After an absolutely brilliant at-bat that resulted in a walk to Dustin Pedroia, Gonzalez steps to the plate and drives a ball off of the Monster, scoring both Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury to give the Red Sox an incredible comeback win.
More on this one in a bit.
MId 9th, Orioles 7-6: All right, so the Mark Reynolds home run was bad, but don't discount the job Alfredo Aceves did on Monday night.
He gave the Sox three solid innings, and it could be an outing we look back on a few days later and say that it helped spell the bullpen for when they were really needed. Or maybe it won't.
Either way, the Sox are looking for one to tie and two to win against O's closer Kevin Gregg in the bottom of the ninth.
And for those looking for added positive mojo, I was at the Mother's Day Miracle. And now, I'm live-blogging. Do with that what you will.
End 8th, Orioles 7-6: Buck Showalter's decision to intentionally walk J.D. Drew — the go-ahead run — to get to Jed Lowrie had me scratching my head. That, my friends, is why I write and he's a big league manager.
Koji Uehara follows the intentional pass with a strikeout of Lowrie before getting Carl Crawford to hit a pop up to end the inning.
The Red Sox leave two more runners on base, running their LOB total for the evening to 78. Or something close to that.
Mid 8th, Orioles 7-6: If I'm not mistaken, the Red Sox are still without a 1-2-3 inning after Aceves just surrendered a double to Vladimir Guerrero. No worries, though, Aceves gets out of it with no damage.
As the Red Sox still look to come back, we take a look around the majors to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.
And from the "things could always be worse" department, you could be a fan of the Royals. Or you could be related to Vin Mazzaro. The KC pitcher has allowed 14 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings agains the Indians. The Tribe is leading the Royals 19-1 right now.
End 7th, Orioles 7-6: The Red Sox get one back in the seventh, making that Reynolds home run look even more important.
Jason Varitek, who is quietly heating up some, delivered his second RBI of the evening scoring Jed Lowrie from third following Lowrie's leadoff triple.
Jim Johnson was able to get Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to both strike out, and those sandwiched a Dustin Pedroia lineout.
Pedroia's frustration is really starting to boil over. After hitting a ball hard to left only to end up with an out, Pedroia screamed what appeared to be a four-letter word before returning to the dugout to further his expressions of rage with a spike of his batting gloves and more screaming.
Mid 7th, Orioles 7-5: Minutes after the Red Sox get back into the game, the pitching falters some more.
Alfredo Aceves was on to start the seventh, and he threw Mark Reynolds a slider that didn't do much besides spin. It was a ball that Ryan Reynolds could have probably hit out, which is exactly what Mark Reynolds did. His bomb to dead center gives the Orioles a bit of insurance.
Aceves bounced back to retire the next three, but that's the type of home run that can be deflating. You need your pitcher to slam the door there and get the offense back at the plate as soon as possible, which is something Aceves did not do in the seventh.
End 6th, Orioles 6-5: After David Ortiz walked on five pitches against Clay Rapada, J.D. Drew of all people goes after the first pitch and hits a weak ground ball to second to end the inning.
Drew gets criticized for being too patient at times, but that's one time you'd like to see him work a count, or at least make Rapada prove he's able to find the strike zone.
Alas, the Red Sox explode for five runs, and now only trail it by one.
Bottom 6th, Orioles 6-5: It's pretty tough to describe how hard Kevin Youkilis just hit the baseball.
The third baseman just roped an RBI double to left field that makes it 6-5.
The Youkilis double was something else. He took an inside fastball from Accardo and was able to get his hands inside the baseball in order to keep it fair as he sent it on a line down the left-field line.
The ball rattled around in the left field corner scoring a pair of runs, and Youkilis was able to scurry back to second after almost running into an out at third.
We're still in the sixth with Clay Rapada coming on to try and get the third out of the inning.
Bottom 6th, Orioles 6-2: Just when you're about to write off the Red Sox, they come storming back and make a game of it.
The Red Sox got a little luck in the sixth and give them credit, they took advantage of it, and they're back in it.
The Sox have pushed a couple of runs across in the bottom of the sixth on RBIs from Jed Lowrie and Adrian Gonzalez.
In the middle, the Sox got an extra out when Mark Reynolds made an error at third base, and the Sox got another break when Jason Varitek wasn't called out on a borderline pitch.
Jeremy Accardo comes on with one out to replace Gonzalez.
Mid 6th, Orioles 6-0: If you're a fan of pitching, you probably should refrain from watching the top of any inning at Fenway Park right now.
Scott Atchison has picked up right where Daisuke Matsuzaka left off. Atchison got the first two batters of the sixth, but he failed to close out the inning. Vladimir Guerrero doubled, Luke Scott walked (for a mind-boggling fourth time) and then Adam Jones delivered a RBI single to right.
Earlier, it was Dice-K struggling to begin innings, and now Atchison is struggling to close them out. It's not an ideal combo, especially for a starter and reliever, respectively.
