Another great comeback for the
Red Sox and more runs and homers from the offense. The Red Sox are smack dab in the middle of
their best stretch they’ve had all year offensively and they notched their 86th
win of the season on a 12-8 victory in the Bronx.
Down 8-3 going into the top of
the 7th, the Sox got a lift from Mike Napoli, who hit a game-tying
grand slam to right with 2 outs. It was
a great moment and it fired the team up.
After he was done circling the base paths, Napoli’s teammates had some
fun with him in the dugout by tugging on his caveman beard. This team seems to have a lot of fun with
each other and it was funny to see.
In the 8th, Shane
Victorino put the Sox up with a 2-run homer.
Jacoby Ellsbury has something wrong with his foot and Victorino’s
presence is going to be needed immensely going forward. Luckily he’s ridiculously hot and the Sox
shouldn’t miss too much with Ellsbury being out.
Napoli finished the day 3 for 3
with 3 runs, 4 RBI, 2 walks, a double and his 19th homer of the
season. Victorino was 2 for 5 with 2
runs, 2 RBI, a HBP and his 14th homer of the year. Dustin Pedroia went 3 for 5 with a run, RBI
and a walk. Will Middlebrooks was 2 for
5 with 2 runs, an RBI and his 14th homer of the year. Middlebrooks is heating up at the right time.
Mike Carp, Daniel Nava and
Stephen Drew all added a hit as well.
Nava walked twice as well and Carp once.
David Ortiz didn’t record a hit but walked once in the effort. David Ross went 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI
as well. Everyone seems to be smacking
the ball around right now.
Lost in the mix because of the
big offensive outbreak was the terrible performance of Felix Doubront. Doubront lasted only 3 and 2/3 innings giving
up 6 runs on 6 hits while walking 6 and striking out only 2. The 6 walks were a season high and he seemed
to think that it was a mechanics issue. He
spoke after the game and seemed to mention mechanics and not being able to
locate his fastball consistently. With
Clay Buchholz scheduled to return Tuesday, the odd man out of the rotation is
either going to be Doubront or Dempster.
Let’s see who can step up.
The bullpen didn’t do too bad
last night. Rubby De La Rosa went 2 and
1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and striking out 2. Brandon Workman, who took the win, went 1 and
1/3 innings giving up just 1 walk while striking out 2. Franklin Morales went 2/3 of an inning and
walked one and struck out 1. Koji Uehara
came in to close the door with a 1-2-3 9th inning, striking out 2 of
the 3 batters he faced. It wasn’t a save
situation but Koji did what he usually does.
The Red Sox are scorching hot
right now. They’ve won 11 of their last
13 games, 12 in the last 15 and hold a 7 and ½ game lead in the AL East. The magic number is at 14!!!
They’ll go at it again in the
Bronx Saturday afternoon as Lackey will face Huff in game 3 of the 4 game
series.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Mike Napoli. Naps seems to be doing what he does every
September. He has a knack to heat up in
September and he’s coming through in a big way as of late. 3 for 3 day, on base 5 times and his 3rd
grand slam of the year.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
David Ortiz. Ortiz was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. He was walked intentionally one time but he did
not have a big day at the dish on Friday night.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Napoli’s grand slam in the 7th
to tie the game at 8.
NEXT
Saturday, September 7th, in New
York vs. the Yankees.
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