The Red Sox are finally back to
.500 as some late game heroics and fancy defense help take a 2-game sweep of
the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-3 victory.
It took eight tries but the Red
Sox finally won a game to get them back to the .500 mark. Will Middlebrooks snapped a late 3-3 tie with
an RBI single up the middle with one out in the 8th inning to give
the Sox the win.
The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the
top of the 7th and the Sox could do nothing in the bottom half of
the inning but in the bottom half of the 8th, the Sox would not only
tie up the game but pull ahead as well.
After a David Ortiz strikeout,
Mike Napoli walked to begin the inning and Jonny Gomes followed that up with a
4 pitch walk by new pitcher J.J. Hoover.
A.J. Pierzynski then doubled down the right field line to tie the game
and put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Jackie Bradley Jr. was then intentionally
walked to load the bases for Will Middlebrooks who had been struggling as of
late. Middlebrooks came to the plate
batting .200 and was 4 for 26 on the home stand. He broke out of the slump, by ripping a single
up the middle on a 3-2 count to put the Sox ahead.
Koji Uehara would close out the
game with a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out all 3 batters he
faced. It was vintage Koji and shows
that for some reason, he’s just better when he has a lead. John Farrell, please take note, do not mess
with him by putting him in when the game is tied.
Before that, Jake Peavy went 6
strong innings giving up 3 runs on only 4 hits but he did walk 4 and strike out
4. In Peavy’s last 2 outings he’s been
pretty wild, walking 5 last time out and 4 last night. Peavy didn’t seem all that comfortable out
there but battled and kept the score close enough for the bats to come around.
The bullpen was once again pretty
strong. Chris Capuano went 1/3 of an
inning giving up no hits and no runs and Burke Badenhop went 2/3 of an inning
with no runs or hits. Craig Breslow
pitched the 8th and gave up nothing while striking out one. The bullpen has been the MVP of the season so
far by either keeping the game close or completely shutting down the opponents
until the Sox can get their bats going.
Defense was again huge in the
outcome of the game as the Sox were able to escape major jams by getting 3
double-plays to get them out of innings.
In the top of the 2nd, Mike Napoli was able to turn a
double-play to get out of the inning. In
the top of the 5th, Will Middlebrooks started a nice 5-4-3 double
play to end the inning and in the top of the 8th, the Sox were able
to erase a lead-off walk by getting Joey Votto to ground into a 4-6-3 double
play.
If defense and pitching wins
championship, this team has a lot to look forward to but you also need some offense
and again this is where they struggled Wednesday night.
Though the Sox had 10 hits and
walked 5 times, they were able to only scrape 4 runs together and left 9 men on
base while going 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Shane Victorino went 2 for 4 with
a run scored, David Ortiz went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Mike Napoli went 1 for 3
with a run scored, RBI, double and a walk.
The 2-4 hitters really shined last night for the Red Sox.
A.J. Pierzynski went 2 for 3 with
an RBI, double and a walk. Will
Middlebrooks went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk and Jonathan Herrera went 1
for 2 with a run scored and sacrifice bunt.
Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 5 but also struck out 4 times.
It wasn’t a lot but it was enough
to get the win as the Sox will try to build on that as they head out west for
the weekend and next week. They’ll have
an off-day today but will start a 3-game set against the Texas Rangers on
Friday night.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Will Middlebrooks. It’s nice to get that game-winning RBI single
when you’re slumping. Will has always
been a very streaky hitter so maybe this will get him going.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Dustin Pedroia. Though he had a hit on the night, he also
struck out 4 times and 3 times on cutters from Reds starter Mike Leake. Even if Leake told him what was coming I think
Pedroia would have had a tough time putting wood on the ball.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The 8th inning RBI
single by Will Middlebrooks to put the Sox up 4-3 and get the victory.
NEXT
Friday, May 9th in Texas vs. the Rangers.
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