Jon Lester wasn’t at his best for the Boston Red Sox last night and each time the offense got him a lead, he’d allow the Chicago Cubs to get into the game. But the offense kept pounding out hit after hit, 19 in all, to help the Red Sox to a 15-5 win over the Cubs in the first game between the two teams at Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series.
The talk all week leading up to last night’s game was about the historical significance of the Cubs visit to the Fens but in the end it was just another game. And it was just another game that the Red Sox won which gives them seven straight wins. More importantly though, it pulled them into second place, a 1/2 game ahead of the third place New York Yankees and a 1/2 behind the first place Tampa Bay Rays.
Since starting the season at 2-10, the Red Sox are 22-10 and making noise across baseball. More importantly, despite the bad outing by Lester, are playing baseball like they were expected to.
Lester allowed a career-high 12 hits in six innings of work last night as he left a lot of pitches out in the zone. His fastball had good velocity but he lacked command on all of his pitches. There was some speculation during the game that he may be injured but that’s simply not the case. Lester said after the game that he was simply not “executing” the pitches he needed to make at the time.
But what makes baseball a great game is the fact you can put that bad outing in the past, work on the mistakes and then get back out there in five days and try to be better than you were the last time you toed the rubber.
The only player on the offensive side of things in the starting lineup to not have a hit was Mike Cameron. Ironically enough, Cameron had good numbers against Cubs starter Doug Davis.
After struggling in the series versus the Detroit Tigers, Adrian Gonzalez went back to raking. You could say it was familiarity with the Cubs being a NL team but we know that he’s been doing this all season long. He led the way with four hits (all singles) and four RBIs.
Kevin Youkilis got into the act as well with three hits, including a two-run homer which may still be in orbit as I write and you read this. He also knocked in three runs, the other one coming on a sacrifice fly on some great baserunning by Dustin Pedroia, who scored three runs on the night.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is also heating up at the plate as he had two hits including a solo home run. Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits and two RBIs while David Ortiz, Pedroia and Jed Lowrie each added two hits to the cause.
It’s definitely fun watching the Red Sox as of late, a far cry from earlier in the season. As long as the Red Sox can stay healthy going forward, this could turn out to be a very special season for the local nine.
I just hope they saved some hits and runs for tonight since I’ll be at the game. This means we’ll have a modified afternoon post up on the site.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
For a Third Time, MLB on FOX Screws Red Sox Fans in Connecticut [SOX & Dawgs]
Red Sox, Cubs To Wear 1918 Uniforms on Saturday Night [SOX & Dawgs]
Video: Orsillo, Remy Talk Dyed Hair, Toupées [SOX & Dawgs]
Video: Orsillo Gets His Eck On [SOX & Dawgs]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over the Chicago Daily Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown or ESPN Chicago websites.
Photo credit: Elsa-Getty Images
