Just when it looked like the Boston Red Sox would get out of the basement after their third straight win, this one being a 7-5 win over the Miami Marlins, the Toronto Blue Jays rallied for two runs in the 9th to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-9.
Nonetheless, the Red Sox are still playing decent baseball and that was evidenced last night when Clay Buchholz, who’s been pretty dominant of late, wasn’t at his best. Fortunately for him, the offense had has back with three home runs.
Buchholz had a rough start to the game, giving up a two-run homer to Logan Morrison in the 1st inning. Actually, it was LoMo who responsible for the five runs Buchholz gave up in his six innings of work.
LoMo’s RBI double in the 3rd cut the Marlins deficit to 4-3. His two-run double in the 5th tied the game up at 5.
When the Red Sox and Buchholz faced the Marlins back in Miami last week, it was LoMo who hit a home run for the only run Clay allowed in the win. The good thing for Buchholz is that his batterymate last night, Kelly Shoppach, owns Marlins starter Mark Buehrle like LoMo owns him.
After David Ortiz had tied the game up in the 1st with a two-run blast, Shoppach came through with a two-run blast of his own that pushed the Red Sox lead to 4-2. After LoMo’s RBI double cut the lead to one, Cody Ross returned to the lineup with a solo home run to push the lead back to two runs.
The Red Sox got the lead for good in the 5th when Giancarlo Stanton robbed Adrian Gonzalez of extra bases. But it did bring in a run when Mike Aviles tagged up and scored. They added an insurance run in the 6th when Will Middlebrooks doubled in Kevin Youkilis.
The bullpen picked up Buchholz as they have for other pitchers since late April.
Matt Albers worked 2/3 of an inning striking out one with Andrew Miller finishing off that inning. Vicente Padilla came in and allowed one hit but retired the side without incident. And Alfredo Aceves, who had a rough time his last time out, struck out two of the three batters he faced to pick up his 17th save of the season.
In regards to what the media is reporting about the Red Sox clubhouse being toxic (the players denied it as you’ll see in some of the links below), how much of this are we supposed to believe. While I do think there’s a little discourse, I think the media is overplaying it to get readers or hits for their website. Sure no one on the Red Sox is going to come out and say there is but from the outside you don’t see it.
The Red Sox have had 19 players go on the disabled list and the players who have come in have done a great job and seem to have fit in well.
I guess the only way we’ll ever find out is if one of the players leave the team.
We’ll be back later 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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Fenway perk [Boston Globe]
Thumbs down on Pedroia [Boston Globe]
Beckett gets positive report [Boston Globe]
Red Sox open homestand with win [Boston Herald]
Sore Dustin Pedroia exits early [Boston Herald]
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria unfazed by swoon [Boston Herald]
Clubhouse not toxic, but will be if Sox continue to stumble [Boston Herald]
Ryan Kalish takes lumps, still has ‘fun’ night [Boston Herald]
Who are you callin’ Toxic? Sox top Marlins, 7-5 [CSN New England]
Beckett glad he was ‘overruled’ and placed on DL [CSN New England]
Kalish stumbles in return to Fenway [CSN New England]
Buchholz loses mental battle, but earns eighth win [CSN New England]
Pedroia leaves game; Sox taking wait-and-see approach [CSN New England]
Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 7, Marlins 5 [ESPN Boston]
Pedroia leaves game after reinjuring thumb [ESPN Boston]
Ross gives Kalish pick-me-up [ESPN Boston]
Bobby Valentine: ‘We’ll have a winning record at home’ [Full Count]
Closing Time: Red Sox move above .500; Dustin Pedroia’s thumb acts up [Full Count]
Ryan Kalish: ‘I can smile about it now’ [Full Count]
Graduation Day: Jackie Bradley Jr. is ready for Double-A…and more [Full Count]
Toxic or not, Red Sox must earn their way back [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
Carl Crawford Shows Off Power, Determination in Anticipation of Return to Red Sox Lineup [NESN.com]
Dustin Pedroia Fears He May Have Re-Aggravated Thumb Injury, But Severity Currently Unknown [NESN.com]
Clay Buchholz Battles Without Best Stuff, Hangs On For Win [NESN.com]
Red Sox Lineup Serves Notice It Will Pack Wallop With Cody Ross Back in Fold [NESN.com]
Pedroia, Sox hope thumb injury isn’t serious [RedSox.com]
Ellsbury, Crawford take steps forward [RedSox.com]
Sox take exception to ‘toxic’ clubhouse report [RedSox.com]
Ross returns as Podsednik heads to DL [RedSox.com]
No structural damage, Beckett likely back soon [RedSox.com]
Breaking the cycle: Why Doubront’s emergence is a very big deal for the Red Sox [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
It’s time for Kevin Youkilis to go [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, be sure to head over to the Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post and South Florida Sun-Sentinel websites. Also be sure to check out our Bloguin brother Marlins Big Catch for all of your Marlins needs.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: Getty Images
