On Monday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox' future shined brightly as minor league prospects paved the way for a comeback win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
After leading for much of the game, Boston was faced with a 3-2 deficit entering the bottom of the eighth.
Boston also had to contend with left-handed reliever Dustin Richardson exiting in the top of the frame with a "fatigued quad," manager Terry Francona told reporters after the game.
Never fear, as Cuban shortstop phenom Jose Iglesias, famed for his defense, rocketed a three-run home run to left field off Eduardo Sanchez to put the Red Sox up 5-3.
Alas, Boston reliever Randor Bierd coughed up the lead in the top of the ninth, allowing three runs, two of them earned. Scott Patterson bailed out Bierd and eventually put out the fire, but the Cardinals led 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Things looked dire until Josh Reddick doubled in a run to tie the game. He was followed by 2008 Futures Game MVP Che-Hsuan Lin, who bopped a single, scoring Reddick and handing the Red Sox a 7-6 victory.
The Red Sox led the game early on the back of Josh Beckett's
scoreless three innings. In fact, Boston pitchers held the Cardinals — sans slugger Albert Pujols, scratched with discomfort in his lower back — hitless until
the top of the seventh.
But in the seventh, with Manny Delcarmen on the mound, Shane Robinson doubled for St. Louis. Two walks and a fielder's choice later, the Redbirds had tallied their first run. The following inning saw the Richardson injury follow a two-run double by Daryl Jones to put St. Louis on top 3-2 before Iglesias' heroics.
Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima and Ramon S. Ramirez succeeded Beckett to the mound, with the latter two registering a pair of strikeouts in their outings.
Boston opened the scoring in the second when J.D. Drew tripled and scored on a Bill Hall single against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who worked two innings. In the fifth, Reddick tripled David Ortiz home for a 2-0 lead that held up until the floodgates opened in the later innings.
