Late Rally Leads Sox To First Win (1-3)

Felix Doubront impressed
in his first start

When I went to bed last night, things looked bleak for the Red Sox. However, in my absence they put together one heck of a night, rallying late against the Blue Jays' strong bullpen. One thing I did see was Felix Doubront's outing last night, and I was impressed. His pitch count was a bit high (101 pitches in five innings) but otherwise he showed poise and his good stuff. Other than a pair of runs in the third on a bad call at the plate and an RBI single for Edwin Encarnacion, the Blue Jays were held pretty quiet by Doubront-- he allowed just those two runs while striking out six in five innings. The Red Sox finally got on the board in the sixth inning when Dustin Pedroia knocked a homer to left field off Henderson Alvarez-- who pitched very well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K). For two innings, the Sox were shut out by Darren Oliver and Francisco Cordero (one inning each). However, they finally got going in the ninth inning.

Pedroia acted as the catalyst

Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a double and after a passed ball got him to third base, he was driven in on a deep sacrifice fly by Adrian Gonzalez which tied the game at two. After a strikeout by Kevin Youkilis, the Sox put a couple more runners on base through walks to both David Ortiz and Cody Ross. Ryan Sweeney further endeared himself to Red Sox fans by, once again, coming through with a ground ball through the right field of the infield which barely scored Darnell McDonald (pinch running for Ortiz) to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. They would make it 4-2 when a passed ball allowed Cody Ross to score. All the while, Scott Atchison had pitched very well in relief of Doubront-- he allowed just a hit in three shutout innings of relief. And finally, the bullpen did not blow this lead as Alfredo Aceves shut the door with a good outing as the closer-- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K.

Bright Spots:
Felix Doubront- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Scott Atchison- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Dustin Pedroia- 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR
David Ortiz- 2-3, 1 BB
Cody Ross- 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB
Ryan Sweeney- 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-4
Kevin Youkilis- 0-4, 1 K, 1 LOB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Dustin Pedroia- He homered in the sixth inning which played a huge part in simply keeping the Red Sox in the game, and he also acted as the catalyst with the leadoff double in the ninth.