The Red Sox were at 500 and it seems like the idea of getting above 500 just seems like it is always just beyond our grasps. Lester took the mound for the Sox and he definitely didn’t have his ace stuff with him. Brawl or no brawl, we ended up walking away with a loss and once again being below 500.
Lester took the mound and seemed to be doing alright until he hit the 3rd inning. Lester seemed to not be getting calls from the home plate ump that he wanted and it seemed to be getting to him. With the bases loaded, Lester gave up a grand slam to Joyce and the game took a definite turn. If that was all the damage then the Sox bats would have a chance to get back into this, however Lester continued his struggles in the 4th. He gave up a 2 run HR to Johnson and then a solo HR to Pena. That was it for Lester and the bullpen was in starting in the 5th inning. Once again, the bullpen continued to just put up clean innings, but it was too little too late. Scott Atchison pitched three scoreless innings. Scott Atchison’s ERA is a whoppin’ 1.00 right now. As the constant journeyman, I am so glad he is ours. Albers also pitched a scoreless inning. Morales finished it out with a scoreless inning as well, but we know his inning was dramatic. Morales ended up taking 4 pitches to hit Luke Scott. Scott didn’t take kindly to it and the benches cleared. After that, the main back and forth seemed to be with the Sox coaches and staff. It was interesting since it is usually the players and the coaches trying to pull people back. Not this time. I guess if anyone is going to get hit on the Rays team, I’m always voting for Luke Scott.
The Sox bats got a little bit going on, but not nearly enough. They scored a run in the 1st with a Youkilis RBI single. This was Youk’s first game back at third base since coming off the DL. In the 5th, the Sox got another run on an RBI double from Gonzo. In the 6th, the Sox got a couple more runs with an RBI single from Byrd and a sac fly from Aviles. Unfortunately that would be all the runs the Sox could get across the board. Rodney came out in the 9th and got a 1-2-3 inning for his 15th save of the season.
Tomorrow with Price and Beckett on the mound, I gotta wonder if this drama will continue or if both teams will put it to rest.
Red Sox 4 Rays 7 BOXSCORE
WP: Cobb (2-0) LP: Lester (3-4) SV: Rodney (15)
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