Red Sox Rally Late To Outlast Jays (39-35)

Dice-K pitched very well but did
not earn the win

With a win tonight and a Rays' loss, the Red Sox would move out of last and just a game out of third place-- and they got it with an exciting win over the Blue Jays. Daisuke Matsuzaka was the beneficiary of some bad defense in the first inning as, after a leadoff double by Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus seemingly grounded out to short. Mike Aviles took a chance (rightfully) at getting Lawrie at third but a bad throw allowed him to score. Later in the inning, Edwin Encarnacion seemingly grounded out to third but he made a bad throw that allowed Lawrie to score and give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. The score stayed at 1-0 for a long time as Dice-K settled down nicely and Aaron Laffey really kept him in check. The score was still 1-0 when Dice-K was taken out of the game with a line of 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K. And when Laffey was taken out of the game with a line of 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

Pedroia had a tie-breaking two-run
single in the seventh

It would be the inning after Laffey left that the Red Sox' bats really got going. With two outs and nobody on base, Jarrod Saltalamacchia lifted a high line drive to left-center that got out of the ballpark to tie things up at 1-1. That homer evidently lit a fire under the Red Sox' offense as the batter after him, Ryan Kalish doubled down the first base line. Daniel Nava was hit by a pitch and Mike Aviles worked a walk to load the bases with two outs off of former Red Sox' reliever David Pauley. On an 0-1 count, Pedroia lined one right back up the middle to score two runs and give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead-- Aviles was caught in between second and third to end the inning but we'll take it. After a leadoff double by David Ortiz and a single by Cody Ross to follow him up, Adrian Gonzalez doubled off the monster in left-center to score Ortiz. Later in the inning, a Will Middlebrooks sacrifice fly would make it 5-1. That would be the final score in a good game for the Red Sox.

Bright Spots:
Daisuke Matsuzaka- 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Scott Atchison- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Vicente Padilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Dustin Pedroia- 1-3, 2 RBI
David Ortiz- 2-4, 1 R, 2 2B
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Ryan Kalish- 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B

Dull Spots:
Brent Lillibridge- 0-2, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Dustin Pedroia- Pedroia's clutch two-run two-out tie-breaking single in the seventh was really a great moment as he appears to be breaking out of his slump-- he is now .272/5/30.