So this is what a winning streak
feels like? I know it’s only 2 in a row
but after losing 10 straight this actually feels pretty good. The Sox took their second straight in Atlanta
by the score of 6-3 behind a big 7th inning where they scored 4 runs.
This game had it all, bloops that
fell in, clutch hitting, an important call that actually went their way even
after a review and decent starting pitching.
Jon Lester was not dominant Tuesday
night but he battled hard and minimized damage in key situations. The big lefty gave up 3 runs on 8 hits in 6
innings of work while striking out 7 and walking 3 to earn his 5th
victory of the year. He was unhappy all
night with the home plate umpire as you could see him yelling into his glove or
mumbling to himself leaving the mound after the inning. From what I saw though, the umpire was pretty
fair all night. Though he wasn’t giving
Lester the outside corner, he wasn’t giving it to the Braves either, so as a
pitcher you need to adapt and Lester did his best all game.
The biggest obstacle was in the
bottom of the 2nd when the Braves had the bases loaded with no outs
and the pitcher Aaron Harang at the plate.
Lester was able to get Harang to ground back to him to start a 1-2-3
double play then get Jason Heyward to ground out to end the inning and the
threat.
Lester came out after the 6th
with the score 3-2 Braves but Boston’s bats would come alive in the top of the
7th as after a Brock Holt groundout, Xander Bogaerts would start the
rally with a single. Pedroia would
follow with a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. David Ortiz would then single in Bogaerts
with an RBI single to tie the game.
Gomes then popped up a ball behind 1st base that fell in to
load the bases for Grady Sizemore, who hit into a fielder’s choice to plate Pedroia
to give the Sox the 4-3 lead. With 2
runners in scoring position and a lefty on the mound and righty David Ross
coming up to the plate, the Braves opted to intentionally walk Ross to get to
the lefty Jackie Bradley Jr. It was a
bit surprising as Ross was batting .175 on the year, but at the same time, JBJ
is batting only .201 on the year and isn’t hitting lefties all that well.
Well Jackie Bradley Jr. came
through in a big way with a single to left-field on a good piece of hitting to
plate both Ortiz and Gomes and give the Sox a 6-3 lead that the bullpen would
hold for the win. That big hit that’s
evaded the Sox so much the last month finally happened and I’m glad it was the
struggling JBJ to have it.
As I said, the bullpen was good
once again in preserving the win for Jon Lester. Craig Breslow went 2/3’s of an inning giving
up 0 runs and only 1 hit. Junichi Tazawa
also worked around a hit and a walk in his 2/3 innings of work and was aided by
a spectacular grab in right-field by Jonny Gomes to escape a jam.
Andrew Miller went 2/3 of an
inning striking out both batters he faced.
Then it was Koji time as Uehara pitched a perfect ninth, striking out 2
of the 3 batters he faced for his 11th save of the year and his 2nd
consecutive.
The offense left a ton of people
on base (10) and was 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position. I’ll take .400 over the terrible .100-.200
they’ve been putting up. Overall the Sox
had 6 runs on 12 hits while walking twice.
Dustin Pedroia went 3 for 4 with a
run scored and an RBI. Grady Sizemore
went 2 for 5 with a run scored, an RBI, a double and his 4th stolen
base of the year. Jackie Bradley Jr.
went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI in the win.
Brock Holt and Xander Bogaerts
both went 1 for 5 with a run scored.
David Ortiz went 1 for 4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. Jonny Gomes went 1 for 5 with a run
scored. David Ross went 1 for 4 with an
RBI and a walk.
Jon Lester had to bat because of
the National League rules and went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. In his career, Jon Lester is now 0 for 34
with 21 strikeouts. That’s some
spectacularly bad hitting, even for a pitcher.
You’d think he’d get lucky every once in awhile but so far, no. I’m sure he’s happy to be in the American
League where he only has to bat sparingly.
This weird series will now shift
to Boston for 2 games as John Lackey (5-3, 3.58) will take the hill for the
Sox. Lackey was brilliant in his last
start against the Rays but didn’t factor into the decision. He went 7 strong innings where he didn’t give
up any runs and only 5 hits.
Taking the mound for the Braves
will be Gavin Floyd (0-1, 2.49). Floyd
has pitched pretty well this year but so far has no wins to show for it. In his last outing against a good Rockies
team, he went 6 and 2/3 giving up just 2 runs on 7 hits while walking none and
striking out 7. Floyd doesn’t walk a ton
so the Sox will have to be aggressive up there.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jackie Bradley Jr. JBJ came through with a huge 2-run single to
cap off a 4-run 7th inning and had another hit on the night.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
There really wasn’t any one to
give an elbow to the face but if I had to, it would actually be Lester. Lester did not have his best stuff on the
mound and complained constantly about the strike zone. The strike zone seemed pretty consistent on
both sides so the whining was really not needed. The less that is spoken about his bat the
better.
PLAY OF THE GAME
JBJ’s 2-run single in the 7th.
NEXT
Wednesday, May 28th at Home vs. the Braves.
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