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MGR JOHN FARRELL |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The Red Sox hold off
the White Sox
September 1, 2013 ...
When Felix Doubront faltered this afternoon, his teammates picked him up en route to a 7-6 victory over the White Sox.
Manager John Farrell's team has now won nine out of 12 after sweeping Chicago in the three-game series to move to 82-56 on the season and open a 5 1/2 game lead in the American League East over the Tampa Bay Rays, who have lost four straight. The Red Sox
streak of allowing three runs or fewer in 11 straight games ended in this one.
But the offense scored seven runs over the first four innings and the bullpen did a solid job in 4 1/3 innings following Doubront's exit. That proved to be just enough for a hard-fought win. Staked to a 5-0 lead, everything fell apart for Doubront in
the fourth.
The lefty would throw 40 pitches in the inning, giving up four runs and recording just two outs before he was removed by Farrell. The White Sox got their runs on a sacrifice fly by Jeff
Keppinger, an RBI double by Dayan Viciedo and a two-run single by Connor Gillaspie. Brandon Workman got
Boston out of the mess by striking out Leury Garcia.
After a long inning in the field, the Red Sox were eager to get to the plate again and it showed. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a walk and stole second.
Dustin Pedroia hit a liner to third that was nearly caught by Gillaspie. However, as the third baseman lunged to the bag in an attempt to double off Ellsbury, the ball appeared to squirt
loose. That was the ruling by third-base umpire Paul Nauert, and the play got even worse for the White Sox when Gillaspie's throw to first was wild. Ellsbury scored and Pedroia made it to second. Up stepped David Ortiz, and he ripped an RBI single to center to make it 7-4. Ortiz has busted out of an 0-for-23 slump by reaching in eight of his last 11 plate appearances. Ortiz now is just two hits shy of 2,000 for his
career. He's poised to become the 39th player with 2,000 hits, 400 home runs, and 1,400 RBIs.
The White Sox got one back against winning pitcher Workman in the fifth on an RBI by Paul Konerko. Tyler
Flowers inched Chicago to within a run in the eighth when he ripped a solo homer to left against Craig Breslow.
The Red Sox got the bats going early against White Sox starter Andre Rienzo. Ellsbury clubbed a two-out single in the second. Shane Victorino and Pedroia followed with walks. That set up Ortiz for a two-run double to right, staking Doubront to a 4-0 lead. Stephen Drew
made it a five-run cushion when he crushed a solo homer to center in the third.
Though it was closer than they would have preferred, the Red Sox nonetheless started September on a strong note.
The sad saga of Daniel Bard's demise took what seemed to be an inevitable step today, with the Red Sox designating the righthander for assignment to make room for veteran infielder John McDonald, acquired in a deal with the Phillies Saturday night. Bard, who
simply hasn't been able to find the plate with any consistency in the minor leagues, is now in a 10-day limbo in which he has to go through waivers. If he is claimed, the Red Sox could let him go to the claiming team or try to work out a deal with that team. If
there are no claims he could return to the Sox, but off the 40-man roster.
The Red Sox called up four players from Triple A Pawtucket: outfielder Quintin Berry, third baseman Brandon Snyder, catcher Ryan Lavarnway, and pitcher Rubby De La Rosa. |
