Final, Red Sox 7-6: Koji Uehara notched another perfect save, and the Red Sox sweep away the White Sox.
Sunday’s 7-6 victory was a grind for Boston. The Red Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the White Sox came storming back with a four-run fourth inning that knocked starter Felix Doubront from the game. Brandon Workman managed to escape a bases-loaded jam in that fourth inning, and the Red Sox responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame.
The White Sox didn’t go quietly, as Tyler Flowers’ solo homer off Craig Breslow in the eighth inning made it a one-run game. Uehara locked down the ninth inning, though, and the Red Sox enter a three-game series with the Tigers having won three straight.
Both Shane Victorino and Jacoby Ellsbury exited Sunday’s game. Victorino left with a hip injury before the seventh inning, and it’s unclear why Ellsbury was replaced in the ninth inning. Stay tuned.
John Lackey and Doug Fister will square off in a matinee affair at Fenway on Monday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
Good night, everyone.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-6: Xander Bogaerts made his way to third base in the eighth inning. The Red Sox couldn’t push him across.
Bogaerts led off with a single, moved up to second base on a wild pitch and advanced to third base when Jonny Gomes grounded out to second. Dustin Pedroia grounded back to the mound to end the inning, though.
Bogaerts struck out twice earlier in the game, but his offensive approach continues to be impressive, especially given that he’s just 20 years old. Check out BostonFanFavorites.com to check out another impressive Red Sox rookie season.
Koji Uehara will now try to close out the White Sox and complete the three-game sweep.
Quintin Berry is taking over for Jacoby Ellsbury in center field. We’ll have to wait and see what that’s all about.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-6: We’ve got a one-run game.
Craig Breslow, who has been so reliable this season, looked to be on his way to another smooth outing. Dayan Viciedo flied out and Conor Gillaspie fell victim to a nice defensive play by Dustin Pedroia.
Tyler Flowers pulled the White Sox closer, though. Flowers absolutely crushed a hanging slider over everything in left field, and Chicago is within a run for the second time in this game.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-5: The White Sox stuck with Charlie Leesman after three straight two-out walks. He rewarded them by exiting the seventh inning unscathed.
Leesman got two quick outs in the seventh, as Dustin Pedroia flied out to center field and David Ortiz grounded back to the mound. Leesman appeared to tire, though, and he issued three straight walks to Daniel Nava, Mike Carp and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Nava really made Leesman work. He fouled off seven pitches during his at-bat and saw 11 pitches total while earning the free pass. Carp and Saltalamacchia each saw six pitches.
Stephen Drew, who homered earlier in the game, couldn’t cash in. He grounded to second base to end the threat.
Craig Breslow will pitch the eighth inning for Boston.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-5: Junichi Tazawa walked Paul Konerko, but then settled in to record back-to-back outs to end the inning.
Tazawa gave Avisail Garcia a heavy dose of fastballs. The right-hander missed with an 0-2 heater before going upstairs with a 95 mph fastball to pick up the K.
Jeff Keppinger popped out in the middle of the infield to end the inning.
4:39 p.m., Red Sox 7-5: Franklin Morales faced the first two batters of the seventh inning. Junichi Tazawa will now take over.
Leury Garcia popped out for the first out, and Alexei Ramirez reached on an infield single. Dustin Pedroia made a nice play to knock down Ramirez’s grounder to the right side, but he didn’t have enough time to throw out the speedy shortstop.
Tazawa enters with Paul Konerko coming up.
4:33 p.m., Red Sox 7-5: Shane Victorino, who has been the Red Sox’ hottest hitter of late, has exited the game.
Victorino came up lame while running to first base on his sixth-inning groundout. John Farrell and the trainer came out to check on Victorino as he started to head toward right field. The decision was then made for him to exit.
Victorino dealt with a hamstring issue earlier this season, and it’s clear that he’s not 100 percent despite his very productive August.
Jonny Gomes entered for Victorino. He’ll play left field and bat second while Daniel Nava shifts to right field.
End 6th, Red Sox 7-5: Conor Gillaspie has been busy down at the hot corner.
Gillaspie, who has already been involved in a number of unique plays in this game, recorded three assists in a perfect sixth inning for Charlie Leesman.
The best of Gillaspie’s plays came on a sharply hit grounder by Jacoby Ellsbury. Gillaspie hit the dirt while knocking it down, and he managed to corral it in time to throw out the speedster at first base.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 7-5: Franklin Morales breezed through a perfect sixth inning, showing good velocity in the process.
Morales, whose action has been limited, mainly because of the Red Sox’ excellent starting pitching of late, touched 96 mph in the sixth inning.
He struck out Tyler Flowers for the second out. Conor Gillaspie and Alejandro De Aza grounded out and flied out, respectively.
Morales needed just seven pitches to get through the sixth inning.
End 5th, Red Sox 7-5: Charlie Leesman worked a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, giving some sense of calmness to a weird game.
Mike Carp and Stephen Drew both flied out, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined out.
