“Hit the Road”

The Sox opened up a stretch in which they’d play 14 of their next 17 on the road, starting with three in Minnesota. Compared to the dreadful old Baggie Dome, Target Field looks like a superb venue. This is the first time the Sox have been back to Target since having helped the Twins inaugurate the park in April of 2010.

Game 114 at Minnesota (8/8/11):

Prior to Monday’s game, Jed Lowrie was activated from the DL and Randy Williams was returned to Pawtucket. In the opener, Tim Wakefield (still looking for that elusive 200th career win) (6-4, 4.99) started against Scott Baker (8-6, 3.01). Youkilis was given the day off and Lowrie started at third. Baker struck out Ellsbury and Crawford to open the game.

The Sox picked up a run in the top of the second on singles by Ortiz, Lowrie and Scutaro. On Scutaro’s RBI single, Lowrie overran the bag at second and was thrown out. In the bottom of the second, Cuddyer made it to second when Crawford leaped but dropped his deep fly to left (ruled a double). Kubel then singled to right and Cuddyer scored as the ball popped out of Saltalamacchia’s mitt on the play at the plate. Thome followed with a long double to the right-center gap and Kubel scored to make it 2-1 Twins. Thome later scored on a passed ball. Kubel made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a long homer to right. After Wakefield picked up two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, Trevor Plouffe singled to right and scored on Joe Mauer’s rolling double to center. Crawford tripled to the right-center gap leading off the sixth and then scored on Gonzalez’ sacrifice fly to left. Pedroia singled up the middle and then Ortiz launched an upper-deck bomb to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Salty then tied the score by ripping a fastball over the grandstand in rightfield. Former Sox farmhand Phil Dumatrait took over for the Twins in the top of the seventh. Scutaro picked up his third single leading off. Ellsbury then reached on a hard infield hit up the middle. Crawford bunted both runners over and then Gonzalez was walked intentionally. Dumatrait was then replaced by Matt Capps. Pedroia bounced into a double play and the Sox squandered a huge opportunity. With Glen Perkins pitching in the top of the eighth, Ortiz doubled off the base of the wall in left. Salty moved Ortiz to third on a 3-1 grounder. Mike Aviles pinch hit for Reddick. Aviles hit a grounder to short and Ortiz broke for the plate; the throw home was wild and popped out of Mauer’s mitt. Ortiz slid in safely to give the Sox a 6-5 lead. With the lead, Wakefield was finished after seven (7IP, 8H, 3ER, 0BB, 4K) and turned things over to Aceves. Plouffe led off with a double down the rightfield line. Mauer lined out to center and Plouffe tagged and moved to third. With two outs, Kubel lined a single to center and Plouffe came across with the tying run. So Wakefield will have to wait for another day. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Gonzalez singled and then Pedroia reached on an infield hit. McDonald then ran for Gonzalez. Ortiz then lined a base hit to left (his fourth hit tonight) and McDonald scored the go-ahead run. Salty then looped a double down the line in left and Pedroia came in to make it 8-6. Papelbon entered in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the first two batters and then got Ben Revere on a grounder to second and the Sox came away with a nice comeback win.

Game 115 at Minnesota (8/9/11):

The Twins are 51-64, 13 games back in the AL Central. They have simply been devastated this year by injuries and the crowds at Target Field have reflected their struggles on the field. In Tuesday night’s game, Scutaro was given the night off (strange move, since he’s been hot at the plate) and Lowrie got the start at short. Erik Bedard (4-7, 3.55) made his second start for the Sox against Francisco Liriano (7-9, 5.03). Bedard will probably be kept on the same sort leash as occurred in his start last week.

