Red Sox Turn It On Late To Escape Last Place (52-51)

Buchholz lowered his ERA to 4.75

This was a good all around game for the Red Sox. However, it certainly didn't look like one when Austin Jackson of the Tigers led off the game with a home run on the second pitch of the ballgame. However, Clay Buchholz didn't let the first inning get out of hand and it was still 1-0 when the Red Sox came up to bat. Jacoby Ellsbury worked an excellent nine pitch walk and was promptly driven in as Carl Crawford knocked one high off the left-center portion of the monster. The ball got away from Austin Jackson a bit and Crawford coasted into third with an RBI triple. He would score on a groundout by Dustin Pedroia. However, the Tigers would tie things up in the third after Omar Infante tripled on a ball strikingly similar to Carl Crawford's. He would eventually score on a one-out single by Miguel Cabrera to tie it at 2-2.

Pedroia hit his 9th home run

It was still just 2-2 when Carl Crawford walked to lead off the sixth inning. However, it wouldn't be tied much longer as Dustin Pedroia took advantage of a high fastball and crushed it over the monster for a two-run homer to make it 4-2. With Brennan Boesch on first and one out, Alex Avila made the game a bit closer by splitting the game perfectly for an RBI double. The Red Sox got insurance in the bottom of the seventh though, starting with a leadoff triple by Kelly Shoppach. He would score when Jacoby Ellsbury lined a low pitch into right field for an RBI single to give the Red Sox a 5-3 lead. They'd get the ultimate insurance in the eighth, though, after a leadoff single by Adrian Gonzalez. Will Middlebrooks saw a pitch to his liking and sent it over the Green Monster for his 13th home run to give the Red Sox a 7-3 lead. They'd win by that score to get out of last and above .500.

Bright Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 8 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (9-3)
Vicente Padilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Carl Crawford- 1-3, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Dustin Pedroia- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4, 1 R
Will Middlebrooks- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 2-4
Kelly Shoppach- 1-4, 1 R, 1 3B

Dull Spots:
Ryan Sweeney- 0-4, 1 K, 3 LOB

Player of the Game:
Clay Buchholz- Despite a somewhat rough start for Buchholz, he really turned things around, working eight strong innings for the win-- he is now 9-3/4.75/77 this season.