Bats Come Alive But Bullpen Blows Lead In Extra Inning Defeat (0-3)

Buchholz made his return after
missing much of 2011

In Red Sox style, today's game was a heartbreaker as they concluded their first series by being swept in Detroit. Things got going quickly for the Tigers as they scored four times in the first inning-- highlighted by a three-run double by Jhonny Peralta. However, the Sox came back in the second inning when Mike Aviles drove in two with a double. It could have much so much more though as they stranded the bases loaded. The Red Sox' offense would not go to waste-- however-- as the Sox scored five times in the third inning to take a 7-5 lead after three. The Tigers were able to tie the score in the fourth inning, chasing Clay Buchholz from the game-- he allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings in his first start since June 16. In the sixth, the Sox would take another lead as Jacoby Ellsbury doubled to lead off the inning. After Collin Balester pitched to Dustin Pedroia, Daniel Schlereth came in to pitch to Adrian Gonzalez. On his first pitch of the 2012 season, Gonzalez took Schlereth deep to right field to take a 9-7 lead. The Sox scored again in the top of the ninth to take a 10-7 lead and put closer Alfredo Aceves into the game to replace Vicente Padilla-- who had pitched very well.

However, he was not effective

Aceves was ineffective to say the least. He allowed singles to Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch before Miguel Cabrera promptly took him long for a game-tying three run homer. Bobby Valentine did the smart thing after that by pulling Aceves and entering Franklin Morales. Morales pitched well for two innings-- allowing just a hit and striking out three. An RBI bloop single for Nick Punto and a hard liner by Dustin Pedroia would score two runs in the top of the eleventh-- putting Franklin Morales in line for the win. Valentine pulled Morales in favor of Mark Melancon who allowed a run on a sacrifice fly by Delmon Young to put two outs and a man on first for Alex Avila. With a 2-2 count, Avila pulled a homer just over the right field wall for a walk-off home run to crush Red Sox fans' dreams in a 13-12 loss.


Bright Spots:
Vicente Padilla- 4 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 4 strikeouts
Franklin Morales- 2 innings, 1 hit, no runs, 3 strikeouts
Nick Punto- 3-6, 1 double, 3 RBIs
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-6, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 double
Dustin Pedroia- 2-6, 1 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-6, 2 runs, a two-run home run
David Ortiz- 3-6, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 double
Mike Aviles- 3-5, 2 runs, 1 double, 3 RBIs

Dull Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 4 innings, 8 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Alfredo Aceves- 0 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs
Mark Melancon- 0.2 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs
Kelly Shoppach- 0-3, 2 strikeouts, 2 left on base

Player of the Game:
Mike Aviles- He had some timely hits in a very good ballgame for Aviles-- he went 3-5 with a two-run double and RBI single, also scoring two runs.