It wasn’t the prettiest of hits but it was a hit nonetheless. It was also a hit that may have saved the season for the Boston Red Sox, albeit temporarily for now.
A RBI single in the 9th by Mike Aviles helped give the Red Sox a 2-1 win over the Texas Rangers last night.
Mired in a slump, Aviles got a chance to be the hero after Daniel Nava and pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked two out walks off of Rangers closer Joe Nathan. Aviles took an offering down and away off the end of the bat that just got over Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus that allowed Nava to score.
Alfredo Aceves stayed drama free in the 9th for the most part, sans a two-out walk to Mike Napoli after retiring the first two batters on two pitches, to pick up his 21st save of 2012.
Offensively, the Red Sox weren’t able to do much against a Rangers spot starter.
Martin Perez, filling in for Colby Lewis who was lost for the season, baffled the Red Sox hitters for the most part as he allowed five hits over six innings of work. One of those hits came off the bat of Kelly Shoppach who brought in Cody Ross with a deep double right field. Ross had reached on a leadoff walk to start the 4th and we all know what happens when you walk someone to start the inning. It comes back to haunt you.
Texas native Will Middlebrooks managed two hits while Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez each had one as well.
Equal to the task was Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz who is turning into a top of the rotation guy. One might say he is the ace of the Red Sox staff.
After a rough start to the season, at least ERA wise, Buchholz has been slowly but surely turning things around as of late. You have to think that if he hadn’t missed two starts due to the esophagitis, his ERA might even be lower than 4.93 (where it stands now).
Despite the Texas heat, Buchholz was able to go seven innings last night. And given how much the bullpen has been used because of the inability of other starters to go deep, he’s been a godsend.
He had good life on his fastball as well as excellent command of all of his pitches. He worked in his changeup as well and seemed to be in complete control. The only run he allowed came on a Josh Hamilton groundout that scored Andrus who had reached on a double and had gone to third on a wild pitch from Buchholz.
Yes, it’s only one win, a win that ended a four-game losing streak. But had they lost, it would have been five straight losses and maybe changed whether the Red Sox were contenders or pretenders. While we aren’t sure what they are still, the fact remains that they still have a chance to make the postseason.
They are still only four games out of the second wild card spot with 64 games left to go in the season. There’s no reason why the Red Sox can’t make it. They just need to be consistent and get better efforts out of their starting pitching staff as a whole. They can’t simply rely on Buchholz and Felix Doubront.
Is a trade the answer? It could be. But IF Jon Lester and Josh Beckett can figure things out, that’s as good as trade in my book.
One question remains. Is that good enough for GM Ben Cherington?
We can only sit back and watch to find out that answer.
We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Aviles lifts Sox in ninth [boston globe]
Wild outing for reliever Padilla [boston globe]
Crawford OK with latest drop in the lineup [boston globe]
Mike Aviles to the rescue [boston herald]
Clay Buchholz shows his ace card [boston herald]
Carl Crawford has perspective about drop in Sox lineup [boston herald]
Roy Oswalt offers details on deal [boston herald]
Ortiz receives clearance to remove boot [rob bradford – weei.com]
Sox win it on Aviles’ ninth-inning single, 2-1 [csn new england]
Aviles comes through in clutch once again [csn new england]
Buchholz rises to the occasion in win over Rangers [csn new england]
Middlebrooks feeling right at home [espn boston]
Ortiz says he’s feeling much better [espn boston]
Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 2, Rangers 1 [espn boston]
Valentine reluctant to test Crawford’s elbow [espn boston]
Video: Buyers or sellers? [espn boston]
Closing Time: Red Sox win on Mike Aviles’ ninth-inning single [full count]
Ryan Sweeney Turns to Laser Eye Surgery to Improve Hitting, Fielding [nesn.com]
Jon Lester, Red Sox Pitchers Struggles Can Be Partially Attributed to Jason Varitek’s Absence [don orsillo – nesn.com]
Lillibridge traded to Indians for pitching prospect [redsox.com]
Red Sox gear up to face Ichiro with Yanks [redsox.com]
Crawford bats seventh, removed for defense late [redsox.com]
The improbable success story of Mike Aviles [alex speier – weei.com]
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 Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram websites.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: ap photo
