Home For The Week:

After sweeping the Yanks, the Sox returned home for a week-long homestand starting with the Orioles.

Game 41 v. Baltimore (5/16/11):

Prior to the game the Sox announced that John Lackey was placed on the 15-day DL with an “elbow strain” (retroactive to 5/12) and Scott “Oh No” Atchison was recalled from Pawtucket. In the opener, Daisuke (3-3, 4.64) took the hill against Chris Tillman (2-3, 6.15). It was raining prior to the game so it wasn’t known whether things would start on time. Despite the raw conditions, the game did start on time and the first two Orioles reached as Roberts hit a line drive single that bounced off of Daisuke and Markakis walked. Derrek Lee then doubled off the wall, scoring Roberts and Vladdy Guerrero grounded out to short with Markakis coming in the back door. Luke Scott then walked and Adam Jones followed suit to load the bases. Daisuke then retired the next two batters but was quite fortunate to have gotten out of the inning with only two runs having scored. With the wet conditions he had a lot of difficulty getting his pitches over the plate. Ellsbury led off the bottom of the first with a single to left and Gonzalez also singled to left with one out. Youkilis followed with a walk. After Ortiz struck out, Drew hit a hard grounder down the first base line that Lee made a great backhanded stab and throw out. The O’s picked up another run in the third when Wieters knocked in Guerrero with a base hit. Daisuke was already over 70 pitches through three. Derrek Lee left after the third with an oblique strain and was replaced by Jake Fox. In the fifth, Scott and Wieters walked and that was the night for Daisuke. Atchison entered in relief and allowed a base hit to Reynolds that drove in Scott to make it 4-0, O’s. Hardy then hit a sacrifice line drive to left that scored Wieters. Reynolds then stole second (that’s the 4th SB already tonight) but Atchison struck out Roberts to end that threat. The O’s tacked on another run with two outs in the sixth as Guerrero doubled and Jones singled to right. Mike Gonzalez relieved Tillman in the bottom of the sixth and Drew and Lowrie hit back-to-back doubles and the Sox were finally on the board. Crawford then reached on Reynolds’ fielding error, putting runners on the corners. Varitek followed with a single to right that scored Lowrie. After a pitching change, Gonzalez hit a bloop single to left, scoring Crawford. Youkilis then hit a wicked line drive double off the wall, scoring Varitek and Gonzalez to make it 6-5. After the Sox hung that nice crooked number on the board, Alfredo Aceves entered in relief and promptly surrendered a long solo homer to Mark Reynolds to make it 7-5. Lowrie led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple that rolled into the triangle. With one out, Varitek singled in Lowrie to make it 7-6. With one out in the eighth, Guerrero doubled off the low wall in right and moved to third on a passed ball. Aceves was able to avoid further trouble after getting the next two batters to fly out. Youkilis doubled off the wall leading off the bottom of the eighth and moved to third on Ortiz’ ground out. Drew was given a free pass to set up a force. But the O’s got out of the jam when Lowrie whiffed and Crawford popped out to first. In the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Gregg came on to pitch. With one out, Ellsbury walked and stole second and Pedroia followed with a walk. Gonzalez then launched a double off the wall in left, the ball had a long carom, both runners scored and the Sox walked off with an 8-7 win!

Game 42 v. Baltimore (5/17/11):

On a raw, dreary night at the ballyard the Sox and O’s wrapped up their brief two-game series. After last night’s “Bad Daisuke” outing, he was sent for an MRI on his elbow but the results weren’t known prior to the game. Shortly before the game was scheduled to start, the team announced that Daisuke was put on the 15-day DL with an elbow strain and that Michael Bowden was recalled from Pawtucket. Wake (0-1, 5.40) was scheduled to get the spot start against lefty Zach Britton (5-2, 2.42), who’s one of the bright young pitchers the O’s are developing. Britton has already won once against the Sox, shutting them down 4-1 on April 26th. In that game, Britton went six strong innings, allowing only the one run on five hits. He’s got the kind of stuff that can put bats to sleep in a hurry. But Britton will have to wait for another chance against the Red Sox down the line as heavy rains arrived in the Fenway neighborhood around 6:00 and the game was rained out…

Tigers In Town…

Game 42 v. Detroit (5/18/11):

The Tigers came to Fenway for a brief two-game set and the weather on Wednesday night was downright miserable, cold with fog and rain. Clay Buchholz (4-3, 3.94) started against Phil Coke (1-5, 4.54). Around the fourth inning, with the game still scoreless, a heavy fog rolled in to the ball park. A heavy rain then arrived, forcing a rain delay of about a half an hour. Both starters pitched shutouts through seven innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Crawford walked with two outs and Saltalamacchia followed with a double off the wall, scoring Crawford with the only run of the game. With Papelbon pitching in the top of the ninth, Victor Martinez lined a hard double to right. With one out, Papelbon struck out Avila and Rayburn to end the game with a punctuation mark.

