Jonny Lester took the mound for the Red Sox against the Tigers and hoped to make it 3 wins in a row. Early on, Lester struggled, but he seemed to get stronger as the innings went on.
Lester gave up some runs early in the game. He loaded the bases in the 1st with one out and luckily only one run scored on a Young ground out. Lester then gave up 2 runs in the 3rd inning on a worth sac fly and then on a Fielder ground out where Middlebrooks didn’t look the runner back at 3rd nearly as well as he thought he did and Cabrera broke for home. Sox 0-3.
It was looking like maybe it wasn’t Jon Lester and the Sox’s night. However, in the 4th things changed when the Sox bats and the HRs came to life. The Sox had two outs and then went on a hitting spree. Gonzo hit a ground rule double and it was followed by David Ortiz’s 12th HR of the year. Sox 2-3. That was followed by a single from Youk and then a homer from Middlebrooks to give the Sox the lead. Sox 4-3.
Photo Credit: Jim Rogash/Getty Images
After the Sox got the lead Lester seemed to really settle down. He pitched into the 7th inning. He got pulled in the 7th with two outs and a runner on second. Matt Albers came out in relief. Albers gave up an infield single and then gave up a hit to RF that Gonzo almost got to, however it ended up being a hit and scoring Laird to tie the game. The game did not stay tied for long though. In the bottom of the 7th, Gonzo got that run back when he hit a ground rule double with Nava on second. Sox 5-4. In the 8th, the Sox added an insurance run with a solo HR from Kevin Youkilis. Sox 6-4.
The bullpen finished off the game for the Sox with a scoreless 8th inning from Andrew Miller with 2 Ks. Alfredo Aceves who has worked for his 4th day in a row came out for the save. He had himself a nice 1-2-3 inning and grabbed his 13th save of the season.
Red Sox 6 Tigers 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Albers (1-0) LP: Dotel (1-2) SV: Aceves (13)
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