Uncle Salty Told Me That We Could Beat The Rangers (84-54)

Today, the Red Sox played quite a game, beating the Rangers 12-7 in a great offensive outburst. Adrian Beltre walked to lead off the 2nd and after a groundout put him at 2nd base, David Murphy drove him in with a grounder up the middle. In the 3rd, the Rangers led off the inning with two walks, and after a strikeout, Michael Young singled to left and Adrian Beltre grounded out to make it 3-0 early. With runners at 1st and 2nd and 2 outs in the 3rd inning, the Sox got on the board with a single up the middle. In the 4th, Josh Reddick singled to lead off the inning, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia promptly tied the game with a homer to right to make it 3-3. In the same inning, with 2 outs, the Sox would load the bases with Mike Aviles coming up. Aviles chipped a single off the end of the bat to right which would score a run and leave the bases loaded for Carl Crawford. Crawford took an outside pitch high to left field that would land in the seats for a grand slam to make it 8-3. After that, three straight singles by Josh Reddick, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Jacoby Ellsbury would extend the lead to 9-3. In the 6th, the Red Sox loaded the bases with 2 outs again, and Dustin Pedroia hit a high fly ball to center which would deflect high off the wall for a 3-run double that would make it 12-3. In the 8th, the Rangers started the inning with 4 straight hits including an RBI single by Josh Hamilton and an RBI single by Adrian Beltre. A Mike Napoli sacrifice fly would score another and make it 12-6. In the 9th, Esteban German crushed a homer to left-center field that would make it 12-7, the final score.
      Erik Bedard was ok, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings, earning the win, as he is now 5-9/3.50/119. In relief, Dan Wheeler wasn't too good, allowing 3 runs in 1 2/3 innings and Franklin Morales allowed 1 run in 1 1/3 innings. Dustin Pedroia had a good game, going 2-5 with a run and 3 RBIs on the double. Mike Aviles was very good, going 2-3 with a run and an RBI in relief of Jed Lowrie, who went 1-2 with an RBI. Carl Crawford (left) had an awesome game, going 2-5 with 2 runs scored and a grand slam, as he is now .252/11/52 this season. Josh Reddick had one of the best games of his young career, going 4-4 with 3 runs scored, raising his batting average to .289 this season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 2-5 with a game-tying 2-run homer, as he is now .251/14/48 this season. Tomorrow, the Sox will look for a series win and will send John Lackey (12-10/5.94/94) against Matt Harrison (10-9/3.54/103).

Bright Spots:
Dustin Pedroia- 2-5 with a run scored and a 3-run double
Jed Lowrie/Mike Aviles- 3-5 with a run and 2 RBIs
Carl Crawford- 2-5 with 2 runs scored and a grand slam
Josh Reddick- 4-4 with 3 runs scored
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 2-5 with a 2-run homer

Dull Spots:
Dan Wheeler- 3 runs in 1 2/3 innings
Kevin Youkilis- 0-5 with a strikeout and 5 runners left on base

This was a good game for the Sox, and we need another win tomorrow.