Red Sox Add Salt At Just The Right Time (23-23)

Josh Beckett pitched a great game

This is getting ridiculous as the Red Sox continue to sway between .500 and below-- with last night's clutch win they moved above, but it's only for now probably. Well, last night's game was a fantastic one from the pitching department as Josh Beckett and David Price matched each other pitch for pitch to start the game. This ballgame was still scoreless up until the bottom of the sixth. That was when the Red Sox had runners at first and second with two outs in the inning. The scoreless tie was broken when Will Middlebrooks knocked a single up the middle to score David Ortiz and give the Sox a 1-0 lead.

Saltalamacchia had a pinch-hit
walk-off homer

However, the Rays proceeded to jump on off of Josh Beckett in the next inning. They would put runners at the corners with no outs to start the inning. A sacrifice fly by Ben Zobrist and an RBI single by Luke Scott would change the tie to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. The bottom of the seventh was scoreless and Josh Beckett would be taken out with a 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 5 K line-- yet he was set to lose the game. Andrew Miller and Rich Hill respectively pitched strong eighth and ninth innings to set the Red Sox up for their last chance. Daniel Nava walked to lead off the inning, and Scott Podsednik bunted him over. This put a man on second with one out for pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty made the Rays pay by crushing a pitch into the bullpens to win it 3-2 for the Red Sox.

Bright Spots:
Josh Beckett- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 5 K
Andrew Miller- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Rich Hill- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, W(1-0)
Dustin Pedroia- 2-3, 1 BB
Will Middlebrooks- 2-4, 1 RBI
Daniel Nava- 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 1-1, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Dull Spots:
Marlon Byrd- 0-3, 2 K

Player of the Game:
Josh Beckett- Even when his team wasn't scoring runs, Beckett put the Sox in a great position to win by only allowing two runs in seven strong-- he is now 4-4/4.15/45.