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.