Red Sox Drop Series Opener In 13 (11-14)

Lester was decent last night

Both of these teams played good baseball last night, but eventually the Red Sox' bullpen struck and the Orioles won in thirteen innings. Cody Ross led off the second inning with a triple and would come around to score late with a passed ball. However, the Orioles quickly answered when Mark Reynolds led off the third with a homer over the monster to tie it at 1-1. The Sox were again in business after an Adrian Gonzalez single and Dustin Pedroia double to start the third. They would score two in the inning on a David Ortiz groundout and a Cody Ross sac fly to make it 3-1. Once again, the O's answered in the fourth as Adam Jones walked to lead off the inning. Matt Weiters tripled down the first base line before scoring on Wilson Betemit's single up the middle.

He allowed three runs in six innings

That would tie the game at 3-3, but the Sox would take another lead when Dustin Pedroia drove in Will Middlebrooks in the fifth. Jon Lester would be taken out of the game after the sixth with a 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K line and a 4-3 lead. However, Vicente Padilla couldn't get the job done in relief-- loading the bases with no outs in the seventh. The Orioles would score in relatively harmless fashion with a double play to tie it at 4-4. Neither team would score again until the 13th inning when the Orioles took two on a single by Chris Davis and a sacrifice fly to Mark Reynolds to make it 6-4. The Sox couldn't answer and the O's won by that score.

Bright Spots:
Matt Albers- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB
Alfredo Aceves- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 K
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-6, 1 R
Dustin Pedroia- 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 R, 1 SF, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Vicente Padilla- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, BS (1)
Franklin Morales- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, L (0-1)
Mike Aviles- 0-5, 1 BB, 2 LOB
Darnell McDonald- 0-5, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 LOB
Marlon Byrd- 0-3, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Dustin Pedroia- In a weak night offensively for the Sox, Pedroia really held his own last night, going 2-5 with a run, double, and RBI single.