An AL East Road Adventure

After going .500 on the recent homestand, the Sox opened a nine-game road swing through the AL East starting with three in Yankee Stadium. It was the start of an extended period away from Fenway in which the Sox would be out of town for 18 of the next 24 games. In the opener, Jon Lester (7-2, 3.94) took the hill against Freddy Garcia (4-4, 3.34). Lester needed to be a lot sharper than last week’s outing against Chicago. In other news, Lowrie received an MRI for his ailing shoulder and would sit out this game. Marco Scutaro returned from the DL and started at short. MLB suspended Papelbon for three games following the “incident” on Saturday afternoon with that bonehead Randazzo. Papelbon will appeal the suspension and was available for this game.

Game 60 at NY Yankees (6/7/11):

The Sox opened this chapter of The Tong Wars just one game behind the Yanks in the AL East standings. Ellsbury led off the ballgame with a line shot over the wall in right. After Pedroia walked, A-Gon tripled (!) off the wall in right center, just missing a homer by a matter of feet. Youkilis then hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-0. With one out in the bottom of the first, Granderson walked and Teixeira was hit square on the kneecap with a pitch. He needed help getting back to the dugout and was finished for the night. Posada entered the game as a pinch runner. (Somebody on the Red Sox is going to get hit next inning, make book on that). With two outs and runners on the corners, Cano singled to center and Granderson scored. Lester then hit Russell Martin to load the bases (as Lester’s control woes from last time continued unabated). Swisher hit a hard grounder to third to end the inning, but Lester threw over 30 pitches to get out of the bases-loaded jam. Saltalamacchia walked leading off the second and Drew singled to right. With two outs, Pedroia hit a long double to left, scoring Salty. A-Gon then received a free pass to load the bases and that was the night for Garcia, pulled after only going 1⅔. Luis Ayala entered in relief and got Youkilis to fly out to left. The Sox had the leather working in the bottom of the third as Scutaro made a nice catch of a stinging line drive and Drew followed with an even better leaping snag of a long fly to right. Hector Noesi relieved Ayala to open the top of the fourth and retired the side in order. In the bottom of the fourth, Lester had a lengthy at-bat with Granderson before striking him out. After A-Gon walked leading off the fifth, Big Papi launched a rocket into the rightfield grandstands to put the Sox ahead, 6-1. Ortiz knew it was gone immediately, as he turned, flipped the bat and went into the home run trot. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Swisher drove in two runs with a long double to the left-center gap to cut the lead to 6-3. Lester came out to pitch the bottom of the sixth though he was nearing 100 pitches. He was able to retire the side in order (6IP, 8H 3ER, 1BB, 5K) before handing things over to Jenks, who had to leave the ballgame with an injury after throwing only four pitches. Albers entered the game and walked Posada. In the ninth, Ellsbury was thrown out at third trying to stretch a double. Papelbon entered in the bottom of the ninth and walked Gardner to start things off. After Gardner stole second, Posada lined a single to left with two outs and Gardner came across to score. Papelbon came back to strike out A-Rod and the Sox came away with a hard-fought 6-4 victory.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game, Jenks went back on the DL and catcher Luis Exposito was recalled from Pawtucket. Saltalamacchia became ill and the team needed a backup catcher, hence the move for Exposito.

Game 61 at NY Yankees (6/8/11):

In the middle game of the series, Tim Wakefield (2-1, 4.40) took the hill against AJ Burnett (6-3, 3.86). Teixeira was penciled in the lineup one day after getting struck on the knee with an inside fastball. The way Teixeira went down last night and rolled around in the dirt there was a real question as to whether he suffered a fractured kneecap. After Ortiz allegedly “showed up” the Yanks last night, there was a lot of talk in the media about how there will be retaliation for such “disrespect”. What nonsense.

