Grand Theft Ellsbury by Jared Carrabis
Ellsbury breaks stolen base record, Bay wins it with HR


As the final days of August dwindle into the final month of the season, your Boston Red Sox stared adversity in the face and came out on top.

It is said that every championship team is relentless; they never quit, never say die. On Tuesday night, Boston got a brilliant pitching performance from Jon Lester on a night where the recently powerful Red Sox offense had somewhat of a night off.

Lester trotted out to the center of the diamond, flanked by his teammates, and retired the first three batters consecutively, complete with a strikeout of Carlos Quentin. In the bottom half of the frame, Jacoby Ellsbury knocked a ground-rule double to right-center to lead off the game.

With a 1-1 count to Dustin Pedroia, Ellsbury turned on the jets and cruised into third base so fast that he nearly over-slid the bag. Fortunately, AJ Pierzynski lost his grip on the baseball and no throw was ever made. The stolen base was number 55 on the season for Ellsbury, a new Red Sox single season record.

Boston's center fielder would come in to score the game's first run, crown and all, on a ground out by Pedroia.

Lester went back to work putting up another scoreless frame in the second, but ran into a little trouble in the top half of the third. Ahead in the count 1-2, the left-hander served up a 4-seam fastball that Jayson Nix ate up and launched over the Monster for a solo shot. Lester recovered by striking out two to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Red Sox went to work with two outs (again). JD Drew hammered his 25th double of the season out to center field to put him into scoring position for Kevin Youkilis, who ripped a line drive that one-hopped the wall to drive in Drew.

The score froze at 2-1 in favor of the Red Sox into the seventh inning with Lester and Freddy Garcia dueling frame for frame. The top of the seventh was one of the more bizarre innings in recent memory, with the exception of Monday night's six-run third inning for Boston.

Paul Konerko singled to start the inning, as Jermaine Dye followed with a walk. White Sox manager Ozzy Guillen played some small ball, instructing Pierzynski to sacrifice bunt the two base runners into scoring position. Newly acquired Alex Rios lined out to record the inning's second out to bring Alexei Ramirez to the plate.

On an 0-2 pitch, Lester snapped off an 82 MPH curveball that dove head-first into the dirt, as Ramirez waved helplessly at to strike out on three pitches. However, the ball nicked the corner of the plate and skipped away from catcher Jason Varitek, as Ramirez reached first and Konerko came in to score the game's tying run.

In the very next at bat, Nix smoked a line drive that deflected off the glove of Mike Lowell and into foul territory. Lowell could do nothing on the play, which allowed Dye to score the go-ahead run.

Chicago's third run chased Lester from the game, as the left-hander exited after hurling 113 pitches (68 for strikes). He was charged with three earned runs on six hits over 6.2 innings, while walking two and striking out six.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, Varitek knocked his 22nd double of the season with one out. Terry Francona lifted the veteran catcher for pinch-runner, Nick Green. With Alex Gonzalez due to bat next, Francona sent Victor Martinez to the plate in place of Gonzalez as a pinch-hitter.

On the first pitch of the at bat, Martinez lined a base hit off of reliever Matt Thornton to drive in Green from second, tying the game at three.

Knotted up at three in the bottom of the eighth, Jason Bay came to the plate with one out. On an 0-2 pitch, Bay absolutely demolished a hanging curveball from Scott Linebrink. Bay's 28th long ball of the season provided Boston with a lead that they would not relinquish.

Later in the inning, Martinez chipped in once again with an RBI double and would later score a run of his own on an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury.

With a save situation in place, Billy Wagner's new best friend came in from the Red Sox's bullpen. It took Jonathan Papelbon just four pitches before blowing Alexei Ramirez away swinging on 97 MPH heat. It took another four pitches to catch Jayson Nix looking at a 96 MPH 4-seamer. Papelbon got Gordon Beckham to fly out to end the game, as the Boston closer locked up his 30th save in 33 chances.