Saltalamacchia put good wood on his line drive, but Conor Gillaspie made a terrific diving stop down at third base. Gillaspie, who was involved in a strange play in the fourth inning, has flashed some good leather in this series.
Franklin Morales will pitch the sixth inning for Boston.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 7-5: The fifth inning started down a dangerous road. Brandon Workman held the White Sox to one run, though.
Alexei Ramirez led off with a single and swiped second base, marking his 28th theft of the season. Paul Konerko knocked in Ramirez with a single into center field.
Avisail Garcia and Jeff Keppinger then made Shane Victorino run all over right field. Victorino backtracked to haul in Garcia’s fly ball in deep right, and he charged in to grab Keppinger’s pop fly in shallow right.
The inning ended with a nice defensive play by Dustin Pedroia. Dayan Viciedo smacked a ball up the middle, and Pedroia made a backhanded stop before making an off-balance throw to first for the out.
End 4th, Red Sox 7-4: The starting pitchers weren’t the only ones to make an early exit. Robin Ventura didn’t make it through four innings, either. The White Sox skipper was ejected during the Red Sox’ two-run fourth inning.
Charlie Leesman took over for starter Andre Rienzo in the fourth, and he walked Jacoby Ellsbury to kick off his day. Ellsbury swiped his 51st base with Shane Victorino batting. Victorino then grounded to first base, at which point Ellsbury took third.
Dustin Pedroia hit a rocket down to third base with one out. Conor Gillaspie appeared to make a great diving snag before lunging toward third base in an attempt to double-up Ellsbury. Gillaspie dropped the ball, though, and he then fired an errant throw to first base after the umpire ruled that Gillaspie never had possession of it. Ellsbury scored while Pedroia took second base on the error.
The strange play brought out Ventura, who grew more and more frustrated throughout his conversation with the umpiring crew. Ventura felt as though Gillaspie made the catch and then dropped the ball on the transfer, and he might have a point. Nevertheless, he was tossed.
David Ortiz threw salt on the wound by hammering an RBI single. Ortiz now has three RBIs in this contest.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 5-4: Brandon Workman also had a hard time finding the strike zone, but he eventually settled down.
Workman walked Alejandro De Aza to load the bases upon entering. He made sure the Red Sox escaped the inning with a lead, though.
Workman struck out Leury Garcia swinging to end the inning. Garcia actually struck out twice in the fourth inning, as Felix Doubront struck him out to begin the frame about eight hours ago.
3:34 p.m., Red Sox 5-4: Felix Doubront hit a wall in the fourth inning. His day is done.
The inning started off favorably for Doubront, who struck out Leury Garcia for his fourth strikeout of the afternoon. But things quickly went south when Alexei Ramirez and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back singles.
Doubront walked Avisail Garcia to load the bases, and Jeff Keppinger drove in Chicago’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Dayan Viciedo, batting with runners at first and second, doubled off the left field wall to knock in Ramirez with two outs. The White Sox weren’t done, as Doubront kept struggling to finish off hitters.
Conor Gillaspie stayed back on a 1-2 curveball and drove it into right-center field to score two runs, and Doubront failed to put away Tyler Flowers despite jumping ahead in the count.
John Farrell finally saw enough, and he’s now turning to the bullpen with two outs in the fourth inning. Brandon Workman will enter with runners at the corners and the Red Sox clinging to a one-run lead.
End 3rd, Red Sox 5-0: Stephen Drew tacked on another run in the third inning, and the Red Sox now hold a 5-0 edge.
Andre Rienzo came back out and was actually on the verge of a good bounce-back inning. Mike Carp lined out to short, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia flied out to right field. Drew then jumped on a 1-1 fastball.
Drew hammered a solo homer to center field. It was the shortstop’s 11th long ball of 2013, and it hit off the back wall above the center-field camera well.
Xander Bogaerts struck out looking to end the inning, marking the second time he has struck out in this game.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 4-0: Felix Doubront cruised through a 1-2-3 third inning.
Conor Gillaspie and Alejandro De Aza sandwiched a strikeout with a pair of flyouts to Daniel Nava in left field.
Doubront struck out Tyler Flowers for the second out. The lefty went to the curveball after Flowers fouled off a pair of fastballs. Doubront has three strikeouts thus far.
End 2nd, Red Sox 4-0: The Red Sox are off and running. They posted four runs in the second inning.
Mike Carp, playing for the first time since Wednesday’s heroics, singled to lead off the second inning. Jarrod Saltalamacchia made it first and second with a five-pitch walk.
It wasn’t long before the Red Sox had two runners in scoring position. Stephen Drew lifted a fly ball down the right field line that Avisail Garcia hauled in near Pesky’s Pole, allowing Carp to tag up and advance to third base. Saltalamacchia moved up a station via his first stolen base since 2011, as the White Sox didn’t even throw down to second.
Xander Bogaerts, who has showed excellent plate discipline since being called up, chased a 3-2 pitch away for the second out. Jacoby Ellsbury wasn’t to be denied, though, and the Red Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead when he lined a two-run single into center field. Andre Rienzo went with a 1-2 curveball, and Ellsbury did a good job of staying back and squaring it up.
