Red Sox Hold O's To Three Hits In Win (5-2)

Lester allowed 1 run in 4 innings

Dustin Pedroia had a 2-run double

The Red Sox pitching staff utterly dominated the Orioles in today's game, holding them to only three hits while the Red Sox offense manhandled the Orioles' pitchers. The Red Sox led off the game with singles by Nate Spears and Dustin Pedroia. Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz both got out, however, putting the scoring chance in jeopardy. However, Ryan Sweeney made good of the opportunity lining a bouncer up the middle which deflected off Dana Eveland's glove but made it into the outfield. After Lester allowed a run in the bottom of the first,  a leadoff single and one-out walk put the Sox in business in the second inning. Dustin Pedroia came through in the clutch, however, with a 2-out, 2-run double to give the Sox a 3-1 lead. Lester was decent in his first Grapefruit League start, he allowed only one hit and one run in four innings, but he walked four and struck out only two, earning the win. The Red Sox didn't score again until the 7th, and in the meantime, their pitchers were quite good. Justin Thomas had a perfect inning plus a strikeout and Aaron Cook threw 2 innings, no runs or hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout. In the 7th, the Red Sox led off the inning with two walks. Lars Anderson proceeded to line a ball into right field to score a run. Then with one out, Oscar Tejeda grounded into what looked like an easy double play that would get the Orioles out of the inning. Instead, the O's got one out before the second baseball threw the ball away, allowing a run to score and the Sox to advance the lead to 5-1. Doug Mathis pitched the 8th for the Sox, and did pretty well, allowing no runs and a hit to go with a strikeout in an inning. With one out and two on in the 9th for the Red Sox, Jonathan Hee doubled to left to score one and give the Sox a 6-1 lead. After Justin Germano allowed a hit in an otherwise perfect inning, the Red Sox had won the game.

Bright Spots:
Justin Thomas- 1 inning, no runs or hits, 1 strikeout
Doug Mathis- 1 inning, no runs, 1 hit, 1 strikeout
Justin Germano- 1 inning, no runs, 1 hit
Dustin Pedroia- 2-3, 2 RBIs, 1 double
Jonathan Hee- 1-1, 1 RBI, 1 double
Ryan Sweeney- 1-3, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 2-2, 2 runs, 1 walk
Ryan Lavarnway- 1-1, 1 walk, 2 runs
Lars Anderson- 1-2, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 walk

Dull Spots:
Che-Hsuan Lin- 0-2, 3 left on base
David Ortiz- 0-4, 1 strikeout, 2 left on base