One of the players, indirectly or directly responsible depending on your point of view, who played a role in Wednesday night’s loss for the Boston Red Sox to the Tampa Bay Rays, was a big reason why the Red Sox were winners on Thursday night.
Obviously Clay Buchholz didn’t balk in any runs last night so we are talking about Cody Ross. It was Ross who misjudged a fly ball the other night that allowed the Rays to get the winning run.
On Thursday night, he was huge at the plate.
After falling behind 0-2 with the bases loaded in the 1st inning against Rays starter Matt Moore, Ross got the count in his favor and eventually worked in a walk to force in a run. In the 3rd inning, his home run put the Red Sox up 3-0 after Marlon Byrd had homered in the 2nd to make it 2-0.
And with the Red Sox holding on to a 3-2 lead in the 8th, Ross knocked in two runs with a single to give them a little more breathing room.
It turned out they would need those two runs.
Vicente Padilla allowed a one-out double in the bottom half of the inning to Matthew Joyce then hit Rich Thompson. And after Ben Zobrist grounded into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners, Bobby Valentine went to his closer Alfredo Aceves who came in and allowed a run scoring single to B.J. Upton. He escaped any further damage after a wild pitch when he got Luke Scott to ground out to second.
Aceves had no issues in the bottom of the 9th when he got three groundouts to preserve the win for Red Sox starter Felix Doubront.
After throwing the ball well on Saturday night, Doubront gave the Red Sox a solid 5.2 innings last night. He did have a rough 4th inning after relatively cruising through his first three innings although there was a small bump in the 3rd.
Doubront almost got through the 3rd by throwing just six pitches but unfortunately Kelly Shoppach was called for catcher’s interference that allowed Upton to reach first. Then he hit Scott with a pitch and Jeff Keppinger followed with a run scoring single.
In the 4th, he got himself out of a mess he created when Scott lined out to Adrian Gonzalez to end the inning. That 4th inning ran up his pitch count and almost sent him to an early shower.
Before that though, Doubront was throwing well. He ended up striking out seven.
Obviously the high pitch counts for Doubront are a little troublesome. But when he’s be on, he’s been really effective. If he can work out his control issues when they do arise, he could end up being a very valuable weapon for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox are now off to Philadelphia where they’ll meet up with old friend Jonathan Papelbon. Hopefully the Red Sox will get to face him and exact their revenge on him for leaving. I kid I kid. Or am I?
We’ll be back later on today with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Red Sox pull out all the stops to beat the Rays [Boston Globe]
Let’s pick things up right here [Boston Globe]
Converted closer [Boston Globe]
Ranaudo eager for new start [Boston Globe]
Arguing too much would not be a good call [Boston Globe]
Ortiz prepared to take field [Boston Globe]
Cody Ross leads Sox past Rays [Boston Herald]
David Ortiz ready to play field [Boston Herald]
Red Sox in search of good news [Boston Herald]
Adrian Gonzalez call was no hit [Boston Herald]
Aviles: ‘I definitely lost my cool’ after call [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Ross leads Sox over Rays, 5-3 [CSN New England]
Sense of urgency fuels Sox victory [CSN New England]
Bullpen vital in Red Sox’ resurgence [CSN New England]
Ross makes amends with four-RBI game [CSN New England]
Valentine: Youk will rejoin Sox on trip [ESPN Boston]
Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 5, Rays 3 [ESPN Boston]
Aviles ejected, Pedroia upset with ump [ESPN Boston]
A-Gon barely misses calling his shot [ESPN Boston]
Boston Red Sox on a roll entering interleague play at Philadelphia Phillies [ESPN Boston]
David Ortiz showing ‘no fear’ as return to first base looms [Full Count]
Closing Time: Felix Doubront, Cody Ross help Red Sox get the upper-hand against the Rays [Full Count]
Matt Moore adds to the drama of Adrian Gonzalez’ home run guarantee [Full Count]
Jonathan Papelbon Needs to ‘Shut Up’ With Comments About Red Sox (Video) [NESN.com]
Cody Ross Continues to Prove Vital to Red Sox Success With All-Star Caliber Play [NESN.com]
Marlon Byrd Feeling More Confident After Hitting First Home Run With Red Sox (Video) [NESN.com]
Jonathan Papelbon Presents ‘Different Kind of Crazy’ in Closers Role (Video) [NESN.com]
Youkilis to resume rehab stint on Friday [RedSox.com]
Papi to break out first baseman’s mitt in Philly [RedSox.com]
Dice-K shaky again in Minors rehab start [RedSox.com]
Adrian’s homer prediction comes up short [RedSox.com]
Aviles loses his cool, earns first career ejection [RedSox.com]
Ross finds redemption with four-RBI night [RedSox.com]
What a relief: Sox’s bullpen comes up clutch [RedSox.com]
Why Daniel Bard is thinking a lot about hitting these days [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Podcast: A turn around the rotation [Touching All The Bases]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Tribune websites.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: Getty Images
