Sox win in grand style as Pena's slam saves the day

Sox 5, Baltimore 2

WP: Beckett (5-0)

LP: Ray (2-2)

SV: Papelbon (7)

HRs: BOS-Pena (2)

Pena doesn't make contact often, but when he does the ball goes a loooong way

SUMMARY:
The game was a near carbon-copy of last night's contest- a low-scoring (2-1) pitcher's duel through seven innings until Boston got the Baltimore starter out of the game, then teed off on the Oriole bullpen.

The teeing off came courtesy of a grand slam by Willy Mo Pena in the 8th and made a winner out of Josh Beckett for the 5th time this season.

HERO: Pena 2-4, R, GS, K
He may have been striking out at an alarming rate the past week, but games like this are the reason the Sox need this guy. Boston looked dead in the water until Pena's titanic blast rescued them from defeat, allowing them to head off to New York on a positive note.

GOAT: closer Chris Ray 2/3, 2H, BB, K, GS
For the second time this season Ray allowed a game-losing grand slam; the first time was to A-Rod in the Bronx on April 7th. Ironically he hasn't allowed any other runs this season, so other than those eight runs on two swings of the bat, the guy has been lights out.

RECAP:
Nothing like a quick little trip to the Inner Harbor to cure the Sox ailments. For the second game in a row Boston turned a close game into a rout, and for the second straight game the Boston starter pitched effectively and with complete command of his pitches.

Just like Schilling the night before, Beckett (8IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 3K) was doing a good job of mixing up his pitches and not relying strictly on his blazing fastball. This is something new pitching coach John Farrell has been working on with Becks, and the results are starting to show. Although the big righty's strikeouts are down-he had only 3 tonight-his ground-ball outs are up, thanks to a nasty breaker and slider to go with the heater.

Still for all his efforts Beckett was in line for an "L" as Baltimore jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after 3 innings on a Nick Markakis groundout and a Melvin Mora double (oddly, of B-More's eight hits, five were doubles.) And once again Boston's main problem was leaving men on base in key situations.

The Sox left the bases loaded in the 3rd when Orioles starter Adam Loewen (6IP, 1R, 2H, 5BB, 5K) got Papi to tap back to the mound, then left 2 men on in the 6th and in the 7th when Ortiz dribbled back to the mound again. All of these missed opportunities were quickly shaping up to spell sure defeat if not for another batch of late-inning fireworks.

Last night Boston broke open a 1-1 game with 5 runs in the last 3 innings; tonight it would just take one big swing of the bat to plate 4 runs and put the victory in the Sox' hands. The 8th started out with Manny (0-3, R, 2BB) drawing a walk on a 7-pitch at bat against Baltimore reliever John Parrish. After J.D. Drew flied out, Ray came on, ostensibly to get the final 5 outs.

Except Ray didn't read the script. Mike Lowell ignited the rally with a ground rule double, sending Manny to third, and Varitek drew an intentional walk to load 'em up for Willy Mo. Despite the fact that Pena was hitting just .120 against righties and had struck out in 11 of his last 17 at bats, he catapulted a 2-1 offering from Ray deep into the left centerfield stands for what proved to be the game-winner.

Jonathan Papelbon came on for the 9th and allowed another walk, but also registered another K and, most importantly, his 7th save in 7 opportunities.

So the Sox head to the Bronx with a modest 2-game winning streak, but going back to last week have won 7 of the last 9. And maybe now that the bloody sock controversy is behind them, they can concentrate on bloodying the Stankee pinstripes.

NOTES:

-Boston managed just six hits, four singles

-Cap'n Tek continues his regression: with another 0-3 tonight he is 1-10 with 7 K's and 8 men left on base in the past 3 games. Maybe the return of Yankee pitching will re-ignite his bat

-Former idiot Kevin Millar trotted out onto the field with a mock-bloody sock on his foot. Always the joker, that Millah

-Coco sat out again with the strained oblique, but could play tomorrow night. Although after Pena's slam, don't be surprised if Tito is extra cautious about bringing Crisp back

-One night after stranding 21 men, Boston left 19 ducks on the pond tonight. Yikes!
-Beckett is the first 5-game winner in the majors and the first Boston starter to win his first 5 starts since Pedro in 1999.

QUOTES:

-"He just put it in there. I swing," Pena said. "When I swing I knew it was gone."- Willy Mo; hey, when you can hit it that far you can afford to be a man of few words

RECORD: 14-7

AL EAST: Up 3 on TOR

UP NEXT: Fri @ New York, 7P