Lester Roughed Up In Series Opener (22-23)

Lester didn't pitch well

Just when things were looking good for the Red Sox-- they blew it again and fell below .500 once more. The Red Sox would start off the bottom of the first by putting runners at first and second with two outs. Kevin Youkilis delivered for them by scoring Mike Aviles with a line drive single into center field. There would be a scoreless second for each team before the Rays really made a mark in the third. They loaded the bases with two outs, on a single and two walks, and Matt Joyce came up. Joyce took a low pitch and just drove a high fly ball to dead right-center which just evaded Marlon Byrd and Scott Podsednik into the bullpen for a grand slam to give the Rays a 4-1 lead early on. They kept going in the fourth-- powered by a leadoff single for Drew Sutton (former Red Sox utility man). With one out and Sutton still on first, Elliot Johnson put a charge into a fastball and drove it over the deepest part of the monster for a two-run homer and a  6-1 lead. Immediately afterwards, Carlos Pena homered down the line and just out of Marlon Byrd's reach for a homer.

Aviles had a run and RBI

That would give the Rays a 7-1 lead after just four innings and things were looking demoralizing for the Red Sox. To start the fifth inning, Jon Lester was taken out of the game with a miserable 4 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 4 K line that would raise his ERA all the way to 4.72 on the season. However, the Red Sox would begin to eat away at the Rays' lead in the fifth when they put runners on first and second with two outs. Adrian Gonzalez hit a ball off the green monster in left to score a run and put runners at second and third with two outs. However, Gonzalez's double would be all the Red Sox got as they'd leave the inning still with a 7-2 deficit. In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox got off to an even better start by putting runners at first and second with no outs. Marlon Byrd kept it going by hitting a sharp line drive past the second baseman to make it 7-3. A sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly, while resulting in one run, would basically ruin the rally as the Red Sox lost 7-4.

Bright Spots:
Scott Atchison- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Matt Albers- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Franklin Morales-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
Adrian Gonzalez- 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Kevin Youkilis- 1-4, 1 RBI
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB
Marlon Byrd- 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Scott Podsednik- 1-3, 1 R

Dull Spots:
Jon Lester- 4 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 4 K
Dustin Pedroia- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Marlon Byrd- This game was pretty miserable on every facet, but Byrd had a decent day-- going 1-3 with a walk and an RBI single, he is now .206/1/9 on the year.