Four Real? Victor-y for Sox and Victor-ino in the Eleventh Hour. 8-13-13
Pete Lepak
RedSoxLife Writer
Tuesday night's Red Sox- Blue Jays game had a very National League feel to it. The game was a low scoring affair, with good pitching and great defense on both sides of dugouts; from Will Middlebrooks, to Rajai Davis, to Mike Napoli. But it was Shane Victorino who used his glove and his bat to get this one in the win column for the first place Red Sox. The win, and the Rays loss, brought the AL East lead to four games for Boston, and they couldn't be happier. Ryan Dempster was extremely effective, going seven strong innings and only surrendering four hits on 88 pitches. The Red Sox faced eight different Jays pitches and couldn't fare any better until the eleventh inning. Here are the four at bats that changed the game:
1) Missed Opportunities. In the top of the sixth inning and the Jays up 1-0, Boston loads the bases on two walks and a single. With Brett Cecil on the mound, Mike Napoli has an opportunity to break the game open. So far in August, Nap has had 23 chances to hit with men on base, but he has only one hit to show for it. Continuing the streak, Napoli is frozen on a 90 mph fastball and strikes out. Stephen Drew follows and swings on a first pitch fastball and pops to center field to end the inning. 1-0 Jays
2) I'm Glovin' Victorino. In the bottom of the sixth, Boston flexed their defensive prowess. Jose Reyes walked and took second on a ground out. With two outs, Edwin Encarnacion crushed a 3-1 fastball to shallow right field. Victorino picked it up on the bounce and fired a strike to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tagged out Reyes and saved a run. Great play from the outfielder to keep the game at 1-0 Jays.
3) Timely Hitting. Boston took the lead in the seventh when Sergio Santos took the mound for Toronto. With one out, he threw two fastballs to Will Middlebrooks. On the second pitch, Middlebrooks doubled to right field. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a single to center off of a fastball to score Middlebrooks, then Dustin Pedroia took an off speed pitch to right field to score Ellsbury. 2-1 Boston.
4) Getting it Done. J.P. Arencibia tied the game at two with a homerun in the eighth, and the game stayed tied until the top of the eleventh. Aaron Loup took the mound for the Jays and promptly walked Salty on five pitches, and then Middlebrooks singled. Ellsbury forced Middlebrooks at second, then stole second to put men on second and third with two out. Shane Victorino looked at three straight fastballs before slowly grounding a ball right up the middle and between second and short to score both men and put the Sox up 4-2.
Koji Uehara came into the ninth inning and shut down the Jays. He quickly retired Davis, Jose Bautista and Encarnacion on twenty pitches for his third win of the year. The story of the year so far for Boston, Koji has now retired 90 out of the last 100 batters he's faced with 41 strikeouts. Thursday night, Jon Lester faces Esmil Rogers at 7:07pm in Toronto.
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RedSoxLife Writer
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| Sox win in Extras, 4-2 |
1) Missed Opportunities. In the top of the sixth inning and the Jays up 1-0, Boston loads the bases on two walks and a single. With Brett Cecil on the mound, Mike Napoli has an opportunity to break the game open. So far in August, Nap has had 23 chances to hit with men on base, but he has only one hit to show for it. Continuing the streak, Napoli is frozen on a 90 mph fastball and strikes out. Stephen Drew follows and swings on a first pitch fastball and pops to center field to end the inning. 1-0 Jays
2) I'm Glovin' Victorino. In the bottom of the sixth, Boston flexed their defensive prowess. Jose Reyes walked and took second on a ground out. With two outs, Edwin Encarnacion crushed a 3-1 fastball to shallow right field. Victorino picked it up on the bounce and fired a strike to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tagged out Reyes and saved a run. Great play from the outfielder to keep the game at 1-0 Jays.
3) Timely Hitting. Boston took the lead in the seventh when Sergio Santos took the mound for Toronto. With one out, he threw two fastballs to Will Middlebrooks. On the second pitch, Middlebrooks doubled to right field. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a single to center off of a fastball to score Middlebrooks, then Dustin Pedroia took an off speed pitch to right field to score Ellsbury. 2-1 Boston.
4) Getting it Done. J.P. Arencibia tied the game at two with a homerun in the eighth, and the game stayed tied until the top of the eleventh. Aaron Loup took the mound for the Jays and promptly walked Salty on five pitches, and then Middlebrooks singled. Ellsbury forced Middlebrooks at second, then stole second to put men on second and third with two out. Shane Victorino looked at three straight fastballs before slowly grounding a ball right up the middle and between second and short to score both men and put the Sox up 4-2.
Koji Uehara came into the ninth inning and shut down the Jays. He quickly retired Davis, Jose Bautista and Encarnacion on twenty pitches for his third win of the year. The story of the year so far for Boston, Koji has now retired 90 out of the last 100 batters he's faced with 41 strikeouts. Thursday night, Jon Lester faces Esmil Rogers at 7:07pm in Toronto.
Like me? Tweet me! @Red33Sox
