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THE RAYS and A ONE WAY
TICKET TO "MANNY-WOOD" ...
Big Papi and Pedroia
get it done
September 2,
2008 ...
The 10 runs the Red Sox scored in a two-inning span had to be
tempered by the fact that they did the battering against the
Baltimore Orioles. That being said, what a thrashing it was.
On a cool
summer evening at Fenway Park, where the scoreboard favorably showed Tampa Bay
trailing the Yankees all night, the Sox entertained 37,710 fans with a 14-2
victory over the Orioles in the 138th game of the season.
By the
fourth inning, David Ortiz had three hits (two doubles) and had knocked in four
runs. By the fourth inning, Dustin Pedroia, again hitting cleanup, had knocked
in four runs with a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer and was hearing more
"MVP! MVP!" chants. The Sox scored four in the third and six in the fourth, and
the rest was a walk in the Fens for Jon Lester, who improved to 13-5, working
only five innings.
There's a
cohesiveness to the team brought about, in part, by the many injuries it has had
to deal with. Even last night, the Sox had to adjust on the fly. Kevin Youkilis
has been missing lately because of a flulike illness, but last night he was
scratched from the lineup with back spasms. Francona instead put Jeff Bailey at
first base and rearranged the batting order, with Pedroia moving from his normal
second slot back to cleanup. No worries.
After
retiring Alex Cora to start the third inning, Liz loaded the bases on a Coco
Crisp bunt single and walks to Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie. That set the
stage for Ortiz's double to left-center that scored a pair of runs. Pedroia's
sacrifice fly made it 3-0, and Mark Kotsay's double to right scored the fourth
and final run of the frame.
In the
fourth, Bailey was the first of nine men to bat, six of whom would score. Bailey
led off with a single to left field. With one out, Crisp singled to center.
Ellsbury singled to knock in Bailey, and a walk to Lowrie loaded the base. Big
Papi struck again, with a ground-rule double to right that scored two, and
Pedroia then put one of his all-out swings on a fastball, crushing it into the
Monster Seats for a three-run homer that capped the six-run inning. The Sox
added a run in the fifth to make it a 10-run lead, 11-1, when Lowrie's
ground-rule double to right scored Bailey.
Lester
wasn't overwhelming, as he allowed six hits and one run, walked four and struck
out five. He threw 99 pitches, and given the lead, Francona felt enough was
enough and Manny Delcarmen came on in the sixth.
Pedroia
picked up his fifth RBI with a double in the seventh, and Jonathan Van Every
followed with an RBI single to make it 13-1.
The
seventh-inning stretch was more of a yawn, and "Sweet Caroline" was the cue for
many fans to call it a night. All they missed was Lowrie's sacrifice fly in the
eighth that scored the final run. |
