The Giants have already mailed it in for 2013 and the Red Sox were able to take advantage of that clear fact this afternoon with a 12-1 pounding at AT&T Park in their interleague series finale. Boston (75-54 overall, 35-31 away) had the pleasure of teeing off on piñata Barry Zito (4-9): 3.2 innings, 6 earned runs, 7 hits. San Francisco (56-70 overall, 32-33 home) lost two of three in the series and they remain in last place in the weak NL West.
The Red Sox also received some help (finally) from the Orioles as they beat the Rays 4-2, giving Boston a one-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay. By pounding out 12 hits (6 for extra bases), they were able to go into tomorrow's off day with some smiles. Felix Doubront (9-6) was excellent, he went eight innings and allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Three players on Boston had multiple hits led by Jacoby Ellsbury (3 for 4 with 2 runs, double and MLB-leading 46th steal), Shane Victorino (3 for 5 with run, double and RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (2 doubles, 2 runs and RBI). As they have usually done this season after a humbling loss, the Red Sox bounced back immediately with an important victory.
Will Middlebrooks (2 runs, walk) started the barrage with a two-run homer in the second, his 11th of the season. Light-hitting Joaquin Arias (2 hits) provided the Giants' only run with a solo shot in the second. Pedroia had an RBI double in the third and Jonny Gomes notched a two-run single.
San Francisco had totally checked out by the time they let Victorino's harmless fly ball drop in for an RBI double in the fourth. The only bad news of the day for Boston is that David Ortiz left in the fifth inning with lower back tightness. Yikes, hopefully he'll be alright for this weekend in Los Angeles. The Red Sox poured it on in the seventh with five runs on a two-run single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Stephen Drew's three-run blast (his 10th of the season). The Giants gave Boston one more parting gift-an error in the eighth that plated their final run.
This weekend's series against the Dodgers (74-52, 1st in NL West) will be really hyped and for once, I'll say that it totally should be. Since their poor start, the Dodgers have been on fire and they feature rookie Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig-possibly the most exciting player in MLB this season. Oh and who could forget former Red Sox greats Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto (RIP Josh Beckett) who were traded to LA basically at this time last year.
Boston is lucky to miss both Clayton Kershaw (who pitches tomorrow vs. Miami) and Zach Greinke (who pitched today). Instead, it'll be John Lackey (8-10) vs. Ricky Nolasco (9-9) on Friday (10:10, NESN), followed by Jon Lester (11-7) vs. Hyun Jin Ryu (12-4) on Saturday afternoon (4:05, FOX) and culminating with Jake Peavy (9-5) against Springfield Mass native Chris Capuano (4-6) on Sunday night (8:05, ESPN).
Boston should have swept San Francisco but I'd take two out of three at Dodger Stadium in a heartbeat. This truly could represent a World Series preview for this fall and promises to be one of the best series of the regular season.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment