Red Sox Ride Late Rallies To Third Straight Win (4-5)

Felix Doubront had a solid outing

Today's game was not quite as much of a rout as the games preceding it-- but the Red Sox still racked up a solid win to give them a 4-5 record and move them out of sole possession of last place. The Red Sox got the ball rolling in the second inning when Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz each got into scoring position with no outs. Cody Ross promptly delivered with a no doubt homer over the Green Monster to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox got another run in the fourth inning when Kelly Shoppach knocked an RBI double into left field. However, more scoring opportunities were squandered when Cody Ross made a bad baserunning error and got caught in a rundown between third and home. When the fifth inning came around, Felix Doubront had been rolling so far but he encountered his first trouble in the fifth. Chris Giminez and Desmond Jennings led off the inning with singles before a Carlos Pena drove them both in and Evan Longoria proceeded to drive in Pena with a double to make it 4-3 Red Sox. 

Cody Ross hit a three-run
home run in the second 

The Red Sox and Doubront would escape that jam but it turned nasty in the sixth when Luke Scott homered to lead off the inning and suddenly the Red Sox' lead had evaporated. Doubront was removed from the game after Scott's hit and his early work was all for naught as a couple of bad innings turned his line into a mediocre 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 7 K. Scott Atchison and Vicente Padilla combined to work out of a first and second, no out scenario in the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, Kevin Youkilis walked with one out and David Ortiz drove him in with a double into right-center. In the seventh, they got an extra insurance run when Mike Aviles homered to dead center to give the Sox a 6-4 lead. That would be all the Sox would need with Franklin Morales and Alfredo Aceves closing the game with a pair of scoreless innings (Aceves got his second save) and the Sox had their third consecutive win. 

Bright Spots:

Vicente Padilla- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K, W (1-0)

Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, SV (2)

Mike Aviles- 1-4, 1 HR

Kevin Youkilis- 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R

David Ortiz- 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B

Cody Ross- 1-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB

Kelly Shoppach- 1-3, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:

Dustin Pedroia- 0-4

Darnell McDonald- 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB

Jason Repko- 0-3, 1 K, 3 LOB

Player of the Game:

Cody Ross- Ross' three-run homer in the second inning was the key hit in the game as it gave the Sox an early lead and they probably wouldn't have won without it.