Red Sox Record Commanding Win Over Twins (6-10)

Beckett settled down
after a rough first inning

The Red Sox were in need of a win in the series opener against the Twins, and they just beat one out at 6-5. However, this game wasn't so close as the Sox just flat out crushed the Twins. Much like they did the night before, the Sox got going fast-- scoring a run after a leadoff double by Mike Aviles and RBI single by Ryan Sweeney up the middle. With runners at the corners, David Ortiz dropped a line drive into left to make it 2-0 before a Cody Ross RBI groundout concluded the first inning runs. However, the Twins worked Beckett in the first inning as well. He threw 37 pitches in the inning, loading the bases and walking a run in to make it 3-1. However, Beckett would settle down for the next few innings. Meanwhile, David Ortiz went yard with a bomb to right field to make it 5-1 Red Sox. In the fourth inning, Mike Aviles also would go yard-- him with a shot to left (just staying fair)-- and an RBI single by Ryan Sweeney later would push it to a brutal 7-1 Red Sox lead in just the fourth inning-- a commanding lead against any team.

Mike Aviles had a four
hit game

The Red Sox' scoring just did not stop though, as a trifecta of RBI doubles (Aviles, Pedroia, Gonzalez) would net the Sox three more runs and give them a 10-1 lead in the fifth inning. The Twins also scored in that inning as Josh Willingham drove in Jamey Carroll with an RBI double. Both the Red Sox and Twins went down 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, and that inning concluded Josh Beckett's night. Beckett had settled down after a rough first inning and pitched 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K in a solid outing. The Red Sox pushed another run across the plate in the eighth inning on an RBI groundout for Darnell McDonald which would make it a dominating 11-2 lead. Scott Atchison had thrown a perfect seventh inning, and he would do so again in the eighth. He concluded his night with a very good appearance at 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K as Atchison has been one of Bobby Valentine's most trusted relievers with a 1.54 ERA this year. Matt Albers allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth to close out the game with a dominating 11-2 final score.

Bright Spots:
Josh Beckett- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Scott Atchison- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K
Matt Albers- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Mike Aviles- 4-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Ryan Sweeney- 2-6, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Dustin Pedroia- 1-6, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
David Ortiz- 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Kevin Youkilis- 2-4
Marlon Byrd- 2-5, 1 R

Dull Spots:
Nobody!

Player of the Game:
Mike Aviles- Aviles had an excellent game by going 4-5 with both a home run and a pair of doubles, recording three runs scored and two RBIs.