Morales, Gonzalez Power Sox To Avoid Sweep (54-55)

Morales got his third win

If the Red Sox had been swept by the Twins today, it would be about time to punt this season and sell on the waiver wire. However, with Franklin Morales going for them, they managed to pull off a solid win in Boston. It took them a few innings, but they finally got an early rally going in the third inning. A single and a double put runners at second and third with no outs. They would score one in the inning when Carl Crawford grounded out to shortstop and another when Adrian Gonzalez drove Jacoby Ellsbury in with a bloop single to center. The Twins finally cracked the scoreboard after a leadoff walk and stolen base for Alexi Casilla. He would eventually score on a deep sacrifice fly by Ben Revere. However, the Red Sox would more than make up for that run as Adrian Gonzalez powered a two-run homer over the monster in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-1.

Gonzalez drove in three runs

That fifth inning blemish was the only bad mark on a very strong start for Franklin Morales, seeing him go 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K. The Red Sox continued to add onto their lead, starting in the seventh inning. That was when they put runners at first and second with one out for Cody Ross. Ross delivered by driving a ground ball back up the middle to score a run and make it 5-1. A one out double by Ryan Kalish in the eighth set the Red Sox up to score some more. Kalish stole third and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Jacoby Ellsbury. Vicente Padilla came into the game in the ninth, with a five run lead. However, he did his best to cut that lead-- allowing a leadoff home run to Josh Willingham and later, a two-run homer to Ryan Doumit. Luckily, Alfredo Aceves did what he couldn't do last night-- shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning to put the Red Sox at just a game under .500.

Bright Spots:
Franklin Morales- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (3-2)
Mark Melancon- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, SV (23)
Jacoby Ellsbury- 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Carl Crawford- 3-5, 2 R, 1 SB, 1 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Cody Ross- 2-4, 1 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 2-4, 1 SB
Ryan Kalish- 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 SB
Mike Aviles- 2-3, 1 R, 1 BB

Dull Spots:
Vicente Padilla- 0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- Gonzalez's bat powered the Red Sox in this game as he went 2-3 with a two-run homer and an RBI single and is now .304/11/66 this season.