Four Real? Red Sox vs Rangers 6-6-13

                  Pete Lepak
            RedSoxLife Writer
Game 61: A tight one, but Sox win with the walkoff.
Love that Dirty Water. Boston, down 3-0 early, scratches their way back into the game, keeps it tight, then wins it in the bottom of the ninth on a three run homerun to take two out of three from the Rangers. Jon Lester pitched six innings, and the bullpen pitched three scoreless innings to get the win. Here are the four at bats that changed the game:

1) Early lead for Texas. Jon Lester got hit hard in the second inning before settling down and pitching quite well. Leading off the inning, catcher A.J. Pierzynski hits a ground rule double to right field. Jeff Baker steps to the plate and runs the count to 3 and 0. Lester comes back to get the count full before Baker picks his pitch and deposits it over the Green Monster to put the Rangers up 2-0 early.

2) Wasted opportunities. It seemed as if Boston had many opportunities to break through in the game, but they struggled getting that important hit. In the bottom of the fifth, Jacoby Ellsbury starts off with a ground rule double to center field. Jonny Gomes pounds a single to left field and the Red Sox have men on first and third with no outs. Derek Holland keeps the ball low to Dustin Pedroia, who hits it to first and Lance Berkman plays it perfectly, throws home and gets Ellsbury by a hair. David Ortiz doesn't help either, grounding into a double play to the second base bag to end the inning. 3-2 Rangers. Boston scored earlier with a two run double by Dustin Pedroia.

3) Rallying. In the bottom of the seventh, Ellsbury leads off the inning with a double off of Robbie Ross. It is Ellsbury's fourth hit of the night on his first game back from the disabled list. Gomes singles and Ortiz walks to load the bases. Mike Napoli grounds into a double play ball, but the Rangers turn it too slow and Napoli beats it out to allow Ellsbury to score and tie the game.

4) Greatest Clutch hitter in Sox history. Mike Kirkman takes the mound for the Rangers and Gomes comes out swinging. On the first pitch, Gomes crushes a ball to deep center to lead off with a double. Kirkman then intentionally walks Dustin Pedroia to get to David Ortiz. Why would you purposely get to Papi with men on? Well, all night, Ortiz has faced left handed pitching and has struggled, often looking silly in some at bats. The lefty throws a pitch, Papi swings hard and crushes it into the right field bullpen. Fenway goes crazy, Ortiz takes his time to get around the bases, and then is bombarded with Red Sox players, and everyone in Boston is happy.
What a great game for the confidence of the Red Sox. Boston worked hard for this win, played some great defense, and had great nights offensively from Ellsbury and Gomes. Tomorrow, the Angels and Tommy Hanson come to town to face Felix Doubront at 7:10pm.

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