Ellsbury singled up the middle leading off the ballgame, stole second, moved to third on a bad throw by the catcher and scored on A-Gon’s grounder to second. With two outs, Youkilis walked and this set the stage for Ortiz’ first trip to the plate. Would he get plunked? No…Big Papi gonged a two-run blast into the rightfield grandstands to put the Sox up 3-0. This time, there was no flip of the bat or alleged “hot-dogging” that might’ve inflamed the Yankees’ tender sensibilities. A 3-0 lead with Wakefield pitching was meaningless, especially on a warm night. Teixeira made his way to the plate, looking none the worse for wear (drama queen) and hit a lazy fly to center to end the first. Scutaro led off the second with an infield hit, stole second and moved to third on another bad throw by Cervelli. Drew then hit a sacrifice fly to center and the Sox were ahead, 4-0. Swisher singled with two outs in the bottom half of the second and Gardner followed with a walk. But Wake came back to get Eduardo Nunez on a 5-4 force. Moving into the bottom of the third, Cervelli hit a long fly to right that Drew nearly caught with a leaping stab but the ball bounced off his glove and Cervelli pulled into second. Cervelli made it to third on a ground out but Wake struck out Jeter and Teixeira hit a fly to short right. Ortiz walked leading off the fourth and Crawford followed with a single to right. Both runners moved up on Scutaro’s grounder to second. Drew then received an intentional walk. Varitek hit into a force play and Ortiz came in the back door to make it 5-0. Ellsbury then lined a double off the wall in right and Crawford came in to score. Pedroia followed with an infield single into the hole in short and Varitek came across with the seventh run. A-Rod homered to left leading off the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, Nunez led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Cervelli’s base hit to center. Jeter then hit a long double to center and Cervelli scored. Jeter later scored on Teixeira’s sacrifice fly to left and the Yanks made it tighter at 7-4. In the sixth, Cervelli took a foul tip off the cup and went down in a heap. After Varitek walked with two outs, Burnett (105p) was relieved by lefty Boone Logan. Ellsbury ripped a line-drive single to center and Pedroia followed with a walk to load the bases. Gonzalez walked and Varitek came in with the Sox’ eighth run. Cano was hit (barely grazed) by a pitch to open the bottom of the sixth. After Wake walked Gardner, the manager came out looking for the baseball. Wake had a decent outing (5⅓IP, 5H, 4ER, 3BB, 3K) before turning things over to Aceves. With one out, Nunez singled to left and Cervelli followed with a single to left to make it 8-5. But Jeter then hit into a 5-4-3 double play and Aceves got out of the jam. Aceves came out to pitch the bottom of the seventh (but the bullpen was working hot and heavy just in case). Cano struck out swinging, Teixeira hit a wicked liner that A-Gon snared and A-Rod whiffed. After Logan struck out Drew, he was relieved by Lance Pendleton. Varitek walked, and Pedroia also walked with one out. The manager kept Aceves out there for the bottom of the eighth, and he struck out Cano looking to open things. With two outs, Gardner hit a hard grounder to third and Youkilis threw him out by a full step but the (boneheaded) ump called him safe. It was no problem as Nunez then lined out to Crawford. With two outs in the ninth, Crawford made it 9-5 with a long homer to right. After Scutaro doubled, Drew hit a long fly to right that bounced off the top of the bullpen wall and over and the Sox went up 11-5. Aceves came out for the bottom of the ninth (as Papelbon took a seat with a six run lead). Cervelli walked to start things off. With two outs, Teixeira singled in Cervelli to make it 11-6. But Aceves came back to get A-Rod on a grounder to short and the Sox came away with their second win in the series.

…Prior to Wednesday night’s game, the Sox reported that Dustin Pedroia may require a procedure on his right knee after aggravating an injury he originally suffered a couple of weeks ago. His ailing knee has had an effect on his performance and finally decided to get his knee looked at. An examination revealed a bone bruise and minor structural damage, so the Little Guy will be back in the lineup sooner rather than later. No such luck for the Yanks’ Joba Chamberlain, as he will require TJ surgery and is lost for the remainder of the year. With the loss of Soriano, the Yanks’ bullpen is in disarray and it sure looks like they’ll have to hit the trade market for relievers. The Sox’ Rich Hill had his TJ surgery yesterday and Daisuke will have his procedure done tomorrow in California.

