Tigers Blast Five Home Runs In Shellacking (0-2)

Josh Beckett allowed five homers

Ever had those days when it seems like nothing goes your way? The Red Sox had one of those days today. The Tigers got going right out of the gate with a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning and they never really looked back. They would score three more times on two more home runs in the fourth inning-- a solo homer by Prince Fielder and a two-run shot by Alex Avila. Then in the fifth, one of the weirdest plays I've ever seen happened. Miguel Cabrera hit a high drive to left-center. Now, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but what I saw is the ball bouncing off the fence and then through some sort of hinge-- but then it was called a home run. In any case, Prince Fielder followed that up with a homer and after five home runs and seven runs in 4.2 innings, Josh Beckett's day was done.

Overall, Beckett was shaky

Unlike in Thursday's game against Justin Verlander-- the Red Sox didn't have so much a problem of getting on base. It was more driving the runners in that was the problem as they stranded fifteen runners. Duane Below held the Sox scoreless after Doug Fister left the game with an injury to his left side after 3.2 innings of scoreless ball. The Tigers would score once in the sixth and twice more in the seventh off the Red Sox' ailing bullpen. Scott Atchison and Matt Albers each had fairly rough innings-- Albers' struggles helped along on a bad throw by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In any case, here's to hoping that the Sox can rebound against Max Scherzer tomorrow afternoon.



Bright Spots:
Michael Bowden- 1 inning, no hits, no runs, 1 walk
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, one very long single
Ryan Sweeney- 2-3, 1 walk

Dull Spots:
Josh Beckett- 4.2 innings, 7 hits, 7 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 5 home runs
Scott Atchison- 1.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 run
Matt Albers- 0.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run,
Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-3, 1 left on base
Kevin Youkilis- 0-4, 2 strikeouts, 3 left on base
Cody Ross- 0-4, 2 strikeouts, 4 left on base
Mike Aviles- 0-3, 2 strikeouts, 1 left on base

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- The Red Sox offense was pretty much stifled today, but Gonzalez did alright-- he went 2-4 with a line drive to right which was nearly a home run but wound up a single.