The Sox were playing from behind early, as Aaron Hill took Josh Beckett deep for a three-run homer in the top of the second inning, floating one over the Green Monster in left. Digging out of the 3-0 hole wasn't easy, but a three-run rally in the fourth did the trick — and then when the longball struck again on a two-run blast from Rod Barajas, the Sox evened the score again in the fifth.
The game stayed tied, 5-5, until the rains came in the eighth inning. Then after the rain delay ended and the tarp came off, the Sox rallied in the bottom of the eighth. Three walks, a double and a well-time fielder's choice yielded the go-ahead run, and that was that.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth, striking out three Blue Jays and earning his 31st save.
Final: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5.
It's never easy, is it?
Jonathan Papelbon comes
on to pitch the ninth, and while he eventually strikes out the side for
his 31st save of the season, his outing is anything but smooth sailing.
Two singles and a hit-by-pitch load the bases with one out, and
Papelbon has to come back with back-to-back strikeouts to keep the Red
Sox on top. He does, and the Sox emerge victorious in a wild ballgame
at Fenway Park.
End 8th, 6-5 Sox: Tallet faces just one batter, and it doesn't
go well — he gets ahead of Big Papi 0-2 and then blows it, walking him
over the course of the next five pitches. Cito Gaston turns to Shawn Camp, but Camp can't stop the bleeding — J.D. Drew doubles to left-center two batters later, and after a free pass to Varitek, Casey Kotchman
steps in as a pinch-hitter. Kotchman hits a hard grounder to the right
side — Overbay makes a nice stop, but a run scores and the damage is
done. The Red Sox are three outs away from winning a wild one at Fenway.
Middle 8th, 5-5: Two pitches later, we're headed to the bottom
of the eighth inning. Aaron Hill comes to the plate after the rain
delay — he takes the first pitch he sees for strike one, then hacks at
the second one and lofts it to right field — J.D. Drew is there. The
Sox' 5-6-7 hitters (Ortiz, Bay, Drew) will come to the plate in the
bottom of the inning — Brian Tallet will take the mound in relief for Toronto.
10:59 p.m.: And we're back! After a rain delay of just over 45
minutes, Hideki Okajima is taking the mound in relief of Bard, and
we're ready to resume the game, tied 5-5 in the top of the eighth.
Okajima inherits two outs with a runner at third base.
End 7th, 5-5: Make it six straight Red Sox retired in impressive
fashion by the Jays' reliever Roenicke. First he strikes out Dustin
Pedroia on five pitches to start the bottom of the seventh; then he
fans Victor Martinez on five more. Kevin Youkilis flies to right on a
1-1 pitch, and we're going on to the bottom of the eighth. Daniel Bard
will stay in to pitch the eighth, but Hideki Okajima is up in the bullpen for the Red Sox.
Middle 7th, 5-5: Bard brings the heat against the Jays in the
seventh, throwing a perfect inning and hitting 100 on the gun a few
times in the process. Vernon Wells fouls out to start the inning, and Bard then fans the next two batters he faces. We remain tied as Grammy winner Kelly Clarkson takes the field for tonight's rendition of "God Bless America."
End 6th, 5-5: Roenicke makes it an easy 1-2-3 against the Sox'
8-9-1 — three straight groundouts is all the Sox can muster. Varitek
rolls one to first, Gonzalez to the mound, and Ellsbury to short —
we're still tied, and we're moving to the seventh. Daniel Bard will replace Saito after one inning.
Middle 6th, 5-5: Aaron Hill and Adam Lind each manage a single
against Saito in the sixth, but the Jays fail to capitalize this time.
Lyle Overbay digs in against the Sox' reliever with a chance to do some
damage, but Saito gets ahead in the count 1-2 and eventually strikes
Overbay out swinging to end the sixth. We're still tied, and the Red
Sox will get their first look at Jays newcomer Josh Roenicke in the bottom of the sixth.
End 5th, 5-5: The Red Sox come out hacking against Richmond in
the fifth. Victor Martinez leads off the inning with a single to center
on a 2-2 pitch, and three batters later, Jason Bay drives the 0-2
offering from Richmond over the Monster for a two-run homer. It's his
29th home run of the season, and the Red Sox are back in the ballgame.
Beckett, however, won't be winning No. 15 tonight; he leaves in favor
of Takashi Saito, who enters to pitch the top of the sixth.
Middle 5th, 5-3 Jays: With his three-run deficit erased, Josh
Beckett returns to the mound with renewed purpose — and proceeds to
blow the lead again. With two outs and Lyle Overbay on second base, Rod
Barajas hacks at the first pitch from Beckett and sends it over the
wall in left field, putting the Jays back in front. Another frustrating
loss brewing for Josh Beckett, who has suddenly lost his dominating
touch at Fenway Park.
End 4th, 3-3: Heart of the order (Youkilis, Ortiz, Bay) in the
fourth for Boston, and the Sox make the most of it, breaking through
against Richmond. Youk and Papi get things started with back-to-back
singles, and after a Bay strikeout, the Sox get another single out of J.D. Drew and
a sac fly from Jason Varitek, each scoring a run. Gonzalez then scores
as well, and that brings up Ellsbury, who continues his domination of
Scott Richmond — the Sox' leadoff man drives one deep to center field
for a ground-rule double, scoring Drew with the Sox' third run. We're
all tied up.
