You certainly couldn’t tell that the Boston Red Sox were without three of their All-Star players in David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury on Sunday afternoon. Especially when you’re getting contributions from Darnell McDonald, Ryan Lavarnway and Jason Varitek.
Those three players had strong afternoons in helping the Red Sox to a 6-1 win over the Kansas City Royals in the series finale. And even though the Red Sox won, they remain a ½ behind the New York Yankees since they also won on Sunday.
After achieving folk hero status in 2010, DMac has slipped off the radar a little bit. He had a poor start to the 2011 season but after a stint on the DL, his numbers have improved. After a single in the 4th, it looked like his bad ways would continue when he was made a baserunning error.
However, he would redeem himself in the 6th with a solo home run that gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. They had gotten the lead in the 5th when Varitek hit his first triple since 2007 to drive in Jed Lowrie who had led off the inning with an infield single.
Lavarnway may find himself back in Triple-A when Big Papi returns possibly during this four-game set in Texas. But once again he helped out with another two hits and added the second RBI of his young career. That RBI came in the 7th when he just missed his first career home run by about a foot or so. It ended up being a double that knocked in Adrian Gonzalez who had singled earlier in the inning to drive in a run.
Heck even Carl Crawford got in on the action with a solo home run, a monstrous 437 foot blast to right center.
Jon Lester started this one for the Red Sox and while not spectacular, he got the job done. With a tight strike zone like the one Jim Reynolds had on Sunday afternoon, it was hard for Lester to be great. He uncharacteristically walked four batters as as result of the strike zone. But like a good pitcher, Lester kept battling and gave his team the chance to win.
He ran into some trouble in the 7th inning when he allowed a lead-off triple and a walk. He was chased from the game with a 3-1 lead after Mike Moustakas brought in KC’s first run of the game with a single. He gave way to Daniel Bard who inherited two runners. By the time all was said and done in the 7th, those two inherited runners were left stranded on the bases.
Although they were spanked 10-0 on Sunday, the Texas Rangers are still one of the hotter teams in the MLB right now. And we know the Red Sox would like none better than to exact some revenge on the Rangers who took the first three games of the 2011 season from the Red Sox.
Whether it might be an ALDS or ALCS preview remains to be seen right now. But you can bet that while the Red sox will look for the revenge factor, these upcoming four games should be fun to watch.
Hopefully the role players can do their jobs for the Red Sox and back up what we hope to be some strong starting pitching.
We’ll be back later today with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and more for this evening’s game. 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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Stitched-up Sox [Boston Globe]
Varitek gets up to speed [Boston Globe]
If team can stay on track, Game 1 starter pick a real horse race [Boston Globe]
Shorthanded Sox get road boost from Jon Lester, Bard [Boston Herald]
Darnell McDonald delivers against lefty [Boston Herald]
Jarrod Saltalamacchia emerges as reliable No. 1 catcher [Boston Herald]
Under the microscope: Carl Crawford [Boston Herald]
Sox take series finale from Royals, 6-1 [CSN New England]
McDonald finds his groove vs. Royals [CSN New England]
Notes: Bard once again rock solid out of pen [CSN New England]
Ortiz takes BP, but not done with boot [ESPN Boston]
Rapid reaction: Sox 6, Royals 1 [ESPN Boston]
Varitek helps fill offensive void [ESPN Boston]
Josh Beckett on his new ’10-5′ rights: ‘It’s a pretty cool thing to have’ [Full Count]
Closing Time: Jon Lester, Darnell McDonald lead the way in Red Sox win over Royals [Full Count]
Daniel Bard showed once again why he loves these sort of moments [Full Count]
Video: Jason Varitek Hits First Triple Since 2007, Jokes That He Likes to ‘Space Them Out’ [NESN.com]
Red Sox Display Ability to Shrug Aside Issues, Show Up and Grind in Winning Series at Kansas City [NESN.com]
This time, Boston’s bullpen comes through [Providence Journal]
Red Sox have to show that they can compete in Texas [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Even while playing DH, Lavarnway works hard on his defense [Providence Journal]
Noting the Red Sox [Nuggetpalooza]
Why Erik Bedard might be a better fit in Boston than many imagined [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
For Red Sox, time to hone in on the Rangers [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
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 Kansas City Star and the Topeka Capital-Journal websites.
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Photo credit: AP Photo
