The Red Sox headed up north to face the Blue Jays, John Farrell's former team. I knew that Jays fans were a little testy with how quickly Farrell was open and willing to go, but didn't expect him to get wildly boo'ed each time he went to the mound. I found it entertaining. Anyhoo…back to the game. The pitching matchup was Felix Doubront vs. the former Marlin Josh Johnson.
The Sox got a run in the 2nd inning when Ellsbury hit a single to plate Victorino. The bad news of the 2nd is that Iglesias got hit by a pitch and ended up coming out of the game an inning or so later with a "right arm contusion." Unfortunately, Doubront gave that run right back in the bottom of the 2nd with a sac fly to DeRosa. Sox 1-1. The Sox grabbed another run in the 4th with an RBI from Ciriaco who was in the game for Iglesias. Sox 2-1. The Sox padded the lead with a 2 run HR from Mike Napoli in the top of the 5th. Sox 4-2. This was the first homerun for Napoli in a Sox uniform, hopefully first of many.
Doubront struggled in the 5th inning. I am not sure if it was hitting a wall or not, but his pitches were suddenly just a lot more hittable. Doubront gave up a leadoff HR to DeRosa. Sox 4-2. Then Doubront gave up an RBI double to have the Sox clinging to a 4-3 lead. Doubront got out of the 5th inning and started the 6th inning. Doubront gave up a leadoff double to Arencibia and he would be done for the night. Doubront's pitching line for the night was 5+ IP, 9 H, 3 R, 0 BB and 6 Ks. There was definitely a lot of things that could be worked on coming out of Dubi's first outing.
Koji Uehara replaced Doubront and pitched a scoreless 6th inning. He's quickly becoming one of my favorites in the bullpen. Tazawa took the mound in the 7th and gave up a game tying homerun to Reyes. Sox 4-4. The Sox were able to get the run right back in the 8th. Mike Napoli hit an awkward looking check swing groundout that scored Jonny Gomes from 3rd. Sox 5-4. Bailey came out for the 8th and got himself in a little bit of trouble, but in the end pitched a scoreless inning. Will Middlebrooks gave the Sox an insurance run with his first homerun of the season. Sox 6-4. Joel Hanrahan came on for the 9th and snagged his 2nd save of the season.
It was a nail biter at times, but in the end…that water was still dirty! WOOT! This had to be a nice win for John Farrell after being heckled and boo'ed all night.
Red Sox 6 Blue Jays 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Tazawa (1-0) LP: Rogers (0-1) SV: Hanrahan (2)
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