After a miserable game on Friday against the Texas Rangers, things didn’t get off to the best start again on Saturday for the Boston Red Sox.
They had Erik Bedard on the mound seeking his first win in a Red Sox uniform in his sixth try. But after giving up three runs early on, it wasn’t looking so hot for the local nine. But they staged a massive comeback in the 4th inning and when all was said and done, Bedard had picked his first Red Sox victory in their 12-7 win over the Rangers.
And despite the win, they remain a ½ game behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East since the Yanks beat the Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox lead in the AL Wild Card remains at nine games as well.
Rangers starter Colby Lewis got off to a rough start in the 4th inning after Josh Reddick, who had four hits on the day before leaving at the end of the 8th after being hit a by a pitch, led off with a single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia made it a tie game at three with a monstrous blast to right field. Lewis then got Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out before being chased from the game on a Dustin Pedroia single.
The wheels on the Rangers bus fell off with Yoshinori Tateyama as he had to issue intentional walks to two of the first three batters he faced in Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz. Those intentional walks were sandwiched by the second out of the inning courtesy of the bat of Kevin Youkilis. Mike Aviles pinch-hit for Jed Lowrie who left with shoulder tightness and delivered a big single that scored one run and put the Red Sox ahead for good.
Carl Crawford then made Tateyama pay as he hit his first grand slam in a Red Sox uniform and the rout was on from there. They get one more that inning and then would add three more in the 6th when Pedroia hit a bases clearing double off of Mark Hamburger (insert your hamburger jokes here).
As good as the offense was in the 4th inning when they scored eight runs, there’s still plenty of questions about the bullpen.
After throwing a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th inning, Dan Wheeler was roughed up for three runs and four hits in the 8th. Franklin Morales was okay but he gave up a mammoth home run to Esteban German.
Right now these guys are auditioning for bullpen spots come playoff time. Wheeler had actually been throwing the ball since returning from the DL so you can only hope this was just a minor bump in the road. While Morales has been here since May, he’s been up and down with his outings. With Felix Doubront in the mix as the go-to lefty in the pen, Morales is going to need to pitch much better.
There’s three spots locked up in the bullpen right now for the postseason in Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves. After that it’s a crap shoot. Terry Francona is going to need someone to emerge or should I say reemerge over the course of the rest of this month as the season wraps up.
As good as the offense is, without the strong bullpen behind them, it might be for naught. And as you can tell here, I’m not too worried about the starting pitching. Sure there’s some questions there with Bedard and John Lackey but personally I think it’ll be all right.
We’ll be back lin a short while with this afternoon’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links below by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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A grandiose win for Red Sox [Boston Globe]
Albers gets mechanical [Boston Globe]
Bedard is finally over hump [Boston Globe]
Red Sox break out bats [Boston Herald]
Regular thrill kill: Sox, Rangers offer little for playoff preview [Boston Herald]
Jed Lowrie improving by degree [Boston Herald]
Big bats back Erik Bedard in 1st win [Boston Herald]
Jed Lowrie exits early, should be OK [Boston Herald]
Sox’ turn for offensive explosion, 12-7 [CSN New England]
Bedard picks up first Sox win [CSN New England]
Notes: Crawford delivers grand performance [CSN New England]
Rapid reaction: Red Sox 12, Rangers 7 [ESPN Boston]
Closing time: Red Sox offense comes alive in big win [Full Count]
Josh Reddick’s X-rays negative, Jed Lowrie likely to miss Sunday [Full Count]
Carl Crawford bounces back from illness [Full Count]
Red Sox finally give Erik Bedard run support, and he finally wins [Full Count]
Bottom of Red Sox Order Comes to the Rescue in Rout of Rangers [Full Count]
X-Rays Negative on Josh Reddick’s Left Hand, Jed Lowrie Likely Out Sunday [Full Count]
Matt Barnes Making The Best Of His Gift [Hartford Courant]
Eight-run fourth gives Bedard first Boston win [Providence Journal]
Former teammates Saltalamacchia and Harrison have seen each other blossom [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Lowrie’s defense has suffered in shift of fortunes [Providence Journal]
Bedard could be postseason factor with Sox [RedSox.com]
Cutter paying big dividends for Bowden [RedSox.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Dallas Morning News, ESPN Dallas and Ft. Worth Star Telegram websites.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
Photo credit: Getty Images
