Red Sox Make Hats Out Of Orioles (88-66)

In the top of the 1st, the Orioles took an early lead as, with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, Nick Markakis singled through the right side. The next batter, Vladimir Guerrero lined a ball to right field that would be caught for a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Chris Davis singled to right field to score a run to make it 3-0. In the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox had runners at 1st and 2nd with 1 out as Dustin Pedroia grounded out to make it 3-1. After a double by David Ortiz, Jed Lowrie ground out a long at-bat, eventually crushing a ball to dead left for a three-run homer to make it 4-3 Red Sox! In the 2nd the Red Sox had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Marco Scutaro had a great hit for a double down the 3rd base line to make it 5-3. Then, in the same inning, Dustin Pedroia knocked a liner through the right side to score another run. However, the Orioles loaded the bases in the 3rd, and they scored two on a bloop single to right by Nolan Reimold to make it 6-5. In the 3rd, the Sox scored one as Chris Davis could not pick J.J. Hardy's throw to first, and the Sox scored. Later in the inning, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a high fly ball to left which dropped at the wall and allowed another un to score and make it 8-5. The next batter, Marco Scutaro, singled up the middle and Ellsbury scored to make it 9-5. After a single by Adrian Gonzalez, the runs kept coming as Dustin Pedroia lined a ball to right-center to score another run.  Then, the next batter David Ortiz bounced a ball to second and beat it out, so another run scored and made it 11-5. With 2 outs in the 4th, Matt Angle scored on a triple into the corner by Nick Markakis to make it 11-6. A sacrifice fly by Nolan Reimold cut the lead to 11-7, and the next batter Ryan Adams singled up the middle to make it 11-8. In the 6th, the Orioles scored again, as Nick Markakis scored on a double by Vladimir Guerrero to make it 11-9. Our big inning started in the 7th, when Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with an inside-the-park home run into the triangle. Three straight singles by Marco Scutaro, Adrian Gonzalez, and Dustin Pedroia would make it 13-9. After the Red Sox walked the bases loaded, Jed Lowrie singled into right field to make it 14-9. Then Conor Jackson came up to the plate, and promptly lined a ball into the monster seats to make it 18-9.

       To put it simply, John Lackey was awful but lucky. He allowed 8 runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings, but he didn't lose. He was relieved with a scoreless 1 1/3 innings by Scott Atchison, then 2/3 of one-run ball by Franklin Morales. Matt Albers threw a scoreless 2/3 and Michael Bowden threw 2 scoreless innings. Jacoby Ellsbury (left) had a great game, going 3-6 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, including the inside-the-park home run as he is now .319/28/98. Marco Scutaro had an equally good game, going 3-5 with 3 runs and 2 RBIs, as he is now .298/6/51. Adrian Gonzalez helped the batting average, going 3-3 and scoring a run. Dustin Pedroia had an awesome game, going 3-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs, as he is now .300/20/88. David Ortiz had a great game as well, going 2-4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Jed Lowrie went 2-5 with 3 runs and 4 RBI, including a very important 3-run homer, as he is now .254/5/35. Conor Jackson only went 1-4, but that one hit was pretty big as the grand slam now makes him .245/5/43 on the season, and .143/1/5 with the Red Sox. Even Darnell McDonald had a good day, going 2-5 and scoring a run. Tonight, Erik Bedard (5-9/3.50/119) will face his former team, and specifically, Rick VandenHurk (0-0/6.00/3).

Bright Spots:
Scott Atchison- 1 1/3 scoreless innings
Michael Bowden- 2 scoreless innings
Jacoby Ellsbury- 3-6 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, including an inside-the-parker
Marco Scutaro- 3-5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-3 and scored a run
Dustin Pedroia- 3-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBIs
David Ortiz- 2-4 with 2 runs and an RBI
Jed Lowrie- 2-5 with 3 runs and 4 RBI, including a 3-run homer
Conor Jackson- 1-4 with a grand slam
Darnell McDonald- 2-5 with a run scored

Dull Spots:
John Lackey- 8 runs in 4 1/3 innings
Jason Varitek- 0-4 with 4 strikeouts

This was an awesome game offensively, but John Lackey....