Game 62 at NY Yankees (6/9/11):

In Thursday’s finale, Josh Beckett (4-2, 2.01) got the start against CC Sabathia (7-3, 2.80) as the Sox looked for improbable consecutive sweeps in New York. The temps in the Big Apple approached 100° earlier in the day and (as usual) a line of nasty thunderstorms rolled through the area and the tarp was on the field prior to game time. And there it remained for quite awhile as the game was delayed by 3½ hours. Whose bright idea was this??? Ellsbury blooped a single to center to open the ballgame, stole second and moved to third on a bad throw by Cervelli, though it mattered for naught as Sabathia struck out Youkilis. Jeter was plunked leading off and Granderson followed with a long two-run homer in the bottom of the first to put the Yanks on top early (though it was already quite late by that time). As Thursday turned into Friday morning, about the only excitement that happened was when Sabathia drilled Ortiz on the backside with one out in the fourth. Things stayed 2-0 until the top of the seventh when the Sox hung a big crooked number on the board and drove Sabathia from the game. Ortiz singled to right and scored the Sox’ first run when Lowrie tripled down the line in right. Swisher made a mad stab for the ball and fell over on the wet turf. With one out, Cameron hit a long double to the gap in left and Lowrie came across with the tying run. After Varitek singled to put runners on the corners, Ellsbury reached down and golfed a base hit to bring in Cameron with the go-ahead run. With two outs, A-Gon singled in Varitek to make it 4-2. Youkilis then hit a line drive single to left and Ellsbury came across. Big Papi followed with a long double that one-hopped the wall in left center and two more runs scored. By the time the smoke cleared the Sox were ahead 7-2 and Sabathia was sitting in the dugout wondering what in the name of Sam Hill went wrong. Both teams scratched across a run in the ninth inning, but for the second time in a month the Sox came into the Bronx and smoked the Yankees. That’s the best Boston consecutive winning streak in New York since 1913. The Sox are now 36-26 and have a two-game lead atop the AL East.

…On To “TO”…

Game 63 at Toronto (6/10/11):

The Sox traveled up north for a weekend set with the Jays. In the opener, Clay Buchholz (4-3, 3.82) took the hill against Jo-Jo Reyes (2-4, 4.16).The Jays have played the Sox tough this year and the Jays swept the brief two-game set in Toronto earlier this year. Pedroia and Saltalamacchia both returned to the lineup for this game. Pedroia had a knee scope that revealed a bruised kneecap and minor structural damage while Salty required hospitalization after becoming deathly ill in New York. (Bet you that it was bad sushi or something with spoiled mayonnaise). Anyway, it’s good that both players are ready to go in this series.

