Ciriaco The Hero As Sox Return To .500 (51-51)

Doubront held the Yankees to a run

Both this game and this series were must-wins for the Red Sox-- and despite quite a bit of difficulty over the series, they won. With this series win over the Yankees, the Red Sox are back somewhat to respectability at .500. Plus, with Felix Doubront (10-5, 4.54 ERA) and Hiroki Kuroda (10-7, 3.34) going against each other, it didn't look quite so promising. Luckily, the Red Sox had the first blow after an Adrian Gonzalez single and Jarrod Saltalamacchia walk would put runners at first and second with two outs. The struggling Ryan Sweeney (1-16 since the All-Star Break) stepped up to the plate and drove a ball into the gap in left-center. It was going to score Gonzalez anyways, but Andruw Jones took a bad route in left field that allowed Saltalamacchia to score from first and give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Ciriaco had the go-ahead RBI single

It stayed at 2-0 for quite a while as Doubront and Kuroda each pitched well for some time. The Yankees finally got on the board in the seventh inning when Russell Martin led things off with an opposite field home run to right. Two batters later, Doubront was pulled with a line of 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 8 K. The Yankees would strand two in that inning, but got right back to business in the eighth. After a two-out double by Andruw Jones, it was Martin again with a single up the middle to tie things up at 2-2. Neither team scored in the ninth, so it took them until the tenth to get going. A leadoff walk by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and a single for Will Middlebrooks (after a questionable call on a hit by pitch which led to Bobby Valentine being ejected) led runners at the corners with an out. It was Pedro Ciriaco with the key hit-- a blooper to right-- to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead and eventually the win.

Bright Spots:
Felix Doubront- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 8 K
Alfredo Aceves- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K, W (2-6)
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-5, 1 2B
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 1 R
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-2, 2 R, 2 BB
Ryan Sweeney- 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Pedro Ciriaco- 1-4, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Andrew Miller- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 K
Dustin Pedroia- 0-4, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Pedro Ciriaco- Ciriaco continues to rack up hits against the Yankees with a very clutch RBI single last night to give the Sox a late lead-- he is now .349/0/8 since being called up.