A Game Apart by Jared Carrabis
Thanks Yanks! Sox Get Within A Game Of Rays

After splitting the day/night double-header against the Jays on Saturday, the Red Sox set their sights on taking the series in a game that had all the ingredients to be a classic pitcher’s duel. Roy Halladay, who was pitching on three days rest in an attempt to keep Toronto’s postseason dreams alive, took the ball for the Jays in the final game of the series. Opposing the Doc was the lefty and fellow innings eater, Jon Lester.


The game would turn out to be just as advertised as the two battled in a nail-biter at Fenway Park. In the top of the first, the Jays jumped out in front on a solo home run off the bat of Jose Bautista. Boston got that run right back in the bottom half of the inning by playing a little small ball. Runs don’t come around very often against Roy Halladay, so the Red Sox manufactured a run perfectly to even up the score.


Jacoby Ellsbury singled to start the inning and with Dustin Pedroia at the plate, Ellsbury swiped his league leading forty-eighth base of the season. Without manager Terry Francona telling him to do so, Dustin Pedroia dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Jacoby Ellsbury over to third. With Ellsbury 90 feet away, David Ortiz hit a groundball to the right side to score Ellsbury from third and just like that, we’re tied.


In the bottom of the second inning, Coco Crisp who was 2-for-3 on the day knocked in Jason Bay who had led off the inning with a double. Crisp finished the day with two runs batted in, both runs of course were greatly needed. After the first two innings, both Jon Lester and Roy Halladay settled in and began silencing their respective opponents bats.


By the time the bottom of the seventh rolled around, it was still 2-1 in favor of the Red Sox. Looking to add on a little insurance, Coco Crisp knocked a single into left field to bring home Mike Lowell to up the lead to 3-1. The eighth inning saw a rare sight when with one out, David Ortiz hit a line drive to Alex Rios in right that skipped under his glove allowing Ortiz to truck all the way around to third base sliding in safely with his first triple since 2007. Ortiz scored on the next at bat when Kevin Youkilis hit a sacrifice fly to Vernon Wells in center field giving Boston closer a much needed three-run cushion.


Jon Lester turned in yet another outstanding start with his only blemish on the evening being that first inning home run to Bautista. His fifteenth win of the season puts Boston twenty games over .500 for the first time since the All Star break. “I think we’ve been playing pretty good baseball for a while” Lester said after the game. The lefty who is certainly a lock for the postseason rotation with Boston’s magic number to clinch a playoff berth down to 8 went eight solid innings giving up just that one run on four hits. Lester only needed 103 pitches to make it through eight innings for the win.


“We’re getting guys back at the right time, which helps” Lester also said. Not only are the Red Sox getting guys back at the right time but they are also getting players who have been there all season long to step up when the team needs them the most. Coco Crisp who back in March no Red Sox fan ever imagined would still be with the team this late in the season, has been a huge asset to this team down the stretch. His two RBIs were the difference in Sunday’s game and helped the Red Sox get within a game of the Rays. Crisp has been red hot hitting at .452 in his last ten games with six runs batted in and two stolen bases. Since August 4, Coco Crisp has seen his average rise from .250 to .288 on Sunday with it being as high as .290 on September 8-9.


Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon struggled in the ninth inning giving up two earned runs on three hard hit balls. Luckily for Papelbon the Red Sox provided him with enough run support and cinco ocho recorded his thirty-eighth save of the season to bring the Red Sox within one game of the Tampa Bay Rays before a very crucial series in Tampa Bay.


The Red Sox will now pack their bags and head down south for a big (and I mean big) series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays got the best of the Red Sox in their house but now it is time for the Red Sox to return the favor, if not more so. Jon Lester shared his thoughts on the series after his outing, “It’ll be a fun series. We always get a lot of fans down there. It’ll kind of be like a home playoff atmosphere”.


Game one of the series will feature a pitching match up of Daisuke Matsuzaka against the ace of the Rays, Scott Kazmir. Matsuzaka’s last outing came against the Tampa Bay Rays in which he earned a no decision in five innings of work. Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up three runs on eight hits while walking four which ultimately led to his pitch count of 102 through those five innings. Kazmir’s last outing was also against his next opponent. Tuesday night the lefty also earned a no decision allowing two runs on six hits through six innings of work. Matsuzaka will be making his third start against the Rays but has yet to earn a decision.

Final Score: Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 4

Published on September 14, 2008

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