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CODY ROSS |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Cody Ross goes 4 for 5 and
comes back to haunt the Red Sox
August 2, 2013 ...
If Red Sox fans forgot who Cody Ross was, he made sure to remind them. In his first game back at Fenway Park since leaving the Sox last season, Ross, who said he was "jaded" by his departure from
Boston before the game, lit up his former team as the D-backs topped the Red Sox, 7-6. Ross homered, singled and doubled twice while knocking in three runs and scoring two more in the game.
His home run off Pedro Beato in the top of the seventh broke a 6-6 tie and gave Arizona the lead for good. Three of Ross' four hits came off Jon Lester, who struggled from the opening frame.
A sellout crowd of 37,652 stayed in their seats as the ninth inning approached. There was no sneaking out early to beat the traffic or grab a beer with friends. Everybody knew what had been going on at the old ballpark this week. A one-run deficit against the
Arizona Diamondbacks hardly seemed like an obstacle to a third consecutive walkoff victory.
For a moment, it looked like the walk-off magic that found Boston the previous two nights would return to spoil Ross' return. Trailing by one, Stephen Drew hit a leadoff single to open the bottom of the ninth. After a botched bunt attempt from Brock Holt, Jacoby
Ellsbury singled to put the tying run in scoring position with Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia set to bat. However, closer Brad Ziegler routinely retired Boston's Nos. 2 and 3 hitters, slamming the door without any more drama.
For Lester, the start was a step back after a solid July, in which he recorded a 3.13 ERA. It wasn't that Lester, who had three straight quality starts entering Friday's game, was wild -- he struck out six and walked none. The lefty just missed over the plate, and
when he did, the D-backs barreled it up, totaling 11 hits off him, including six that went for extra bases.
The Red Sox's offense, as it has been for most of the year, was resilient, digging itself out of two different deficits. In the first, David Ortiz ripped the first pitch he saw from Arizona starter Randall Delgado into the center-field seats for a two-run
homer to tie the score at 2. Trailing by two in the sixth, Drew lined a two-run shot into the right-field bullpen to knot the game up at 6.
Ross had the last laugh, though. His dinger broke the stalemate the following inning, sealing the game. The loss is Boston's first in four games, and the team now has a 7-3 record in Interleague Play.
The Red Sox started rookie Brock Holt at third base on Friday night, his third consecutive game at the position. Until spring training, Holt had never played third base in his career. He came up through the Pirates as a second baseman and shortstop. After a
crash course in the position, Holt started 10 games at third base for the Sox in July. With Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts available at Triple A Pawtucket, Holt's tenure at third may be a short one. The 25-year-old profiles more as a utility
infielder. |
