When Marco Scutaro started Friday night’s game against the Houston Astros with a solo home run, it looked as though the Boston Red Sox were going to have an easy night. But that was far from the case until the 7th inning when they put up six runs for a 7-5 comeback win.
Up until that point, the Red Sox found themselves trailing 5-1 as the Astros were able to take advantage of an ineffective Tim Wakefield. It’s not that Wakefield was completely bad but he gave up a lot of two strike hits. And those ultimately would hurt his bottom line.
Wake would allow a run in the 1st, two more in the 2nd and then single runs in the 5th and 6th. He’d finish the game after 5 1/3 innings where he allowed 11 hits. Wake didn’t walk anyone and also didn’t record a strikeout.
The bullpen was solid behind though as they threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. They only allowed two hits (Matt Albers and Jonathan Papelbon) while striking out four, including two by Daniel Bard.
After giving up that leadoff home run to Scutaro, Astros starter Bud Norris was pretty much unhittable. During that time, he did walk four (2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th innings) but they didn’t hurt him. He also struck out 10 including the side in the fourth inning. The next hit he would allow wouldn’t come until the 7th when the Red Sox strung three straight hits together and chased him from the game.
J. D. Drew got it going with a single and he would go to second on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia single. Josh Reddick‘s double scored Drew and cut the Astros lead to 5-2. Sergio Escalona took over for Norris and gave up an infield single to Drew Sutton, in for a sick Jacoby Ellsbury, that scored Salty.
Darnell McDonald pinch-hit for one time Astro Dan Wheeler and was hit by a pitch in the foot to load the sacks full of Sox. Wilton Lopez came in and struck out Scutaro for the first out of the inning. Then on a 2-1 count to Dustin Pedroia, Lopez was the benefactor of a strike call that Pedroia didn’t think was a strike. He would go back to the same area but because of the previous call, Pedroia put the ball down the first base line that brought in Reddick and Sutton to tie the game up at 5.
The best part of that at-bat though had to be Pedroia yelling at home plate umpire Lance Diaz as he was running down the base line. Let’s just say he had some choice words for what he thought of Diaz.
Adrian Gonzalez had been slumping as he had been one for his last 14 at the plate. But with the game on the line, Gonzo came through with a double off the wall in left to clear the bases and give the Red Sox the 7-5 lead. It’s actually hard to say Gonzo was slumping when he was hitting .348 at the time but it’s something we’re not used to seeing (him struggling at the dish).
We’ve seen this time and time again from the Red Sox. When they’re down, they don’t give up. And that bodes well for the future.
At the half way mark of the season, the Red Sox are 47-34 and are 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the lead in the AL East. Since it’s July, we can now start talking about the wild card and the local nine has the lead there by 2.5 games over the AL East brethren the Tampa Bay Rays.
If you throw out the awful start to the season, there’s no telling where the Red Sox could be. But it is what is. Interleague is almost over and the Red Sox can hopefully get back to mashing the pitching in the American League as they had been doing in the past.
Hopefully last night’s comeback win was the start of something special, like the June run that really kicked started things in their rise through the standings.
We’ll be back later today with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below.
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In the presence of greatness: Andrew Miller’s night with baseball royalty [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Red Sox nip it in the bud [Boston Globe]
Rooting from other dugout [Boston Globe]
All in all, not half bad [Boston Globe]
Times Co. sells part of holdings in Red Sox [Boston Globe]
Texas-sized rally [Boston Herald]
Crawford in holding pattern at home [Boston Herald]
Cameron knew time was running out [Boston Herald]
Sox prove not half bad [Boston Herald]
Sluggers come to Papi [Boston Herald]
Adrian Gonzalez likely bound for right field tonight [Clubhouse Insider]
Sox rally for 7-5 win over Astros [CSNNE.com]
Sox prove their worth when Astros stumble [CSNNE.com]
SoxProspects.com: Bests, worsts from June [ESPN Boston]
Reunions for Francona, Johnson [ESPN Boston]
Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 7, Astros 5 [ESPN Boston]
Ill Ellsbury might miss Saturday’s game, too [ESPN Boston]
Closing time: Red Sox explode for six-run seventh, complete comeback against Astros [Full Count]
Video: Adrian Gonzalez’ Consistency Starting to Warrant Him MVP Consideration [NESN.com]
Video: Dustin Pedroia: ‘I’m Out of My Mind Half the Time’ [NESN.com]
Jacoby Ellsbury, Latest Red Sox Player to Fall Ill, Questionable Saturday in Houston [NESN.com]
Offense roars back from behind [Providence Journal]
Epstein concedes Cameron signing was mistake [Providence Journal]
June full of highlights with some clunkers tossed in [Providence Journal]
Weiland showing dominance, new pitch [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Ortiz giving deep thought to Home Run Derby selections [Providence Journal]
Crawford gets to catch up with family, friends [RedSox.com]
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, you can head over to the Houston Chronicle website. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, Breathing Orange Fire.
Photo credit: Getty Images
