Red Sox Beat Verlander To Eclipse .500 (25-24)

Bard pitched well last night

After long last, the Red Sox have finally eclipsed the .500 mark-- winning last night to become 25-24 on the season and only 3.5 games out of first place. It's fair to say that the Red Sox were not expected to win this game with Daniel Bard against Justin Verlander-- but the Sox got going quickly in the second. A leadoff double for David Ortiz and a one-out single for Jarrod Saltalamacchia put runners at the corners with one away. Mike Aviles grounded into what should have been a routine double play, but he beat out the back end and the run scored to make it 1-0. The Red Sox struck again in the fourth when they loaded the bases on three singles (Youkilis, Aviles, Podsednik) and just one out for Nick Punto. In his traditional style, Punto lifted a pop fly that didn't even get out of the infield to make it two outs. Daniel Nava then worked a full count in a fantastic at bat before inside outing a 101 mph fastball down the third base line to score all three runs and give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.

Ortiz went 3-4 with a home run

However, with one out in the fifth, the Tigers ended Bard's shutout when Jhonny Peralta lifted a home run to right-center to make things 4-1. The Red Sox answered for that when, after a leadoff single for Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz doubled him home off the monster to make it 5-1. Ortiz would be thrown out at third and that would be all the Sox would get in the inning. The Tigers ate away at the Red Sox' lead a little more in the fifth when Prince Fielder took advantage of a hanging change and crushed a home run to right field. Daniel Bard was taken out of the game after this-- having arguably his best outing with a 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K line. It would be Fielder again in the seventh inning, cutting it to a 5-3 lead when he drove Miguel Cabrera in with a single. It would all be good though, because David Ortiz continued his excellent game by belting a home run over the green monster to make it 6-3. Alfredo Aceves picked up his 12th save of the year and that was that.

Bright Spots:
Daniel Bard- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-5)
Vicente Padilla- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (12)
Daniel Nava- 1-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI
David Ortiz- 3-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Scott Podsednik- 2-4, 1 R

Dull Spots:
Andrew Miller- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K
Ryan Sweeney- 0-4, 3 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
David Ortiz- Ortiz had a great game to lead to Sox over .500 here-- going 3-4 with two doubles, a home run, two runs scored, and two RBIs-- he is now .319/11/33 this year.