Red Sox Pound Darvish, Rangers To Return To .500 (55-55)

Cook made a bid to stay in
the rotation

This series did not look promising for the Red Sox, but they still managed to pull of a big win in the first game against rookie phenom Yu Darvish. The Rangers actually scored first in this game, beginning on Nelson Cruz's leadoff double in the second inning. They quickly grabbed the first run as David Murphy singled to center. In the third inning, however, the Red Sox matched and raised the Rangers rally-- beginning with a leadoff double by Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury scored when Carl Crawford doubled down the first base line to put himself at second, still with no outs. There would be one out by the time Crawford came in, but he did as Adrian Gonzalez doubled on just about the same hit Crawford had. The Red Sox just kept rolling in the fourth inning, putting runners at first and second with one out. One would score when Jacoby Ellsbury doubled to left, also putting runners at second and third. Both Ellsbury and Mike Aviles (who was on third) would score on a sacrifice fly for Carl Crawford and a Dustin Pedroia double, respectively, to make it 5-1.

Pedroia had 3 doubles 

There was no more scoring for the Red Sox until a Dustin Pedroia leadoff double got things started in the seventh. Adrian Gonzalez drove Pedroia in with an RBI single but that was all they got in the inning, pushing it to 6-1. However, it was in the eighth that the Red Sox did some real damage off the Rangers' bullpen corps. With a man on first and one out, Carl Crawford doubled off the green monster in left-center to score Ellsbury from first base and make it 7-1. They kept going in the inning, though, as Dustin Pedroia walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Adrian Gonzalez delivered with a single to right to score Crawford and move Dustin Pedroia to third to put runners at the corners. One more scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly for Cody Ross to make it 9-1. The Rangers got a run on an Adrian Beltre home run in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Red Sox won.

Bright Spots:
Aaron Cook- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (3-5)
Jacoby Ellsbury- 3-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Carl Crawford- 2-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
Dustin Pedroia- 3-5, 1 R, 3 2B, 1 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 3-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 RBI
Ryan Kalish- 1-3, 1 R, 1 SB
Mike Aviles- 1-3, 1 R

Dull Spots:
Nobody!

Player of the Game:
Carl Crawford- Crawford did it all last night, going 2-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three runs batted in-- he is now .292/3/13.

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.

Rainy Day In All Respects For Red Sox (38-35)

Doubront wasn't at his best

This was a disappointing game for the Red Sox as they came back from an early deficit only to be thwarted again. After a leadoff single to start to game, a Colby Rasmus home run to right (just eclipsing the wall) gave the Jays an early 2-0 lead. After Jose Bautista reached base on an error later in the inning, he was driven in on a double high off the monster by Edwin Encarnacion to make it 3-0. Doubront finally got the first out of the inning after that but Yunel Escobar still had a single to keep the rally going. Rajai Davis grounded into a potential double play, but with his speed beat it out and Encarnacion scored from third to make it 4-0. The Red Sox almost immediately mounted a comeback effort in the bottom of the first though, as Dustin Pedroia tripled to right with one out. David Ortiz absolutely got ahold of one after that and crushed one to right-center for a two-run homer to make it 4-2.

The game was delayed during the
seventh inning

Ben Francisco of the Jays doubled to lead off the second inning, however, and moved up to third on a single by Brett Lawrie. Colby Rasmus singled up to middle to make it 5-2 as Doubront definitely was not working. However, the Red Sox offense continually tried to bail him out as they put runners at the corners with two outs in the third. It quickly became a bad day for Blue Jays' second baseman Kelly Johnson. Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to Johnson, but he bobbled it and it allowed a run to score. On the very next play, Adrian Gonzalez hit a hard ground ball to the right of Johnson and it deflected off his glove to allow another run in and make it 5-4. The Sox finally fully came back in the fifth as after a leadoff double by Cody Ross, Ryan Kalish drove him in with a single up the middle. However, two run homers for the Jays-- J.P. Arencibia in the sixth and Jose Bautista in the seventh made it 9-5. The Red Sox scored again in the eighth on a homer by Ortiz but it wasn't enough as they fell 9-6.

Bright Spots:
Clayton Mortensen- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Dustin Pedroia- 2-4, 2 R, 1 3B
David Ortiz- 2-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 1-4, 1 RBI
Ryan Kalish- 2-4, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Felix Doubront- 6 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (8-4)
Matt Albers- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB
Daniel Nava- 0-5, 2 K, 1 LOB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-4, 2 K, 1 LOB
Nick Punto- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
David Ortiz- Ortiz continued his fantastic season by going 2-3 with two home runs, three RBIs, and three runs scored to became a remarkable .304/20/52.

