Red Sox Nearly Get No-Hit, Fall 1-0 to Tigers in Game 1 of ALCS

Well I guess that we should at least be happy the Red Sox didn't get no-hit in Game 1 of the ALCS vs. Tigers, that would have been even tougher to take than tonight's 1-0 loss at Fenway Park. Anibal Sanchez (6 IP, 12 Ks, 6 BBs) was brilliant and three Detroit relievers got it to the ninth where Joaquin Benoit pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout for the win.

Obviously Jon Lester (6.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 4 Ks, 1 BB) gave Boston exactly the type of ace start that they needed. Jhonny Peralta (2 doubles) provided the only run of the game on an RBI single that scored Victor Martinez in the sixth.

Benoit recorded the first out in the ninth before Daniel Nava blooped it into center field for what turned out to be Boston's lone hit. All the lights out pitching by the Tigers (17 Ks, 6 BBs) made this super intense and nearly four hours (3:56) because the Red Sox were basically doing the same thing.

Common sense says that tomorrow night's (8:07, Fox) game is a must-win for the Red Sox. They are at home where they play so well and they cannot afford to go to Detroit down 2-0 in the series. It could be another low-scoring game in Game 2 because Max Scherzer (he of 21 wins during the regular season) takes on Clay
Buchholz.

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Red Sox & Umpires Conspire To Help Tigers Gain 7-5 Win In Series Finale

It figures that on a day when the Red Sox made Justin Verlander look ordinary, they still couldn't come out on top as they lost 7-5 to the Tigers at Comerica Park. Detroit (42-32 overall, 26-13 home) won the series 3-1 as Boston (45-33 overall, 22-18 away) limps home for a nine-game homestand.

After the best outing of his career, Felix Doubront had his typical performance: five innings, three runs (two earned), four hits, two strikeouts and four walks on 104 pitches.

Not sure what's up with Verlander but he's not himself. He went five innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Boston was going to blow the game anyway since it was tied 4-4 in the eighth with Andrew Miller (0-2) on the mound but they got no favors from four blind umpires who ruled that Daniel Nava's catch wasn't actually a catch. It was enough to get John Farrell ejected and from there, Detroit tacked on three more runs with Torii Hunter's sacrifice fly and Prince Fielder's (2 hits, 3 RBIs) two-run single.

The Red Sox tried to rally in the ninth as Jonny Gomes had an RBI double but new Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit (2-0) was able to escape thanks to Hunter's diving catch on Stephen Drew's liner to end it.

Miguel Cabrera (2 hits, walk) had a ground-rule RBI double in the first and Fielder drove in another run with a ground out in the first for a 2-0 Tigers lead.

Boston tied it with two runs in the second on Ryan Lavarnway's RBI single and Jacoby Ellsbury's (2 hits, double, stolen base) sacrifice fly. Detroit went back ahead on Lavarnway's passed ball in the home half of the second.

Mike Napoli's ground out in the third and Shane Victorino's ground out in the fourth put Boston up a run (4-3). Things started to unravel in the seventh as Miller hit Jhonny Peralta with the bases loaded to tie it at four.

Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with two runs and a walk while David Ortiz was 3 for 5. Austin Jackson reached base five times going 2 for 2 with three runs, three walks and a double.

Boston gets a day off tomorrow then they will enjoy a nine-game homestand until July 4: two games vs. Colorado (39-38, 2nd in NL West), four vs. Toronto (38-36, 4th in AL East) and three vs. San Diego (38-38, 4th in NL West). It should be a sneaky challenge since all three teams are .500 or better with the Rockies and Padres representing two of the biggest surprises in MLB while the Blue Jays have currently won 11 games in a row.

Ryan Dempster (4-8) faces Juan Nicasio (4-3) on Tuesday (7:10, NESN) and John Lackey (4-5) opposes Roy Oswalt (0-1) on Tuesday afternoon (4:05, NESN). It's a 2007 World Series rematch with very few of the same guys left on the respective teams!

UPDATE 4/25: A flurry of moves for the Red Sox today as infielder Brandon Snyder was called up from Pawtucket, Will Middlebrooks went to the PawSox and David Ross was moved to the 60-day DL.

Franklin Morales is going back to the DL and Pedro Beato is being recalled from the PawSox.

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The Aaron Cook Experiment Settles Into A Predictable Fate

After four good starts in a row since returning from the DL, the wheels have started to fall off for sinkerballer Aaron Cook (2-5). He's struggled in his last three starts (especially the past two) and as a result, hasn't recorded a win since June 29.

Boston (53-52, 27-29 home) weren't able to complete the three-game sweep of Detroit (55-50, 27-29) as the Tigers jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth tonight vs. Cook and held on for a 7-5 win at Fenway Park. It also snapped the Red Sox' four-game win streak.

Cook doesn't walk anybody (4 walks all season) but he also doesn't strike anybody out (4) which means he's pitching to contact. Lately, he's been leaving fastballs and hanging curveballs up in the zone, leading to many home runs. The game got out of reach when Miguel Cabrera (2 hits) hit a two-run homer (26th of the season) over everything in left in the fifth which was followed by Prince Fielder's (2 hits) solo homer to center (17th of the season), making it 6-1 Detroit.

In 4.2 innings, Cook allowed six earned runs on nine hits. Rick Porcello (8-6) usually struggles against the Red Sox and he wasn't great this evening (5.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 8 hits, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks) but he handed it over to a nearly flawless bullpen.

Phil Coke allowed a solo homer to Carl Crawford (2nd of the season) in the seventh to make it 6-5 Detroit but Octavio Dotel (1 inning, 1 strikeout), Joaquin Benoit (1 inning, 1 strikeout) and Jose Valverde (1 inning, 2 strikeouts; 21st save) combined for three perfect innings.

Cody Ross (2 hits) gave Boston a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first. Brennan Boesch tied it with an RBI single in the fourth then the Tigers scored five runs in the fifth. Austin Jackson added an RBI single and a run scored on Quintin Berry's ground out before the long balls from Cabrera and Fielder.

The Red Sox showed signs of life with three runs in the sixth. Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded into a double play but a run scored. Pedro Ciriaco and Will Middlebrooks kept the inning alive with RBI singles.

In the eighth, Delmon Young's (2 hits) homer to right (12th of the season), that wrapped around Pesky's pole proved to be a valuable insurance run.

Adrian Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a run and walk in the loss. Craig Breslow made his first appearance back with the Red Sox (he played with them briefly in 2006) as he was the first guy out of the bullpen. He went 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.

The schedule does the Red Sox a huge favor as the terrible Minnesota Twins (44-60, AL Central) come to Fenway this weekend and they will meet four times. I would normally say that they have to take at least three but we all know that the middling Red Sox will probably win twice.

Jon Lester (5-8) faces rookie Samuel Deduno (2-0) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) to open the series. Felix Doubront (10-5) gets Brian Duensing (2-6) on Friday night (7:10 p.m., NESN). Clay Buchholz (9-3) opposes rookie Cole De Vries (2-2) on Saturday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) and Josh Beckett (5-9) meets Nick Blackburn (4-6) on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN). If Lester and Beckett can't beat the Twins, they might not win another game respectively in 2012.

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