The Boston Red Sox set an American League record and tied the modern MLB record with 12 runs in an inning before making an out on their way to a 13-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in front of 37,541 at Fenway Park.
The win for the Red Sox is their 10th in their last 11 games at Fenway Park as they improve to 18-11 on the season. The Indians drop to 11-18.
Tim Wakefield started this one for the Red Sox and threw the ball pretty good. He had a few wild spots here and there but kept the Red Sox in the game and gave them a chance to win. And they rewarded him with the 12 spot to pick up his fourth win of the year.
He went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3. Manny Delcarmen allowed a hit and had a strikeout in his inning while Javier Lopez allowed a run on two hits in an inning. Takashi Saito finished it off with a perfect inning.
Jeremy Sowers got the start for the Tribe had a relatively easy time getting through the Sox order the first two times. The third time through though he wasn’t so fortunate. He ended up going 5+ innings and allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks with a strikeout.
Masa Kobayashi was awful out of the bullpen for Cleveland as he gave up 5 runs on 5 hits without recording an out. Matt Herges worked 2 innings and allowed a run on a hit. Jensen Lewis mopped up with a perfect inning.
The Red Sox pounded out 13 hits on the night with Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew as the only ones not to record one.
Julio Lugo got the start at DH tonight and had three hits to lead the Sox. Jason Bay added 2 hits, a double and 3-run homer and led the team with 4 RBIs. Dustin Pedroia also had two hits and 3 RBIs while Jeff Bailey had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Rocco Baldelli and George Kottaras each had a hit and 2 RBIs with Nick Green having the other two hits for the local nine.
Lugo got things started in the bottom of the 1st when he led off with triple. He quickly came in as Pedroia drove him in with a RBI single to put the Red Sox up 1-0.
Things stayed that way until the top of the 5th.
Matt LaPorta led off with a single and went to third on a Luis Valbuena double. LaPorta tied the game up at 1 when he scored on a wild pitch by Wakefield with Ben Francisco at the plate. Wake ended up hitting Francisco with a pitch. Asdrubal Cabrera gave the Indians the lead with a sac fly scoring Valbuena. Francisco moved up to third on a wild pitch with Victor Martinez at the plate who ended up walking. Wake escaped any further damage though when he got Mark DeRosa to ground into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
The record setting inning came in the 6th.
Lugo once again got things started with a single off of Sowers. Pedroia worked a walk and Bay followed with a double to score Lugo to tie the game at 2 as Pedroia stopped at third. Sowers decided to intentionally walk Lowell. The move didn’t pay off though as Baldelii drove in 2 with a single with Lowell getting himself over to third. Sowers walked Drew to reload the bases and that ended his night.
Kobayashi came in and was greeted by a Bailey double that scored Lowell and Baldelli to put the Sox up 6-2. Green worked a walk and Kottaras laced a single to center to score Drew and Bailey. Lugo then reached on an infield single to reload the bases a third time. Pedroia singled to bring in Green and Kottaras to push the lead to 10-2 and ended Kobayashi’s evening.
Herges came in and was greeted rudely by Bay, who put the exclamation point on the game with a 3-run homer to make it 13-2. Herges finally got out of the inning by getting Lowell to ground out, Baldelli to strike out and Drew grounded out to second.
The Indians scored their final run in the 8th on a Josh Barfield single and Ryan Garko double.
Good win for the Red Sox tonight as they were able to battle back and hang tough against Sowers. They got the timely hits when they were needed and rewarded Wakefield with the win.
Let’s hope they didn’t use up all the hits and runs tonight as the Tampa Bay Rays come to town after a 2-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Brad Penny gets the start for the Red Sox at 7:10 PM and he’ll be opposed by James Shields.
Notes and musings:
Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox 5.7.09 box score
Tim Wakefield is making his 22nd career start (27th appearance) against the Indians, his 2nd this season. His 11 career wins vs. Cleveland are second most, trailing Randy Johnson’s 13.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 15 with a mild right shoulder strain is slated to make his second rehab start with Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday (May 10) at 1:05 p.m. at the Columbus Clippers (Indians).
Jason Bay has a Major League-best 5 homers in close and late situations (7th inning or later with his team ahead by one run, tied, or with the tying run on base, at bat or on deck). He is one shy of last year’s team leader in that category as Kevin Youkilis hit 6 close and late homers in 2008.
Red Sox on streaks:
- Jacoby Ellsbury has a 4-game hitting streak
- Mike Lowell saw his 3-game hitting streak come to an end
- David Ortiz has a 3-game hitting streak
