Just when I was saying that the
Grady Sizemore experience may be coming to an end, he goes out and not only has
a good game but also comes up with the walk-off hit to give the Sox a 4-3
victory in Game 1 of a quick 2-game set against the Cincinnati Reds in 12
innings.
In the bottom of the 12th,
David Ortiz started the inning with a single and Napoli moved him to 2nd with
his own single. Grady Sizemore then
lifted a walk-off single off the Green Monster in left-center to bring home the
victory and he seemed to embrace the feeling as he was emotional for the first
time in a Red Sox uniform. There was
good reason as his last walk-off hit came on August 11, 2006.
It was the first time the Sox
have played the Reds at Fenway Park since 2005 and 2 defensive gems kept the
Sox from falling to the Reds in the home-opener.
In the top of the ninth, Shane
Victorino hauled in a ball that Tucker Barnhart just crushed into
right-field. He caught it just in front
of the wall between the visiting bullpen and the right-field stands and it
saved a run as there was a runner on 2nd that easily scores if that
drops in. Instead he tagged and went to
third. Chris Heisey was able to reach on
a bunt single but Koji Uehara was able to get the dangerous Joey Votto to
pop-up to end the inning and the threat.
The other key defensive play was
in the top of the 6th when Felix Doubront got himself in some
trouble walking 2 batters with 1 out in the inning. John Farrell lifted him in favor of Burke
Badenhop to try to get out of the inning.
With the first pitch, Badenhop got Skip Schumaker to hit a sharp
ground-ball up the middle that Dustin Pedroia made a sliding back-hand stab at,
and then threw it with his glove to start the 4-6-3 double-play to escape the
jam. It was a great play and one we’ve
come accustom to with Pedey.
Speaking of Doubront, he did
so-so as he went 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up just 1 run on 5 hits but walked 3
and struck out 3. His pitch count was
high (97 pitches) in only 5 and 1/3 innings and he seemed to be working very
slowly. I don’t have much faith in
Doubront at this point and have been calling for his replacement in the
rotation for some time now. He did
decent enough to warrant another outing but the Sox need to be cautious of him.
Burke Badenhop did his job firing
1 and 2/3 innings of no-run, no-hit ball but Junichi Tazawa did poorly in his 1
inning of work, allowing the Reds to tie the game in the 8th by
allowing 2 runs on 2 hit sand a walk.
Tazawa didn’t have it out there on Tuesday night but he did get out of
the inning with the game still tied. The
rest of the bullpen would do their job until the Sox could win it in the 12th.
Koji Uehara escaped 2 hits with
the help from Shane Victorino in right and Andrew Miller was brilliant in his 2
innings of work, allowing 0 hits and 0 runs and striking out 4. Miller has picked up right where he left off
last year before he injured his foot.
Craig Breslow picked up the win
by firing a scoreless 12th inning giving up just 1 hit and striking
out 2.
It was more of the same on the
offensive side. The Sox went 2 for 13
with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. I read yesterday that they are 3rd
from last in the American League in batting average with runners in scoring
position and 2nd to last with men left on base. A stat that needs to improve going forward or
this team is going nowhere.
They did belt out 11 hits with
Dustin Pedroia leading the way by going 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, a walk and
2 doubles. Grady Sizemore also had 3
hits (3 for 6) with 2 RBI.
David Ortiz went 2 for 4 with a
run scored, a double and 2 walks. Mike
Napoli went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 walks.
Shane Victorino walked once and also had a hit while Jackie Bradley Jr.
did the same. Victorino also stole his
first base of the year.
If the Sox had dropped this game,
I’d be here blaming the terrible offensive performance but luckily the Sox were
able to get the walk-off extra inning win.
They’ll go for the 2-game sweep tonight and have yet another chance to
get back to .500. So far they are 0-fer
in these chances so let’s hope they can carry this emotional win over to
tomorrow.
Taking the mound today for the
Sox will be Jake Peavy (1-1, 2.87) who has gotten little to no runs support
this season. He took a loss in his last
start against the Rays but allowed only 2 runs on 3 hits but was wild walking 5
and striking out only 4.
For the Reds, Mike Leake (2-3,
3.53) will take the hill and he had the same luck as Peavy in his last
start. Leake went 8 strong innings and
allowed only 2 runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5 but took the
loss to the Brewers.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Grady Sizemore. 3 hits and 2 RBI plus the walk-off single in
the 12th… Just what the Red
Sox drew up when the signed him.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
A.J. Pierzynski, who went 0 for 5
with 2 strikeouts and left 6 men on base himself.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The walk-off single by Grady
Sizemore in the bottom of the 12th to give the Sox the win.
NEXT
Wednesday, May 7th at
home vs. the Cincinnati Reds.
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