Red Sox Vault Into Fourth After Rout Of Marlins (35-33)

Doubront didn't have his best
stuff but he got the win

Last night was a good one as they absolutely pounded the Marlins and as a result of that, moved out of last place. After two singles to lead off the game, the Marlins actually scored first on a double play ball hit by Giancarlo Stanton. With runners at the corners and one out in the second, they pushed home another run on a groundout by Gaby Sanchez-- those would be their only bright spots in this game though. After a pair of two-out singles in the bottom of the second, Mike Aviles really made the rally pay off with a three-run homer over the monster in left-center. The Red Sox got a few more runs in the third after loading the bases with one out for Cody Ross. Ross would clear the bases with a double to left that took a huge bounce away from Marlins' left fielder Logan Morrison to give the Red Sox a 6-2 lead. The Marlins would cut the lead a little when Logan Morrison redeemed himself with a leadoff homer off the Pesky Pole and again on an RBI single by Gaby Sanchez but it was still 6-4 Red Sox.

Mike Aviles and Jarrod
Saltalamacchia each homered

And it was about to become much more than that as they Red Sox put runners at the corners with one out. Ryan Kalish scored one with an infield single but David Ortiz had the big blow as he crushed a high home run to deep right to make it 11-4. Two batters later, Jarrod Saltalamacchia delivered with a blast of his own as he homered to dead center to make it 12-4. The Red Sox got right back to business in the fifth as they loaded the bases on two walks and a single for David Ortiz. The damage would not be quite as great this time as the only run of the inning came on a wild pitch by Marlins' reliever Chris Hatcher. In the seventh, the Marlins had a little bright spot as John Buck hit a no-doubt shot to left field, staying just fair to make it 13-5. However, the Red Sox made up for the Buck home run with a two-out walk and then a two-out homer for Will Mddlebrooks to left field to make it 15-5. That would be the final score as the Red Sox absolutely pounded the Marlins and are now out of last and only six games out of first!

Bright Spots:
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Daniel Nava- 4-5, 2 R
Ryan Kalish- 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI
David Ortiz- 1-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 2-4, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Kevin Youkilis- 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B
Will Middlebrooks- 1-1, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Mike Aviles- 2-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Dull Spots:
None!

Player of the Game:
Mike Aviles- Aviles had a heck of a game, leading the Red Sox' offense by going 3-5 with a three-run homer and scoring twice to become .268/9/40.

Morales's Strong Spot Start Leads Sox Over Cubbies (33-33)

Morales struggled in the
first inning

I've said it many times before, but the Red Sox really needed to win this series. And they did, so they now stand at 33-33-- still in last place, but just by a game. Things started off really well for the Red Sox as Scott Podsednik led off the game with a bloop single to center. The scuffling Dustin Pedroia stepped to the plate and knocked a hanging change into the left-center gap to score Podsednik all the way from first to take an early 1-0 lead. Pedroia got to third on a Kevin Youkilis fly out and came home when David Ortiz lined a ball into right field to help the Sox take a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Cubs got off to almost equally as good a start when Reed Johnson doubled to left. Starlin Castro hit a little blooper into the gap which evaded right fielder Darnell McDonald's grasp and kept rolling-- ending up as an RBI triple for Castro. New starter Franklin Morales would work out of the mess with minimal damage, though, as he got a strikeout and groundout to end the inning.

After that, he was very
good though

With Darwin Barney on first base in the third inning, it would be Starlin Castro again as he hit a high pop up to the outfield grass. There was a miscommunication between Dustin Pedroia and Darnell McDonald and it fell for a double. David Ortiz led off the fourth inning with a home run, though, to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. With runners at the corners for Chicago in the sixth, Jeff Baker hit a little dribbler to Matt Albers. Albers snagged it and tried to turn two but he made a bad throw and they didn't get the out and the run scored to tie the game. However, the Red Sox made it up in the seventh-- putting two runners in scoring position to start the inning. Newly recalled Ryan Kalish gave them the lead with a bloop single to center that scored one. Will Middlebrooks made it 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to center and they got one more run on a suicide squeeze with Daniel Nava at the plate. The Red Sox scored one more in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Cubs also got an extra run, on a David DeJesus sac fly, but the game was over after the seventh as the Red Sox won 7-4.
Bright Spots:
Franklin Morales- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 9 K
Scott Atchison- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Scott Podsednik- 1-3, 1 R
Daniel Nava- 1-1, 1 RBI
Dustin Pedroia- 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
David Ortiz- 2-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 1-2, 1 R, 1 RBI
Ryan Kalish- 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 K
Mike Aviles- 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 5 LOB
Kelly Shoppach- 0-2, 2 K

Player of the Game:
David Ortiz- As usual, Ortiz had a great game for the Red Sox-- hitting a home run and driving in two in a 2-4 game as he became a fantastic .311/16/43.