Game Recap: Sox get back on winning track vs. Jays

Sox 7, Tortonto 4
WP: Wakefield (10-8)
LP: Halladay (10-4)
SV: Papelbon (21)
HRs: TOR- Rios (18), Stairs (14)


SUMMARY
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz showed signs of breaking out of an offensive funk, the Sox battered Roy Halladay and Tim Wakefield won his third straight decision, fifth straight at Fenway, as the Sox defeated the Jays 7-4.

#1 STUNNER(s) Manny & Papi 5-9, 2-2B, 3R, 5RBI
The Dynamic Duo, fresh of an All Star trip to San Fran, came to play in the second half opener, driving in the first two Sox runs in the first and then the last two in the 6th to turn a one-run nailbiter into a three-run breeze.

Pan's FAUN Halladay 5IP, 8H, 5ER, 4BB, 2K
The former Cy Young winner was not on form tonight, getting hammered early & often by the Boston batters in suffering his fourth defeat of the season, his second to the Sox.


RECAP
Now that's what I call starting the second half off with a bang.


Amidst the confusion of players from all corners of the continent, injuries & rumours of injuries, plus a three game losing streak, Boston climbed off the mat tonight to open the second half of the season by showing the rest of the league what they're made of.


With bold predictions coming from the Bronx about running down the Sox for the division and plenty of negativity in the press regarding the Sox recent run of back luck, the best team in baseball went out and displayed why they are just that, smacking Halladay all around the yard right from the get-go and pulling away late for a well-deserved win.

And the best news of all for RSN was that Ortiz (3-5, 2B, 2R, 2BI) and Ramirez (2-4, 2B, R, 3BI)each had multi-RBI games at home for the first time this season and only the third time all year.

Read that stat and it makes you realize how truly amazing it is that they own a 10 game lead in the East.

The other bit of good news from the game regarding the hitters production is that it didn't take long for Boston to pounce on Halladay, pushing four runs across in the bottom of the first after Toronto had jumped out to a 1-0 lead on singles by Vernon Wells & Alex Rios and a sac fly from the Big Hurt in the top of the inning.

Boston wasted no time erasing that deficit, though, as J.D. Drew hit the second pitch he saw from Halladay for a leadoff single up the middle, and Dustin Pedroia followed with a hard-fought walk after fouling off six Halladay pitches.

That set the stage for the Big Boppers to capitalize on an early gift from the Jays starter, and despite a gimpy knee that Ortiz now says might be a torn meniscus, he roped the second pitch he saw for a single to left, scoring Drew with the tying run and sending Pedroia to third with Manny coming up and still no outs.

Ramirez has been in the throes of a of a slump, both batting-wise and production-wise, the last couple of weeks, so a hit and/or RBI was not guarantee in this case. Shit, who knew how long it would take Manny to get in a groove after he actually made the cross-country trip to participate in the All Star game this year.

But Manny Being Manny is all about expecting the unexpected, so when he followed Papi's double with a double of his own that scored Pedroia with the go-ahead (and game-winning) RBI, it really should have come as no surprise that just when we thought he would either strike out or perhaps liner into a double play, he came through with the clutch, run-scoring hit when his team needed him to.

Youk (ground out) and Professional Hitter/RBI Machine Mike Lowell (single) followed those two with RBIs to make the score 4-1 after one, and in the second inning the boys struck again when Drew walked, Ortiz laced a single to right that got Drew to third and Manny blasted a sac fly to right to plate Drew with run #5 in inning #2.

Luckily for Boston and the up & down Wake (6IP, 9H, 4R, 0BB, 2K, 2HR) this was one of his 'up' nights, as the crafty vet won his third straight game by limiting the explosive Jays to two runs through five innings, until Matt Staris and HR Deby runner-up Rios hit back-to-back homers in the sixth to slice the Sox lead to 5-4.

But that's when the Boppers got the hearts of the Nation really pumping after being on life support following that wretched Tigers series.

With Halladay out and the immortal Brian Tallett on in the sixth, the Sox set to padding the one-run lead to make life easier for the pen. After getting two quick outs, Tallet allowed a single to Pedroia (1-4, R, BB) and then Ortiz scorched a double to center that scored Pedroia and gave the Sox some breathing room at 6-4.

Manny made the breathing for the last three innings even easier when he ripped Tallet's second pitch for a hard single to right, scoring the gimpy Big Papi to push the lead to three runs, effectively ending the game right there with Boston's biggest weapons waiting to enter the contest

RSN got a taste of what could be a deadly (for the opponent) 7th-8th-9th inning trio in the second half of Delcarmen, Oki and Paps when Manny D. came into the game in the 7th.

Delcarmen continued to show why the Sox brass are so high on him now that he's matured as he zipped through three Jays hitters on 12 pitches, and although Oki had a little trouble when he allowed a double to Rios and a single to Troy Glaus in the 8th, he got out of a jam--once again-- by getting Lyle Overbay to fly out.

All that was left was for All Star closer Jonathan Papelbon to close the door, and even a drama in the form of a one-out double by Greg Zaun couldn't stop the Sox Stars tonight.

Paps fanned Howie Clark on three pitches, then got Vernon Wells to line out to right to end the game, and just like that the memories of the horrible skid to enter the break were gone and the hopes of the Sox staying steady and riding this hot first half all the way to the division crown remained strong.

And if it took Papi finally admitting his knee is bothering him and Manny finally attending an All Star game to get them out of their offensive doldrums, then so be it.

NOTES:

• Boston smacked 11 hits, and every starter except Youk and Mirabelli had at least one hit; the top four batters (Drew,Pedroia, Ortiz, Manny) went 7-17 with 7 runs scored and five knocked in
• Julio Lugo (2-4) had two more hits to raise his average above the Mendoza line (.201) for the first time since June 20th. Kidos.ugo
• Youk texted Tito over the break and told him his quad was okay and he would be ready to play tonight. After getting confirmation from the doctors, Francona inserted the gamer, who had missed 6 of the last 8 games with the injury, into the lineup. He played first and batted 5th and went 0-2 but did walk twice
• Oki's ERA dropped to 0.81 and Papelbon's is now down to 1.87
• Wake dropped his mark to 4.47 and he won his fifth straight start at Fenway
• All Star Alex Rios, whom I said to keep an eye on, had three hits including a double and a homer, plus scored a run and drove one in. he's a stud.
• Vernon Wells, in the midst of a slump, batted leadoff

QUOTES:

"It wasn't anything major. "I just kept playing through it last year. This year, it's been bothering me more than it used to."--Ortiz on the knee when asked why he didn't get it fixed in the offseason

"They're going to do it at some point. You're not going to hold those guys down all year."--Youk on Manny & Papi

"Manny and Ortiz are just good hitters. They'll have big second halves."--Jays manager and noted dickhead John Gibbons (for once I hope the a-hole is right)

RECORD: 54-34
AL EAST: Up 10 on NYY
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Fri vs. TOR