Pedroia walked with one out in the first and then Gonzalez lined a single to right. With two outs, Ortiz walked to load the bases but Lowrie grounded out to third and that chance went by the boards. Bedard walked Ben Revere to open the bottom of the first. Mauer singled into the hole in short and Revere moved to third. Cuddyer then hit a sacrice fly to center and Revere came in with the game’s first run. Kubel and Thome both walked. After Bedard struck out Danny Valencia, he walked Delmon Young and Kubel came in to make it 2-0. In the top of the fifth, Varitek led off with a walk and Darnell McDonald followed with a bomb to left to tie the score. With one out in the sixth, Lowrie and Crawford walked. Varitek followed with a single to left that scored Lowrie with the go-ahead run but Crawford was thrown out in a rundown between second and third. Bedard was finished after five (5IP, 3H, 2ER, 4BB, 6K) and pitched much better as the game went on. Matt Albers took over and allowed a one out single to Valencia. With two outs, Nishioka launched a long double off the wall and Valencia came in with the tying run. Matt Capps came on to pitch for the Twins in the seventh and walked Pedroia with one out. Gonzalez followed with a double to the gap in left center. After Capps walked Youkilis, he was replaced by Dumatrait. Ortiz hit a little dribbler down the first base line that Dumatrait mishandled and Pedroia scored the go-ahead run. Exit Dumatrait, enter Alex Burnett. In the bottom of the seventh, Franklin Morales came on to pitch for the Sox and gave up a single to Mauer but retired the next two batters before giving way to Bard. Thome then grounded out to short and Mauer never advanced beyond second. Papelbon entered in the bottom of the ninth and set down the side in order. With the win and the Yanks’ loss to the Angels, the Sox went up in the AL East by 2 ½ games.

Game 116 at Minnesota (8/10/11):

In the series finale, Jon Lester (11-5, 3.23) started against Nick Blackburn (7-9, 4.58). Pedroia was given the night off and Mike Aviles started at second. Ellsbury reached on a bang-bang 3-1 grounder to open the ballgame but Blackburn retired the next three batters. The Twins grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first as Mauer walked, went to third on Cuddyer’s single and scored on Thome’s single to center. In the top of the third with one out, Mike Aviles doubled down the line in left. Ellsbury then hit a comebacker and Aviles was caught in a rundown between second and third. With one out in the top of the fourth, Youkilis and Ortiz both singled but Crawford popped out and Saltalamacchia struck out looking. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Revere walked and scored on Mauer’s ground-rule double to left. The Sox finally got on the board after two were out in the seventh as Aviles walked, Ellsbury reached on an error by Plouffe and Scutaro drove in Aviles with a single. At that point, Blackburn was relieved by Glen Perkins, who retired Gonzalez on a fly ball to right. In the bottom of the seventh, Young and Plouffe hit back-to-back singles with one out. With two outs, Span walked to load the bases but Revere grounded out to first and Lester escaped. With one out in the top of the eighth, Ortiz homered to center to tie the score. In the bottom of the eighth, Mauer walked leading off and advanced to second on Cuddyer’s ground out. Thome then doubled to left and Mauer came across with the go-ahead run. Lester left a pitch over the strike zone and Thome clubbed it. Aceves relieved Lester at that point. Lester had another quality outing (7⅓ IP, 8H, 4ER, 5BB, 4K). Repko ran for Thome and scored on Valencia’s double to left. Young received a free pass and Tolbert singled to right to load the bases. Span walked and Valencia came in to make it 5-2. Joe Nathan came on the ninth to close things out and easily retired the side in order. Can’t win ‘em all…

A Weekend In Seattle:

Game 117 at Seattle (8/12/11):

After a travel day on Thursday, the Sox winged their way to the Great Northwest for a weekend series with the Mariners. In the opener, John Lackey (10-8, 6.14) started against Blake Beavan (3-2, 2.83), who pitched quite well against the Sox when the Mariners recently visited Boston. Youkilis was scratched from the lineup with a sore back.

