The Red Sox overcame a blown call by an umpire and rode the bats of a red-hot Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp plus the arm of Josh Beckett to a 10-3 win over the White Sox. Lugo was 3 for 4 with his 4 RBI coming on a grand slam in the 8th inning. Even though Crisp had only one hit, the one hit, a triple, gave the Red Sox the lead for good in the 5th inning. Beckett ended up throwing a lot of pitches in the game but he was good enough for his 13th win, tying him with C.C. Sabbathia for the MLB lead.
Beckett got himself into some trouble in the first inning but was able to work his way out of it. After he got the first two outs of the inning, he issued walks to Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, eerily reminiscent of last night’s game in the first inning. Beckett rebounded from his slight control issues to get A.J. Pierzynski to ground out to Eric Hinske at first.
The Boys from Beantown got a run on the board in their half of the 1st and really should have had 3 runs. White Sox starter Jose Contreras got Crip and Dustin Pedroia for the first two outs of the inning. He then issued a walk to David Ortiz and followed that with a plunking of Manny Ramirez. Then the controversy came about. J.D. Drew hit a ball off the Green Monster that appeared to be a homerun but was ruled a double. Big Papi scored on the play and Manny was thrown out trying to score. The ball looked like it had gotten over the wall and television replays showed that it did. Terry Francona came out to argue the call and after a meeting of the boys in blue, it was ruled a double and Manny was out at the plate. The call irked Tito and he was tossed for probably calling Tim McClelland “Lurch” (fiction) as McClelland looked about a foot taller than the rest of his crew.
(NESN screenshot from Extra Bases)
Beckett cruised through the 2nd inning as he struck out the side (Dye, Mackowiak, Fields) all swinging. He got himself into trouble in the 3rd inning as the wrong Sox took over the lead. Juan Uribe led off the inning with a single and went to third on a Jerry Owens single. As Tadahito Iguchi was striking out swinging for the first out, Owens stole second base. With a 3-2 count on Thome, Beckett left a fastball up in the zone that Thome planted into the seats in centerfield to give the Whites a 3-1 lead. Beckett settled in and got Konerko on a foul out and Pierzynski for his sixth strikeout of the night.
Beckett was solid in the 4th and 5th innings as he got three of the six outs via the strikeout. Contreras was equal to the task in the 3rd and 4th innings as he only allowed a single to Lugo.
The 5th inning was a weird inning but nonetheless a good inning for the local nine. Contreras walked Jason Varitek to lead off the 5th. For some strange reason, Ozzie Guillen put a shift on for Hinske and Hinske being a smart hitter, laid down a bunt that rolled down the third base line to the outfield. Tek moved over to second on the bunt single. Lugo then laid down a bunt of his own that he beat out and loaded the bases for Coco. Coco didn’t disappoint the 36,000+ at the Fens as he hit a bases-clearing triple to give the home team a 4-3 lead. With the infield drawn in, Pedroia couldn’t bring Crisp home as he grounded back to the pitcher. Big Papi came up with a clutch single that brought in Coco but he was thrown out at second base. The run gave the Sox a 5-3 lead. Contreras then got Manny to ground out for the third out of the inning. Big Papi ended up leaving the game with a strained shoulder and is day-to-day. He was replaced at DH by Alex Cora.
Beckett’s final inning would be the 6th inning. He got Thome to strikeout swinging for the first out and his 10th strikeout of the game. Konerko then popped out for the second out. Pierzynski followed that with a single but was thrown out at second base by an excellent throw from Coco. As they were coming off the field, you could see how pumped up Beckett was.
Beckett went 6 innings, giving up 2 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and he had the 10 K’s on a 114 pitches.
The Sox put the 2-run game away in the 8th inning. Manny led off with a single and went to third on a Drew double. Lowell then drew a walk from Contreras to load up the bases for Tek. Tek brought in the 6th Red Sox run of the night with a sacrifice fly scoring Manny. Kevin Youkilis came into pinch-hit for Hinske and was plunked in the hand by Contreras reloading the bases up, this time for Lugo. Lugo continued to be en fuego as he crushed a ball off of the Sports Authority sign above the Green Monster for his third career grand slam and making it 10-3 good guys. Ehren Wassermann came in for Contreras. Wassmermann, making his MLB debut, got the wrong Sox out of the inning with a strikeout of Coco and a ground out by Pedroia.
The Boston bullpen was solid for the final three innings, as Mike Timlin, Hideki Okajima, and Joel Piñero combined on 3 hitless innings. The trio didn’t allow a runner and struck out one in holding Beckett’s 13th win of the season.
Kason Gabbard takes the ball for the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon and he will be opposed by John Danks. Gametime is 3:55 PM and the game will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
The lead in the AL East is back up to 8 games as the Skanks got their asses handed to them 14-4 by the Devil Rays.
Tiki Barber was in town donning a #21 Red Sox jersey. He took batting practice and got a few balls out of the infield. He was in town filiming a piece for the “Today Show”
Mike Timlin has 321 appearances as a member of the Red Sox. That total is good for second in team history. He is also 1 of 7 members left from the 2004 World Series team. Curt Schilling, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Doug Mirabelli are the others.
Kevin Youkilis is mired in a 3 for 27 slump and is out of the lineup tonight to keep Eric Hinske fresh. He was not out because of the quad injury.
After batting practice, the Red Sox held a closed door team meeting.
Dustin Pedroia has 25 multiple hit games this season.
It was Purina Dog Show day at the Fens. They had dogs in the outfield doing tricks and catching frisbees.
Fred Lynn was on set with his old buddy Jim Rice. Lynn talked about being the only person to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season (1975).
Just thought I’d throw this out there. Manny has not hit a walk-off homerun since 1996.
Manny’s family was sitting in the Green Monster seats tonight.
Terry Francona got tossed in the 1st inning after a ball hit by J.D. Drew that hit off the top of the wall where the ridge is. Tim McClelland ruled it a double. After they ruled it a double, he got tossed. As he was leaving the field, he went back out to argue with the 2B umpire. Brad Mills finally came out and got him.
Orel Hershiser called in from ESPN and suggested the Red Sox paint the ridge a different color show they can check the ball afterwards.
Thom Brenneman and Joe Girardi will be doing the game for FOX tomorrow.
