On a night that got off on the wrong foot for the Red Sox, David “Big Papi” Ortiz saved the day with a 2-run walk-off home run against Devil Rays closer Al Reyes to give them a 5-4 win. Big Papi’s 10th walk-off home run of his career allowed the Sox to maintain their 5 game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees. He also drove in all 5 runs on the night with 2 home runs.
Jon Lester started for the Olde Towne team and he got shellacked in the 1st inning. Akinori Iwamura led off with a walk and went to second on a Carl Crawford ground out to Kevin Youkilis at first. The uber-hot Carlos Peña brought home the first run of the night with a single. Peña would come around to score on a B.J Upton home run on a pitch left up in the zone by Lester. Delmon Young provided the second out of the inning as he grounded out. Brendan Harris followed that up with a double to right. Jonny Gomes delivered Harris to the plate with a single for a 4-0 Devil Rays lead. Lester seemed a little flustered as he issued a walk to Dioner Navarro. However he got out of the inning with a strikeout of Josh Wilson on his 32nd pitch of the inning.
The Sox had a great chance to get back in the game in the 2nd. After a Youk fly out, J.D. Drew singled. D’Rays starter Edwin Jackson got Jason Varitek to fly out for the second out of the inning. Brandon Moss, in for the Jacoby Ellsbury tonight, hit a double moving Drew to third. Jackson then walked Coco Crisp but got out of the inning as Eric Hinske grounded out to second.
Lester didn’t really have his best stuff tonight and struggled with his command. He left his breaking ball up in the zone and he didn’t have his best changeup. He gave up two singles in the 2nd and a walk and a single in the 3rd.
The local nine got back into the game in their half of the 3rd. Julio Lugo led off with a single and stole second while Dustin Pedroia was at the plate. Jackson ended up walking Pedroia setting the stage for Big Papi. He didn’t disappoint as he hit a 3-run homer to cut the Devil Rays lead to one run. Jackson got Youk to strike out then allowed a double to Drew. He did get out of the inning as he struck out Varitek and Moss.
After getting two outs in the 4th, Lester gave up a single to Young and was taken out of the game after 93 pitches in 3 2/3 innings. Julian “Yo Yo” Tavarez came in and got Harris to ground into a fielder’s choice for the final out. In those 3 2/3 innings, Lester gave up 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks and he struck out 5.
The Red Sox got some runners on base in the 5th inning but were unable to do anything with them. The same thing in the 6th inning as Coco reached and stole second.
Yo Yo was a godsend for the Red Sox tonight. His awesome outing tonight kept the Sox in the game. He went 3 innings, just allowing one walk. He gave way to Manny Delcarmen with 2 outs in the 7th. Delcarmen got pinch-hitter Greg Norton to hit a comebacker to him for the third out.
Gary Glover took over for Jackson in the 7th and got a little wild after he got the first two outs of the inning. He walked Drew and Youk but Varitek ended the inning with a ground out.
Navarro led off the 8th with a ground out to Youk at third. Wilson singled to right but Iwamura made the second out of the inning on a ground ball out with Wilson going to second. Hideki Okajima came in for Delcarmen and did his job by getting Crawford to strikeout. Another stellar outing by Okajima and Delcarmen.
Dan Wheeler set the D’Rays down in order in the 8th. Terry Francona went to his closer, Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th to keep the game close. He did his job as he got Peña to ground out, Upton to foul out and Young to ground out. Another job well done by Papelbon.
The Devil Rays turned to their closer Al Reyes in the bottom of the 9th. He started off the inning with a walk of the former D’Ray Lugo. He then got Pedroia on a weak fly ball to left setting the stage for Big Papi. On a 3-1 count with the green light, Big Papi took Reyes’ offering and put it down the right field line. Young went back on it and went to the corner and then realized it was behind him and he went for it but it landed in the second row of the right field seats for a 2-run walk-off home run.
Lester should be thanking his bullpen and Big Papi for turning his miserable outing into another win for the Red Sox. It’s been heart wrenching the past two days to watch the Sox but both games have ended positively. As Texy from Center Field said, she needs a day off. Well, she will get one as the Red Sox are off tomorrow before the big series with the Yankees that starts on Friday.
Notes and Musings:
Manny Ramirez was back on the field today taking batting practice. He took 34 swings and hit 3 out of the ballpark. It looks as though he should be back starting Friday against the New York Yankees.
Mike Lowell is out of the lineup tonight with what Terry Francona called “intestional turmoil”. He doesn’t know it from a stomach bug or from something he ate.
Jacoby Ellsbury is also out of the lineup tonight with a nagging wrist injury he aggravated when he crashed into the Green Monster last night.
PawSox manager Ron Johnson will join the team on Friday.
No word on when Clay Buchholz will take the mound again. He hasn’t pitched in almost a week now (last Thursday in Baltimore).
Josh Beckett will be holding his charity bowling event tomorrow night aptly named “Beckett Bowl”. Click here to check out the details.
After 26 straight starts with a decision, Tim Wakefield has not had one in his last two.
The Red Sox have announced the top 10 candidates and 1 dog for President of Red Sox Nation.
| 1. Mike Barnicle | Fitchburg, MA | Renowned Writer and TV/radio personality |
| 2. Cheryl Boyd | Holliston, MA | Great-niece of Elizabeth “Lib” Dooley |
| 3. Cindy Brown | Boston, MA | Head of Boston Duck Tours |
| 4. Jared Carrabis | Saugus, MA | Has worn a Red Sox shirt 1,400 days in a row |
| 5. Rob Crawford | Brookline, MA | “Regular Rob” raises funds for education |
| 6. Peter Gammons | Groton, MA | Baseball Hall of Famer, Legendary journalist |
| 7. Rich Garces | Nashua, NH | Former Red Sox relief pitcher |
| 8. Doris Kearns Goodwin | Concord, MA | Pulitzer Prize Winning Author |
| 9. Sam Horn | Providence, RI | Former Red Sox left-handed slugger |
| 10. Jerry Remy | Fall River, MA | Red Sox Hall of Famer and NESN analyst |
| And the Dog, “Big Pupi” | Austin, TX | Would establish a section for dogs, K-9 |
You can meet the candidates on September 19th from 6-9 PM at the Baseball Tavern near Fenway Park. The candidates will have a blog on redsox.com
The Red Sox are holding their drawing for playoff tickets. Head over to redsox.com to signup.
Big Papi now has 13 walk-off hits for the Red Sox.
This is Big Papi’s 5th straight season with 30 hrs and 100 RBI.
NESN will be replaying the no-hitter by Clay Buchholz tomorrow night at 7 PM in it’s entirety.