Ellsbury reached on a throwing error by Luis Rodriguez to open the game. In the bottom of the first Ichiro doubled down the line in right leading off. Gutierrez then reached on an infield single and stole second. Dustin Ackley then walked to load the bases. Mike Carp followed with a base hit up the middle and two runs scored. Ortiz led off the bottom of the second with a long homer to right. Crawford followed with a single to right and stole second. Saltalamacchia ripped a hard single to first that struck Justin Smoak in the face and Smoak went down in a heap and required immediate medical attention. He was removed from the game holding a towel to his face. Adam Kennedy filled in at first. With one out, Mike Aviles hit a sacrifice fly to right and Crawford came in with the tying run. Rodriguez and Treyvon Robinson hit back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the second. A passed ball moved the runners into scoring position. Franklin Gutierrez then walked as Lackey was all over the map with his pitches. Ackley singled to left and Rodriguez scored the go-ahead run. In the top of the third with one out, Gonzalez walked and Pedroia doubled to left. But Ortiz popped out to center and Crawford flew out to center and the Sox left two runners in scoring position. In the bottom of the fourth, the M’s made it 4-2 as Gutierrez singled and scored on Carp’s double to deep center. The Sox tightened things in the fifth as Lowrie hit a long homer to right leading off. The Sox went ahead in the sixth as Saltalmacchia walked and scored on Reddick’s blast to right. In the seventh, they added an insurance run as Gonzalez doubled to center leading off and scored on Ortiz’ single to left. Lackey gave up a single to Ackley in the bottom of the seventh before being relived by Morales. Despite another really rough start, Lackey rebounded to have a fairly good outing. Bard and Papelbon pitched a relatively clean eighth and ninth and the Sox came away with the win. With the Yanks’ loss to the Rays, the Sox’ lead in the AL East went back to two games.

Game 118 at Seattle (8/13/11):

In Saturday night’s game, it was a combination of one bad inning combined with a heavy dose of “King Felix” Hernandez that spelled doom for the Red Sox. Josh Beckett allowed five runs in the bottom of the first and though the Sox had a comeback inning in the sixth they couldn’t close the gap losing 5-4. Ichiro led off the bottom of the first with a homer and it was all downhill from there for Beckett. Two singles and a double were followed by homer by Casper Wells. Things stayed 5-0 until the top of the fourth with one out when Pedroia hit a fly to right with Ellsbury on third. Ellsbury tagged up and broke for the plate as Ichiro fired a bullet to the plate. There was a big collision between Ellsbury and Josh Bard and the umpire originally ruled Ellsbury to be safe. Bard was laid out at the plate, stunned from the collision. The umpires convened and changed the call to an out. The Sox’ manager became enraged over the switched call and was ejected for arguing. The switched call proved to be pivotal as the Sox scored four runs in the sixth as Scutaro tripled off the wall in left and scored on Ellsbury’s homer to right. Gonzalez followed with a bunt single down the third base line and scored on Pedroia’s homer to right center that squeaked over the wall. Hernandez was finished after seven and turning things over to Jamey Wright and Brandon League, who effectively shut down the Sox’ hitters in the eighth and ninth.

Game 119 at Seattle (8/14/11):

In Sunday afternoon’s finale, Tim Wakefield (still looking for his 200th win) (6-4, 4.92) started against Maine’s Charlie Furbush (2-4, 4.46). The M’s went on top in the bottom of the third as Casper Wells walked, stole second and advanced to third on Saltalamacchia’s bad throw down. Jack Wilson then singled in Wells. Kyle Seager singled to right and Ichiro reached on Lowrie’s fielding error to load the bases. Franklin Gutierrez then hit a sacrifice fly to left and Wilson came across to score. Mike Carp then singled to right and Seager scored to make it 3-0. The Sox got a run back in the fourth as Gonzalez singled with one out and Youkilis walked. Ortiz then singled up the middle to load the bases and Lowrie hit a sacrifice fly to left. In the bottom of the fifth, Ichiro and Gutierrez singled. Dustin Ackley ripped a single up the middle and Ichiro scored to make it 4-1. Wells homered to left leading off the bottom of the sixth. Furbush was finished after seven and he had a great outing, allowing only four hits while striking out six. In the top of the eighth, the Sox pushed across a couple of runs as Pedroia singled with one out and scored on Youkilis’ homer to left. Brandon League came on in the ninth to close things out and struck out Lowrie and Crawford before Salty lined out to center to end the game. With this loss and the Yanks’ rainout, the lead slipped to ½ game…

A Quick Hop Home

The Sox returned home for three games in two days with the Rays before hitting the road again for another long trip. On Tuesday, the Sox had a day/night doubleheader. The Yanks won yesterday and have moved back into a tie for first in the AL East.

