There was talk of Dustin Pedroia's clutch double play in the eighth, the club's confidence in sticking with Jon Lester through that rally, Marco Scutaro's remarkable play in the fourth and Jeremy Hermida and Mike Lowell's at bats in the eighth.
Terry Francona was also asked about the night for David Ortiz, who struck out twice and hit into two double plays. The skipper said he will not abandon his designated hitter, despite the fact that Mike Lowell is sitting there with five straight hits, four of them doubles.
"Running away from David is not the best answer in my opinion," Francona said. "We've tried to balance it as best we can, but we need him to hit as opposed to running away from him."
There is another right-hander on the mound Wednesday in Joel Pineiro, so it is probable that Ortiz will remain at DH.
John Lackey will be the Red Sox starter, going for the first time against the only other team he has known. First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
Final, Red Sox 5-1: That's two great wins to start the homestand for the Red Sox. The first involves plenty of offense. Jon Lester, defense and one big timely hit do the trick in the second.
Lester allows just one run in eight innings and Jeremy Hermida continues to produce with a huge three-run double in the eighth.
The Sox have outscored the Angels 22-9 in the first two games.
We will be back with reaction from the clubhouse in a bit.
End 8th, Red Sox 5-1: What did I say about that Angels bullpen? It's not what it used to be, and the Sox took advantage in a big way.
Ten men came to the plate in the eighth. Four of them walked. Two doubled. Two singled. One (David Ortiz) hit into a double play. Another (Jonathan Van Every) struck out.
This marks the second time this season that Jeremy Hermida has had a big three-run double in the eighth inning. The first came in Minnesota back in April and gave the Sox a four-run lead in a game they would eventually win 6-3.
Mike Lowell, who came on as a pinch hitter and knocked in Hermida with a double of his own, is 5-for-5 with four doubles in the last two games.
9:49 p.m.: It was a week ago tonight that David Ortiz was called back to the dugout for a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in a tie game in the eighth. This time he gets to bat, and hits into his second double play of the game. No worries. Jeremy Hermida cleared the bases with a double off the Green Monster to give the Sox a 4-1 lead and chase Kevin Jepsen.
Mid 8th, 1-1: Jon Lester, on his 120th pitch, gets Bobby Abreu to ground into a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. A clutch pitch and a clutch play by second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who tagged Erick Aybar and then flipped the ball to first as he fell over.
Kevin Jepsen has relieved Ervin Santana. This one figured to go to whichever team could reach the bullpen first. The Sox won that race and have had a far superior pen this season.
Let's see how it plays out.
End 7th, 1-1: Just like Jon Lester, Ervin Santana has set down seven straight. As I type this there is nobody warming in the Angels bullpen. Santana has thrown 115 pitches. Gotta love this.
Mid 7th, 1-1: Grounder to third for the first out. Grounder to second for the second. Grounder the shortstop for the third. That's how you get through the meat of the order.
Jon Lester has retired seven in a row since Mike Napoli's two-out double in the fifth. He seems to be getting stronger and at 97 pitches has enough to go at least one more.
End 6th, 1-1: This is turning out to be quite a pitchers duel. The Red Sox have just one hit against Ervin Santana since Victor Martinez's single to lead off the third.
Santana is at 101 pitches. There doesn't seem to be any stirring in the Angels bullpen.
Mid 6th, 1-1: Jon Lester lost his scoreless streak a few innings ago but it was a bit of a soft run. He remains in cruise control, having thrown 80 pitches in six dominant innings.
The southpaw picked up strikeouts four and five to end the sixth.
End 5th, 1-1: Another scoring chance goes by the board as J.D. Drew strikes out with runners on the corners to end the fifth. The Sox have left seven on, and five of them were in scoring position.
Mid 5th, 1-1: Darnell McDonald seems like a great guy. Personable. Likable. Easy to talk to. But he wanted nothing to do with the center field wall in the fifth, pulling up far too soon on a Mike Napoli drive that fell in for a double.
Napoli then stole third, but Jon Lester froze Brandon Wood on a curveball to get out of it.
No harm, no foul, and McDonald is still a great guy.
End 4th, 1-1: The Sox go quietly in the fourth as Ervin Santana has settled into a bit of a groove. However, he has thrown 74 pitches to Jon Lester's 50. Boston should be the first to reach the bullpen, and L.A.'s has been a mess.
After last night's debacle, the Angels bullpen has an ERA of 5.22, 13th in the American League.
Mid 4th, 1-1: The Angels tie it on an RBI groundout by Kendry Morales, and the crowd goes wild. Reason being, Marco Scutaro made a sensational play on the grounder to limit the damage in the fourth.
Los Angeles had runners on second and third with one out when Morales hit one in the hole between third and short. Scutaro backhanded the ball and in one motion jumped, spun and threw a one-hopper to first. I know you hate to hear it, but it was a la Derek Jeter, who made that jump-throw play his own when he was younger.
