Jed Lowrie’s solo home run in the 11th inning gave the Boston Red Sox a 6-5 lead and Manny Delcarmen made it hold up to give the Red Sox the win over the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 44,521 at Rogers Centre. With the win, the Red Sox move back to 4.5 games out of first in the AL East and maintain their ½ game lead in the wild card since the White Sox beat the Rays this afternoon.
Brandon League took over for B.J. Ryan in the 11th and got Jason Bay to fly out. He then left a pitch out over the plate for Lowrie, who lined it over the wall in right for his 2nd home run of the season, first left-handed, to put the Sox up 6-5.
Delcarmen took over for Jonathan Papelbon and walked the red-hot Vernon Wells to start the bottom half. Adam Lind then grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw Wells retired at second base. Lyle Overbay flew out for the second out and then Delcarmen struck out Jose Bautista to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.
Daisuke Matszuaka pitched well but didn't factor in the decision.
Daisuke Matsuzaka started this one for the visiting nine and was decent today. He didn’t have the high walk totals we’re used too but he did allow 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk (intentional) while striking out 8 in 6 innings.
The Red Sox bullpen was solid as Justin Masterson worked 1 1/3 innings of 1-hit ball, Hideki Okajima 2/3 of an inning striking out 1, Paps 2 innings and Delcarmen the final inning.
Jason Bay and Jason Varitek both had 2-for-5 nights while Dustin Pedroia added 3-run homer. Coco Crisp also chipped in with a solo home run. The only starters without hits were Jacoby Ellsbury and Alex Cora.
The 1st inning for Dice-K was eerily similar to the one Jon Lester had yesterday.
He started it out by striking out Joe Inglett and then gave up a single to Marcos Scutaro. He got Alex Rios to pop out and then hung a breaking ball to Wells who mashed it for 2-run homer to put the Jays up 2-0.
A.J. Burnett started for the Blue Jays and had a relatively easy first two innings, allowing just a Bay single. That all changed in the 3rd inning.
After a Varitek ground out to start the inning, Burnett issued back-to-back walks to Cora and Crisp. He got the second out when Ellsbury popped out. Burnett then tried to throw a high inside fastball to Pedroia who got around on it for a 3-run homer to put the Sox up 3-2. David Ortiz followed that with a double and Kevin Youkilis knocked him in with a single to push the lead to 4-2.
Coco Crisp rushes over to Jacoby Ellsbury after Ellsbury crashed into the wall.
Matsuzaka started the 4th with a strikeout of Wells and then got Lind to line out to right on an amazing catch from Ellsbury who crashed into the wall and was hurt. He ended up with a cut over his eye and some dirt in their as well. After a 10 minute injury delay to take care of Ellsbury’s eye, the first pitch Overbay saw, he put into the right field seats to cut the Red Sox lead to 4-3.
Rios led off the 6th with a single and then scored all the way from first on a Wells double to tie the game at 4. A Lind ground out moved Wells to third and then Overbay struck out for the second out. The Red Sox then decided to walk Matt Stairs to face Rod Barajas. The move didn’t pay off though as Barajas hit a double to score Wells. Stairs was waved around from first and was gunned down on a relay throw from Bay to Lowrie to Varitek.
The Red Sox got the run right back in the 7th when Coco led off the 7th with a solo home run to tie the game up at 5, setting up Lowrie’s heroics in the 11th.
The Red Sox will enjoy a day off on Monday before heading to the Bronx on Tuesday to take on the New York Yankees. Tim Wakefield will return from the disabled list to make what we hope to be his final start in Yankee Stadium as this is the Red Sox last trip to the old new Yankee Stadium.
Notes and musings:
Red Sox @ Blue Jays 8.24.08 boxscore
Mike Timlin’s appearance on Saturday was the 1,050th of his major league career, tying Kent Tekulve for 7th on the all-time list. Of Timlin’s total games, 1,046 have come in relief, 2nd most all-time for a righthanded reliever.
Saturday marked the 7th time that the Red Sox have been shutout this season, 4th on the road. The 7 shutouts match total for all of 2007.
Pawtucket was a 4-3 loser at Rochester on Saturday but clinched their 1st International League playoff spot since 2003 when Toledo fell at Richmond. The PawSox are 2nd in the IL North, 3.5 games behind Scranton but clinched at least a wild card berth.
David Aardsma and SS Julio Lugo (left quadriceps tear) returned to Boston today for further examination and rehab.
For the 3rd time in the last 5 games, the Red Sox issued at least 10 runs on Saturday. Are the most such games in a 5-game span for Boston since 3 straight, August 18 (both games of DH) and 19, 2006, all vs. the Yankees at Fenway Park. Yesterday was the 4th time in the last 10 contests the staff has issued 10+ runs after doing so 7 times in the season’s 1st 119 games.
Sox on streaks:
- Alex Cora saw his 6-game hitting streak end
- Jacoby Ellsbury saw his 4-game hitting streak end
- Kevin Youkilis has a 5-game hitting streak
When Overbay hit the solo homer, he cut the lead to 4-3, not 5-4.
Thanks Mac, I probably should have proofread it one more time, especially seeing how I had it right when I said it was tied at 4 in the line.
Good win for the boys today. They really needed that one.
Hey Ian, if there’s a way for you to post a clip of Jacoby’s catch and the time period immediately afterward when Coco came running to his side…there are a bunch of folks who would love to see it. :::hint hint and a big smile:::