Big Papi adds another chapter to
his heroics at Fenway Park and Jake Peavy pitches a gem to give the Sox a
series win over the Rangers.
David Ortiz tries to his Hall of
Fame credentials with yet another clutch homer to propel the Sox over the Rangers
4-2 in the last game of the series.
Ortiz’s 3-run homer in the 8th put the Sox up to stay after
the bullpen gave the lead away in the top half of the inning.
Ron Washington elected to have
David Ortiz face lefty Neal Cotts and it was a good decision as Cotts had faced
Ortiz 6 times over the last couple years and struck him out in 5 of them. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out this time
as the man known for his heroics drove a deep drive down the right-field line
for a 3-run homer.
With the count 1-1, Ortiz turned
on an 89-mph fastball and belted it toward Pesky’s pole. I thought it was going to curve foul, but it
stayed fair though it was tough to tell because it was so high. The umpires did review the call and the call
stood for the home run and the home crowd roared for Mr. Clutch.
With that big swing, the Sox were
able to salvage a terrible home stand that they finished at 2-4 and 4-5
overall. The Yanks are up next with a
trip to the Bronx, so hopefully this clutch hit will get the offense going.
The offense didn’t do much
against the Rangers starter Robbie Ross who tried his best to give the game to
the Sox by walking 6. He only gave up 2
hits and the Sox had only 4 overall but walking 6 men in one game generally
leads to a lot of runs for the opposing team.
That didn’t happen though as the Sox just couldn’t get a big hit again.
The double-play ball roared his
ugly head again as the Sox hit into 2 of them (Ryan Roberts & David Ortiz)
to kill early inning rallies. Xander
Bogaerts also stole a base but his slide took him past the bag and Elvis
Andrus, the Rangers shortstop, was able to tag him out ending another inning.
Overall the Sox were 2 for 8 with
runners in scoring position and left 4 men on base. They compiled 7 walks in the game but also
struck out 9 times. Jackie Bradley Jr.
was on base 3 times and scored twice going 0-0 with 3 walks. I think it may be time to try him in the
lead-off position as he seems to be able to work the count and see a lot of
pitches in all of his at bats.
Gomes went 0-2 with a walk out of
the lead-off spot and was lifted for A.J. Pierzynski in the bottom of the
eighth, who promptly singled. Grady
Sizemore came on to pitch run and play in the field in the top of the ninth.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 4 with a
run scored and David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a run scored, 3 RBI, double and
that clutch homer. That was it for hits
on the night.
Xander Bogaerts was on base twice
with 2 walks and Mike Napoli had the other walk on the night. Other than that, there was no offense to
speak of as the Rangers limited the Sox and worked around all the walks.
Jake Peavy was strong again in
his outing going 6 and 2/3, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 8
and walking 4. I felt he could have had
more strikeouts as the umpire behind the plate was not giving him the outside
corner the entire game. Peavy’s slider
and fastball were moving like a wiffle ball out there last night and it was the
best movement on his ball I’ve seen in quite some time. Out of the 4 walks, 3 were on 3-2 counts and
the 4th ball could have gone either way on all three of them.
Junichi Tazawa came on after a
Peavy homer and walk to retire Shin-Soo Choo after allowing a single to close
out the 7th and keep the game tied.
Andrew Miller couldn’t hold the
lead in the eighth, however, as he allowed 1 run on 1 hit in his 1 inning of
work. Andrus hit a leadoff double then
was moved to third on a grounder that went off Miller’s glove to shortstop
Bogaerts. Bogaerts went to 1st
for the out but the next batter Alex Rios put the Rangers ahead with a sacrifice
fly to center. Miller was able to retire
the last batter of the inning setting up the storybook ending for Ortiz.
Koji came on and did what he does
best; retire the side in order on limited pitches, 11 to be exact. He struck out 1 and nailed down his 2nd
save of the year.
They’ll travel to the Bronx to
start a 4 game series against the Yankees tonight as Clay Buchholz (0-0, 12.46)
will take the hill looking to rebound after his terrible first start last week.
The Yanks will give the ball to
Michael Pineda (0-1, 1.50) who took the loss in his opening game but was
brilliant in his first start in over 2 years.
He allowed only 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 5 and walking none in
6 innings. The movement on his ball
looked like vintage Pineda so the Sox will have their hands full tonight in the
first game of the series.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
David Ortiz. Was this even a question? His clutch 3-run homer gave the Sox a win
when they needed it most.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Daniel Nava. Nava went 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and doesn’t
look nearly as confident at the plate as he did last year. I know it’s early, but with Jackie Bradley
Jr. and Grady Sizemore both hitting the ball really well right now; Nava could
be in danger when Victorino is ready to come off the DL if he doesn’t start
hitting the ball.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Um, really? Ortiz’s 3-run 8th inning homer.
NEXT
Thursday, April 10th in New York,
vs. the Yankees.
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