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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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BOSTON STRONG -
Beating the Dodgers in a three-game series was no small thing. No team had done it in over two months, not since the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled it off from June 14-16.If the Dodgers (19-5 in August and 29-7 since the All-Star break) have seemed other-worldly of late, the Red Sox continue to find ways to grind out games and series. The offense supplied Peavy with a steady stream of runs while the defense, helped by dazzling plays from Pedroia, Shane Victorino and Jacoby Ellsbury. Mike Napoli also had a second consecutive solid game at the plate, going 2-for-4 and hitting a mammoth two-run home run into the left-field seats that made it 8-1 in the ninth. While Peavy enjoyed all the run support, he certainly didn't need it. Once again, he turned in a masterful performance against the Dodgers, a team he's now 14-2 with a 2.25 ERA lifetime against in 25 starts. Peavy didn't just want to win. He badly wanted to go the distance. The Red Sox opened the scoring in the first and were the recipients of a fortunate call. After Victorino's one-out double, Pedroia hit a roller to short and Hanley Ramirez appeared to throw him out. But first-base umpire Mark Carlson ruled safe, and Boston had runners at the corners with one out. Napoli clubbed an RBI double to right-center, giving Peavy a quick 1-0 lead. In the third, Boston appeared caught up in the National League style of play. Ellsbury led off by reaching on an infield single and stole second. Victorino sacrificed Ellsbury to third with a bunt and Pedroia drove him in with a sac fly. Xander Bogaerts, making his second Major League start, kept the pressure on with a two-out RBI double to right-center in the fourth. Once Skip Schumaker bobbled the ball, third-base coach Brian Butterfield alertly waved Will Middlebrooks home and it was 3-0. In the sixth as Jarrod Saltalamacchia went to the opposite field for a two-out, two-run homer to left that made it 5-1. Victorino, again batting right-handed against a righty, belted a solo homer to left in the seventh to make it a five-run cushion, and Napoli's rocket in the ninth put it away. The Dodgers hit .129 in the series and scored only five runs. The Sox have now won 26 series, the most of any team in the Majors. The Sox completed their West Coast swing with a 4-2 mark and head back to Boston leading the Rays by one game in the American League East. Starting pitching was, without question, the key on this road trip, as Boston's rotation notched a 1.12 ERA. The Red Sox have won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 6-7 at Houston and with Tampa Bay losing, they have a one-game lead in the American League East with 30 games to play. Ryan Dempster finished his five-game suspension from Major League Baseball by sitting in the stands and watching. The Red Sox activated lefthander Matt Thornton from the disabled list. Righthander Brayan Villarreal was optioned to Triple A Pawtucket. On the occasion of his 300th career start, Jake Peavy donated $300 for each strikeout in the game [for both teams] to the Jimmy Fund in memory of his grandmother, Dama Lolley, and former Padres bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds, a close friend. Both died of cancer. |
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