Admit it, you knew somehow the Red Sox were going to pull out tonight's game. Given Boston's (70-46 overall, 31-25 away) propensity for rallying (18 wins in their last at bat) this season, it came as no surprise when they came back for the second night in a row to beat the hopeless Astros (37-76 overall, 19-39 home) 7-5 at Minute Maid Park.
The win gave Boston the series (2-1) as they finished 6-1 against Houston in 2013-Welcome to the AL! The Red Sox trailed 5-4 in the ninth but former Sea Dogs/PawSox pitcher Josh Fields (who got the save on Monday) couldn't get his new job done. After a single by Mike Carp and walk for Jonny Gomes, Stephen Drew (2 hits, walk) was the hero for the second time in a week with a three-run homer (his 9th of the season) to right field.
Junichi Tazawa (5-3) earned the win with two excellent innings of relief (0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts) and Koji Uehara worked around a single in the ninth to strike out the side for his 11th save of the season.
Oh by the way, the Red Sox have now passed last season's pathetic win total so let's never speak of it (especially Bobby Valentine) again. The good news kept pouring in as the Rays even lost to the Diamondbacks meaning that Boston grabbed a 2.5 game lead on Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East.
Boston actually led 2-0 after a ground out by Brock Holt in the second and a run scored on Carp's double play ball in the third. Ryan Dempster (5 earned runs, 7 hits) wasn't able to take advantage of the lead though as he promptly gave up a two-run homer to Robbie Grossman (double, run) to tie it at two in the third.
The Astros scored three more runs in the sixth on Jose Altuve's RBI single, Jason Castro's (2 hits, run) RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Marc Krauss. I admit that I totally thought Gomes (3 walks, 3 runs) was a worthless pickup when the Red Sox signed him over the winter but I'm happy to say boy was I ever wrong. Mr. Clutch came up with yet another big hit-a two-run homer to left in the seventh (his 10th of the season) that jumpstarted his slumbering teammates.
Both teams had guys ejected as Shane Victorino was tossed for arguing from the dugout in the seventh then Astros manager Bo Porter (Bo Knows Baseball!) became the first member of his team to be thrown out all season (how's that possible?) when he took exception to a bad call (should have been a foul tip) that went against Houston in the ninth.
For the second game in a row, David Ortiz had four hits and they were all singles. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 with a double and walk in the win. Brett Wallace was 2 for 4 in the loss.
This was just the start of Boston's 10-game road trip. From here, they don't get a day off as they proceed directly to Kansas City where they have four games with the much improved Royals (58-53 overall, 3rd in AL Central) beginning tomorrow night (8:10, NESN) with Jon Lester (10-6) facing the immortal Bruce Chen (4-0). On Friday (8:10, NESN), Jake Peavy (9-4) makes his first start on the road for his new club and he takes on Ervin Santana (8-6). On Saturday, Felix Doubront (8-5) meets former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie (12-7) who the Red Sox have always owned. Then assuming his ankle doesn't blow up too much, John Lackey (7-9) takes the mound on Sunday afternoon (2:10, NESN) vs. former Rays standout James Shields (6-8).
Not that I don't enjoy predictable results against the worst team in MLB (Houston) but this weekend should be way more entertaining since we might actually see some good baseball, unlike the slop at Minute Maid Park the last few nights. The Royals are an MLB-best 16-4 since the All-Star break and they finally appear to be making strides after countless years of losing.
UPDATE 8/8: Daniel Nava was reinstated from the paternity list and Steven Wright was sent back to Pawtucket.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment