Jason Bay had the go-ahead RBI single in the 5th inning as Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox bullpen made it hold up as they went on to win 5-4 over the Cleveland Indians in front of 37,882 at Fenway Park.
The win for the Red Sox gets them into the postseason for the 5th time in 6 years. An AL East crown though is likely out of the question as the Tampa Bay Rays swept a doubleheader to increase their lead to 3 games and put their magic number at 2 to clinch the division.
Tim Wakefield helped the Red Sox into the postseason for the 5th time in 6 years
Tim Wakefield started this one for the Red Sox and on the whole he was pretty good. He hit a few rough patches but his effort was still good enough for his 10th win of the season.
Manny Delcarmen worked 2/3 of an inning allowing 2 hits and a walk but Hideki Okajima bailed him out by retiring the only batter he faced. Justin Masterson gave up a hit, a walk while striking out 2 in 2/3 of an inning, Javier Lopez walked the only batter he faced and Jonathan Papelbon got the final 4 outs for his 41st save on the season.
Dustin Pedroia led the Red Sox offense with 2 hits and 2 RBI. Kevin Youkilis added 2 RBI as well going 1-for-1 with a homer and 3 walks. Every member of the starting nine had a hit with the exception of Jed Lowrie who was 0-for-4.
Early on it was a battle between Indians starter Cliff Lee and Wakefield. Both had one inning in the first 3 where they worked out of a little trouble.
The Red Sox would finally crack Lee though in the bottom of the 4th.
David Ortiz absolutely crushed the ball to start the inning but the problem was he hit it to the biggest part of the ballpark. He ended up with a double and just shrugged his shoulders when he got to second. Lee then hung a pitch out over the plate for Youk who didn’t miss it and put in the Green Monster seats to put the local nine up 2-0.
Cleveland battled back though with 4 runs in the top of the 5th.
Wakefield hit former Red Sox farmhand Kelly Shoppach to get things going and then gave up a single to Franklin Gutierrez. Wakefield struck out Josh Barfield for the first out but a Grady Sizemore single just got under the glove of Sean Casey that allowed Shoppach to score to cut the lead to 2-1. Jamey Carroll then grounded out to third as Gutierrez scored on the play to tie the game at 2. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Shin-Soo Choo and Jhonny Peralta gave the Indians a 4-2 lead. Wake finally got out of the wacky 5th inning by getting Victor Martinez to fly out.
Jason Bay singles to knock in the winning run.
Kevin Cash started the bottom half of the inning with a single and he would be retired on a Coco Crisp fielder’s choice. Jacoby Ellsbury followed that with a double as Crisp stopped at third. Pedroia then tied the game up at 4 with a double. Lee rebounded to strike out Big Papi and then the Indians decided to walk Youk. Bay made them pay for it as his single scored Pedroia with the eventual winning run.
The Indians had chances in the 7th and 8th innings when they loaded the bases but he Red Sox bullpen held strong though and they helped send Lee to just his 3rd loss of the season.
With the AL East title highly unlikely, it will be interesting to see what Francona decides to do the last 5 games of the season. Paul Byrd gets the start for the Sox against his former teammates and will most likely be auditioning for a spot on the playoff roster.
Notes and musings:
Indians @ Red Sox 9.23.08 boxscore
David Ortiz hit his 231st home run as a Red Sox on Monday, moving him past Mo Vaughn into 6th place on the all-time club list.
Sox on streaks:
Jacoby Ellsbury has an 14-game hitting streak
David Ortiz has a 4-game hitting streak
Dustin Pedroia has a 4-game hitting streak
Mike Lowell has a 3-game hitting streak
