The Red Sox had not been able to figure out how to beat the Texas Rangers yet this year. John Lackey took the mound hoping to change that. The Red Sox bats also hoped to have something to say about that. Jacoby Ellsbury was back in the lineup. David Ortiz heard the good news that he is medically cleared to play again and was available to pinch hit if needed. So, we had good news all around.
It didn’t take long for the Sox to get on the board. Ellsbury returned to the lineup, got a single and then stole second. Welcome Back Ells! Gonzo hit a 2 run HR for his 19th HR of the season. It was nice to see Gonzo smack the ball out of the park again since it had been a while. The Sox added two more runs in the 2nd when Salty hit an RBI double to plate Jed Lowrie. Scutaro also hit a sac fly to plate Carl Crawford. Sox 4-0. In the 3rd, the Sox added another 2 runs. Crawford hit a sac fly to plate Reddick and Lavarnway got an RBI double to score Jed Lowrie. Sox 6-0.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/LM Otero
John Lackey had a little bit of a hiccup in the 3rd inning. Lackey loaded the bases with no outs and then walked in a run. Sox 6-1. Lackey then gave up two sac flies to Hamilton and Young to have the Sox lead down to 6-3. Not great, but it could have been a lot worse. Adrian Gonzalez got one of those runs right back for Lackey by hitting his 2nd HR of the game. Gonzo is sure making up for lost time in the HR department. In the 5th, Lackey gave up a solo HR to Josh Hamilton and the Sox were leading 7-4. Lackey, the workhorse that he is, kept pitching away into the 7th inning. He was pulled with 2 outs in the 7th inning. Lackey’s pitching line for the night was 106 pitches, 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BBs, and 5 Ks. Not great, but a good outing by Lackey. He just kept trucking away while the offense just went to work. Franklin Morales came out to face Josh Hamilton and got him to fly out.
In the 8th inning, the Sox bats got back to work once again. Darren Oliver was on the mound in relief of Colby Lewis. Lavarnway hit a single, followed by a double from Salty. Mark Lowe came out in relief of Oliver. Marco Scutaro hit a double to plate both Lavarnway and Salty. The Rangers then intentionally walked Gonzalez to face Pedroia. Pedey made them pay by hitting an RBI double to score both Salty and Gonzo. Red Sox lead 11-4. We no longer needed Bard and Pap to finish off this game. Aceves came out and pitched the 8th. He walked the first batter, but then put the next 3 down in order. Dan Wheeler pitched the 9th. Wheeler gave up a solo HR, but that’s it and the Sox won 11-5.
FYI: The Yankees also lost to the A’s last night, so we are tied for the lead in the AL East right now. Let’s Go Red Sox!
Red Sox 11 Rangers 5 BOXSCORE
WP: Lackey (12-9)
LP: Lewis (11-9)
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