Behind another strong effort from Tim Wakefield and the bats of David Ortiz and Mike Lowell, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by the final score of 10-1. The game was 4-1 entering the 8th inning until the Red Sox put up a 6 spot in the bottom half of the inning.
The knuckleball was dancing on Friday night. In seven innings of work, Wakefield gave up 5 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, walked 2 batters and struck out 3. Ortiz was 2 for 5 with 3 rbi’s and Lowell was 2 for 4 with 3 rbi’s. Doug Mirabelli added a home run and had 2 rbi’s in the contest.
The Red Sox went to closer Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth inning. It was a save situation at the time and once again, he was electric on the mound. Using the “Papelglare”, he was able to strike out Vlad Guerrero on a 97 mph fastball and got Garrett Anderson to fly out. He threw a total of 6 pitches. Because the Sox put up 6 runs in the bottom half of the inning, manager Terry Francona brought in Mike Timlin to finish off the game.
The Sox will face the Angels again on Saturday. The game starts at 4:05 PM and will be shown nationally on FOX.
