Red Sox Extend Division Lead To Three As They Beat Mariners (61-37)

Last night was a good, uniform win for the Red Sox; Beckett goes 7 innings, Bard pitches the 8th, Papelbon pitches the 9th. The Red Sox are held scoreless but burst late and score 3 in the 7th for a 3-1 win. This was a pitcher's duel for the first 6 innings, but in the top of the 7th, Mike Carp hit a bomb to right field that gave the M's a 1-0 lead. However, in the bottom of the 7th, the Sox got two quick outs before a Jason Varitek single to right field and a Marco Scutaro ground-rule double put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Jacoby Ellsbury came through with a rocket through the middle, scoring 2 and making it 2-1 Red Sox. On the next play, a successful hit and run play with a Dustin Pedroia single put runners at 1st and 3rd, still with 2 outs. A wild pitch bouncing off Miguel Olivo made it 3-1, and sealed the deal for the Sox.

Josh Beckett was fabulous, allowing just 1 run and striking out 7 over 7 innings, as he is having a greatseason at 9-3/2.07/107. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon pitched scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th, respectively, to close the game out. Jacoby Ellsbury had a great game, as he is on a massive hot streak right now, going 2-4 with a run and 2 RBIs, as he is now a remarkable .319/16/57. Dustin Pedroia went 2-4 with his 23rd double of the season, as he pushed the hit streak up to 20 games, a career high. Marco Scutaro had a good game, going 2-3 with a run scored including that huge, clutch, ground-rule double that set up Jacoby Ellsbury's go-ahead single. Today at 1:35, Tim Wakefield (5-3/4.80/43) will try his luck against a rookie to watch in Michael Pineda (8-6/3.24/119).

Bright Spots:

Josh Beckett- the win in 7 innings of 1-run baseball

Daniel Bard- a scoreless inning

Jonathan Papelbon- the save in a scoreless inning

Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-4 with a run scored and 2 RBIs

Dustin Pedroia- 2-4 with a double

Marco Scutaro- 2-3 with a run and a key ground-rule double

Dull Spots:

Kevin Youkilis- 0-4 with a strikeout and 4 runners left on base

Josh Reddick- 0-4 with 2 runners left on base

This was a fun game to watch, as the 7th inning continued its magic for the Sox.