End 5th, Orioles 5-0: This is starting to look like "one of those nights" at the ballpark, as the Red Sox' struggles continue.
However, it would be tough to blame Red Sox hitters for the fifth inning. Sure, they left two runners on, but it was thanks to some bad luck. David Ortiz smoked a line drive that was destined for the right-field corner, but Jake Fox grabbed the screamer to end the inning.
Atchison stays on to at least begin the sixth inning.
Mid 5th, Orioles 5-0: Scott Atchison entered in a tough spot, and he wasn't able to make things much easier for the Red Sox.
The righty reliever gave up a pair of hits, and as a result, the Red Sox are now facing a very uphill battle down 5-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
9:02 p.m.: Terry Francona has seen enough of Daisuke Matsuzaka for one night, and he's making the change.
Matsuzaka is pulled after just 4 1/3 innings of work in which he walked seven Orioles batters. If you want to make that sound even worse, consider the fact that the Orioles have the fourth-worst team batting average in the American League.
Scott Atchison wastes no time getting game action, taking over on the day he is recalled.
End 4th, Orioles 3-0: The LOB parade continues for the Red Sox who just left two more men on base in the fourth. They've left six on through four, which is a lot, but it kind of feels like it could be even more.
Kudos to Chris Tillman who helped himself in that inning when he Johnny Cueto'd a Carl Crawford groundout. For those who didn't see Cueto over the weekend, he made a pretty cool behind-the-back stop, something Tillman just did to get a fielder's choice on to pick up the second out in the fourth.
Mid 4th, Orioles 3-0: If you're a Red Sox fan, you took a positive out of the fourth inning. Matsuzaka retired the leadoff batter for the first time all evening. However, he is still searching for a 1-2-3 inning, and missed out in the fourth after a Nick Markakis single almost took a Dice-K tibia with it.
Matsuzaka did get Vladimir Guerrero to chase a pitch down and away (no way, right?) to end the inning with a strikeout. Adam Jones struck out a couple of innings ago on a pitch that was out of the zone that was the early favorite for Monday night's worst swing and at-bat. Guerrero just one-upped him there.
End 3rd, Orioles 3-0: Fly out. Fly out. Fly out.
Not much else to say about that inning for the Red Sox, and there isn't much to analyze either. If you blinked, you missed the bottom of the third frame, as the Red Sox go real quitely.
Mid 3rd, Orioles 3-0: This Daisuke Matsuzaka start has begun to border on unbearable. Some nights his command totally elludes him, and tonight is one of those nights.
He just gave up another run, this time on a Matt Wieters single that just sneaked through the right side past the outstretched glove of Dustin Pedroia.
It was a bit unlucky, but I subscribe to the notion that as a pitcher, you make your own luck. When you don't have a command, you don't get the breaks or bounces. There is absolutely no way to prove that statistically, but it's something to chew on.
End 2nd, Orioles 2-0: Carl Crawford really seems to have found his swing. He looked to be opening up a lot early on, but he looks like he's got that squared away (pun totally intended). He's staying on the baseball longer, and as a result, you're seeing more of his hits come in the middle third of the field or to the left side even.
He did so here in the second, with a line drive base hit between the second-base bag and the shortstop, but Crawford was stranded at second after stealing his sixth base of the year.
Mid 2nd, Orioles 2-0: Matsuzaka avoids any further trouble in the second inning, but he didn't make it easy on himself, walking J.J. Hardy to begin the innning. It's already the fourth free pass issued by Matsuzaka, who's thrown 49 pitches through two innings.
The Red Sox are making Brian Roberts, who reached on a fielder's choice, look like Dave Roberts. The second baseman just stole second base for the second time in as many innings. Roberts entered the game with only four swipes this season.
End 1st, Orioles 2-0: If the first inning is any indication, it could be a long night at the ballpark.
Chris Tillman's first inning was almost as ugly as Matsuzaka's, except for the fact that Tillman got J.D. Drew to ground out to first to end a scoreless first frame.
That, though, was after a couple of long counts, and a couple of hits from who else? Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez.
The former now has hits in 23 of his last 24 games, while the latter adds to a stretch of games since April 16 in which he is hitting .347. In an obviously related note, the Red Sox are 18-10 in the 28 games since April 16.
Mid 1st, Orioles 2-0: It's never good when you take a line drive off of the midsection to open the game, and things get worse from there.
That was the case for Daisuke Matsuzaka in the first inning, though, as he labored through a 29-pitch first inning. The O's were able to push a couple of runs across thanks to a Derrek Lee RBI double that may have been gone on a nicer night and a Vladimir Guerrero RBI groundout.
Matsuzaka sprinkled in three walks for good measure, so it's pretty insane that he gets out of that inning giving up just two runs. Just Daisuke being Daisuke.
7:15 p.m.: Just as we get settled in for the first pitch, the Red Sox announce that John Lackey is headed to the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain.