Final Score: White Sox 3, Red Sox 6

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

Jacoby Ellsbury finally broke the record that Red Sox fans knew was only a matter of time before the speedy outfielder would insert his name in place of Tommy Harper's. With his 55th swipe of 2009, Ellsbury now stands alone as the Red Sox single season stolen base king. If Ellsbury remains in Boston throughout the prime of his career, he has a shot to eclipse the Red Sox record of an even 300 steals set by the legendary Harry Hooper, who spent 12 seasons in Boston (1909-1920). Hooper's career high was 40 stolen bases in 1910. If Ellsbury remains consistent, he will blow past Hooper with ease.

Here are some more two-out RBI numbers for ya. The Red Sox have now scored 30 of their last 36 runs with two outs. This incredible run of two-out RBI in the past few games can only indicate one thing: this team excels in pressure situations.

On Tuesday night, Jonathan Papelbon recorded his fourth consecutive season with 30 saves or more. Since becoming the closer of the Boston Red Sox in 2006, Papelbon has saved no less than 35 games for Boston, as his save totals have increased with every season in the bigs.

2006: 35 saves
2007: 37 saves
2008: 41 saves
2009: 30 saves and counting...

In a rehab start with Pawtucket, Jed Lowrie went 2-for-4 with 2 HR, 3 RBI, three runs scored and a walk. Not a bad start, right?

According to Amalie Benjamin on Twitter, both Jacoby Ellsbury and Jason Bay received a random drug test after Tuesday night's game.

Jon Lester turned in his 18th quality start of the season against the White Sox at Fenway Park. His 18th performance of six innings or more, holding his opponents to three earned runs or less, is now one more quality start than co-ace, Josh Beckett.

Zack Greinke racked up 15 K's on Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians in a 6-2 win. His fifteen strikeouts were a Royals franchise record.

Eye on the scoreboard:

White Sox 3, Red Sox 6
Rangers 10, Yankees 9
Rays 7, Blue Jays 3

Result: The Red Sox won't gain any ground in the Wild Card standings, as the two teams closest to Boston's top spot were victorious on Tuesday night. The Rangers entered the bottom of the ninth in the Bronx with a solid 10-5 lead, but barely escaped the wrath of New York's lethal offense. With the defeat of the Yankees, the Red Sox are now six games back in the AL East, while Texas remains a game-and-a-half out and the Rays stay put at three games behind Boston.

Billy Wagner trade:

After days of speculation, most leaning towards the idea that the left-handed reliever would remain with New York, the Red Sox acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets in exchange for two players to be named later.

It was later confirmed that outfielder Chris Carter is one of the PTBNL. Carter originally joined the Red Sox organization in a trade that sent Wily Mo Pena out of Boston.

The Red Sox will complete the trade by including a player who is said to be, "not of significance." Before Wagner agreed to waive his no-trade clause, Boston first had to agree not to pick up his option for 2010. However, the Red Sox are allowed to offer the lefty salary arbitration at season's end. If Wagner signs elsewhere, Boston will collect two compensation draft picks due to the left-hander's Type A free agent status.

The Red Sox will pay the remainder of Wagner's salary for 2009 which is a little over $2 million for the remaining five weeks of this season.

Book update:

While my book is getting ready to hit the SoxSpace store this Friday, I will be posting excerpts from most of the chapters as soon as Wednesday night. For those who are interested, I would love for you to check them out! I will also put a few pictures from the book, along with the teaser.

On a side note, last Friday I was offered my own monthly column with my home town newspaper here in Saugus. My column will run in anywhere from 15-20 newspapers in the north shore. To read my debut column titled "Wild Card Mania", click HERE!

RIP Edward "Ted" Kennedy

-Jared Carrabis

Celebrate Jacoby Ellsbury's historic achievement by sporting this tee from Sully's!







Published on August 26, 2009

---

Tweet