Red Sox News & Notes – 8/13

Josh Reddick(notes) #16 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on August 12, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.

The Seattle Mariners home park of Safeco Field had only yielded 40 home runs all season long before last night’s game against the Boston red Sox. So it’s safe to say that Safeco isn’t a hitter’s park.

At the end of Friday night though, the Red Sox blasted three home runs but none was bigger than Josh Reddick‘s two-run homer in the 6th that would the Red Sox to an eventual 6-4 win.

With the win coupled with the New York Yankees losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox picked up a game on the Yankees in the AL East standings. That lead is now two games.

Early on it didn’t look the Red Sox would even have a chance. While he hadn’t lost in his last six starts (five wins, one no decision), John Lackey wasn’t exactly sharp. But what’s beginning to turn into the norm for Lackey, he settled down after a few roughing innings.

He gave up two runs in the bottom of the 1st but had the offense get them right back in the top of the 2nd on a David Ortiz mammoth blast and a Mike Aviles sacrifice fly. His struggles continued in the 2nd when he allowed another run and then again in the 4th. He would allow just two hits the rest of the way including two rare 1-2-3 innings which came back to back.

Lackey never really establish any sort of rhythm in the game. But instead of dwelling on the negatives of his outing, let’s look at the positives.

He looks healthy as his velocity has gotten a little higher over his little run. He’s now won six of his last seven starts. The main thing though is that he’s healthy and that can only bode well for him and the Red Sox down the stretch.

Of course when you have the Red Sox offense backing you up, it can make your suckiness all the more better.

Every member of the starting nine had at least one hit. Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Big Papi and Jarrod Saltalamacchia led the way with two each. Carl Crawford and Pedroia also added stolen bases.

Tonight’s matchup on the mound should be a heavyweight battle as Josh Beckett and Felix Hernandez take the hill. Hopefully the Red Sox offense can forget that it’s Beckett on the mound and pretend it’s someone else. Then maybe they’ll score more than 3.17 runs per game for him.

We’ll be back later with this evening’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now enjoy 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 run down Mariners [Boston Globe]

Digging deep on Gonzalez [Boston Globe]

Old stomping grounds for Big Papi [Boston Globe]

Sox overpower M’s [Boston Herald]

Long road leads to victory [Boston Herald]

Hernandez keeps Sox guessing [Boston Herald]

Youk, Scutaro back out [Boston Herald]

Lackey extends streak; homers pace Sox, 6-4 [CSN New England]

Bad backs sideline Youkilis, Scutaro [CSN New England]

Reddick turns good luck into good fortune [CSN New England]

Notes: Gonzalez still producing despite power dip [CSN New England]