Game 43 v. Detroit (5/19/11):

In Thursday night’s finale, Josh Beckett (3-1, 1.75) got the start against the Tigers’ ace, Justin Verlander (4-3, 2.91). More rain fell prior to the game and the tarp was on the field until 6:30, but the game started on time. Verlander (who has already pitched a no-hitter this year) is a beast on the mound to be certain, but the Sox have already had the better of a number of “aces” this year including King Felix and Sabathia.

Beckett struck out Austin Jackson to open the game. Miguel Cabrera led off the top of the second with a walk and V-Mart singled to right, with Cabrera taking third. Andy Dirks followed with a line drive single to left scoring Cabrera. With one out, Alex Avila hit a line drive single that popped out of Drew’s glove to load the bases. Inge then hit a short fly to left and Jackson fouled out to first. Beckett was fortunate to get out of that jam with only one run having been scored. Youkikis singled to right leading off the bottom of the second. Ortiz followed with a “seeing eye” single on the hit and run with Youkilis taking third. Drew then hit a sacrifice fly to right and Youk came in with the tying run. After Varitek singled leading off the third, Verlander came back to strike out the side. Beckett was very economical with his pitches in the third and fourth JD Drew put the Sox ahead with two outs in the fourth on a long homer into the rightfield grandstand. Avila singled off the wall to start the fifth. With one out, Jackson singled into the hole in short; Lowrie made a nice diving stab but his throw to second was too late. Beckett came back to retire the next two batters to get out of that mini-jam. Beckett was finished (left with neck stiffness) after six (6.0IP, 5H, 1ER, 2BB, 3K, 83P) and turned things over to Matt Albers, who struck out two batters sandwiched around a single to Inge and a fly to center. Big Papi led off the bottom of the seventh with a long homer to right deep into the fog and well past the bullpen to put the Sox up 3-1. Daniel Bard entered in the eighth and Brandon Boesch took his first pitch around Pesky’s Pole to make it 3-2 and Miguel Cabrera then launched a rocket into the Monster Seats to tie the score. Peralta hit a hard comebacker off of Papelbon’s leg to open the ninth. Papelbon was able to recover and throw out the runner but the manager and trainer came out to see whether he was injured. Inge and Jackson followed with base hits and Sizemore walked to load the bases. Papelbon then struck out Rayburn and then the high drama began as Cabrera stepped to the plate and…Papelbon got him swinging! Al Albuquerque entered in relief of Verlander in the bottom of the ninth and walked Youkilis to start things. Jose Iglesias entered as a pinch runner and Ortiz followed with a base hit to right, putting runners on the corners. Drew was given a free pass to set up a force at any base. Lowrie hit a pop single to left but Iglesias was forced at the plate. Crawford followed with a line drive single to left and the Sox came away with yet another walkoff win!

The Cubbies Come To Town:

For the first time since the 1918 World Series, the Chicago Cubs came to Fenway for a weekend interleague series with the Sox. Prior to the game, the Sox announced a number of personnel moves. They acquired Franklin Morales from Colorado for PTBNL or cash. Hideki Okajima was designated for assignment. Kevin Millwood was signed to a minor league deal. Jose Iglesias was sent back to Pawtucket and recalled utilityman Drew Sutton. Dan Wheeler came off the DL and Michael Bowden was returned to Pawtucket.

Game 44 v. Chicago Cubs (5/20/11):

The Bambino was unavailable to start the opener so the Sox settled on Jon Lester (5-1, 3.28). The Cubs (19-23, 5th Place NL Central, 5 ½ GB) countered with lefthander Doug Davis (0-1, 1.80). It was nice to see a good contingent of Cubbie Nation in attendance at the old ballyard. The weather conditions were much more conducive to “normal” baseball than any other time this week. The Cubs picked up a couple of singles by Jeff Baker and Aramis Ramirez with two outs before Carlos Peña hit a long fly to center. In the bottom of the first, the Sox plated a pair before any were out when Ellsbury singled leading off and Pedroia walked. Both runners stole, Hill’s throw to third went awry, Ellsbury scored and Pedroia took third. Gonzalez followed with a single to left and the Sox were ahead, 2-0. The Cubs tied the score in the top of the third when Darwin Barney hit a ground-rule double to right, Baker singled up the middle and Barney scored on Aramis Ramirez’ double. Baker later scored on Peña’s grounder to second. In the third, the Sox broke on top as Pedroia walked leading off, went to third on Gonzalez’ single off the wall and scored on Youkilis’ sacrifice fly to right. Ortiz doubled to right but Gonzalez was thrown out at home on the play. Lowrie followed with a base hit up the middle, scoring Ortiz to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Saltalamacchia walked and Pedroia doubled off the wall with two outs. Gonzalez then lined a breaking ball over the second baseman’s reach and both runners scored. That was the night for Davis as lefty Scott Maine entered and Youkilis immediately greeted him with a two-run bomb over the Monster Seats and onto the parking garage on Lansdowne Street. Ortiz then reached on a fielding error, Lowrie followed with a single off the wall and Cameron walked as Maine’s pitches were all over the lot. Lester was not particularly sharp, as he allowed two runners in every inning. In the fifth, Baker singled leading off and Peña walked. With two outs, Soriano hit a grounder into the hole in short. Lowrie made a nice stab of the ball but his throw was off line and Baker scored (1B, E6). Reed Johnson then doubled off the wall and two more runs scored to make it 8-5. By that time, Lester was over 80 pitches and really struggling. Saltalamacchia led off the bottom of the fifth with a long homer to left off the “Volvo Sign”. Ellsbury followed with a double to the right-center gap. Pedroia then singled to left and the Cubs’ manager came out looking for the baseball. James Russell entered in relief of Maine, and Gonzalez hit into a double play with Ellsbury coming in the back door to make it 10-5. Lester was thankfully finished after six and his line was not pretty (6IP, 12H, 5ER, 2BB, 5K). Oh No Atchison entered in the seventh and promptly hit Marlon Byrd with a pitch. Notre Dame’s Jeff Samardzija came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Youkilis reached on a throwing error by Castro and then Ortiz doubled off the wall. After Cameron walked with one out, Crawford singled to right scoring Youkilis and Ortiz to make it 12-5 Sox. Saltalamacchia then walked to load the bases. Ellsbury then doubled in Cameron and Crawford with a wall-ball double to make it 14-5. Gonzalez followed with a single that brought in Saltalamacchia with the 15th run. Atchison retired the last nine batters he faced, and yes, he actually picked up a save. On this night, the boys did a good job of keeping the line moving.

Game 45 v. Chicago Cubs (5/21/11):

It was “1918 Retro Night” at the old ballyard on Saturday night as Alfredo Aceves (1-0, 2.60) took the hill against the temperamental Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 4.89). It was a cool, cloudy night at Fenway with light fog. This was an important outing for Aceves as he needed to give the team several consistent innings or else the team would have to look elsewhere for another spot starter. The Sox’ 1918 uniforms featured white caps and uniforms with no script on the front while the “(C)UBS” wore grey uniforms with blue pinstripes. Fukudome was hit on the thigh with a pitch to open the game. Barney followed with a single that bounced over Pedroia’s glove. But Aceves came back to strike out Castro and then Ramirez bounced into a double play. Ellsbury reached on a catcher’s interference call when Hill’s mitt struck Ellsbury’s swinging bat. Ellsbury stole second with two outs and Youkilis followed with a walk but Ortiz popped out to left to end the inning. In the second, Aceves beaned Marlon Byrd and Byrd had to be removed from the game. The park went retro for the third inning, with the electronics and PA shut off and costumed gentlemen with megaphones announcing the batters. Fukudome walked to open the third and stole second and then Barney walked as well. Fukudome made it to third on Castro’s 4-6 force and scored on Ramirez’ bloop double to center. Youkilis singled leading off the fourth and Big Papi followed with a two-run shot into the Monster Seats. It was his 300th homer as a member of the Red Sox (358th total). Around the fifth inning, the rains began to fall once more though not hard enough to cause a stoppage in play. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Gonzalez singled and Youkilis was plunked with a pitch (payback, no doubt) and the umpire warned both benches. Aceves was finished after five (5IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K) and turned things over to Dan Wheeler. The wind started blowing in from center and along with the light rain caused Ramirez’ long fly to left to die on the warning track. With one out in the sixth, Peña walked. Wheeler came back to nail Reed Johnson and Peña in a strike ‘em out-throw ‘em out double play. Crawford singled and Varitek walked with one out in the sixth. By this time Zambrano was at 118 pitches. Ellsbury followed with a line drive single to right and Crawford came across to make it 3-1. After Pedroia grounded into a 4-6 force, Zambrano was relieved by lefty Sean Marshall. Pedroia then stole second but Gonzalez grounded out to short, leaving two runners in scoring position. Wheeler stayed out there for the seventh (which may not prove to be such a brilliant idea) and did get Soriano on a grounder to third before departing in favor of former Cubbie Rich Hill, who struck out DeWitt. After Koyie Hill singled, Hill came back to strike out Fukudome. Matt Albers entered in relief to start the eighth and Barney singled. Castro followed with a line drive single to right putting runners on the corners. Ramirez then walked to load the bases and Peña walked in a run to make it 3-2. Reed Johnson then doubled off the wall and the Cubs took a 4-3 lead. Soriano then hit a weak pop to short that Lowrie dropped and another run came across to score. The Franklin Morales Era then began in earnest, and he promptly gave up a long double to Baker and another run scored (not an auspicious debut). Morales then walked Fukudome to re-load the bases. Barney flied out to right. On the play, Drew made a perfect throw to the plate. Varitek tried to get the runner at third on a rundown but threw the ball over Youkilis’ reach, the ball ended up in leftfield and two more runs came across and it was 8-3. Castro then doubled off the wall to drive in another run. By the time the smoke cleared it was 9-3 Cubs.

Game 46 v. Chicago Cubs (5/22/11):

OK, so the Sox imploded in the eighth inning last night; it was the worst inning in years featuring bad pitching and atrocious fielding. Anomalies happen, you just move on to the next game. While the talk shows and media were full of angst, not much was mentioned about the fact that the Sox had won seven in a row. The major story prior to this game was Matt Garza having been scratched from his start with elbow tightness. Since Garza practically owned the Sox when he started for the Rays, his absence was probably heartily welcomed by the Sox. Garza was replaced by lefty James Russell (1-4, 6.26), who pitched a couple of highly effective innings on Friday night. Tim Wakefield (0-1, 5.40) got the spot start for the Sox. Marlon Byrd, who was sent to Mass Eye & Ear for observation after having been beaned by Aceves last night, was also placed on the DL.

Fukudome led off the game by hitting a slow roller to short and Lowrie’s throw nipped him just in time. Wake retired the next two batters on grounders to third. With one out in the bottom of the first Pedroia hit a scorcher to third that broke off Ramirez’ glove for a base hit. Gonzalez followed with a bloop single to left. But Youkilis struck out and Ortiz hit a weak grounder to first as the Sox left a pair aboard. Alfonso Soriano singled leading off the third but then backup catcher Welington Castillo grounded into a tailor-made 6-4-3 twin killing. Through the first four innings, Wake threw only 35 pitches and allowed the one hit. Gonzalez poked a single to left leading off the bottom of the fourth and Youkilis followed with a walk. Ortiz then singled to left to load ‘em. Lowrie followed with a long sacrifice fly to center and Gonzalez came across with the game’s first run and then Cameron hit another sacrifice fly to center scoring Youkilis. Saltalamacchia led off the fifth by drilling a shot into the Monster Seats; there was no doubt about that one. Ellsbury then reached on an infield single and that was the night for Russell. The kid pitched pretty well in a spot start. Righty Justin Berg entered in relief and was able to catch Ellsbury stealing on a pitchout. Castillo singled leading off the sixth and moved to second on a wild pitch but made it no further than third as Wake struck out Barney to end the inning. Lefty John Grabow entered in the bottom of the sixth and Ortiz reached second when Baker misplayed his twisting fly ball to left (ruled a double). The Sox may rue the failure to drive in RISP: Castro doubled down the line in left leading off the seventh. With one out, Peña rocked one to deep right that Cameron pulled down on the warning track. Baker followed with a double off the wall and the Cubs got on the board. That was the night for Wake, who had an outstanding night’s work (6⅔IP, 4H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, 75P). Baker pulled up lame into second base and was replaced by Tony Campana. Bard entered in relief and struck out Soriano. The Sox put two runners on with two outs in the seventh as Pedroia and Gonzalez each reached on infield singles. At that point, Grabow was relieved by Kerry Wood. Youkilis greeted him with a triple into the right-center gap that rolled into the triangle, putting the Sox ahead, 5-1. Papelbon entered in the ninth and allowed a double to Ramirez after two were out. He then struck out Peña to end it. Tonight, there were no gleeful Cubbie fans waving “W” flags around Fenway Park after the game. Wake was the big star tonight and kept the Cubbies’ hitters completely off balance all night. The Sox went 5-1 on the homestand and are just ½ game back of the lead. Now it’s back to the road for a week in Cleveland and Detroit.