The run was scored by Erick Aybar, who had walked to lead things off. Jon Lester will see the thinking of that.
End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Consider it a warning. The Sox are going to lament their wasted opportunities in this one.
They get two more on in the third before David Ortiz hits into a double play.
Through three innings Boston has six hits — including three doubles — and just one run.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: We gave you Jon Lester's scoreless streak last inning. It is now up to 15 2/3 after a double play helps him escape the third.
Just in case anyone is wondering, the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings is 45 2/3, set by some guy named Cy Young in 1904.
Only 30 more innings and Lester ties him.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox have the lead and Jon Lester on the mound, but they've set themselves up for frustration down the road. Boston has left runners on second and third in both the first and second innings.
Marco Scutaro has two doubles in as many innings and is now hitting .295 in the leadoff spot.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Jon Lester has thrown 14 2/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run. The Angels have yet to get a ball out of the infield against him.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: If baseball managers had little dry erase boards to draw up plays, they would create something like the first inning for the Red Sox, who offered up a textbook example of how to manufacture a run.
Marco Scutaro doubled off the Green Monster to start it off. He moved to third on a long fly to right by Dustin Pedroia and came home easily on Victor Martinez's grounder to deep first.
Picture perfect. And with the way Jon Lester has been of late every run the Angels allow could cause some serious harm.
Oh yeah, Kevin Youkilis singled and J.D. Drew doubled in the inning, but were stranded when David Ortiz struck out.
Drew is hitting .378 (17-for-45) over his last 12 games.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Jon Lester has been dominant in the first inning this season, and continues that trend against the Angels.
With a perfect first in this one, Lester has now allowed four hits in 21 total at bats in first innings, good for a .190 average. He also has nine strikeouts in his six opening frames.
6:29 p.m.: The tarp is off the field and there is actually some sun visible over the Green Monster. We are on schedule to start at 7:10 p.m.
5:55 p.m.: No new updates from team officials, but yes, it is pouring at Fenway right now. Will provide new info when I get it.
5:30 p.m.: Here is our daily update from the desk of Terry Francona, who gave us information on some of his injured players and shed light on the designated hitter situation.
Jacoby Ellsbury was going to try to take cuts in the cage Tuesday, which would be a first in his recovery from his rib/chest injury. I personally did not see Ellsbury taking swings, but the fact that he is even considering it represents a step forward. The left fielder had only hit off the tee to this point.
Mike Cameron looks like he is just about ready. He was running all over the outfield shagging flies during batting practice and Francona said that they will take a look at where he is by the end of the week. It appears as if Cameron could be activated then. There is no immediate word on whether he will need some rehab games in the minors before going back in the lineup.
Boof Bonser (remember him?) threw three simulated innings recently and will throw a side session on Wednesday. The team hopes to have him pitch in a game in the minors on Friday. Bonser was scaled back after he struggled to get loose before a start April 13. He gave up nine runs in just two innings that day and was sent for evaluation by the team, which showed no damage in his surgically repaired shoulder.
Francona was asked if he had considered putting Mike Lowell back in at designated hitter against a righty after Lowell went 4-for-4 on Monday.
"I thought he swung the bat great, but also we're trying to look at the big picture," Francona said. "Adrian [Beltre] swung the bat very well too. If we DH Lowell somebody's gonna sit."
Francona has yet to use the term "platoon" but it certainly seems as if that is the rule right now, until something gives.
"Whether it is juggling or whatever term you want to use we're trying to win tonight, tomorrow, the next day," he said. "I'm not trying to get ahead of myself but I think we're doing the right thing."
The skipper was also asked about Nomar Garciaparra, who will be honored at Fenway Park on Wednesday, and had some interesting things to say about the time he managed him in the Arizona Fall League. Look for some of that in a separate Nomar piece in a bit.
4:15 p.m.: Word just came down from the Red Sox that they hope to get the game going at the scheduled time of 7:10, but there is a threat of thunder showers last in the afternoon and into the early evening.
For now, gates are still scheduled to open at 5:10 p.m. but there is a possibility of a delay.
3:22 p.m.: Under the threat of oncoming storms, the tarp has been put on the field at Fenway Park. There doesn't appear to be any serious threat to the game, and when it begins here is the lineup the Red Sox will use:
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez 2
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald RF
8 a.m.: Following an offensive display the likes of which we have not seen since last August, the Red Sox look to make it two straight when they host the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday night.
Behind 20 hits, including seven doubles and four home runs, the Sox coasted to a 17-8 win in the series opener Monday.
The club gets to follow that effort by showcasing its hottest pitcher in Jon Lester, who has not allowed a run in 12 2/3 innings over his last two starts.
Lester has been hit hard against the Angels, however, giving up 17 runs on 33 hits in just 19 2/3 innings in his career. He will be opposed by Ervin Santana.
Expect David Ortiz back in the designated hitter spot despite Mike Lowell going 4-for-4 with three doubles and four RBIs in that role Monday night.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
