Boston’s late-inning surge gave Boston its third straight win, though Jon Lester suffered his fifth no-decision in six starts. Lester allowed just three runs on four hits over 6 2/3 innings. Following a Jayson Nix third-inning solo blast, Lester retired 12 straight White Sox batters before Paul Konerko’s line-drive single to start off the two-run seventh. Lester walked two and struck out six in his 26th start of the season.
Tied at three heading into the eighth, Boston broke out with three runs, highlighted by Bay's homer and RBIs from Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Red Sox 6, White Sox 3
Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.
August 25, 2009
Headliner: Jason Bay, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts heading into his fourth at-bat, smacked a towering solo blast deep over the Monster in left-center to give Boston a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth. It was Bay’s 28th homer and his 89th RBI. The homer also extended his hitting streak to four games.
Dirt dog: Jacoby Ellsbury smacked a ground-rule double to lead things off for the Red Sox in the bottom of the first and with Dustin Pedroia at the dish, Ellsbury swiped third base to take sole possession of the Red Sox' single-season steals record. Ellsbury’s 55th bag of the season surpassed Tommy Harper’s record of 54 swipes set back in 1973. The center fielder’s steal would prove to be costly to the White Sox as he would score several pitches later on Pedroia’s ground out to first base. Ellsbury later chopped a single to left field in the seventh and roped an RBI single in the eighth to end the night 3-for-5 with a double, a run, one RBI and one stolen base.
Catcher Victor Martinez came off the bench to knock in two runs on two hits while scoring a run of his own.
Better luck next time: White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink went just one inning of relief but allowed three runs on three hits including Bay's go-ahead blast. The righty picked up his sixth loss of the season.
Key moment: Following a Red Sox fielding error (arguably two) and a Chicago base hit, the White Sox had runners on the corners in a tie game with none down in the top of the eighth inning. However, reliever Hideki Okajima went to work, getting Jermaine Dye on a pop up and whiffing A.J. Pierzynski on a splitter (the "Okie-Dokie"). Manny Delcarmen then came in to get Alex Rios to fly out to end the threat and keep things tied at three.
On deck: Tim Wakefield takes the hill for his first start with the Red Sox since landing on the disabled list back on July 18 with a lower back strain. The 43-year-old is 11-3 with a 4.31 ERA, including a perfect 7-0 record at Fenway this season.
Since Wake’s last start on July 8, the Red Sox have played just .500 baseball, going 20-20 and coughing up their lead in the AL East in the process. The Sox were one game up on the Yankees in the division before he went down with the back injury, and heading into his first start in seven weeks, the Sox are seven games back in the AL East.
Wakefield is just 7-11 in 19 career starts against the White Sox but has won his last five decisions this season.
Taking on the veteran knuckler is righty Gavin Floyd, who is 10-8 with a 3.98 ERA. Floyd has dropped two of his last three starts but is 2-0 in three career starts against Boston. Floyd has struggled on the road this season, posting a 5-5 record and a 5.38 ERA.
