Ross The Hero Again As Sox Walk Off (48-45)

Buchholz allowed just a run in
eight innings

This was one of the most exciting games that I've ever watched, and almost certainly the most exciting this season. It was a pitcher's duel between two unlikely counterparts-- Clay Buchholz (5.53 ERA entering play) and rookie Jose Quintana. However, both of them were dominant as it was still scoreless entering the fourth inning. That was when the White Sox put a little rally together-- putting runners at the corners with no outs on an Adam Dunn walk and Paul Konerko single. That set things up for Alex Rios, who hit a fly ball to Cody Ross in right to score the game's first run. However, Clay Buchholz worked out of the jam and another run did not score in the fourth. Not only was Quintana holding the Red Sox from scoring, but Pedro Ciriaco's third inning triple was their only hit until the seventh inning of this game-- that's just how dominant Quintana was.

Ross had a three-run walk-off homer

Speaking of that seventh inning, the Red Sox put together a rally of their own in that inning. After Carl Crawford grounded out to open the inning-- three consecutive singles by Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, and Cody Ross put the Red Sox in a great position to score. Will Middlebrooks stepped up in this key situation and hit a one hopper to shortstop Alexei Ramirez-- who promptly turned two to end the inning and keep the score at 1-0. However, the Red Sox would have the last laugh in the ninth inning. Carl Crawford singled to lead off the inning, but a Dustin Pedroia fielder's choice put Pedey at first with one out. Adrian Gonzalez would single to right to put two men on with just one out for Cody Ross. Ross had hit two three-run homers the night before, and figured that his time was now as he lifted a fly ball to deep left, up and over the monster for a three-run homer to make it 3-1 Red Sox-- final.

Bright Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4
Cody Ross- 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Mike Aviles- 1-3
Pedro Ciriaco- 1-3, 1 3B

Dull Spots:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB
Will Middlebrooks- 0-3, 3 LOB
Kelly Shoppach- 0-3, 1 K

Player of the Game:
Cody Ross- Despite Clay Buchholz's magnificent start, the Red Sox owe this game to Cody Ross-- who hit that walk-off homer in the ninth and is now .274/16/50 this season.

Ross, Gonzalez Back Doubront's Fine Start (47-45)

Doubront earned his 10th win
of the season

Once in a while, it's fun to just watch the Red Sox beat down on another team, and we got just that last night. As they have in every other game this series, the White Sox actually scored first. Back-to-back leadoff singles by Alejandro De Aza plus a double play ball put a runner on third with two outs for Paul Konerko. Konerko went the other way with an outside pitch and dropped a single in front of right fielder Cody Ross. However, also like every other game in this series, the Red Sox matched the White Sox in the first inning. A leadoff double by Jacoby Ellsbury put a man on second with two outs for Adrian Gonzalez-- who delivered with a liner to right to score Ellsbury easily and tie the game at 1-1. However, the real damage started in the third, when the Red Sox led off the inning with singles by Ellsbury and Carl Crawford-- putting runners at the corners and no outs. Cody Ross, batting #3, came up and wrapped it around the Fisk Pole for a moonshot three-run homer to make it 4-1.

Ross had a monster game with two
three-run homers

However, the Red Sox weren't nearly done and by the fourth inning had another chance of scoring. Pedro Ciriaco and Jacoby Ellsbury reached on singles and stood at first and second with two outs for Cody Ross again. Ross did pretty much exactly what he had done in his last at bat-- homering onto Lansdowne Street in left-center for another three-run homer to make it 7-1. The Red Sox weren't even done in that inning though, as Adrian Gonzalez put one of his own in the monster seats to give the Red Sox a commanding 8-1 lead in just the fourth inning. They had a bit left though, as a hit by pitch and a Cody Ross double put two in scoring position to lead off the sixth. Adrian Gonzalez delivered with a line drive to right-center to score both with a two-run single that would make it 10-1. The Red Sox held them to that and won by that score.

Bright Spots:
Felix Doubront- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (10-4)
Matt Albers- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Andrew Miller- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 3-4, 3 R, 1 2B
Carl Crawford- 1-3, 2 R
Cody Ross- 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Dull Spots:
None!

Player of the Game:
Cody Ross- Ross really lit up the Red Sox offense last night, with two home runs, a double, and six RBI's to add to his great .269/15/47 season.

