Four Real? Red Sox vs Rays 6-11-13
Pete Lepak
RedSoxLife.com Staff Writer
After yesterday's nearly six hour game that saw the Red Sox score 6 runs without recording an out, Boston again had an easy time scoring early, and trouble scoring late. It didn't help that Jon Lester continued his slide, walking 7 batters to bring his ERA up over 4. Lester now has a 6.90 ERA over the last five starts, when in his first nine starts he had a 2.72 ERA. Weak hitting combined with poor starting pitching is a recipe for disaster, and after nine innings, Boston drops this game 8-3. Here are the four at bats that changed the game.
1) Nap time! Top of the third inning, and the Rays are up 2-1. The bases are loaded, and Rays starter Roberto Hernandez is in trouble. Mike Napoli swings at the second pitch he sees and delivers with a single to right center field that plates two men. The single gives Napoli his 48 and 49 RBI of the season and it gives the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
2) Jose! Bottom of the third, and the game is knotted up at three. With men on first and second, Jose Molina gets jammed on a Lester pitch, but fights it off and drops it in front of Jacoby Ellsbury to score a run and give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
3) Bombs away. Bottom of the fourth inning, and with two outs, Lester misses his spot on the first pitch to Evan Longoria. The pitch is low, but it gets enough of the plate for Longoria to extend his hands. And when Longoria extends, he hits the ball a ton. The ball lands in the front row of right field for an opposite homerun to put the Rays up 5-3.
3) Killer Crush. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Matt Joyce came up to bat against Jon Lester with a 5-3 Rays lead. Ryan Roberts and Jose Molina are both on base because of walks, and so Lester is forced to pitch Joyce with balls near the plate. Unfortunately, Lester misses badly on an outside pitch, and puts it right over the plate for Joyce. Joyce doesn't miss, and deposits into the right field bleachers for a three run shot to put the Rays up 8-3. Yikes!
The Rays take game two of the series, and now have hit four homeruns in back to back games. Because of players on the disabled list and the long game Monday night, Boston will pitch Alfredo Aceves to match up against the Ray's Chris Archer at 7:10pm in Florida.
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| Game 66: Red Sox lose |
1) Nap time! Top of the third inning, and the Rays are up 2-1. The bases are loaded, and Rays starter Roberto Hernandez is in trouble. Mike Napoli swings at the second pitch he sees and delivers with a single to right center field that plates two men. The single gives Napoli his 48 and 49 RBI of the season and it gives the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
2) Jose! Bottom of the third, and the game is knotted up at three. With men on first and second, Jose Molina gets jammed on a Lester pitch, but fights it off and drops it in front of Jacoby Ellsbury to score a run and give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
3) Bombs away. Bottom of the fourth inning, and with two outs, Lester misses his spot on the first pitch to Evan Longoria. The pitch is low, but it gets enough of the plate for Longoria to extend his hands. And when Longoria extends, he hits the ball a ton. The ball lands in the front row of right field for an opposite homerun to put the Rays up 5-3.
3) Killer Crush. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Matt Joyce came up to bat against Jon Lester with a 5-3 Rays lead. Ryan Roberts and Jose Molina are both on base because of walks, and so Lester is forced to pitch Joyce with balls near the plate. Unfortunately, Lester misses badly on an outside pitch, and puts it right over the plate for Joyce. Joyce doesn't miss, and deposits into the right field bleachers for a three run shot to put the Rays up 8-3. Yikes!
The Rays take game two of the series, and now have hit four homeruns in back to back games. Because of players on the disabled list and the long game Monday night, Boston will pitch Alfredo Aceves to match up against the Ray's Chris Archer at 7:10pm in Florida.
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