Red Sox Start And Finish Strong In Clutch Win (50-51)

Lester was good apart from the fifth

It's such a relief to finally get a win in a tough stretch like this, and the Red Sox finally got one yesterday. They started out very strong as Pedro Ciriaco and Dustin Pedroia each singled with one out in the first. Ciriaco would score when Adrian Gonzalez doubled to right, also pushing Dustin Pedroia to third. Both Pedroia and Gonzalez would score on a double by Will Middlebrooks to make it 3-0 in just the first inning. The Yankees would get on the scoreboard in the third inning on a home run by Chris Stewart to cut it to 3-1 off Jon Lester. However, the Red Sox would give Lester a little bit of insurance in the fifth inning when Pedro Ciriaco singled and Dustin Pedroia walked with two outs. Adrian Gonzalez came up and promptly hit one up and over the short porch in right field to make it 6-1.

Ciriaco's three runs and Gonzalez's
four RBIs were huge in this game

However, Lester would cough that lead back up almost immediately as he allowed a leadoff walk to Andruw Jones. That walk would quickly turn into two runs as Jayson Nix got ahold of one for a two-run shot to right. After putting two runners in scoring position with one out, the Yankees took another run on an RBI groundout by Derek Jeter to cut it to 6-4. It took until the eighth inning for the Yankees to finish what they had started, after a leadoff single by Raul Ibanez. The next two batters struck out, to bring up Mark Teixeira with a man on first and two outs. Teixeira did what he does best and crushed one to deep right to tie the game at 6-6. Luckily, the Red Sox came storming back in the ninth on a one-out walk by Jacoby Ellsbury. He would score when Pedro Ciriaco hit a fly ball to center that was misplayed by Curtis Granderson and fell for an RBI triple. Dustin Pedroia knocked Ciriaco in with a sac fly and the Red Sox would win 8-6.

Bright Spots:
Matt Albers- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, SV (22)
Pedro Ciriaco- 3-5, 3 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Dustin Pedroia- 1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, BB
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 2-3, 1 BB, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Daniel Nava- 1-3

Dull Spots:
Vicente Padilla- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 K
Kelly Shoppach- 0-4, 2 K, 3 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-4, 3 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- Gonzalez continues to ride his hot streak, as he went 3-5 with a home run, a double, and four RBIs yesterday-- he is now .294/10/62 on the year.