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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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BOSTON STRONG - April 13, 2013 ... It was a baseball game in its purest form, filled with a pitching duel between Jon Lester and David Price, vein-chilling managerial decisions, busy bullpens and a sparkly-clean third-base bag. Only three runners touched it all game. Joel Hanrahan suffered through his third appearance at Fenway and was lifted in the ninth after walking his first two batters in a tie game. Koji Uehara came on to get three straight outs and push it to extra innings. A ground ball hit into a five-man infield proved the difference, as Shane Victorino got one between first and second and Jacoby Ellsbury scored from third to give the Red Sox a 2-1 win over the Rays in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon. With one out, Ellsbury knocked a single to center field. He stole second and the throw from catcher Jose Lobaton sailed off the glove of Yunel Escobar, allowing Ellsbury to take third. Rays manager Joe Madden called left fielder Matt Joyce into the already pulled-in infield to create a five-man wall across the grass. Victorino got just enough of a pitch from Brandon Gomes and Ellsbury scored the winner. First, it was a pitching performance worth watching again. Coming off a season in which Jon Lester set career highs with 14 losses, a 4.82 ERA and 25 home runs allowed, he might have been at his best Saturday, carving through the Rays' lineup, running into trouble only in the third inning. After Desmond Jennings led off with a single, Sean Rodriguez cranked a double down the left-field line to score Jennings. Lester then retired the next 12 batters, gaining confidence with his changeup while keeping his fastball down in the zone. With near-perfect pitching on both sides, the feeling that one mistake could be devastating became reality as Price allowed just his second home run at Fenway Park since Darnell McDonald took him deep two years and one day ago. David Ross, who leads all active catchers in home run ratio by going deep about once every 20 at-bats, launched a changeup high and tight over the far left side of the Green Monster. Price had been brilliantly mixing his fastballs, cutters and changeups all afternoon, but he failed to execute with a full count and two outs, leaving this pitch over the heart of the plate. Lefthander Franklin Morales, on the disabled list recovering from a back injury, threw two innings in an extended spring training game in Fort Myers, Fla. Lefthander Craig Breslow, on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, threw a simulated game in Florida Saturday. He is scheduled for an extended spring game Tuesday. Righthander John Lackey, out with a biceps strain, could start playing catch again in a day or two. |
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