Batting Order:

Julio Lugo SS
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Lowell 3B
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B

batting order:

David DeJesus CF
Mark Grudzielanek 2B
Mark Teahen RF
Mike Sweeney DH
Alex Gordon 3B
Ryan Shealy 1B
Ross Gload LF
John Buck C
Tony Pena Jr. SS

Top 1: Gil Meche pitching for the Royals

  • 1st batter: Julio Lugo: Struck out on a full count 91 mph fastball. 1 out
  • 2nd batter: Kevin Youkilis: single to right field on a 2 strike count.
  • 3rd batter: David Ortiz: double to the left field gap, Youkilis scores from first, 1-0 Red Sox
  • 4th batter: Manny Ramirez: long fly ball out to centerfield. 2 outs.
  • 5th batter: J.D. Drew: Walk
  • 6th batter: Mike Lowell: strikeout. 3 outs.

Red Sox 1 Royals 0

Bottom 1: Curt Schilling pitching for the Red Sox

  • 1st batter: David Dejesus: Long flyball to rightfield. 1 out
  • 2nd batter: Mark Grudzielanek: single to left field
  • 3rd batter: Mark Teahen- single to centerfield. Grudzielanek advances to 2nd.
  • 4th batter: Mike Sweeney- single to right field. Grudzielanek advances to third, Teahen to 2nd
  • 5th batter: Alex Gordon- strikeout on a splitter. 2 outs
  • 6th batter: Ryan Shealy- walks. Grudzielanek scores, Teahen to 3rd, Sweeney to 2nd. Red Sox 1 Royals 1
  • 7th batter: Ross Gload- flyball to centerfield. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 1

Tough spot for Royals rookie Alex Gordon to come up in. First ML at-bat with the bases loaded against Curt Schilling. Meche is struggling a little bit. Curt Schilling is struggling with his command especially with his changeup.

Top of the 2nd: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Jason Varitek- pops out to 2B. 1 out
  • Coco Crisp- grounds out to 2B. 2 outs
  • Dustin Pedroia- single to left field. thrown out trying to advance to 2nd on the play. 3 outs.

Red Sox 1 Royals 1

Bottom of the 2nd: Schilling pitching for the Red Sox

  • John Buck- grounds out to SS. 1 out
  • Tony Pena, Jr- triple to CF
  • DeJesus- strikeout on a 92 mph fastball. 2 outs
  • Grudzielanek- single to RF; Pena, Jr scores. Red Sox 1 Royals 2
  • Teahen- strikeout on a splitter. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 2

Did someone tell Dustin Pedroia he suddenly got fast? Schilling is having trouble with his command and locating his changeup.

Top of 3rd: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Lugo- strikes out on a fastball. 1 out
  • Youkilis- long flyball to RF. 2 outs
  • Big Papi-grounds out to 1B. 3 outs.

Red Sox 1 Royals 2

Bottom of 3rd: Schilling pitching for the Red Sox

  • Sweeney: flyball to CF. 1 out
  • Gordon- strikes out on a splitter. 2 outs.
  • Shealy- grounds out to 3B. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 2

Both Schilling and Meche seem to be getting things under control now. Poor Alex Gordon. He has struck out twice on a steady diet of breaking balls from Schilling.

Top of the 4th: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Ramirez- grounds out to 3B. 1 out
  • Drew- single to RF
  • Lowell- fielders choice to 3B. Drew out at 2nd. 2 outs
  • Varitek- strike out on a backdoor slider. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 2

Bottom of the 4th: Schilling pitching for the Sox.

  • Gload- grounds out to 2B. 1 out
  • Buck- double to LF.
  • Pena Jr.- walks.
  • DeJesus- long flyball to LF. 2 outs.
  • Grudzielanek- double to RF. Buck and Pena Jr. score. Red Sox 1 Royals 4
  • Teahen- single to CF, Grudzielanek scores. Red Sox 1 Royals 5
  • Sweeney-strikes out on checked swing. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 5

Meche has his 12 to 6 curveball working nicely. Jerry Remy just commented that this might be his best pitch. Schilling once again is struggling and really doesn’t have any command of his pitches. It will be interesting to see what he has to say in his blog about the game. Grudzielanek is 3 for 3 in the game and Teahen 2 for 3.

