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Brock Holt goes
4-for-4 June 1, 2014 ... Last Sunday, the Red Sox had just lost their 10th game in a row. During that stretch, Boston wasn't pitching well. It wasn't hitting well. And in that loss against the Rays, tempers flared and the benches cleared. Frustration was evident. What a difference a week can make. Fast-forward seven days and the Red Sox are hitting the ball better and their pitching has been lights-out. This afternoon, Jon Lester dominated the Rays, leading the Red Sox to a 4-0 win over their divisional foe and a series sweep. After dropping 10 straight, Boston has won seven in a row and is just two games below .500. The Red Sox tied a big league record for consecutive wins directly after a double-digit slide by winning their seventh straight game. The Tigers won seven in a row from Oct. 1-8, 1989, after losing 12 consecutive, and the Pirates won seven in a row from June 5-13, 1942, after a 10-game slide. Lester threw seven shutout innings to improve to 6-6 on the season. He allowed four hits, fanned 12 and walked one. At one point, the lefty retired 12 consecutive batters with a string of five consecutive strikeouts toward the back of that stretch. No Rays player reached third base against Lester. Lester said he's not trying to rack up strikeouts when he pitches, but sometimes, it just works out that way when he executes the way he wants to. Boston, thanks in part to two starts from Lester, has now held its opponent to three runs or fewer in six consecutive games and has allowed just 15 runs during its winning streak. The Red Sox got all the offense they needed in the fourth when Jonathan Herrera's sacrifice fly scored Jonny Gomes, who singled to start the inning. Brock Holt, making his first career start at first base, then doubled down the left-field line as the ball barely escaped the reach of Sean Rodriguez. Alex Hassan and Jackie Bradley Jr. scored to put Boston up, 3-0. Garin Cecchini came in during the fourth when Dustin Pedroia was ejected and put the Red Sox ahead 4-0 in the seventh with his first career hit in his big league debut. Holt walked and stole second, then Cecchini knocked him in with an opposite-field double off the Green Monster. Holt, who manager John Farrell has worked out at first and in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup with Stephen Drew's return imminent, notched four doubles, two RBIs, a run and a stolen base. Holt has been hitting in the leadoff spot for the past 10 games and is batting .337 in 86 at-bats this season. The Red Sox loaded the bases in the first inning, but Erik Bedard stru.ck out Hassan looking in his first Major League at-bat to keep the game scoreless. Hassan, a Quincy, Mass., native, went 1-for-3 in his debut, while Cecchini went 1-for-2. Bedard labored through his 4 2/3, allowing five hits, four walks and three runs with four strikeouts. He fell to 2-4 on the year. |
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