Middle 4th, 3-0 Jays: Scary moment for the Blue Jays in the fourth — Marco Scutaro takes
a pitch directly in the back of the head from Beckett, forcing him to
leave the game. Fortunately, he's able to walk off the field on his own
power — and after John McDonald enters as a pinch-runner,
Beckett recovers to strike out the final two batters in the Blue Jays'
half of the fourth. Make it seven K's in four innings for the Sox' ace.
End 3rd, 3-0 Jays: Two innings after giving the Red Sox their
first baserunner of the game, Jacoby Ellsbury gives them their second.
With two outs in the third, Ellsbury manages a single to left; Dustin
Pedroia then manages an infield single and both runners advance on a
wild pitch, but Victor Martinez grounds out and the threat is over. The
Sox stay scoreless.
Middle 3rd, 3-0 Jays: The good news? Through three innings, Josh
Beckett has now struck out five Blue Jays. The bad news? He's also
walked five. Beckett somehow manages to get out of the third with no
damage on the scoreboard, but his line in the box score is starting to
look like a complete mess. Meanwhile, let's see if the Red Sox can
start to get some hits. They've got their 8-9-1 hitters due up —
that's Jason Varitek, Alex Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury.
8:07 p.m.: If Josh Beckett can bounce back and find a way to win
this ballgame, he'll be the third pitcher in baseball win 15 games this
season. He'll also join an elite group of pitchers to win 15 in four of
the last five seasons. Johan Santana did it from 2005 to '08, snapping the streak this season due to injury; CC Sabathia broke into the club when he won this season's 15th on Sunday; and Roy Halladay is on his way, currently two wins away from his fourth straight 15-win campaign.
End 2nd, 3-0 Jays: Scott Richmond is cruising tonight against
the Red Sox — after the leadoff walk, he's retired six straight
batters and kept the Red Sox hitless through two. Here in the second, David Ortiz strikes out, and Jason Bay and J.D. Drew follow
with a groundout to third and a fly to center, respectively. With the
rain at Fenway still going strong, we move on to the third.
Middle 2nd, 3-0 Jays: A week ago, the Red Sox at home with Josh
Beckett on the mound meant an automatic win. Now what? Here in the
second, Beckett gives up a towering three-run homer over the monster to
Jays second baseman Aaron Hill — quickly, Toronto's out to a 3-0 lead.
Hill now has 31 home runs this season, a team high.
End 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox get the lead runner on base against Richmond, but that's all they get. Jacoby Ellsbury reaches on a six-pitch walk to lead things off, but Richmond takes care of business from there. Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis all fly out in short order — so much for having the lead man on against Richmond.
7:27 p.m.: Fast fact on Jays starter Scott Richmond — this is
his last start in his twenties. The second-year hurler turns 30 this
Sunday — with the milestone birthday approaching, he has a 7-10 career
record so far in his career. Maybe he can peak late in his career and
reinvent himself after 30.
Middle 1st, 0-0: The rain's pouring down, but it's not stopping
anything. We're underway from Fenway Park, and we're scoreless so far.
Not the smoothest of first innings for the Sox' ace — two singles and
a two-out walk load the bases for Toronto's Randy Ruiz — but Beckett gets out of it. Ruiz strikes out swinging, and it's on to the bottom of the first.
6:35 p.m.: Jason Varitek is back in the lineup tonight, assuming his spot behind the plate to catch Sox ace Josh Beckett. Terry Francona moves Victor Martinez out into the field to play first base, which shifts Kevin Youkilis to third. Mike Lowell gets the night off from manning the hot corner for Boston.
For the visiting Blue Jays, it's the usual starting nine. After giving a few of his regular starters the night off on Wednesday, manager Cito Gaston is back to sticking with his guns — Adam Lind is back and playing left field, Lyle Overbay is slotted in at first base again, and Rod Barajas returns to his usual spot behind the plate. The Jays are at full strength.
1:03 p.m.: A lot has been in doubt this summer for the Red Sox,
who were on top of the world a month ago and have since fallen back to
Earth. But amid all the uncertainty, one thing's still for sure: This
ball club can win at home.
The Sox, fresh off three out of four wins over a contending Chicago team, now conclude their long Fenway Park homestand as the Toronto Blue Jays visit for a three-game weekend set. With a 1 1/2 game lead in the wild-card race and the season's final month approaching, Boston is a clear playoff favorite, but they're far from comfortable in that position.
Every game has that do-or-die feel to it, and the Red Sox don't feel like dying when they've got their ace on the mound. Josh Beckett takes the hill in the series opener, still searching for his 15th win of the season. Last time out, Beckett took the loss as the Yankees' CC Sabathia became the AL's first to reach 15; this time, Beckett can become the second. He's still 8-1 at Fenway Park this season.
For Toronto, it'll be Scott Richmond — the Jays' righty hasn't won a game since June 24, but he's nursing a 4.09 ERA and 1.29 WHIP this season, continuing to be a reliable starter for a Toronto club that's seen its offense fizzle out a little since the first half. Against Beckett, the Jays will take any offense they can find.