Red Sox Cut It Close But Still Fall To White Sox (46-45)

Lester allowed six runs in four
innings of work

Last night was a bad game all together-- they started out with a huge deficit, came back a bit, and still lost. It all started when the White Sox had a huge first inning, putting runners at first and second with one out. Paul Konerko doubled to right and off the first base bag to score one and the other came in on a bloop single to center by Alex Rios. Luckily, the Red Sox matched the White Sox in the first inning as Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single and stole second. Carl Crawford cashed in with a single of his own to score a run, then stole second in the next at bat. Daniel Nava advanced him to third with a groundout and Adrian Gonzalez sent a rocket up the middle to score Crawford and make it 2-2. With a runner on first and two outs, Alejandro De Aza delivered with a double down the left field line to score Alexei Ramirez from first and make it 3-2.

The next runs for the White Sox were bitterly painful-- as they put runners at first and second with two outs. It would be an old friend delivering for the White Sox in the fourth inning, as Kevin Youkilis drove a three run homer over the monster to make it 6-2 (why couldn't he have done that when the Sox were shopping him?). With a man on second in the sixth inning, it was De Aza again as he singled to right to make it 7-2. The Red Sox started their comeback in the eighth as Carl Crawford made it to third with two outs. Will Middlebrooks drove him in with a single to right and then came the big hit as Kelly Shoppach delivered a two-run pinch-hit home run to cut it to 7-5. However, it would be an incomplete comeback as the Sox did nothing in the ninth and fell by that score.

Bright Spots:
Junichi Tazawa- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 K
Franklin Morales- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-5, 1 R, 1 SB
Carl Crawford- 3-4, 2 R, 2 SB, 1 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 1 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Kelly Shoppach- 1-1, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Dull Spots:
Jon Lester- 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 4 K, L (5-7)
Daniel Nava- 0-3, 1 K, 3 LOB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-3, 1 K, 2 LOB
Ryan Sweeney- 0-3, 1 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-4, 2 K
Pedro Ciriaco- 0-3, 1 K

Player of the Game:
Carl Crawford- Crawford may be providing a spark to this time as he continued his strong start by going 3-4 with two runs, two steals, and an RBI in the loss.

Red Sox, Gonzalez, Spoil Youkilis's Return (46-44)

Cook was great but did not receive a
win last night

Last night's game was an unlikely pitching duel with Aaron Cook going up against youngster Dylan Axelrod. However, it certainly didn't start out that way for either team. With one out in the top of the first inning, familiar face Kevin Youkilis came up and received a huge standing ovation from the home fans. Afterwards, he worked out a long at bat before singling up the middle. Youkilis showed his all out hustle on the next play as Adam Dunn hit a slow roller to second. Pedro Ciriaco threw it to first to record the out as usual, but as a part of the shift they had played on Dunn-- nobody was covering third. Youkilis took sight of this and took off for third, Adrian Gonzalez's throw to the nearest man was errant and Youkilis scored. In the bottom of the first with one out, another familiar face-- Carl Crawford came up and singled up the middle. After a David Ortiz single brought him to third, he would tie the game on a line to right by Adrian Gonzalez to make it 1-1.

Gonzalez had a huge home run

However, Aaron Cook (who wasn't deserving of that run anyway) and Dylan Axelrod both settled down tremendously after that point. The score was still 1-1 when Axelrod was taken out after 6.2 strong innings of work and when Cook was taken out after 7. However, the Red Sox were not so kind against the White Sox bullpen in the following innings. After a pair of walks to lead off the eighth against Leyson Septimo, Adrian Gonzalez stepped up to the plate. He displayed some of that power that we acquired him for when he crushed a pitch over the deep part of the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead. However, David Ortiz was injured rounding second and is having an MRI today-- we all hope the best. Anyways, a Mike Aviles RBI single later in the inning would score the final run to close out a strong 5-1 win.

Bright Spots:
Aaron Cook- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER
Vicente Padilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, W (3-0)
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB
Carl Crawford- 1-3, 2 R, 1 BB
David Ortiz- 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Cody Ross- 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B
Mike Aviles- 1-4, 1 RBI
Pedro Ciriaco- 3-4, 1 2B

Dull Spots:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-4, 1 K, 3 LOB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-4, 3 K, 4 LOB
Will Middlebrooks- 0-4, 2 K, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- If not for Gonzalez, the Red Sox may not have even won this game as he went 2-4 with two of the biggest hits of the night-- an RBI single and three-run homer, he is now .288/7/50.

