Red Sox Ride Huge First Inning Into Third Place (40-35)

Lester earned the win with seven
strong innings

The Red Sox are as hot as they've been all year right now as with a win today, coupled with a Rays' loss, the Red Sox moved into third place in the AL East. After a Brett Lawrie double to lead things off, the Blue Jays scored first when Colby Rasmus drove him in with a soft single to center. However, the Red Sox really turned things around with a huge first inning off Jays' ace Ricky Romero. After he walked Daniel Nava to start things off, Dustin Pedroia doubled to right-center to tie the game. A walk and a single loaded the bases with no outs for Adrian Gonzalez. Two runs came in to score as first baseman Edwin Encarnacion botched the play on the grounder. A Will Middlebrooks groundout and a Mike Aviles single would make it 5-1 in the first inning. A 3-2 single up the middle by Darnell McDonald would be the last run of the first as the Sox left with a 6-1 lead.

Ortiz hit the 399th home run of his
fruitful career

After two one out walks in the second, Adrian Gonzalez singled in another run to make it 7-1. The Jays got one back in the fourth when Jose Bautista absolutely clobbered one over the monster. However, after a walk and a double to start off the first, the Red Sox would answer for that Blue Jays' run. A bloop RBI single by Adrian Gonzalez and a Mike Aviles double to left-center made it 9-2. In the fifth, the Red Sox reached the double digit mark as David Ortiz crushed a home run-- the 399th of his career-- over the bullpens in right-center. In the sixth, the Blue Jays got a pair of runs of their own when Edwin Encarnacion crushed a ball over the monster to make it 10-4. The score stayed put there as Jon Lester pitched very well-- exiting after seven with a line of 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 4 K. He earned the win as Mark Melancon and Clayton Mortensen pitched a pair of scoreless innings in an all around good win for the Red Sox.

Bright Spots:
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Clayton Mortensen- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Dustin Pedroia- 1-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
David Ortiz- 1-2, 4 R, 3 BB, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 2-3, 2 R
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-5, 1 R, 3 RBI
Mike Aviles- 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Darnell McDonald- 1-3, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Nobody!

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- Gonzalez put together a great game in the offensive marathon by going 2-5 with 3 RBIs to become .269/6/43 this season.