Game 120 v. Tampa Bay (8/16/11):

The opener was played in cloudy conditions with light rain. Jon Lester (11-6, 3.32) started against James Shields (11-9, 2.80). Scutaro remained out of the lineup with a sore back so Mike Aviles started at short. David Ortiz was a late scratch with illness and Jed Lowrie was penciled in at DH. The Rays got a quick run in the first as Desmond Jennings doubled, stole third and scored on Longoria’s ground out. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third as Reddick and Aviles singled and Ellsbury hit a towering homer to right to make it 3-1. With the lead, Lester settled down and pitched outstanding ball over seven (7IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K). Bard struck out two batters in the eighth. With two outs in the ninth, Pedroia made a great leaping stab off of Upton’s liner up the middle to end the game.

Game 121 v. Tampa Bay (8/16/11):

The skies cleared for the nightcap as Erik Bedard (4-7, 3.55) started against Jeff Niemann (7-4, 3.43). Youkilis and Ortiz were out of the lineup as Lowrie started at third, Crawford at DH and McDonald in left. In the bottom of the fourth, Pedroia was robbed of a hit when his long fly struck the wall and bounced directly into Jennings’ glove. The third base umpire didn’t see the bounce and called Pedroia out. Zobrist and Upton started off the second with back-to-back singles. Sean Rodriguez reached when Lowrie elected to throw home to get Zobrist but the throw was bad and Zobrist scored (E5). Upton later scored on a ground out. Varitek led off the bottom of the third by curling a homer around Pesky’s Pole to put the Sox on the board. In the fourth, Upton and Kotchman started off with back-to-back singles. Rodriguez then bounced a hard grounder to third, Lowrie stepped on the bag and fired to Pedroia, who threw to first for the triple play! It was the first triple play at Fenway since John Valentin’s unassisted triple play in 1994. It was the 30th triple play in Red Sox history. Desmond Jennings ripped a homer over the Monster Seats with two outs in the fifth. Ellsbury homered over the Sox’ bullpen leading off the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-2, Rays. Bedard was finished after six and had another quality outing (6IP, 7H, 1ER, 0BB, 6K) and turned things over to Albers. Pedroia made another diving stab of Jennings’ screaming low line drive to end the seventh. Longoria and Zobrist singled in the top of the eighth and Upton followed with a base hit up the middle and Longoria scored to make it 4-2. Zobrist then scored after Upton was caught in a rundown. While Upton danced around, Zobrist broke for the plate and Aviles’ throw home was off line. Kotchman then drove in Upton with a base hit to left. Niemann came out for the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order. Niemann had a great outing, allowing only three hits.

Game 122 v. Tampa Bay (8/17/11):

In Wednesday afternoon’s finale, John Lackey (11-8, 6.13) started against the very tough lefty David Price (10-10, 3.76). Gonzalez was penciled in as the DH today and Youkilis started at first. It appears as if Ortiz will be out of the lineup for awhile as he was diagnosed with bursitis in his heel and his foot was placed in a boot. The Sox can ill afford having his bat out of the lineup for an extended period of time. Once again, Lackey had trouble getting out of the first inning unscathed as Damon doubled to right with one out, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Zobrist’s ground out. BJ Upton led off the top of the fourth by drilling a fastball into the Monster Seats. With two outs in the fifth, Longoria took a 3-0 fastball down the heart of the plate over the wall and the Rays went ahead 3-0. In the bottom of the sixth, Ellsbury tripled into the triangle leading off. Ellsbury was then caught in a rundown after Gonzalez hit a comebacker and Price threw to the plate. In the seventh, Lackey hit Kelly Shoppach with a pitch. Shoppach moved to second after Longoria walked and scored on Zobrist’s double off the wall. That was all for Lackey, as the manager gave him enough rope but he couldn’t get out of the inning (6⅔IP, 6H, 4ER, 3BB, 7K). Through six he pitched well enough but drew the misfortune of facing Price, who was having a buzzsaw afternoon. Kyle Farnsworth took over for Price in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order.