Sox give Papelbon the night off with 9-3 win
Jim Monaghan
Contributing writer
Making a spot start for Clay Buchholz, Alfredo Aceves pitched six strong innings allowing just one run on seven hits and three walks as the Red Sox blasted the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 at Fenway Park in the opener of the two-game series.
Aceves (pictured) allowed a solo home run to Erik Katz in the top of the third inning and otherwise kept the Phillies offense in check. The only real trouble he ran into was the top of the 6th inning when the Phillies loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single, but Aceves was able to get out of trouble when Jacoby Ellsbury tracked down a fly ball by Freddy Galvis to the triangle in centerfield.
The offense banged out fifteen hits including multi-hit games by Ellsbury (3), David Ortiz (2), Mike Napoli (2), Stephen Drew (2), and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2).
Dustin Pedroia put the Red Sox on the board early with his third home run of the season. It came off Phillies starter Tyler Cloyd with Ellsbury aboard in a 3-run Red Sox first inning. Boston scored three more in the third, a pair of runs in the fifth, and another in the eighth.
Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon made his first return to Fenway Park since leaving for Philadelphia as a free agent after the 2011 season. Just as they had done over the weekend when former manager Terry Francona and players like Mike Aviles came back with the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox played a video tribute to Papelbon on the centerfield message board. With the score to lopsided, Papelbon never got a chance to get back on the Fenway mound where he'd had so much success.
Manager John Farrell finally found a way to get Pedroia out of the game; he pinch-ran Pedro Ciriaco for him in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the Yankees losing to the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field earlier in the evening, the Red Sox moved back into first place in the American League East. They're now twelve games over .500.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow Jim Monaghan on twitter - @Monaghan21
Contributing writer
Making a spot start for Clay Buchholz, Alfredo Aceves pitched six strong innings allowing just one run on seven hits and three walks as the Red Sox blasted the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 at Fenway Park in the opener of the two-game series.
The offense banged out fifteen hits including multi-hit games by Ellsbury (3), David Ortiz (2), Mike Napoli (2), Stephen Drew (2), and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2).
Dustin Pedroia put the Red Sox on the board early with his third home run of the season. It came off Phillies starter Tyler Cloyd with Ellsbury aboard in a 3-run Red Sox first inning. Boston scored three more in the third, a pair of runs in the fifth, and another in the eighth.
Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon made his first return to Fenway Park since leaving for Philadelphia as a free agent after the 2011 season. Just as they had done over the weekend when former manager Terry Francona and players like Mike Aviles came back with the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox played a video tribute to Papelbon on the centerfield message board. With the score to lopsided, Papelbon never got a chance to get back on the Fenway mound where he'd had so much success.
Manager John Farrell finally found a way to get Pedroia out of the game; he pinch-ran Pedro Ciriaco for him in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the Yankees losing to the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field earlier in the evening, the Red Sox moved back into first place in the American League East. They're now twelve games over .500.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow Jim Monaghan on twitter - @Monaghan21