Reyes blew through the top of the order in the first with no difficulty. Buchholz was pushed back a couple of days with back issues for this start and he easily retired the side in order. Youkilis walked leading off the second and Crawford reached with two outs when Hill flubbed an infield grounder. But Cameron struck out looking and Reyes got out of that inning unscathed. In the top of the third, Saltalamacchia hit a pop fly single to right that Bautista stabbed at and knocked down. Ellsbury followed with a long opposite field ground rule double to left; it was his 21st double of the season. Pedroia followed with a single into the hole in short and Salty came across with the game’s first run. Gonzalez then hit into a 4-6-3 double play with Ellsbury coming in the back door. Crawford tripled to deep right with two outs in the fourth but Cameron grounded out to short (that’s 3 RISP left behind so far). Buchholz ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth as Patterson singled leading off and Bautista drilled a base hit putting runners on the corners. With one out, Juan Rivera hit a sacrifice fly to center and Patterson came in with the Jays’ first run. Buchholz came back to strike out Arencibia to end the threat. With one out in the top of the fifth, Ellsbury singled and Pedroia walked. A-Gon then drove a base hit up the middle scoring Ellsbury to make it 3-1. Youkilis followed with a single to left and Pedroia came in to score. Patterson walked leading off the bottom of the sixth and Lind singled with two outs. But Rivera flied out to left and Buchholz was able to get out of that jam. After Pedroia singled with one out in the seventh, Reyes was relieved by lefty Luis Perez, who promptly hit Gonzalez with a pitch. Hill walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh and moved to second on a wild pitch and Davis reached on an error by Lowrie. Buchholz was finished after seven (7IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 6K) and turned things over to Bard in the eighth. Ellsbury and Pedroia each singled with one out in the ninth. Gonzalez followed with a ground-rule double to left and Ellsbury came in to make it 5-1 Sox. After Ortiz was intentionally walked with two outs, Lowrie struck out swinging. Papelbon entered in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order. So far, the road trip’s off to a pretty good start.

Game 64 at Toronto (6/11/11):

In Saturday afternoon’s tilt, John Lackey (3-5, 7.60) started against Brendan Morrow (2-3, 4.50). Youkilis was given the day off and Lowrie moved over to third. With one out in the top of the second, Scutaro hit a wicked liner back to the box that struck Morrow on the backside. Morrow was able to grab the ball and throw out Scutaro. Encarnacion singled to left leading off the bottom of the second. Molina then hit a long fly to left that Crawford hauled in at the wall. The Sox scored in the top of the third when Ellsbury and Pedroia each singled with one out and A-Gon followed with a long double to right, scoring Ellsbury. Ortiz then received a free pass to load the bases. Lowrie was then hit on the left knee with a pitch and Pedroia came in to score. Crawford followed with a sacrifice fly to left, and Gonzalez came across with the Sox’ third run. Scutaro blooped a single to center and Ortiz easily scored from second, 4-0 Sox. Varitek walked leading off the fourth and later scored on Pedroia’s double to the gap in right-center. The Jays put a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth with two outs as Lind doubled, Molina walked and Rajai Davis smacked a double to the gap in left center. In the top of the fifth, Crawford and Scutaro hit back-to-back singles with one out. Drew then lined a base hit to right, driving in Crawford. Varitek followed with a line drive homer to right and the Sox were up 9-2. That was the afternoon for Morrow as he was relieved by Jason Frasor. Ellsbury singled and was erased on Pedroia’s 6-4 force. Gonzalez then walked and everybody came home on Big Papi’s line drive bullet over the wall in right putting the Sox ahead, 12-2. McCoy led off the bottom of the fifth with a double down the third base line but Lackey came back to retire the next three batters. With Octavio Dotel now pitching in the top of the sixth, Scutaro singled and Drew was hit with a pitch. Varitek then drove in Scutaro with a single up the middle to make it 13-2. The Jays got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Lind singled and Encarnacion homered. The Sox weren’t finished beating up on the Jays’ pitchers as they scored three more runs in the eighth off of Casey Janssen. Scutaro and Drew started the inning with back-to-back singles and Varitek walked to load the bases. Ellsbury grounded out to first and Scutaro came across to score and then Pedroia doubled in a pair to make it 16-4. In the ninth, shortstop Mike McCoy took the mound and retired the side in order for the Jays. Give credit to the back end of the Sox bullpen (Wheeler, Hottovy and Bowden) for pitching relatively mistake-free innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth as the Sox wound up flattening the Blue Jays in a highly entertaining ballgame.

