In the playoffs, good pitching
will win series and yesterday, you saw an absolute gem from the Tigers and a
very good performance from the Sox.
The Red Sox went from nearly being
no-hit in Game 1, to needing just one big hit to pull off another comeback
victory.
Unfortunately, there would be no
magic on Saturday night at Fenway Park.
Instead it’s a Game 1 loss 1-0 to the Tigers and a lot of frustrated bats.
Daniel Nava broke up the
no-hitter with a single with one out in the ninth inning. It wasn’t a great hit but it finally fell in
and the Sox would not be no-hit. Quintin
Berry came on to pinch run and stole second base with 2 outs. Rookie, Xander Bogaerts, came up with a
chance to tie the game but ended up popping up to short to end the game on a
3-2 pitch.
It was ugly all night for the
offense. Anibal Sanchez was simply
fantastic going 6 innings and striking out 12 hitters. He did walk 6 batters and came out of the
game early but the Tigers bullpen nailed it down to seal the victory. Overall, the Sox struck out 17 times on the
night, which tied a postseason record set by the 1968 Tigers and 1998 Astros.
The only good thing was that the
Sox prevented themselves from being no-hit.
They haven’t been no-hit since Chris Bosio did it to them in Seattle on
April 22nd, 1993.
Dustin Pedroia walked twice,
Nava, Drew, Napoli and Ross all took in one free pass. They were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring
position and left 8 men on base.
They had their biggest
opportunity to do some damage in the 6th, when they loaded the bases
on walks. Tiger’s manager stuck with
Sanchez and he rewarded the manager by getting Stephen Drew to strike out,
ending the threat.
Jon Lester deserved better but
the bats just couldn’t help him out.
Lester went 6 and 1/3 innings giving up just 1 run on 6 hits while
walking 1 and striking out 4. A great
effort but with no offense behind him, he just couldn’t get it done.
Junichi Tazawa went 2/3 of a inning
giving up no runs. Craig Breslow worked
around a hit in his one inning of relief while striking out 2. Koji Uehara went 1 inning as well and had to
work around 2 hits but got through it unscathed and struck out 2.
The Sox will go into game 2 on
Sunday night with Clay Buchholz at the helm vs. the likely Cy Young Award
winner Max Scherzer. It won’t get any
easier tonight and the Sox know it.
Hopefully they’ll continue to grind out at bats and get Max out of the
game early because even though they were good tonight, the Tigers bullpen is
shaky and the Sox need to test them.
Daniel Nava. He broke up the no-no in the 9th with a big 1 out hit.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury went 0 for 4 Saturday night with 3
strikeouts.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The bases loaded strikeout by
Stephen Drew in the 6th. The
Sox had Sanchez on the ropes but couldn’t deliver the knock-out blow.
NEXT
Sunday, October 13th. In Fenway against the Tigers again.
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