Sox 10, San Fran 2
WP: Tavarez (4-4)
LP: Zito (6-7)
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (3)
SUMMARY
The Sox finally broke out of their offense slump; well, at least two players did.
J.D. Drew (3-4, 3RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (5-5, 5RBI) combined for eight of Boston's nine hits and knocked in eight of their 10 runs, and Barry Bonds went a measly 1-3 in his Fenway debut and heard it from the crowd as the Sox broke a two game losing streak and a long stretch of scoring 2 runs or fewer.
HERO(es): Drew & Pedroia 8-9, 5R, 8RBI, 2-2Bs, HR
The top two guys in the order proved to be quite a 1-2 punch for Tito and the Sox tonight as the new leadoff combo torched Giants pitching, mainly Barry Zito, early and often.
Incredible stat of the year: until Coco's leadoff single in the 8th, no Boston batter other than Drew or Pedroia had a hit, yet the Sox led, 7-2.
GOAT: Zito 5IP, 5H, 6ER, 4BB, 5K, HR
If guys like Lenny DiNardo, Joe Blanton, Josh Fogg and Micah Owings have been able to shut this offense down over the past couple of weeks, what's it say about the $126 million dollar former Cy Young winner that he got shelled like Chuckles the Clown at the circus parade?
Over-Rated!
RECAP:
Maybe Tito's lineup shuffle wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Criticized in some circles (guilty) for placing his slumping, $70 million dollar right fielder in the leadoff spot just days after dropping his $36 million dollar shortstop from that position to 9th in the lineup, Terry Francona's strategy, once again, proved to be a stroke of genius.
The new look lineup, unveiled last night, didn't produce a spark against Colorado, but boy did the new Dynamic Duo catch fire and burn the mutha down tonight.
J.D. Drew and Dustin Pedrioa eschewed the usual top of the order etiquette of taking a lot of pitches and getting on base any way you can to set up the big boppers down in the lineup and instead they became the big boppers in the lineup.
And Boston would need someone to pick up the slack when original bopper Big Papi was ejected after arguing a strike three call in the second inning, forcing Wily Mo Pena into an early an unexpected entrance into the game, and especially after they were behind 2-0 before they even came to bat.
For the third consecutive game and fourth time in the last six contests Boston allowed the opponent to score in the first inning. This rally started, of course, with Red Sox playoff hero Dave Roberts, who received a long & loud ovation of appreciation for his major role in bringing a championship to the city.
Roberts led off the frame with a single, then Mark Sweeney followed with a deep double to right that nearly went out and easily score Roberts with the first run. Fitting, huh? After Randy Winn grounded out, Mr. Bonds stepped to the plate, and a long, loud and sometimes lewd roar greeted the tainted (soon-to-be) home run king. What a surprise.
The crowd (which somehow contained quite a few Giants fans-hmmm) roared for a different reason four pitches later when Barry took a Tavrez offering and hung a looping fly down the right field line that wrapped up and around Pesky's Pole near its topmost point and looked to be fair, but was waved foul by first base ump Charlie Reliford.
After a brief protest by Giants manager Bruce Bochy, a bemused Bonds stepped back in the box and promptly popped out to short right. Julie was almost out of the inning when his wild pitch allowed Sweeney to score, and just like the offensively challenged Sox had a deficit to overcome.
Little did we know it would be the only runs the Giants would score on the night.
Because have no fear, RSN, the top two Sox batters were ready to get their 'A' games in gear, and although the onslaught started innocently enough when Drew was hit by a Zito pitch to lead off the game, it didn't take long for the fireworks to start.
Like, say, two pitches later, when Pedroia raked a Zito fastball into the Monster seats for a lightning quick 2-run homer that tied the game and foreshadowed the kind of night it was going to be for the scorching-hot second baseman.
The play after the homer would also foreshadow the end of the night for Boston's hot-hitting DH.
Papi took exception to a fastball from Zito that appeared to be a tad inside but was called strike three by home plate umpire Tony Randazzo. After an exchange of heated words, Ortiz stalked off towards the dugout, then at the last second slammed his helmet and bat to the ground, drawing the immediate ejection from Randazzo.
But no Papi, no worries tonight as the Drew/Pedroia offensive machine was just getting heated up.
In the bottom of the third the pair would both single and then Drew would score on an RBI fielders choice by Manny Ramirez and Boston had its fiorst lead of the night, 3-2. In the fourth, after Lowell and Lugo walked, Drew ripped a double to deep center that scored both men, then Pedroia roped a single to right that brought Drew home with Boston's sixth run of the night.
In the sixth it was more of the same, as Coco reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a sharp single to right by Drew, pushing the score to 7-2 Sox. Pedroia did follow with a single as well, but Wily Mo grounded out to end the inning.
By the 8th inning Zito was long gone, Bonds was 1-3 with a single and a walk, and Drew & Pedroia were still playing a game of 'can you top this?'
Coco led off the bottom of the 8th with a single, the first hit by someone other than Drew or Pedroia, and then Julio Lugo walked to set up another scoring situation for Drew. Ah, but this time he flinched, flying out to deep center on a nice play by Roberts (of course), and it was up to Pedroia to record a base knock and take home the Kewpie doll.
And he did just that when he tagged a Jack Taschner (who?) pitch to the left centerfield gap for a two-run double that made it 10-2 Sox, put an exclamation point on his night, and sent waves of relief rippling throughout the Nation- hooray, the drought is finally over!
Tavarez would end up going seven solid innings, allowing six hits and just the two runs, walking two while fanning three, and Okijima and Pineiro chipped in with a scoreless inning each, and like we all expected, Tavarez was the one who broke the starter's slump, and Drew and Pedroia were the ones who carried the offense.
Just like Tito drew it up.
NOTES:
- Papi's ejection was his first sine August of 2005. For the record, the call was questionable, and rRmy questioned the validity of the tossing, but the LL coach in me says you just can't slam the equipment on the field of play like that and not get run
- Manny's RBI was his 1,551st of his career, moving him into 37th place on the all-time list
- Drew's 3-hit night broke an o-11 drought, but before that he had back-to-back 3-hit games in Arizona
- The array of signs, shirts and chants that greeted Bonds was pretty impressive, but the amount of Giants fans that managed to worm their way into the park was even more disturbing
- Ryan Klesko, the regular Giants first baseman, was scratched with (teehee) sore hips,and Sweeney took his place in the lineup; Sweeney would go 1-4 with a run & RBI
- Two-way players: on top of the offensive fireworks, Pedroia & Drew also made excellent defensive plays; Drew ran down a slicing liner by Winn to lead off the 8th, and Pedroia threw Bonds out from short right on a play in the sixth
QUOTES:
"What do you want me to do, huh? What do you want me to do?" --Bonds when questioned whether he though the ball was fair or foul
"Barry asked me, 'Is it always like this? With the buzz, the media? And I said, 'Every time you play the Yankees, it's like this. It's a playoff environment."--Roberts giving Barry the 411 on what it's like to play in Fenway
"The first month of the season, we spent so much time trying to defend him. He wasn't hitting. But he plays the ball all over the ballpark. And, man, he makes contact. There's a lot of things in his favor."--Tito on his blossoming second baseman
RECORD: 42-24
AL EAST: Up 8.5 on NYY
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: SAT vs. SFG 3:55EST
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