Aaron Cook's 2-Hitter was Worth Staying Up Late For

Friday’s game against the Mariners started like Thursday’s loss; little offense to speak of. However, in the 5^th inning the Sox bats came alive as Middlebrooks and Cody Ross killed back to back solo shots. Daniel Nava joined in the fun three batters later as he crushed another solo shot to right. Big Papi doubled to right to lead off the 6^th inning, and then Saltalamacchia did something that few batters do at Safeco Field – he crushed an opposite field homerun.  

The long ball provided all of the runs for the Sox, but it was Aaron Cook that was the story of the night. He struck out two, walked none, and allowed only two hits – one being an infield single by Ichiro and the other a single to right by John Jaso. Cook was as efficient as one can be, shutting down 28 batters on only 81 pitchers. That’s the lowest amount of pitches thrown in a complete game this season. Cook got 14 groundouts and 5 flyouts, pounding the strike zone with fastballs and sinkers. Even more incredibly, the Mariners only had 5 balls hit in play out of the infield.

It’s always nice to get a solid outing from an unexpected starter, but to get the performance that Cook put on tonight was huge for the Sox as they move one game closer to the Yankees. The bullpen will be well rested tomorrow as Josh Beckett returns from the DL to face Erasmo Ramirez.