Crawford Off The DL And Batting Second

The general hope among Red Sox nation was that last year was a freak year for Carl Crawford and from 2012-2017, he'd be back to normal. Many of these fans were very disappointed when they heard Crawford would miss the start of the season. He was only slated to be out for a few weeks but various setbacks kept him out until now. However, after long last-- he's finished his long rehab assignment from injuries to his wrist and elbow and will be joining the team tonight. Bobby Valentine has Crawford batting second against the White Sox tonight-- in the same position as Kevin Youkilis is batting for Chicago. In his 11 games in the minor leagues this year (between single-A Greenville, double-A Portland, and triple-A Pawtucket), he has batted .306/0/2 with a double and a triple. He has DH'ed a few games but has spent much of his time in left field-- where he'll be playing tonight. He'll be looking to redeem himself from a disappointing first year in Boston where he batted .255/11/56. Red Sox fans can hope that he starts redeeming himself tonight against the White Sox.

Series Preview #25: White Sox (49-39) @ Red Sox (45-44)

The Red Sox got the second half of the season off to a good start, and they hope it will continue as they welcome Kevin Youkilis and the White Sox into Fenway Park for a three game series. In Kevin Youkilis' first game back in Fenway, we'll get to see Aaron Cook (2-2/4.37/2) face off against Dylan Axelrod (1-2/6.16/22). Axelrod hasn't been one of the more impressive stories in Chicago this year, so I'd predict a solid win for the Red Sox here. In Game 2, we'll see a pair of pitchers who have tossed no-hitters in Jon Lester (5-6/4.49/94) and Philip Humber (3-4/6.01/63). Lester hasn't been too good this year, but since his perfect game-- Humber has been nothing short of miserable so I'd predict another win here. The Red Sox hopefully will be going for a sweep with Felix Doubront (9-4/4.41/97) going. The White Sox haven't announced their starting pitcher for Wednesday yet, but based on their rotation it would be Jose Quintana (4-1/2.60/41). Quintana and Doubront have both impressed as rookies but our offense hasn't been great so I'd predict a close loss. Bold Prediction: Red Sox win series 2-1. 

Triple Weekly News

So it's come to this, the annual Triple Weekly News from when I return from camp-- often deciding the winner of the Yearly Awards. Well, in my absence, the Red Sox didn't do so well-- going 7-10 over the three week period. The Player of the Week may have just wrapped up his Yearly Award for good as David Ortiz won and has now won eight-- compared to three for Mike Aviles. Over the last ten games, Ortiz batted .375/2/4 and is now .315/23/58 this season. An equally deserving Pitcher of the Year goes to Felix Doubront-- who had a good two starts over this time period, going 1-0/3.37/10 in his 10.2 innings of work. Doubront continued his good year and is now 9-4/4.41/97 this season, which is somehow the Red Sox' best pitcher. I cannot decide on the Performance of Game of the Week since I didn't watch them, so I'll skip those-- I apologize. In the upcoming week, the Red Sox will welcome Kevin Youkilis back to Fenway Park in a three game series with Chicago and play a four game set with Toronto at home.

Red Sox Finish Strong To Win Series Over Rays (45-44)

Beckett settled down after the
first inning

The Red Sox continued their run of staying around .500 but yet in the thick of things as they moved within a game of the Rays today. They scored first in the first inning after a pair of one out walks. Adrian Gonzalez would deliver with a line drive into left for an RBI single to make it 1-0. However, the Rays answered in a big way in the bottom of the first-- putting runners at the corners with no outs. Ben Zobrist hit a hard liner off of Josh Beckett's glove and hustled out an infield hit to tie it at one. The Rays weren't done scoring though, as a few batters later a soft single to center by Desmond Jennings would give the Rays a 3-1 lead and it wasn't looking like Josh Beckett's best day. Luckily, Beckett didn't even have to work with a deficit for all that long as the Red Sox got right back to business in the second. After a one out single by Will Middlebrooks, Mike Aviles had the big blow with a two-run homer to center to make it 3-3.

Nava had the go-ahead home run

Both Josh Beckett and James Shields settled down from that point on, but neither was really good. That finally caught up to Shields in the fifth as Daniel Nava got ahold of an outside pitch, pulling it to right for a go ahead home run to make it 4-3. The Red Sox kept rolling right along in the fifth and proceeded to load the bases on two hits and a walk, with just one out. This time it was Will Middlebrooks with the big hit, as he singled hard up the middle to bring in two runs and give the Red Sox a comfortable 6-3 lead. After loading the bases with one out in the sixth, the Red Sox got some more insurance on a sacrifice fly by Cody Ross to make it 7-3. Beckett left after the sixth with a decent 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K. The bullpen would hold the Rays and give the Red Sox a comfortable 7-3 win and a series win.

Bright Spots:
Josh Beckett- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (5-7)
Mark Melancon- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 3-5, 1 R, 1 2B
Daniel Nava- 1-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 RBI
David Ortiz- 2-4, 1 BB
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Mike Aviles- 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Dull Spots:
Pedro Ciriaco- 0-4, 2 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Will Middlebrooks- Middlebrooks made more case for the Youkilis trade as he went 3-4 with a double, a run, and two RBIs-- he improved to .301/11/41 on the season.

