It looks like we turned the
clocks back to 2013 last night as the Sox had that grind-it-out plate approach
that was so prevalent last season. The
Red Sox rolled to a 7-4 victory over the Rays last night at cold Fenway Park in
the same way they grinding out wins in their championship run of 2013.
The quality at-bats came from
everyone in the lineup, from top to bottom and John Lackey looked unhittable for
the second straight outing. The Sox are
healthy again and with one game left in April, their record now sits at 13-14
and they’re only 1.5 games back in the AL East.
Shane Victorino, who is just back
from a DL stint, led the charge last night going 4 for 4 with 2 RBI, a double and
a sacrifice fly. It was the jolt the
offense needed at the top of the order and he seemed to do what he did a lot last
year and get that big hit with runners in scoring position.
Speaking of runners in scoring
position, the Sox went 5 for 15, which isn’t great but isn’t terrible either,
however, they did leave 10 men on base and this game shouldn’t really have been
as close as it was.
Jackie Bradley Jr. went 2 for 4
with a run scored, 2 RBI and 2 doubles and is leading the Sox in batting with
runners in scoring position with an average of over .400.
A.J. Pierzynski continued his hot
hitting, going 2 for 4 with a run scored and a RBI. Will Middlebrooks went 1 for 3 with 2 runs,
an RBI, a double and a walk. Dustin
Pedroia went 1 for 5 with a run scored and David Ortiz also went 1 for 5 and
drove in a run, though he also struck out 3 times.
Jonny Gomes went 1 for 4 with a double
and a walk and Mike Napoli went 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 walks. He also saw a team high 33 pitches in 5 plate
appearances and really drove home that grind it out approach at the plate.
It wasn’t all offense though, as
starter John Lackey was down right filthy again for the 2nd straight
start. Lackey went 8 strong innings, giving
up just 2 runs on 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 5. He again had the breaking ball working and
good command of his fastball. He’s
pitching like an ace this year and really coming out strong after Sox losses
and being that stopper the team really needs.
The bullpen was scary last night
as Edward Mujica was dreadful again in his outing. He went 2/3 of an inning and gave up 2 runs
on 2 hits while walking 1 and striking out none. His ERA this year is up to 10.00 and he
simply is not trustworthy right now. I’m
hoping it’s just early season jitters but if this continues, the Sox are going
to have to make a decision with him and bring up Workman or Britton who are
excelling down on the farm.
It got so bad that the Sox had to
use Koji Uehara to get the final out of the game with 2 down and a runner on 2nd. Koji promptly struck out Ben Zobrist on 3
pitches to record his 6th save of the season.
This game looked like the Red Sox
team I remember and I hope they can continue to build on this and get quality
at bats as they did last year. The
pitching is there and if the hitting can come around, I think they’ll be
alright.
With rain in the forecast
tonight, I don’t expect them to play but if they do, the Sox will send struggling
Felix Doubront (1-3, 6.00) to the mound to face Ray’s starter Chris Archer
(2-1, 4.11). Doubront has struggled as
of late and needs to turn it around before the Sox decide to try someone else
in that slot. There are many options,
starting with Chris Capuano who has excelled in his outings this season.
Chris Archer is coming off a
rough start last time out against the Chicago White Sox which saw him surrender
4 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings of work.
He’s been pretty good against the Sox in his starts last season so look
for the Sox to take the same approach they did last night and run up his pitch count
to get to that shaky Rays bullpen.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Shane Victorino. Victorino was instrumental in the win last
night. He got on base 4 times, drove in
2 runs and when healthy, there’s no one better hitting out of that 2 hole.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Although he walked once, he also committed
his 5th error of the season in the 9th to help the Rays
get closer and make the game much more interesting than it should have been.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Jackie Bradley Jr.’s 2-run double
in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-1.
NEXT
Wednesday, April 30th at
home vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.
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