Four more homers = another Sox blowout

Sox 9, Toronto 3
WP: Matsuzaka (4-2)
LP: Ohka (2-4)
HRs: BOS: Lugo (2), Ortiz (9), Manny (6), Lowell (6); TOR: Overbay, 2 (5)

SUMMARY:
For the second consecutive game the Red Sox amassed 9 runs and more than 10 hits, had a player collect four base hits, hit four home runs and absolutely beat the life out of the wounded dog that is the the Toronto Blue Jay team.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion tonight, and he supplied seven innings of 1-run ball to earn his fourth win and the team's sixth in the last seven games.

HERO: Big Papi 4-5, R, 2B, HR, 3RBI
By the time Big Papi connected on his 9th homer run of the year, a 2-run blast in the 8th, the score was already 6-1. But it was Papi's ability to get on base all night that set the tempo for a ruthless Boston attack, one that racked up 12 hits, half of them for extra bases.

By the way, the big man is back up to .311 after his performance

GOAT(s): Scott Downs & Josh Towers 4IP, 6H, 6ER, 4HRs
These two jokers took a close ballgame- it was 3-0 Sox when Downs entered in the 6th- and turned it into a rout; Downs surrendered three hits including two homers to run the score to 6-1, and his partner in arson, Towers, matched that horrid effort, albeit in three innings, not one.

RECAP:
The fourth ever matchup of Japanese starting pitchers took a back seat as the Sox put on an offensive fireworks display for the second consecutive night.

After two games north of the border the Boston batters have shaken off that Minnesota mini-slump and gone into full-blown "clicking on all cylinders" mode. Seriously, the offensive numbers from the last two games have been downright gaudy, to the point that members of RSN are becoming somewhat giddy:

RUNS: 18
HITS: 26
AVG: .333
2Bs: 3
HRs: 8

The amazing thing about the homer barrage is that of the eight, seven have been hit by different players: Manny, Papi, Lugo, Pedroia, Tek, Youk and Lowell hit two.

You want more? Six players have tallied at least two hits in a game, and Pedroia has done it twice; two players had 3-hit games (Youk & Lowell); and two players had 4-hit games (Papi & Tek).

In other words, it's been total annihilation of the Blue Jays and its beleaguered pitching staff by the Boston hitters.

On the contrary to Toronto's shoddy pitching, Boston just keeps getting quality start after quality start. Tonight Dice-K reverted to his early-season form, dominating the Toronto lineup, allowing five hits and just one run in seven innings, walking three while striking out eight in his best outing since his last appearance here on April 19th.

And just like his fellow starter Josh Beckett the night before, Dice was given an early lead to take off any pressure of having to pitch from behind.

Boston got a run in the first when Coco walked, Papi singled and Manny got an RBI groundout. In the second inning the Sox would pad the lead by two after a couple of bad plays from Tomo Ohka (4.2, 6H, 3R, 5BB, 2K). First he walked Hinske, in for Youk, who is day-to-day after being hit yesterday, and after Pedroia bunted back to the pitcher, Ohka wheeled and tossed the ball into centerfield, moving the runners to 2nd & 3rd; both would come around to score on a groundout by Lugo and a double by Papi.

The score would stay that way until the aforementioned "relief" work by Toronto's hapless pen. Before you could say "I'll have another LaBatts", Downs turned a 3-run game into a six-run bulge by giving up a 2-run blast to Lugo and a solo job to Manny in the span of four batters, and Towers made sure any Jays comeback would fall short when he gave up Papi's 2-run blast and Lowell's 9th inning icer.

So for one night Dice-K knew what it felt like to be Josh Beckett: eight-plus runs of support, a struggling lineup in front of him, and the chance to sit back and enjoy an easy victory from the dugout.

Oh, and not to throw a wet blanket on the festivities, but the fireworks may be over soon: Doc Halladay will try to salvage a game-and some dignity-for his Jays tomorrow night.

NOTES:

-Why we're glad Piniero isn't the closer: appearing in what can only be classified as mop-up duty (9-1 in the 9th), the Deer in the Headlights allowed a home run to Overbay on his first pitch, a double to Aaron Hill four pitches later, and an RBI single to Alex Rios two batter after that. Way to slam the door, Pineiro!

-Speaking of Rios, the Toronto rightfielder enjoyed a 4-4 night himself and is now batting .336 in 43 career games vs. Boston

-Pedroia (2-4, 2R) recorded his 4th straight 2-hit game and has raised his average 87 points in five games (.180- .267). Plus he made two stellar defensive plays in the field.

-Lowell's 3 ribbies put him just three behind team leader Ortiz, 28-25; not bad for a guy who was "washed up" two years ago

-the only regular to play both games and not record a hit? You guessed it, J.D. Drew, who went 0-7 and whose slump has reached epic proportions (5-45 in last 12 games, down to .248)

QUOTES:

-"He wasn't forcing the issue, he was trusting his ability and his command. He worked hard this week and it paid off."- Tito on Matsuzaka, referring to the extra bullpen sessions the pitcher threw this week

-"He actually gets a lot of hits taken away with that big shift, but you can't shift someone into the stands."-Lowell on Ortiz

-"This is about as low as it can get."-Overbay, summing up the state of the Jays

RECORD: 22-10

AL EAST: Up 6 gms on NYY

UP NEXT: WED @ TOR, 7P