Top of the 5th: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Crisp- strikeout on a 92 mph fastball. 1 out
  • Pedroia-groundout to SS. 2 outs.
  • Lugo- strikeout on a curveball. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 5

Bottom of the 5th: Javier Lopez now pitching for the Red Sox.

  • Gordon- HBP
  • Shealy- grounds into DP, Gordon out at 2nd, Shealy out at 1st. 2 outs
  • Gload- grounds out to 1B. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 5

Great range by Pena Jr. on the ground ball up the middle by Pedroia. Meche has really gotten control of his pitches. He now has 6 strikeouts. Schillings final line: 4 innings pitched, 8 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strike outs.

Top of the 6th: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Youkilis-infield single. Youkilis out at 2B trying to advance on throw that got past 1B. 1 out
  • Big Papi- HBP
  • Manny- grounds into a DP. Papi out at 2B, Manny out at 1B. 3 outs.

Red Sox 1 Royals 5

Bottom of the 6th: Hideki “Darkman” Okajima pitching for the Red Sox

  • Buck- 420 foot HR to CF. Red Sox 1 Royals 6
  • Pena, Jr.- strikeout on a high fastball. 1 out
  • DeJesus- long flyball to CF. 2 outs
  • Grudzielanek- ground out to 3B. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 6

Stupid stupid move by Youkilis. Down four runs, he needs to be sure he can make it there. Two stupid baserunning mistakes so far by the Red Sox. First pitch in the big leagues by Okajima, a first pitch fastball driven out of the ballpark. Welcome to the big leagues. Jerry Remy is now complaining the Royals gave the members of the media boxed lunches. As much as I like ya RemDawg, quit your bitching. There are people starving in this world that don’t even have food. So be happy you even got a meal.

Top of the 7th inning: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Drew- grounds out to 1B. 1 out
  • Lowell- flyball to LF. 2 outs
  • Varitek- grounds out to SS. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 6

Bottom of the 7th inning: Okajima pitching for the Red Sox

  • Teahen- strikeout on a high fastball. 1 out
  • Sweeney- single to LF.
  • Gordon- ground out to 1B. Sweeney advances to 2B. 2 outs

Brendan Donnelly is now pitching for the Red Sox.

  • Shealy- strikeout on a fastball. 3 outs.

Red Sox 1 Royals 6

I am impressed with the way Meche has settled down here. He has a lot of pressure on him with the big contract. Other than the first inning where he threw 27 pitches, he has been very effective with his command and control of his pitches. Okajima didn’t look all that bad after giving up the home run.

Top of the 8th inning: Meche pitching for the Royals

  • Crisp- grounds out to 1B. 1 out
  • Pedroia- single to CF.

Joel Peralta is now pitching for the Royals.

  • Lugo- singles to CF. Pedroia advances to 2B.
  • Youkilis- strikes out on 88 mph fastball. 2 outs
  • Papi- strikes out on splitter. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 6

Bottom of the 8th: Joel Piñero now pitching for the Red Sox

  • Gload- infield single of the 1B bag.
  • Buck- popup to SS. 1 out
  • Pena, Jr.- triple to deep LF. Gload scores. Red Sox 1 Royals 7

J.C. Romero now pitching for the Red Sox

  • DeJesus- grounds out to 1B. 2 outs
  • Grudzielanek- flyball to CF. 3 outs

Red Sox 1 Royals 7

Meche came off to a standing ovation from the Royals crowd. Meche’s pitching line: 7 1/3 innings pitched, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts. Papi is normally clutch with runners in scoring position but Peralta fed him a steady diet of breaking stuff. I am guessing that Francona isn’t real happy about quitting dipping right now with this game.

Top of the 9th inning: Peralta pitching for the Royals.

  • Manny-strike out on a splitter. 1 out
  • Pinch hitting for Drew, Wily Mo Peña-strike out on a splitter. 2 outs
  • Lowell- double to LF
  • Varitek- fly out to RF. 3 outs

Final score: Royals 7 Red Sox 1

WP: Gil Meche 1-0
LP: Curt Schilling 0-1

To see the boxscore, click here.