out 1.
Franklin Morales looked dominant in his inning of work, striking out 2
of the 3 batters he faced. He touched 95
on the radar gun a couple times. Rubby
De La Rosa pitched the final frame giving up just 1 hit and striking out 1.
The Sox will move onto New York
to try and finish off the Yankees this weekend.
If they could take 3 of 4 or sweep them, it would probably spell the end
for the Yankees who have been playing better as of late and still find
themselves in the playoff hunt.
Taking the hill for the Red Sox
will be Jake Peavy (11-5, 3.91) who is coming off of 2 outstanding starts in
which he’s combined to go 2-0 with 16 innings, 3 runs, and 9 strikeouts. He’ll be opposed by Ivan Nova (8-4,
2.88). Nova has is coming off his best
start of the year in which he pitched a complete game giving up 0 runs on 3
hits while striking out 5 and walking 1.
He has not faced Boston this year.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
David Ortiz. Ortiz is one of only 3 active players with at
least 2,000 hits, 400 HR’s and 1,400 RBI.
The other 2 are Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. He homered twice on the night and drove in 4
and getting to 2,000 hits is impressive.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
No one really deserves this as
everyone played very well. I’ll give it
to John McDonald. He came in for Dustin
Pedroia and went 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
He made a nice play in the field but looked overmatched at the
plate. He has a .095 batting average
this year and it definitely showed.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Will Middlebrooks’ 6th
inning grand slam. It put the Sox up
10-4 and from there the rout was on. It
changed the whole complexion of the game as it was still close before the
homer.
NEXT
Thursday, September 5th, in New
York vs. the Yankees.
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