Boston (24-24, 11-13 home) got back to .500 for the fifth time this season thanks to his solid outing in a 7-4 win over Detroit (23-25, 12-13 away) in the series opener this afternoon at Fenway Park on a picture perfect Memorial Day.
Two things overshadowed the final result: Tigers manager Jim Leyland was ejected in the third inning for arguing a completely bogus call (Mike Aviles struck out but the umpire said the ball hit the ground first so he got another chance and delivered along with two other two-out runs) and Dustin Pedroia hurt his thumb in the sixth and left. Bobby V wasn't very clear on Pedroia's injury after the game but it sounds like he's at least expected to miss tomorrow's game.
Doubront (5-2) was backed by a Red Sox lineup that banged out 13 hits. In six innings of work, he allowed two earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk. His only blemishes were a pair of solo homers to random bums.
Doug Fister (0-3) is a good pitcher but he's off to a rough start this season for the Tigers. Today probably didn't help his confidence either since in five innings, Boston tagged him for six earned runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
The Red Sox scored in the first inning as David Ortiz (2 hits) had an RBI double. Delmon Young (3rd of the season) responded with a solo homer over the Monster in the second but Boston tacked on three in the home half of the second on Aviles' (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run) RBI single, Daniel Nava's RBI double and Pedroia's RBI single.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (9th of the season) hit his second homer of the long weekend, an opposite field shot over the Monster in the third which opened up a 5-1 Red Sox lead.
Gerald Laird (2nd of the season) had a solo homer in the fifth to cut it to 5-2 but Will Middlebrooks had an RBI single in the sixth and Aviles added an RBI double in the eighth.
Jhonny Peralta (3rd of the season) crushed a garbage-time two-run bomb over the Monster in the ninth against Alfredo Aceves. No idea why Valentine put Aceves out there in a non-save situation a day after he blew a save.
I also have to mention Scott Atchison's routinely excellent relief. He had two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 0.93. Ryan Sweeney was 3 for 4 with a double and two runs in his first game back from a concussion.
It will be Boston's sixth chance to get over .500 tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) and if you believe in reverse locks, this is your moment. Justin Verlander (5-2) faces Daniel Bard (4-5). Verlander is the top starting pitcher in baseball (just ask his MVP award from last season) and Bard has been a mess lately. So clearly Bard will pitch well and the Red Sox will knock around Verlander.
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