Game 65 at Toronto (6/12/11):

On Sunday afternoon, the Sox did not score 16 runs—they scored 14. Jon Lester (8-2, 3.98) took the hill against Kyle Drabek (4-4, 4.98). But Drabek struggled with his control early and the Sox flattened Drabek and the Jays’ bullpen en route to a 14-1 win. The Sox didn’t waste much time getting to Drabek as A-Gon homered to right with two outs in the first. Drabek was getting into 3-2 counts with practically every batter he faced, and in the third, those walks came back to haunt him. After Scutaro and Ellsbury both walked and advanced on a wild pitch to start the inning, Gonzalez grounded out to second and Scutaro scored. Youkilis followed with a line drive single to left and Ellsbury scored to make it 3-0. Lester retired the first 11 batters before Jose Bautista homered to center in the fourth to make it 3-1. The Sox broke it open with five runs in the fifth as Ellsbury singled leading off and Pedroia then took a high fastball over the wall in left. Gonzalez followed with an opposite field double and Youkilis walked. Big Papi then launched a long bomb to right and the Sox were ahead 8-1. That was the afternoon for Drabek. After Luis Perez entered the game, Crawford and Saltalamacchia each singled and Scutaro knocked in Crawford with a base hit. But wait, there’s more…the Sox scored three more runs in the sixth as Pedroia walked leading off and scored on Youkilis’ double to left. Ortiz followed with an RBI double to make it 11-1. After Shawn Camp relieved Perez, Saltalamacchia then doubled in Ortiz. But wait, there’s more…in the ninth, Ellsbury singled to right and Youkilis hit a long homer to left and the Sox came away with another blowout win. Lost among all of the fireworks was Lester’s performance. In winning his ninth game, he was immense (8IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K). This was his most dominant outing of the season.

With the best record in the AL at 39-26, the Sox then headed south to open a three-game series with the Rays, who would be looking to bring this lengthy winning streak to a halt. The Rays re-arranged their pitching rotation so that their best three starters would be available for this series.

Three At The Trop:

Game 66 at Tampa Bay (6/14/11):

After a well-deserved day off, the Sox traveled to St. Pete for the first time this year to open a three-game set with the Rays. Prior to the game, Drew Sutton was returned to Pawtucket and Darnell McDonald came off the DL. The Sox also traded minor league catcher Mike McKenry to Pittsburgh for a PTBNL or cash. Both the Yanks and Rays lost on Monday night so the Sox’ lead in the AL East is presently 2 ½ games over the Yanks and 4 ½ over Tampa Bay. Jeter (now within striking distance of 3,000 hits) went on the DL earlier in the day with a calf strain.

In the opener, Tim Wakefield (3-1, 4.84) took the hill against James Shields (5-4, 2.85). Ellsbury walked leading off the game and moved to third on A-Gon’s base hit to right. With two outs, Ortiz walked to load the bases and Carl Crawford received a mixed ovation from the crowd. Crawford ended up hitting a weak grounder to first. Gonzalez made a great diving stab of Zobrist’s hard grounder down the first base line and threw to Wake to record the out. With one out in the bottom of the third, Justin Ruggiano singled up the middle and moved to third on Damon’s double off the rightfield wall but Zobrist grounded out to third and Wake was able to get out of the jam. JD Drew led off the fifth with a line drive single up the middle that Shields was fortunate to avoid. With one out, Ellsbury hit into a twin killing and that was that. Ruggiano put the Rays ahead with one out in the bottom of the fifth with a homer that hugged the leftfield foul pole. Ruggiano then made a very nice leaping catch of Pedroia’s liner to left to open the sixth. With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Longoria and Kotchman walked. Longoria then moved to third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball. Wake was through after seven and pitched a whale of a ballgame (7IP, 4H, 2R, 1ER, 5BB, 2K). Wake just had the misfortune of starting on a night in which the bats were flat. Tommy Hottovy entered in the bottom of the eighth. Joyce led off with a double to center and Longoria was hit by a pitch. Kotchman then drove in Joyce with a single to left. Aceves then relieved Hottovy (who had the first rough outing in his brief big league career). Jaso then singled up the middle and Longoria came across to make it 4-0, Rays. Shields went the distance for the shutout and really brought his ‘A’ game tonight. So, the Sox’ winning streak ends at nine and they’ll look to rebound tomorrow.

