Sox slam 10 XBHs in a rout of the Braves

Sox 11, Atlanta 0

WP: Tavarez (5-4)
LP: Carlyle (1-2)

HRs: BOS- Drew (6), Coco (4), Papi (13), Manny (11), Hinske (2)

Julian's jubilation provided a hilarious backdrop to the Sox offensive display

SUMMARY

Boston exacted sweet revenge for the 14-0 drubbing the Braves laid on them in May at Fenway as the offense smacked 15 hits including five homers and five doubles, Tavarez pitched seven shutout innings and the Sox took two of three from Atlanta before heading west to San Diego.

HERO: Boston batters 15 hits, 11 runs, 10 extra base hits

It was a true team effort tonight as every Boston starter except Lugo had at least one hit, five players had at least two hits, and ManRam chipped in with three knocks.

Plus seven guys had at least one extra base hit, three had two XBHs, and Manny & Drew both notched a double & a homer.

Did I mention six different players drove runs, four drove in at least two, and Coco brought home three with his 1st inning smash?

GOAT: Buddy Carlyle 3.2IP, 9H, 7ER, 3BB, 4K, 3HRs

Buddy pitched more like Kitty Carlisle as the Boston batters bludgeoned poor Buddy to the tune of nine hits-a mind-blowing seven for extra bases-and seven runs in less than four innings.

It was ugly early (two homers allowed in the first) and often (Boston sent 14 batters to the plate in the first two innings) for bummin' Buddy, who needed a My Buddy doll, or at least a joke from Buddy Hackett, after this one.

I'll stop now.

RECAP

After the Sox hitters slapped the Braves pitchers around like Foxy Brown at a nail salon, I'm still trying to figure out if it's ironic or just plain sad that the only regular who failed to register a hit was Julio Lugo, yet he was robbed not once but twice of possible base knocks.

Nevertheless the Boston batters unleashed an awesome display of offensive firepower on an unsuspecting Atlanta squad, ripping five homers and 15 hits off of four Braves hurlers (Oscar Villareal was the only Atlanta pitcher who didn't allow a hit, run or walk) and jumping out to a 7-0 lead after just two innings.

That large early cushion allowed Julian Tavarez to slip into his wacky alter ego, let's call him Bizarro Julie, the one who pitches like Juan Marichal and acts like Juan Epstein.

Tavarez (7IP, 3H, BB, 4K) was dazzling for much of his seven innings, mesmerizing Atlanta hitters with a wide array of pitches, pitch locations, and odd on-field antics.

Fist pumping, finger pointing and him repeatedly touching his scalp and cap led ESPN announcer Dan Shulman to describe his schtick as "Julian Being Julian", and that overplayed handle is actually appropriate in this case.

It turned out Boston didn't need to score a ton of runs to win with the way Julie pitched, but they went ahead and grabbed a bunch early, just to be safe.

J.D. Drew got the party started right away when he launched Carlyle's fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right center for a quick 1-zip lead. Dustin Pedroia followed with a double to deep left,and after Papi struck out swinging, Manny doubled home Pedroia for the second run of the game.

But the fun was just beginning.

Youk fanned on three pitches for the second out, but after falling behind 2-0 to Tek, Bobby Cox decided to walk the Captain to get to the hot-hitting Coco Crisp.

Bad move, wife beater.

After looking at one pitch, Coco launched Buddy's second offering high & deep into the seats in right for a sweet 3-run bomb and a sudden 5-0 Sox lead. It was Crisp's third longball of the series after he had only tallied one the whole rest of the year. Check his urine.

Lugo ended the inning (of course) with a long flyball, the Sox picked up right where they left off in the second, scoring a pair of runs on Big Papi's 13th homer of the season and second in two nights; coincidentally it was a majestic, towering shot that landed almost exactly where Coco's did.

Anything you can do, little guy...

Staked to the big lead Tavarez set to work on mowing down the inept Atlanta lineup, which hasn't scored in 19 innings and was without the ice-cold Andruw Jones (whose batting average is a downright Lugo-esque .202), and he did not allow a baserunner until one out in the fourth and faced the minimum amount of batters through six thanks to two Boston DPs.

His enthusiasm for the situation was evident on two nice plays by his infield, a scoop play by Papi at first on a relay from Pedroia, and a nice snag of a hot shot from Kelly Johnson by Lugo leading off the fourth.

The plethora of fantastic plays by his fielders had Julie on cloud nine, and his wildly entertaining sideshow began to take center stage over the "ho-hum, we're slaughtering them" game itself.

His constant fidgeting, rubbing and removing of his cap combined with him twice asking for the ball at the end of an inning and tossing it into the stands led ---- to speculate whether Tavarez was either doctoring the ball or for some reason trying to convey the appearance of doing so.

Revenge for Atlanta's Brian McCann repeatedly stepping out of the box at the last instant last night against Josh Beckett, or simply just a way for Julie to stay focused while the onslaught was taking place as he sat in the dugout.

Either way the combination of Tavarez' arm and the hitter's lumber sent the Sox to a series win, and coming on the heels of Schilling heading to the DL, this kind of performance from the offense and the now 4th starter is invaluable as the team heads out west.

It was an entertaining game and a semi-positive series for Boston, which has to be happy with the run production yet cautious about the health of its other ace.

But for now let's enjoy the win, let the guys enjoy the off day, and let Bizarro Julie enjoy living in his strange, strange world.

NOTES:

• After beginning the season 1-3, Tavarez has gone 5-1 since with a perfect 4-0 record and 3.65 ERA in his last seven starts. His overall ERA is now down to 4.50


• Manny's three hits (homer, single, double) raised his average to exactly .300, the first time he's reached that familiar mark all season. His 7th inning homer was #481 career


• Drew followed his homer with a double in the second, but he was pulled after scoring on Manny's double due to what's being called a minor quad strain-jeesh.


• The homer was his 4th in the last 12 games after he had just two all season


• All In: after replacing Drew Wily Mo went on to rap two hits including a double and scored a run. Eric Hinske replaced Ortiz for the 7th and promptly smacked a 2-run homer in the bottom of the frame


• Lugo's struggling so badly that hits are being taken away from him because teammates can't advance a base as they expect him to make an out. After Tek & Coco singled to start the 9th, Julio dropped a hit in front of right fielder Jeff Francoeur, but Tek had to hold up at second and was easily thrown out by the cannon armed Francoeur, thus rendering the hit a fielder's choice and dropping Lugo down to .201. Mendoza alert, Mendoza alert!!


• Coco crispy: the defensive whiz has been tearing the cover off the ball of late, and he's now hit in seven straight and 11 of 12 games to raise his average to .250, the highest it's been since early May


• Pen pals: Joel Pineiro relieved Tavarez in the 8th and after allowing the first two batters to reach he retired three straight to preserve the shutout. Maddog Timlin then tossed a 1-2-3 ninth, needing just six pitches to close it out.


• Keeping up with the Joneses: oft-injured Atlanta 3B Chipper joined Andruw on the bench when he left after the sixth with a groin injury

QUOTES:

"Tavarez threw a lot of changeups and sliders and whatever else he was throwing. His ball was moving around a lot."--Braves outfielder Willie Harris summing up Julie's night

"This was my best game. Everything went right for me."--Julian, right on the money

"When you throw pitches like I did, especially to a team like Boston, they're definitely going to hit them. No excuse for it."--Carlyle.

RECORD: 46-25

AL EAST: Up 10 on NYY

STREAK: W-2

LAST 10: 6-4

UP NEXT: Thu-Off; Fri @ SD