Rienzo totally lost control from there. He walked both Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia to load the bases for David Ortiz, who hammered the first pitch he saw into right field for a two-run single.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Felix Doubront once again caught a runner leaning. This time, the Red Sox turned it into an out.
Avisail Garcia singled to right field to lead off the second inning. Doubront then fired to first base as Garcia headed for second, and Mike Carp tossed to Stephen Drew to complete the out.
Jeff Keppinger flied out and Dayan Viciedo grounded out to end the inning.
End 1st, 0-0: Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-4 on Saturday. It didn’t take him long to enjoy more success in this game.
Andre Rienzo, who joined the White Sox’ rotation in the wake of Chicago trading Jake Peavy to Boston, started off with back-to-back outs. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded to second base, and Shane Victorino struck out.
Victorino went down looking on a curveball on the inside corner. He wasn’t too pleased with the call, but it looked like a pretty good pitch.
Pedroia made sure the Red Sox didn’t go down quietly. He lined a single off the left field wall with two outs. It’s also worth noting that Pedroia is rocking high socks, which is out of the ordinary for him.
David Ortiz followed Pedroia’s two-out knock with an eight-pitch walk. Rienzo bounced back and retired Daniel Nava on a flyout to deep left-center field.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Felix Doubront struck out two as part of a scoreless first inning.
Doubront struck out Alejandro De Aza to begin his afternoon. De Aza fouled off a couple of fastballs, but Doubront threw a knee-buckling curveball to pick up the K.
Leury Garcia grounded to the left side with one out, and Stephen Drew made a very nice backhanded play while sliding into the hole. However, Drew’s throw wasn’t in time.
Doubront appeared to have Garcia picked off on a throw over to first base. Mike Carp’s throw down to second base wasn’t in time to cut down Garcia, though.
Doubront, who retired Alexei Ramirez on a flyout, made sure Garcia didn’t come around to score. The left-hander struck out Paul Konerko on a high fastball to end the inning.
1:55 p.m: Felix Doubront’s first pitch at cloud-covered Fenway Park is right down the pike.
1:52 p.m.: Felix Doubront and the Red Sox have taken the field.
1:50 p.m.: It’s 1:50. The game hasn’t started yet. But we should be starting soon.
1:32 p.m.: The tarp is off the field, by the way. That’s a good thing.
1:25 p.m.: We’ll all have to wait a little bit longer than expected for baseball. The start time has been pushed back to 1:50 p.m. because of the weather.
This Red Sox rain delay is presented by L.L. Bean.
1:09 p.m.: The Red Sox made a number of roster moves official.
The Red Sox have added five players on the first day of roster expansion. Pitcher Rubby De La Rosa, catcher Ryan Lavarnway, outfielder Quintin Berry and infielders John McDonald and Brandon Snyder have joined the mix.
The Red Sox needed to make a corresponding roster move in order to add Berry to the 40-man roster. They have designated Daniel Bard for assignment.
Realistically, this could be the end of Bard’s Red Sox career. We’ll have to see how the waiver process works out, but a team could take a flyer on the 28-year-old in the hope that he revives his career.
Click here for more on the Bard move >>
10:48 p.m.: Xander Bogaerts will once again be in the Red Sox’ starting lineup. Bogaerts, who reached base three times Saturday via a walk and two singles, will play third base and bat ninth.
Sunday’s complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (81-56)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Carp, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Felix Doubront, LHP (10-6, 3.74 ERA)
White Sox (56-78)
Alejandro De Aza, CF
Leury Garcia, 2B
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Paul Konerko, DH
Avisail Garcia, RF
Jeff Keppinger, 1B
Dayan Viciedo, LF
Conor Gillaspie, 3B
Tyler Flowers, C
Andre Rienzo, RHP (1-0, 4.21 ERA)
10:30 a.m.: Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo appeared on WEEI on Sunday morning, and he revealed Boston’s first wave of September call-ups.
The Red Sox have added reliever Rubby De La Rosa, infielder Brandon Snyder, catcher Ryan Lavarnway and outfielder Quintin Berry. According to WEEI.com, the Red Sox have designated Daniel Bard for assignment to clear a spot for Berry on the 40-man roster.
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox have a difficult three-game series with the Tigers looming. They need to make sure they take care of business on Sunday, though.
Felix Doubront will head to the hill Sunday as Boston looks to finish off a sweep of Chicago. Jake Peavy went seven strong innings Saturday and earned the win as the Red Sox rolled to a 7-2 victory.
Peavy’s effort continued a trend of fantastic pitching by the Red Sox of late. The Red Sox have allowed three runs or fewer in each of their last 11 games, which marks the longest such streak since the 1991 Blue Jays. It speaks to how deep Boston’s rotation is, and it also serves as further proof that this year’s club is ready for September.
Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Be sure to tune in on NESN, and follow along right here.
