Sox hang on for wild win at the Jake

Sox 14, Cleveland 9
WP: Tavarez (6-8)
LP: Lee (5-8)
HRs: BOS-Manny, 2 (17), Wily Mo (5); CLE-Garko (13), Gutierrez (6)

SUMMARY
One night after the teams completed back-to-back 1-o games the two clubs combined for 23 hits and 23 runs in a wild & wacky series finale in Cleveland.

How crazy was it? Kason Gabbard had a 9-1 lead after four innings and didn't get the win, and Julian Tavarez gave up four runs including a three-run homer in 2 1/3 of relief and did.

#1 STUNNER(s)

• Manny 3-4, 4R, 4RBI, BB, 2B, 2HRs--the former Indian started the scoring with a monster homer that was the 3rd longest ever at the Jake, then ended the barrage with a blast that barely cleared the center field wall
• Wily Mo 4-5, 2R, 4RBI, 2-2B, HR--Whiffy Mo was in the zone tonight, jumping on the first pitch in 4 of his 5 at bats, with terrific results; can you say 'showcase game?'

PAN's FAUN Cliff Lee 4IP, 9H, 7ER, 3BB, K
For the third straight start Lee surrendered seven earned runs, but at least this time he didn't fight with a teammate on the field over his performance; I guess they decided to save their fireworks for the clubhouse this time.

RECAP
Holy shit!

That's all I can think of to say after witnessing one of the wildest games of the season, one made all the more incredible coming on the heels of consecutive pitcher's duels in which only two runs were scored in the last two games combined

Talk about providing contrast.

I'm not really sure where to begin with this recap, either, because my notebook looks like the demented scribblings of a retarded junkie, but I'm going to try and sift through the rubble and figure out what the hell happened tonight.

And I know my posts are wordy enough already, so just bear with me as I try to keep this under 1000 words.

Like a small crack in a large dam, the scoring stared as a slow drip before turning into a torrent of hits, runs and relief pitchers. After both Gabbard (4.2IP, 4H, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, HR) and Lee notched 1-2-3 first innings, Manny got the festivities started with a momentous longball in the top of the second.

On the first pitch of the inning from Lee, Ramirez launched a mammoth shot to straightaway center field that soared over the wall and eventually disappeared into a thicket of trees nestled above the lower section of the wall and landed in a patio area beyond the brush.

At the time I knew it was a drive of epic proportions, but it wasn't until later in the game when the Cleveland announcers (damn Extra Innings) reported that at an estimated 481 feet it was the third longest drive in Jacobs Field history did I realize how epic it really was.

After Gabbard retired the Tribe in order in the bottom of the frame, Boston dripped another run onto the board when Dustin Pedroia's double play grounder scored Wily Mo, who had singled and went to third on a single by Lugo, in the top of the third.

My first thought: hey, two runs by one team in one game--yeah!

In the bottom of the third we all got a little sense of deja vu when pesky Franklin Gutierrez blasted a solo shot to left that put Cleveland on the board, a drive that went to nearly the exact place at nearly the exact same time as his homer last night, which ended up being the winning run.

Freaky, I know.

Only this time that wouldn't be the only run for the Tribe on the night--just the only one for the moment.

Boston would string two runs together in the fourth inning when Lee walked Manny & Youk to open the inning, Lowell (3-5, 2BI) followed with a single to right to load the bases, and Cap'n Tek lined a single to left that scored Manny & Youk and gave Boston a seemingly insurmountable (with the way Cleveland has been hitting) 4-1 lead.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg, as the fifth inning would blow the lid off the scoring drought for both teams and catapult this contest into the crazy category.

The Sox seemed to slip the noose around the Tribe's necks when they sent nine batters to the plate, ripped four hits and scored five times in the frame.

Pedroia (1-6, R) started the fireworks off with a harmless single to left, then Ortiz (1-3, R, 2BB)worked a 1-2 count into a walk. Manny slammed the next pitch from Lee for a double down the left field line that plated Pedroia, and after Youk reached on shortstop Jhonny Peralta's fielding error, Lowell lined a single to right center that scored Ortiz & Ramirez to make the score 7-1 Boston and chased Lee from the game.

On his way off the field, Lee sarcastically tipped his cap to the thousands of booing fans. Ah, good times in C-Town.

