Crawford Shows Tigers His Tricks; Red Sox Make It Six (23-20)

Last night lived up to expectations as a pitcher's duel and a thriller, as the Red Sox came out on top at 4-3 with a walk off single by Carl Crawford, as he is coming around. In the second inning, with runners on first and third, rookieAndy Dirks singled in Miguel Cabrera to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage. In the bottom of the same inning, with runners on first and third, J.D. Drew knocked Kevin Youkilis in with a sacrifice fly to left field, tying the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the fourth, J.D. Drew ripped a liner into deep right field for a home run to make it 2-1 Red Sox. In the bottom of the 7th, David Ortiz led off the inning with a home run to deep right field, giving the Sox a 3-1 lead. However, things changed in the top of the eighth, as once Daniel Bard came in, Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera had back-to-back home runs off the flamethrower, to tie the game up at 3-3. In the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs, and runners on first and second, Carl Crawford delivered, with his 3rd walk-off hit of May to win the game at 4-3.

Josh Beckett (top right) was fabulous, allowing just a run and 5 hits through 6 innings. He did not earn the win, but he did become a still great, 3-1/1.73/52, as that ERA is so low. Matt Albers and Jonathan Papelbon sandwiched Daniel Bard's two runs with a scoreless inning each. Kevin Youkilis had a pretty good day, going 1-3 and scoring a run. David Ortiz, though, had a great day, going 3-4 with that solo home run, as he is now .293/8/20. J.D. Drew went 1-2 with a walk, 2 RBIs, and a solo home run, as he is now .248/3/10. Carl Crawford (left) went 2-4 with a run and an RBI on his 3rd walk-off this month, as he is now .212/1/11. Tonight, the Cubs will travel to Fenway for the first time since the 1918 World Series, and the Sox will send Jon Lester (5-1/3.28/58) out to face Doug Davis (0-1/1.80/6).

Bright Spots:

Josh Beckett- a run in 6 innings, with 5 hits, and 3 strikeouts

Matt Albers- a scoreless inning of relief

Jonathan Papelbon- the win in a scoreless inning of relief

Kevin Youkilis- 1-3 with a run scored

David Ortiz- 3-4 with a solo home run

J.D. Drew- 1-2 with a solo home run and 2 RBIs

Carl Crawford- 2-4 with a walk-off single

Dull Spots:

Daniel Bard- 2 solo home runs to tie the game off him in the eighth

Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-4 with a strikeout

Dustin Pedroia- ditto

Adrian Gonzalez- ditto

Jed Lowrie- 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and 4 runners left on base

I am happy that the Sox won, and it is now a 6 game winning streak!