An AL East Road Trip

After going 6-5 on the recent homestand, the Sox hit the road for two in Toronto and three in New York. The Sox start this trip at 17-18, 3½ games behind the Yanks and Rays in the AL East.

Game 36 at Toronto (5/10/11):

Tuesday night’s opener at f/k/a SkyDome featured Jon Lester (4-1, 2.33) against Kyle Drabek (2-2, 4.50). It was a rather sparse crowd in Toronto for this game, as the Dome was perhaps 30% of capacity, if that. Ellsbury singled to right to lead off the game, giving him a 19-game hitting streak. Pedroia followed with a walk, but Ellsbury was picked off at second on a nice spin and throw by Drabek. Pedroia stole second with two outs but Youkilis struck out and the Sox left yet another RISP. Escobar walked leading off the bottom of the first and Patterson followed with a single to center. Lester then walked Bautista and Encarnacion. Patterson scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 2-0 and Rivera reached when he hit a towering pop to first that Gonzalez dropped (E3) with Bautista coming in to score. Ortiz led off the second by ripping a double that bounced off the wall in right. Drew followed with a line drive single to left. Crawford then singled to right and Ortiz came across with the Sox’ first run. Ortiz led off the fourth by gonging one off the façade in centerfield. After Crawford singled and Lowrie walked, Ellsbury singled and Crawford tried to score but was thrown out at the plate. With one out in the bottom half, Rajai Davis tripled to the gap in left center but was later caught in a rundown when he tried to steal home. Pedroia led off the fifth with a walk and came across to score on Adrian Gonzalez’ two-run bomb to left. Bautista tied the score leading off the bottom half with a rocket over the wall in left. That was Bautista’s 11th homer of the year as he’s on pace to hit as many this year as he did in ’10 (54). Drabek was finished after five and handed things over to Jason Frasor, who struck out the side in the sixth. JP Arencibia led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer to left, putting the Jays ahead, 5-4. McDonald then walked and, with one out, Lester hit Escobar on the foot. That was all for Lester (5.1 IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, 5K) as he struggled all night with his command. Rich Hill entered in relief and retired the next two batters. After Pedroia singled leading off the seventh, Frasor was replaced by lefthander Marc Rzepczynski. Pedroia was nearly picked off but the throw bounced off of first baseman Cooper’s glove and Pedroia wound up on second. Gonzalez then singled into the hole at short; McDonald made a nice leaping grab but had no time to make the throw. But Youkilis grounded into a force and then Ortiz hit into a 1-6-3 double play and a golden chance went by the boards. After Hill recorded two quick outs (nice job), Aceves entered in relief and he promptly hit Juan Rivera and walked Arencibia…and McDonald. Rajai Davis then flied out to right, but that was an adventure out there with Aceves. With one out in the eighth, Lowrie doubled off the wall in right-center and Iglesias was sent in to run for him. (Are you sure this is a wise idea?) Crawford moved Iglesias to third on a grounder to first and Saltalamacchia came through with a line drive single to left to tie the score. Ellsbury followed with a line drive single up the middle. Jon Rauch then replaced Rzepczynski and got Pedroia to ground out to third. Bard entered in the bottom of the eighth and served up a long home run to David Cooper, putting the Jays back on top, 6-5. It was Cooper’s first career big-league homer. The Jays sent out Frank Francisco to close things out and Adrian Gonzalez took his first pitch over the wall in left to tie the score 6-6. Matt Albers entered in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order, so for the second straight night, it was on to extra innings. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Rajai Davis singled up the middle, stole second and third and tonight’s hero, David Cooper, hit a sacrifice fly to center and Davis came in with the winning run. It’s always sweet to have a walkoff win, but it really hurts to suffer a walkoff loss. That’s the way the ball bounces…

Game 37 at Toronto (5/11/11):

The media and fans were really down on the team following Monday night’s extra inning loss. The manager was fined an “undisclosed amount” for his actions following his ejection last Friday. There is no word whether the umpires were fined equally, as West provoked the manager. Jose Iglesias was penciled in at short after Lowrie came down with “flu-like symptoms”. The woeful John Lackey (2-4, 7.16) was scheduled to pitch against tough righty Jesse Litsch (3-2, 4.04). The roof was open at f/k/a SkyDome and even fewer fans showed up for this game than did last night. Gonzalez doubled off the wall (missing a homer by less than a foot) with two outs in the first and scored on Youkilis’ line drive single to left. Escobar singled up the middle leading off the bottom of the first and moved to second after Patterson’s pop bunt was caught by Lackey, who made a bad throw to first on a double play attempt. Rajai Davis led off the third with a single to left and Escobar followed with a walk. Corey Patterson then ripped a base hit down the rightfield line and Davis came across with the tying run. Patterson then stole second. Lackey then walked Bautista to load the bases (none of his pitches were close). With one out, Hill grounded out to third and Escobar came in the back door with the go-ahead run. In the fourth, light-hitting John McDonald took Lackey over the wall in left to make it 3-1. Davis followed with a single and stole second, and yes, he also stole third. Escobar followed with a sacrifice fly to center and it was 4-1 Jays. The fifth inning started out promising for the Sox as Drew walked and Crawford singled to left but Saltalamacchia whiffed, Iglesias hit into a 5-4 force and Ellsbury grounded out to second. With one out in the sixth, Adrian Gonzalez hit another opposite field solo homer, that was his third in two nights. With two outs, Big Papi “struck a mighty blow” to right that landed above the bullpens to cut the Jays’ lead to 4-3. On that note, Litsch was relieved by Casey Janssen. Crawford singled to center leading off the seventh, but was thrown out trying to steal second. It looked as though Crawford was safe and the ump blew the call. Patterson walked leading off the bottom of the seventh and Bautista followed with a long fly that bounced off the leftfield wall, good for only a single. On the play it appeared as if Lackey was yelling at Crawford for not having caught the ball and his outburst was caught on camera. If true, the act of throwing a teammate under the bus will not sit well with the Boston fans. As it is, Lackey’s caustic comments in the past have drawn the dislike of the hometown faithful, and this combined with an 8+ ERA will only make things worse. With two outs, Lackey walked Arencibia and Cooper, with Patterson scoring to make it 5-3. At 114 pitches, there is a question as to why Lackey is still out there. McDonald then ripped a two-run double down the line and finally Lackey was pulled. Lackey was last seen flailing his arms in frustration. Sorry, but Lackey just doesn’t have what it takes to make it in Boston. Wakefield entered in relief and gave up a two-run single to Davis and, just like that, it was 9-3. “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

The aftermath of Lackey’s brutal performance was predictably rough. The media came out in force against him, but based on some of his comments (and the fact that he is dealing with a serious family health issue), we’ll cut him some slack. Maybe he needs some time away from baseball, but (performance issues notwithstanding) he is a tough competitor.

Game 38 at NY Yankees (5/13/11):

Prior to Friday’s game the Twins and Hall of Fame jointly announced the sad news that Harmon Killebrew would end his treatment for esophageal cancer and enter hospice. Killebrew was one of the great power hitters of the ‘60’s and one of the true gentlemen of baseball.

After an off day in the Big Apple on Thursday, the Sox (17-20) and Yanks (20-15) opened a series at the Stadium where, in the opener, Clay Buchholz (3-3, 4.19) took the hill against the comeback kid, the well-traveled Bartolo Colon (2-1, 3.86). The Yankees picked Colon from the scrap heap and he has responded by giving them a number of good outings. Ellsbury picked up the first hit of the game with two outs in the third as both starters were quite effective in the early going. Jeter reached with two outs in the bottom of the third when Youkilis booted a tough hop but Buchholz came back to whiff Granderson. Adrian Gonzalez put the Sox ahead leading off the fourth with a long homer to right, it was his eighth of the year and his fourth in the last three games. Youkilis then struck out but reached on a passed ball and Ortiz walked. Drew then hit into a 1-6 force and Lowrie walked. Crawford grounded out to first and Youkilis came in the back door to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the fifth, Posada singled leading off and Russell Martin followed with a two-run homer that just cleared the wall in center. It was a pitch that Buchholz hung over the plate and Martin crushed it. Gardner then singled to center and Jeter appeared to have grounded into a 4U3 double play but the second base umpire ruled that Pedroia didn’t hold the bag prior to the throw and Gardner was ruled safe at second. The manager came out to argue but it was a waste of time. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Youkilis made a terrific barehanded grab and throw out of Cano’s slow roller to third. After Saltalamacchia singled to lead off the seventh, Colon’s night was finished as Joba Chamberlain came on in relief. After Ellsbury grounded into a 6-4 force, Pedroia singled to right, putting runners on the corners. Gonzalez then hit a long sacrifice fly to left and Ellsbury came across with the go-ahead run. Youkilis followed with a two-run shot to right and the Sox went up 5-2. Buchholz (7IP, 5H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K) turned things over to Bard in the bottom of the eighth and Granderson promptly tripled off the centerfield wall. With one out, Granderson scored on a wild pitch. A-Rod walked and Cano was then hit off the foot by a pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position but Bard was able to strike out Swisher and then Posada grounded out to second. Ellsbury led off the ninth with a base hit to right. After a pitching change, Ellsbury stole second and appeared to twist an ankle but remained in the game. Pedroia then bunted Ellsbury over to third. After Gonzalez received a free pass, Youkilis struck out and Ortiz walked to load the bases. But Drew grounded into a 4-6 force and that was that. Papelbon entered in the bottom of the ninth and struck out Martin and got Gardner on a close 3-1 play before Jeter singled to right. Jeter stole second and scored on Granderson’s line drive single to left. But Teixeira popped out to third and the Sox came away with a hard-fought 5-4 win.

Game 39 at NY Yankees (5/14/11):

After last night’s nail-biting win, the Sox faced a much tougher task tonight as C.C. Sabathia (3-2, 2.89) took the hill for the Yanks against Josh Beckett (2-1, 1.99). Prior to the game, Jorge Posada asked to be removed from the lineup and the General Manager reported that there was no injury involved. Hmmm…Ellsbury was hit off the arm by a pitch to start the game. Pedroia then followed with a pop fly single to center with Ellsbury taking third. Sabathia then came back to strike out Gonzalez, Youkilis and Ortiz. Jeter singled to left leading off the bottom of the first. Granderson followed with a base hit to right. After Beckett struck out Teixeira, A-Rod fouled out to first and Cano struck out swinging. With two outs in the third, Granderson singled and stole second. Teixeira then walked but A-Rod struck out swinging. The Sox loaded the bases with one out in the fifth as Lowrie singled, Crawford singled and Varitek walked. Ellsbury followed with a double to the gap in left-center and two runs came across. Pedroia was given a free pass as Sabathia elected to face Gonzalez. The move worked perfectly for the Yanks as Gonzalez grounded into a double play. Mike Cameron led off the seventh with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Varitek’s single to right. With two outs, Pedroia singled and everybody came home on Gonzalez’ three-run homer to right to make it 6-0 Sox! It was a high fastball that Adrian was waiting for and he crushed it. That was the evening for Sabathia as David Robertson entered in relief. During the pitching change, the Yanks’ manager was tossed for continuing to argue over a call during the Varitek at-bat. Beckett was also finished after six and handed the ball to Matt Albers, who pitched two uneventful innings. Rich Hill came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and gave up an infield single to Gardner leading off but came back to strike out Jones and Jeter to end the ballgame.

Game 40 at NY Yankees (5/15/11):

We’re already at the quarter pole of the season and the Sox remain below .500 at 19-20. The Posada incident made the back pages of the New York tabloids but it appeared as if the whole incident had blown over. Apparently, he felt “disrespected” by having been penciled into the nine-hole and claimed that “his back stiffened” or “he needed to clear his head”. Whatever. On a cool and cloudy Sunday night, Jon Lester (4-1, 2.96) took the hill against Freddy Garcia (2-2, 2.61), a guy who’s been around the block and back and knows a thing or two. Lester hit Jeter with a pitch leading off the bottom of the first. After Jeter moved to second on a ground out, he scored on Teixeira’s base hit up the middle. In the second, Youkilis reached on a passed ball third strike and Ortiz then singled to right. JD Drew followed with a walk and Lowrie hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Youkilis. Andruw Jones led off the bottom of the second with a towering homer to left and the Yanks went back on top 2-1. Martin followed with a walk as it appeared though Lester did not have his best stuff working. With two outs, Granderson launched a two-run bomb to right and the Sox were in an early hole. The Sox tied the score in the third when Ellsbury doubled to right leading off, Gonzalez walked with one out and Youkilis hit a three-run line drive shot to left about 10 rows deep. With two outs in the fifth, Big Papi ripped a solo homer to right to put the Sox ahead, 5-4. Garcia was lifted with one out in the sixth as lefty Boone Logan entered the game. Gardner then made a great sliding backhanded catch of Crawford’s twisting line drive to left. With one out in the seventh, Pedroia walked, stole second and then Gonzalez received a free pass. Youkilis followed with a routine grounder that A-Rod booted (simultaneously trying to catch the ball and tag third) and Pedroia scooted around from second to score. After Drew walked to load the bases, Robertson struck out Lowrie in what was a definite squander. Alfredo Aceves entered in the bottom of the seventh and walked Granderson with one out. With two outs, A-Rod doubled down the line in left and Granderson scored from first. At that point, Aceves was relieved by Daniel Bard. After Cano was intentionally walked, Bard came back to strike out Swisher. With Joba Chamberlain pitching in the eighth, Saltalamacchia hit his first Red Sox homer to right to put the Sox up 7-5. Posada was sent up to pinch hit leading off the bottom of the eighth and walked but Bard was able to retire the next three batters. Papelbon entered in the ninth and shut down the side. With the victory, the Sox moved to 20-20 and picked up a pretty nice sweep of the Yanks.