Reliever Jason Stanford apparently ended the onslaught when he got Tek to ground into a double play, but Coco (2-5, 2R, RBI) followed with an RBI single to center and then Wily Mo launched a double to deep right center that scored the fleet-footed Crisp all the way from first, and at 9-1 it was time to put this one in the books, right?

Wrong.

Pitching for the first time in his home state of Ohio, all Gabbard had to do was get through the bottom of the fifth and he would own his first road victory of the season.

Easier said than done.

The inning began and ended the same way--with Ryan Garko flying out to right field. In between the Tribe would score four runs on three hits and three walks, the big blow a two-run double by Josh Barfield that cut the lead to 9-3 and gave the Indians hope, and the most painful being a first pitch ball that nailed slumping Travis Hafner on the elbow, forcing in Cleveland's fifth run and earning Gabby an unwanted early shower.

Handed a 9-1 lead, the wildness that plagued the young lefty in his earlier starts came back and cost him a shot at his fifth win of the season.

Julian Tavarez came on for his first relief appearance since his demotion from the rotation and got Garko to end the inning, and things remained quiet--for one inning.

Then in the seventh Wily Mo turned Thomas Mastny's first pitch (sensing a theme here?) into a tracer that cleared rightfield wall in about 1.2 seconds and scored Tek and Coco, who had both singled, and once again Boston had some breathing room with the score now 12-5.

Then Tavarez (2.1IP, 2H, 4R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K, HR) reminded RSN that it doesn't matter where he's pitching from, the bully or the rotation, he's always highly flammable.

Even though Lugo's error on a grounder by Barfield paved the way for the rest of the inning, after Hafner drove in Barfield in with a solid single to center it was Julie's horrid pitch to Garko that he cranked for a two-run homer that made the game a game again.

12-9 Boston, and still two more innings to get through.

Manny made sure there would be no more thoughts of a miraculous Cleveland comeback when he followed another walk to Ortiz with a mere conventional homer to center, one that barely cleared the wall and a leaping Grady Sizemore's glove, and finally, with the score 14-9 and just six outs remaining, RSN could relish the thought of taking 3 of 4 from the reeling Tribe.

After Okajima and Lopez finsihed the night off without incident. it was off to my new hometown for the Sox for a tasty three game set with the really reeling Rays.

Hope they saved some of that scoring for the Trop.

NOTES

• The start of the game was delayed 34 minutes by rain
• Boston racked up 17 hits, and here's the breakdown: every player except Youk (0-4, 2R) had at least one hit; five players had at least two knocks; two had three hits; and Wily Mo led the pack with four hits, three for extra bases
• How 'bout runs you say? seven of the starting nine scored one run, four players scored a pair, and Manny came home four times
• Pena's four hits doubled his total for the month of July and happened to occur when he is being mentioned in numerous trade scenarios. Hmmm...
• Swing early: that was the obvious game plan for tonight; in 47 PAs Sox batters put the ball in play on the first pitch an astounding nine times. More proof? Six times they hit the second offering from the Cleveland hurlers. In other words out of 47 trips to the plate, Boston hitters saw two pitches or less 15 times. Wow.
• Manny's drive is being called the third longest in the 13 year history of the Jake. The owners of the top two are Jim Thome (511') and Mark McGwire (485'). It was his 250th as a member of the Sox, and the twin blasts gave him 49 career multi-homer games, tied for 12th all-time
• Hafner's seventh inning single broke an 0-21 drought for the slumping slugger
• Barfield made two excellent plays at second, snagging a liner by Ortiz in the third and robbing Lugo of a hit with a diving stop and throw in the fourth
• Not to be outdone, Pedroia matched Barfield on a bullet by Casey Blake to open the bottom of the frame
  

QUOTES

"It was a bomb. I don't know how they measure it, but he crushed it."--Youk on Manny's blast

"That was one of the hardest balls I've seen go out. I thought it might go through it (the wall)."--Tito on Wily Mo's laser-guided missile

"It's kind of embarrassing to have a 9-1 lead and have that happen."--Gabbard

RECORD: 62-40
AL EAST: Up 7.5 on NYY (Royals blanked the Stanks!)
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Fri vs. the Rays @ the Trop