He's been replaced by Scott Atchison, but a starter has not been named to take Lackey's place in the rotation. Tim Wakefield would seem like the obvious choice, but we'll have to wait and see what Terry Francona does.
Adding to the misery, Daisuke Matsuzaka wears one off of the bat of Brian Roberts to begin things in the first, but he's staying in the game for now.
7:05 p.m.: We're just a few minutes from first pitch. At the risk of being blamed for jinxing him, it's worth noting that Daisuke Matsuzaka has been pretty darn solid in his last few starts.
Matsuzaka has actually been really good since that Patriot's Day start in which he gave up just a hit in the first inning and cruised from there.
It started a stretch in which he has won his last three decisions, and the only start in that stretch in which he hasn't picked up the W was against the Mariners on April 29 when he left after just three innings.
While his May 8 start against the Twins may have been a little rocky with four runs allowed, it's worth noting that Dice-K gave up three runs in the first inning. After the first, he allowed just three base runners the rest of the game en route to going six and picking up the win.
So there's that.
6:30 p.m.: According to the Red Sox, as of 6:30, Monday night's game will start on time at 7:10 p.m.
There was a pretty nasty storm that came through earlier, but it didn't last terribly long.
The team has announced that the game will start on time, and the grounds crew is currently pulling the tarp off of the field.
So that's good news.
6:00 p.m.: Still no updates to pass along on if and when this game will start. While you wait for either more news or the game to actually start, check out this photo of Boston celebrity Eliza Dushku just hangin' out with Kevin Youkilis.
Always nice to see a Boston girl come back to town, especially coming out to Fenway.
Now, if we could only do something about the Rick Fox thing…
5:35 p.m.: No news from the Red Sox the rest of the night will be good news. Unless, of course, you're into baseball games getting rained out, in which case you'd be psyched.
The Red Sox announced at 4 that everything was on schedule — for now. They said that the gates would be open at regular time (5:40 p.m.) and that "intermittent showers" would be expected throughout the night.
Nothing ground-breaking on that front. The tarp is on the field for the moment, and we'll keep you update on any word passed down from the guys in charge.
4:55 p.m.: As you may know by now, I am not Tony Lee. He's got the night off tonight, so you're stuck with me. No need to go into details, but I can promise you that Tony didn't go into the manager's office and ask out of the lineup.
In regards to the Yankees on that front, team brass — Derek Jeter included — had a conference call today announcing that everything was cool and they're "all on the same page now." That's according to Joel Sherman on Twitter. So yeah. Kumbaya.
Anyway, after a somewhat convincing weekend sweep of the Yankees, one would think that there is no team the Red Sox would rather be facing on Monday night than the Orioles. Despite any successes the Red Sox — or the rest of baseball really — have had against the O's, you can't take them lightly for this two-game dance.
The Fightin' Showalters have won five of their last six, including an impressive weekend series against the division-leading Rays. They lost the series opener on Friday night down in St. Pete, but bounced back with a pair of wins to cap the weekend. That all came on the heels of sweeping the Mariners in a two-game series earlier last week.
The Sox would love to use the Birds as a way to get even hotter, but they can't take Baltimore lightly. Here's how the Orioles will start on Monday night.
Brian Roberts, 2B
Nick Markakis, RF
Derrek Lee, 1B
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Luke Scott, LF
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Mark Reynolds, 3B
J.J. Hardy, SS
4:40 p.m.: And here is your weather update for those asking, as well.
There's a light rain falling now, but nothing substantial really. Drove by a bank on the way in and saw that the temperature was a cool 49 degrees which would be awesome if it were February, but as previously reported by many, we're in the middle of May. Summer will be here someday.
A quick look at the radar seems to indicate that we should be all right for this one, as the storm system moving up the East Coast looks like it should miss the city.
Of course, that's all subject to change in which case we'd be looking at another long night.
Back with more including some words on the Orioles as well as an update on everyone's favorite Red Sox reporter Tony Lee in just a bit.
4:20 p.m.: Not much surprise for the Red Sox on Monday night with their lineup, as Terry Francona is keeping things pretty much the same.
The one noticable — and predictable — change for the Sox is that Jason Varitek is in there to catch Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Not much surprise there since Varitek catches practically every start for the right-hander, but with Varitek giving the nod, it sits Jarrod Saltalamacchia who had a nice game on Sunday night in the Bronx.
Here's how the Sox will start opposite Chris Tillman.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jed Lowrie, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jason Varitek, C
8 a.m.: The Red Sox, hot off a three-game sweep in the Bronx, look to keep things going on at home on Monday night as they welcome in the Baltimore Orioles for a quick two-game series.
The O's have won five of their last six and two in row.
Daisuke Matsuzaka looks for his fourth win of the season as he takes on Chris Tillman, who is in search of his third win of the year.
The 19-20 O's are just 1/2 game behind the 20-20 Sox, who are tied with the Blue Jays, and trail the Yankees by two games and the first-place Rays by three games.