Game 67 at Tampa Bay (6/15/11):

On Wednesday night, Josh Beckett (5-2, 2.06) took the hill against the AL Pitcher of the Month Jeremy Hellickson (7-4, 3.03). Good seats were still available at the Trop at game time, as a rather “exclusive crowd” was in attendance. Both pitchers were on top of their games in the early innings as Pedroia’s single in the top of the first was the only hit until Reid Brignac rolled an infield hit down the third base line with two outs in the bottom of the third. Brignac then moved to second on a bad pickoff throw by Beckett, who later struck out Damon to end the inning. So far, both times the Sox put a runner on base the next batter grounded into a double play. Through the first six, both pitchers had allowed only one hit. With one out in the seventh, Pedroia tripled to the gap in right-center. A-Gon then received a free pass so that Hellickson could face Youkilis. Big mistake, as Youk drilled a three-run homer that just cleared the wall in left to give the Sox the lead. Through seven, Beckett had still allowed only the one single to Brignac. By the top of the eighth, Hellickson was finished and Maddon turned things over to Cesar Ramos. Other than that one pitch to Youkilis, Hellickson had a really good night’s work. Beckett came out for the ninth and easily retired the side in order for the complete-game one-hitter. Beckett was simply outstanding on this night (9IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K, 97P). The Sox now look to take the rubber game and end this road trip on a high note.

Game 68 at Tampa Bay (6/16/11):

While New Englanders continued to bask in the afterglow of the Bruins’ amazing Stanley Cup run, the Sox were looking to close out the road trip on a high note. Clay Buchholz (5-3, 3.59) had the tough task of facing the Rays’ ace, David Price (7-5, 3.51). The Rays do have an impressive top of the rotation in Price, Hellickson and Shields. With the tough lefty going, Ellsbury and Drew took a seat in favor of Cameron and McDonald, who rocked a long drive to left that Sam Fuld leaped and hauled in on the warning track to lead off the ballgame. Pedroia walked and A-Gon followed with a double down the rightfield line. Youkilis was hit off the arm with a pitch to load the bases. Price then walked Ortiz and Pedroia came across with the first run of the game. Price came back to retire the next two batters leaving the Sox with a huge squander. With one out in the second, Saltalamacchia doubled off the wall in right-center, just missing a home run. McDonald singled up the middle (smartly taking second on the throw) and Salty scored to make it 2-0. Pedroia followed with a stinging double down the line in right and McDonald scored to make it 3-0. Price then walked Gonzalez, prompting a visit to the mound by the pitching coach. With runners on the corners and two outs, Ortiz walked again. Scutaro then pinch-hit for Lowrie (who was injured taking a hard swing in the first and had to leave the game) and popped out to first, leaving the bases loaded once more. The Rays clawed back a run in the bottom of the second as Upton scored on Fuld’s long double to left. Price was finished after five (doomed by a high pitch count) and turned things over to Cruz, who walked Salty leading off the sixth. Buchholz was also through after five (5IP, 2H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K, 81P) and was relieved by Aceves. It was unknown whether Buchholz’ cranky back acted up again, but he was dominant while in there. Casey Kotchman took Aceves deep with one out in the sixth to make it 3-2. Fuld singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh and then Aceves was relieved by Bard with two outs. Bard was able to get Damon on a grounder to second. With two outs in the ninth, A-Gon hit a line drive bullet over the wall off of Farnsworth to give the Sox a 4-2 lead. Papelbon entered in the ninth and Kotchman greeted him with a double off the wall in right-center and Upton followed with an hard infield single to third, barely beating out the throw. Elliot Johnson then hit a foul bunt to third that Youkilis leaped to catch. Ruggiano then struck out looking and Sean Rodriguez struck out swinging as the Sox came away with a tense 4-2 victory. Going 8-1 on this trip was the best the Sox have done on a nine-gamer since 1977.