Red Sox' Streak Ends With Offense The Culprit (36-34)

Lester pitched well but was tagged
with the loss

This game was a true pitcher's duel with Jon Lester and Jair Jurrjens going up against one another. It played like a true pitcher's duel for the first several innings as neither team scored until the bottom of the fourth. In that inning, the Braves put two runners in scoring position with one out after a single by Freddie Freeman and a double by Jason Heyward. Freeman came in to score the game's first run on a groundout by Matt Diaz and Heyward came in on a double by rookie shortstop Andrelton Simmons to make it 2-0. After a scoreless fifth, the Braves got back into business in the sixth with a leadoff double by Jason Heyward. Heyward got to third on a flyout to right field by Matt Diaz and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrelton Simmons to make it 3-0 in the sixth. It stayed like that for a few more frames and Jon Lester was taken out of the game after the seventh inning with a line of 7 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

The offense was held in check all night

Mark Melancon would take his place and tossed a scoreless eighth inning to set the Red Sox up for some runs against Jair Jurrjens-- who had been phenomenal so far. A leadoff double by Will Middlebrooks could have set up some fire for the Red Sox. However, a Ryan Kalish fly out and a Mike Aviles groundout kept him at second base with two outs. Luckily, Daniel Nava delivered with an RBI double off the green monster to cut it to a 3-1 deficit. The Braves would make up for that run in the top of the ninth, though, as Mark Melancon ran into a bit of trouble. The Braves put runners at the corners with two outs when Freddie Freeman came up and singled to left to make it 4-1. Normally, that wouldn't be a huge margin but with Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel-- it was, and a 1-2-3 ninth would net the Red Sox a loss.

Bright Spots:
Jon Lester- 7 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K, L (4-5)
Daniel Nava- 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B

Dull Spots:
Dustin Pedroia- 0-4, 2 LOB
David Ortiz- 0-4, 1 LOB
Cody Ross- 0-4, 1 K
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-3, 2 K
Ryan Kalish- 0-3, 1 K, 2 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-3, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Jon Lester- Although Lester allowed ten hits and was tagged with the loss, he still did better than any other Red Sox' and with a better offense may have won-- he is now 4-5/4.48/75.