For the 2nd straight
night, the Red Sox just couldn’t get that big hit when they needed it. They dropped their 2nd in a row to
the O’s in 12 innings by the score of 5-3.
It stinks because the Indians
lost, which meant the Sox would have clinched a postseason birth with a win but
a win or another Indians loss will do the trick. The magic number to clinch the AL East is
still at 3 as the Rays won. The earliest
they can clinch that is now Friday if everything were to go well.
Jake Peavy turned in a solid
start as he went 7 strong innings giving up just 3 runs on 6 hits while walking
only 1 and striking out 8. He has
changed his arm angle back to the lower slot he was using during his Padre days
when he won his Cy Young Award for the last 2 games and he has to be pumped with
the positive results. The 8 strikeouts
were great and the only 1 walk was a lot better than his last time out when he
walked 5.
Craig Breslow worked 2/3 of an
inning giving up just 1 hit and Junichi Tazawa was brilliant in his 1 and 1/3
innings giving up nothing and striking out 1 of the 4 batters he faced. Koji Uehara went 1 inning getting all 3
batters he faced as well, striking out 1.
Franklin Morales went 2 innings and ended up giving up the winning runs
as he let up 2 runs on 3 his while walking 1.
Morales’ first inning went great but he just couldn’t get it done in his
2nd inning of relief as Chris Davis touched him up for a 2-run
single to give the O’s the lead and the win.
The story of the game was missed
opportunities for the offense. They were
just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base. Unfortunately it seemed like they were
hitting balls right at people last night as they grounded into 4 double
plays. You won’t win many games ending
innings hitting into double plays.
Overall, the Sox had 3 runs on 15
hits. If you get 15 hits in a ball game,
you should be able to win the game but leaving that many people on base will
get you nowhere.
Shane Victorino went 3 for 5 with
a run scored and Will Middlebrooks went 3 for 4 with a walk. David Ortiz went 2 for 6 with 2 RBI and his
28th homer of the season and Mike Napoli went 1 for 5 with an RBI
and his 23rd homer of the season.
Both homers were absolute bombs.
Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 6 and
hit his 40th double of the season while Gomes, Carp, Drew and
Saltalamacchia each added a hit in the loss.
It was a disappointing night at
Fenway but as I stated earlier they did get 1 game closer to the playoffs as
the Indians dropped their ball game. Let’s
hope tonight they can clinch a postseason birth and inch a little closer to the
AL East crown.
The Sox will send John Lackey (9-12, 3.56) to the mound against Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.70). Lackey hasn’t been himself in his last 2 outings as he’s given up 11 runs in just 12 innings. He did get a win in one of those games but he needs to have a better showing tonight. Tillman has been the O’s best pitcher this season and has been consistent all year long. He took a loss in his last outing against the Blue Jays but did go 8 strong innings.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
David Ortiz. Ortiz had 2 hits and 2 RBI in the loss
Wednesday night. One of his hits was his
28th homer of the season.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Daniel Nava. Nava’s not usually in the LVP section of the
blog but his 0 for 4 performances with 2 strikeouts wasn’t a good showing last
night.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Chris Davis’ 2-run single in the
top of the 12th with 2 outs to give the O’s the game.
NEXT
Thursday, September 19th,
at home against the Baltimore Orioles.
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