The Red Sox are simply on fire
right now. Every time they need a big
hit, it seems to come, no matter who is at the dish.
In Friday night’s 8-4 win over
their archrivals, the big hit came from Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty crushed a grand slam over the Boston
bullpen with one out in the bottom of the 7th that broke the back of
the Yankees and eventually gave them the 8-4 win.
The game was tied at that point
and Fenway was rocking after Salty’s blast.
It was deafening to hear even on TV.
The win lowered Boston’s magic number to clinch the AL East to 7 and it
was their 90th win of the season, tops in the majors.
The Sox banged out 8 runs on 11
hits but were again terrible with runners in scoring position going 3 for 14
with 8 men left on base. This is an area
that has been a concern for most of the year and somehow they are still winning
games.
Salty went 2 for 3 on the night
with his 36th double, 13th homer, 4 RBI (59 on the year)
and he also walked once. David Ortiz
went 2 for 3 with 2 runs, 2 doubles (35 on the year) and a walk. Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 5 with a run out of
the leadoff spot and Stephen Drew went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 doubles (27 on
the year for him).
Shane Victorino chipped in with a
hit and Mike Carp drove in a run on the night.
Jonny Gomes went 0 for 1 but walked once. Daniel Nava stayed hot, going 2 for 4 with a
run and RBI, his 61st RBI of the season.
John Lackey was alright in the win
and I feel that John Farrell actually pulled him too early. In the 7th, the Sox were clinging
to a 4-2 lead and Lackey gave up back-to-back singles to Brendan Ryan and Chris
Stewart with one out. Farrell lifted
Lackey who was only at 82 pitches.
Craig Breslow would come on and strike out Granderson but he then walked A-Rod and then proceeded to give up a game-tying double to Robinson Cano.
With only 82 pitches, I think
Lackey deserved a chance to get Granderson and A-Rod. Lackey’s final line was 6 and 1/3 innings, 4
runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts. He
didn’t walk any and I feel had a lot still left in the tank. Farrell knows his staff better and maybe
Granderson owns Lackey. I didn’t see
their head-to-head stats.
Brandon Workman took the win
after pitching an inning and a third of scoreless ball. Junichi Tazawa went 1 inning with no runs and
Koji Uehara slammed the door closed in the top of the 9th with a 1-2-3
inning.
They’ll go at it again this
afternoon as the Sox send Jon Lester to the hill to face C.C. Sabathia. It should be a good one as Lester has been
hot as of late and Sabathia just hasn’t been right this year.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty is on fire right now. His grand slam in the 7th broke
the game wide open. He also added his 36th
double of the season and is having one of his most productive seasons of his
career.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Will Middlebrooks. Will went 0 for 4 with a strikeout and seems
to be in the midst of a mini-slump.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Salty’s grand salami in the 7th.
NEXT
Saturday, September 14th,
at home against the New York Yankees.
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