Around 7:15 last night with the Boston Red Sox already enjoying a nice lead over the Toronto Blue Jays, the winds in the New England picked up. And that was because a collective sigh of relief was let out by Red Sox fans after the team issued this statement about the injured ankle of one Josh Beckett:
“Josh was evaluated today at the Massachusetts General Hospital by the Red Sox medical staff, including team foot and ankle specialist, Dr. George Theodore. Josh experienced pain in his ankle while pitching last night. His examination was consistent with an ankle sprain. An MRI was performed that confirmed no other injury to his ankle tendons, or his Achilles tendon. We will re-evaluate his symptoms and availability later this week.”
So the good news is that there’s nothing serious. Skipper Terry Francona said before the game that Beckett will miss his next start, which would have been against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend.
The bad news about this is how much do we really trust the Red Sox medical staff. We’ve heard time and time again with certain players that there’s been nothing wrong only to see them out for a longer period of time. Let’s certainly hope this isn’t the case this time around. After all, the Red Sox are in the middle of a pennant chase right now and they need all their horses.
After the offense was virtually non-existent on Monday against the Jays, the team pounded out 20 hits last night in their 14-0 win. Before Jon Lester had even taken the mound, they had a 4-0 lead.
Almost everyone who started the game for the Red Sox was a hitter last night. The only member of the starting nine without a hit was Dustin Pedroia who was 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
Hitting 5th and 6th in the lineup last night, David Ortiz and Marco Scutaro led the way with four hits a piece. Scutaro also led the way with four RBIs with Big Papi added two RBIs. Adrian Gonzalez chipped in with three hits and two RBIs. Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis and Darnell McDonald all added two hits to the cause.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s only hit of the night was good for a two-run homer while Josh Reddick‘s only hit of the night after taking over for Ellsbury was a solo home run.
Of the 20 hits by the Red Sox last night, nine of them went for doubles and 11 were for extra bases. They also reached base five times via the walk and were 9-for-25 (.360) with runners in scoring position.
We shouldn’t forget what Lester did either. He went seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and just one walk while striking out eleven Blue Jays. The only Blue Jays player who didn’t strikeout that started the game was Eric Thames.
Despite the big win though, the Red Sox remain 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East after the Yanks beat the Orioles in a game that finished at about 2:15 a.m. The lead in the AL Wild Card is back up to eight games over the Tampa Bay Rays after they were shutout last night by C.J. Wilson.
Hopefully the Red Sox saved some of those hits and runs for Tim Wakefield who goes for career win No. 200 yet again tonight.
We’ll be back in a later with tonight’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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Makeup game [Boston Globe]
Sixth sense moved Scutaro [Boston Globe]
Buchholz makes slow progress [Boston Globe]
No damage to ankle tendons of Beckett [Boston Globe]
Red Sox get better of Jays [Boston Herald]
Clay Buchholz wants to pitch in [Boston Herald]
Josh Beckett’s ankle sprain a relief [Boston Herald]
Marco Scutaro ‘s sixth sense [Boston Herald]
A’s already have nothing to show for Jackson [Clubhouse Insider]
Sox blast Jays with 20 hits in 14-0 win [CSN New England]
Beckett’s injury nothing more than ankle sprain [CSN New England]
Notes: Dependable Lester dominant again [CSN New England]
Sox can breathe easy — for a day [ESPN Boston]
Sox bats made history in rout [ESPN Boston]
Closing Time: Red Sox bats unload while Jon Lester dominates in win over Blue Jays [Full Count]
Jon Lester hitting his stride at just the right time [Full Count]
Red Sox Lineup Takes Out Frustrations on Toronto Pitching As Perfect Night Rights Ship [NESN.com]
Hit parade for Lester [Providence Journal]
Ellsbury proving he’s few and far between [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Buchholz feels fine after latest outing [Providence Journal]
Marco Scutaro intent on making the future a little less uncertain [Rob Bradford – 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 papers, head over to the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail websites.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
