Jim Miller’s throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Jacoby Ellsbury allowed Alex Cora to score from second base to give the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 walk-off win to give them a 3-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in front of a MLB record tying 455th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park.
Cora led off the bottom of the 9th with a single and went to second on a Coco Crisp bunt single. With no outs, Ellsbury laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line that Miller threw past Orioles third baseman Aubrey Huff allowing Cora to score the winning run.
Dice-K wasn't at his best today.
Daisuke Matsuzaka started for the Red Sox today and wasn’t at his best. He went 6 innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and walks while striking out 7. He had only two walks in his last 3 games prior to today’s start. Javier Lopez allowed a hit in an inning of work and Justin Masterson picked up the win by pitching two perfect innings striking out 2 along the way.
Guess who led the Red Sox offense once again? If you said Dustin Pedroia you would be correct. Pedroia went 3-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Alex Cora had 3 hits as well while Coco Crisp had 2 hits and an RBI. Mark Kotsay had the only other hit for the local nine and it was a 2-run triple to get them back into the game.
Brian Roberts led off the game with a double and after a Jay Payton fly out, came into score when Coco dropped a Nick Markakis fly ball at the wall to make it 1-0 O’s.
The O’s got out to a 4-run lead in the 3rd inning.
Huff led off with a single and went to second when Dice-K walked Oscar Salazar. A Luke Scott double scored Huff as Salazar stopped at third to make it 2-0. Luis Montanez grounded out for the 1st out of the inning but Salazar came into score. Matsuzka got the second out of the inning when Alex Cintron popped out but Guillermo Quiroz singled in Scott to make it 4-0 O’s.
Lance Cormier and Dennis Sarfate did a good job of shutting down the Red Sox for the first 6 innings.
In the 7th, Jaime Walker came in and retired David Ortiz. Pedroia followed that with a solo home run to get the Red Sox on the scoreboard. Walker got Kotsay to strike out but then hit Jason Bay with a pitch and walked Jason Varitek. Cora reached on a bunt single to load up the bases and end Walker’s afternoon. Rocky Cherry came in and forced in a run when he walked Coco to cut the lead to 4-2.
Mark Kotsay's triple tied the game up for the Red Sox.
Cherry was back on in the 8th and struck out Jed Lowrie to start the inning and then walked Big Papi. A Pedroia double moved Big Papi to third base. Kotsay then cleared the bases with a triple to deep center to tie the game at 4.
The Red Sox will enjoy a day off tomorrow as they make their way to Texas for a 3-game set this weekend. Josh Beckett returns from the disabled list to make the start for the Red Sox.
Notes and musings:
Orioles @ Red Sox 9.3.08 boxscore
The Red Sox sent Jonathan Van Every back to Pawtucket where he will play for the PawSox in the playoffs. Bartolo Colon is also expected to pitch for them as well.
The Red Sox have gone 11 straight seasons with at least a .500 record.
Coming into today, Coco Crisp is batting .438 (14-for-32) with four multi-hit games in his last nine contests. Mark Kotsay is 7-for-20 (.350) with five RBIs since joining the Red Sox and has doubled in four of five games with the team.
David Ortiz is hitting .353 (12-for-34) with 10 RBIs against the Orioles this season.
Jed Lowrie has driven in 32 runs in 39 games since the All-Star break.