Red Sox Return To .500 With Tough Loss (44-44)

Until the seventh, Buchholz was very
sharp last night

My first game back from Nature Camp looked like exactly the game I like for a while-- a good pitching duel. Neither team had scored and Mike Aviles had the only hit of the ballgame as we entered the bottom of the third inning. However, back-to-back singles leading off the inning put the Rays in a good position to break that scoreless tie. Sean Rodriguez crushed a pitch deep into the gap that made me feel that the Red Sox were very lucky that Jacoby Ellsbury was back. He kept it to a sacrifice fly, rather than a two-run double that it may have been otherwise. Empowered by that catch, the Red Sox put together a strong fourth inning-- culminating with Will Middlebrooks' two-out two-run home run to left-center to make it 2-1. The Rays wouldn't score again until the fifth after a leadoff double by Jeff Keppinger was further aided by a sacrifice bunt. With the infield in, Jose Molina hit a hard grounder to shortstop that Mike Aviles booted so the Rays tied the game.

Middlebrooks had a two-run
homer, his 11th

In the top of the sixth, the Red Sox would take advantage of some defensive miscues to take another lead. A one-out walk by Cody Ross moved to second on a passed ball, third on a groundout, and home on a botched pickoff to third base to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. However, it would be in the seventh that it all unraveled. Clay Buchholz allowed the Rays to put two runners in scoring position with just one out. He was taken out in favor of Matt Albers, who did the smart thing and walked the bases loaded to set up the double play. However, that move didn't look so smart as he walked a run in to the next batter-- Jose Lobaton. Or when the Rays took the 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly by Elliot Johnson. The Red Sox squandered a leadoff double in the eighth and turned things over to the Rays, who quickly got insurance on a moonshot by B.J. Upton. They would hold the lead and win 5-3.


Bright Spots:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-4, 1 2B
David Ortiz- 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB
Will Middlebrooks- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Mike Aviles- 2-4

Dull Spots:
Matt Albers- 0.1 IP, 2 BB, BS (4)
Andrew Miller- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K
Pedro Ciriaco- 0-4, 2 K, 4 LOB
Daniel Nava- 0-4, 1 K, 3 LOB

Player of the Game:
Will Middlebrooks- Despite only going 1-4, he provided the main offensive outburst with a two-run homer and is now .291/11/39 this season.

Red Sox Drop Pitching Duel In Extras (41-37)

Middlebrooks scored on a passed ball

I guess that this series is just a pitching kind of series-- as after a 1-0 loss in the opener in 5-0 win in the second, there was yet another pitching duel last night. Josh Beckett was squaring off against Erasmo Ramirez and both did well until the third. In the third, Ramirez was forced to leave the game on a problem with his right elbow. However, former starter Charlie Furbush entered the game and continued to dominate the Red Sox' offense. Only in the sixth inning was the scoreless tie finally broken as the Mariners got a rally going. With one out in the inning, Ichiro singled to left and stole second base. He was followed up on a walk by Casper Wells and a single by Kyle Seager to load the bases with one out. John Jaso came up and lined a ball hard off the wall in right and just over the outstretched glove of Cody Ross to score two and make it 2-0 Mariners.

The Red Sox offense was stymied

Josh Beckett was taken out of the ballgame after that inning; his final line was a relatively impressive 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K-- however, he was set for the loss. The Red Sox answered in the seventh to completely erase all thoughts of a Beckett loss though. Three straight singles by Adrian Gonzalez, Will Middlebrooks, and Cody Ross started off the inning. Ryan Kalish grounded into a potential double play but beat out the back end, putting runners at the corners and cutting the Mariners' lead to 2-1. It quickly became 2-2 though, as Miguel Olivo let a ball get by him and Will Middlebrooks raced home from third base to tie the game. The score stayed knotted at two all the way until the eleventh inning. One out singles by Dustin Ackley and Miguel Olivo put runners at the corners for Chone Figgins. Figgins hit a liner to right on another where Ross made a good throw home but Saltalamacchia let it pass him for a 3-2 Mariners win.

Bright Spots:
Josh Beckett- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K
Andrew Miller- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-5, 1 R
Cody Ross- 2-4, 1 BB
Ryan Kalish- 1-5, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Daniel Nava- 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Josh Beckett- Beckett pitched very well in his first start back from shoulder inflammation, he went six strong innings and is now 4-7/4.06/60 this season.