Red Sox Live Blog: Cody Ross, David Ortiz Key Five-Run Eighth Inning, Sox Win 13-5

by abournenesn

Apr 14, 2012

Red Sox Live Blog: Cody Ross, David Ortiz Key Five-Run Eighth Inning, Sox Win 13-5

Final, 13-5: Game over, Alfredo Aceves pitches a spotless ninth inning. The Red Sox are fueled by another action-packed eighth inning.

Bottom 8th, 13-5: There's something about the eighth inning that the Red Sox just like.

A day after scoring eight in the eighth, the Sox churned out five runs in the eighth to surge to an eight-run lead.

Che Hsuan-Lin is also coming in to make his major league debut.

Mid 8th, Red Sox 8-5: Franklin Morales came into replace Clay Buchholz, who yielded five runs and three walks but struck out another five batters.

Morales fanned Matt Joyce and got Ben Zobrist and Luke Scott to ground out. He was spotless in that inning.

Alfredo Aceves is also in the bullpen, warming up.

Bottom 7th, Red Sox 8-5: Before Saturday's game, Mike Aviles talked about being more aggressive at the plate and being mentally ready to hit wherever.

He ignited the three-run rally, hitting a solo shot over the Green Monster. It's quieting all those calls for Jose Iglesias too.

That makes four homers for the Red Sox right now. With the exception of Cody Ross' two-run double, all the other runs have come from the long ball.

Mid 7th, 5-5: After the first inning, it'd be hard to imagine that Buchholz would last this far.

With the strikeout of Evan Longoria, it looks like Buchholz will be done. Franklin Morales is tossing in the dugout and could be primed to come in and hold the fort.

Bottom 6th, 5-5: Although there wasn't much damage done in that inning, it's worth mentioning Ryan Sweeney's performance.

He doubled earlier in the game to extend his hitting streak to seven games. He's got that line drive type of swing that's helped him with those extra-base hits.

Mid 6th, 5-5: A good chunk of four-seam fastballs came from Clay Buchholz that inning.

Since his first inning hiccup, he's been lights out. This time, he induced three straight groundouts to get the offense back out.

In the process, Burke Badenhop has replaced Jeremy Hellickson, who allowed seven hits, five runs and three homers. He threw 99 pitches, 59 strikes.

Bottom 5th, 5-5: No slow starts for David Ortiz this April. He's been sizzling with his average and just blasted a two-run shot over the right field fence.

The roar from the stands over here at Fenway was crazy. When Big Papi does damage, you already know based on the loud reception he received here.

Mid 5th, Rays 5-3: After a rocky start, Buchholz has been much more efficient these last few innings with his pitches.

He's racked up 88 pitches now. Since he tossed 43 pitches through the first two innings, it's safe to say he's helping out the bullpen.

The offense will need to give him some run support against Hellickson, who has done well despite a few bumps.

Bottom 4th, Rays 5-3: This sequence just showed what the Red Sox will miss over time without Jacoby Ellsbury.

With the bases loaded, Mike Aviles flew out to deep right field. It was good contact by Aviles and he's played well, but when you have the MVP runner-up over there, it's hard to replace him.

Mid 4th, Rays 5-3: Kevin Youkilis was really showing off the leather, fielding Sean Rodriguez' grounder barehanded to toss him out.

That strong defensive effort is what the Sox will continued to lean on as they look to bail out their pitching staff.

Bottom 3rd, Rays 5-3: The power outage is fading now that Dustin Pedroia launched a shot over the Green Monster.

It's his second of the season and as a whole, the Red Sox have tallied just four round-trippers this year. 

Pedroia continued to be the sparkplug for this squad.

Mid 3rd, Rays 5-2: Luke Scott keeps getting the boos, but keeps answering them with his hit.

The designated hitter launched a double off the Green Monster that was a nearly a homer for an RBI double.

Buchholz, meanwhile, is continuing to throw more pitches than he would like. Considering he's still easing into everything in a sense, he could be primed for an early hook.

Bottom 2nd, Rays 4-2: Who would've predicted that Jarrod Saltalmacchia would've hit the first homer at Fenway this year?

With Jeremy Hellickson way behind the count, Saltalamacchia homered to straight away center field, trimming the deficit in half.

A nice series for catchers so far against the Rays, especially on the heels of Kelly Shoppach's huge day on Friday.

Mid 2nd, Rays 4-0: That balk call on Clay Buchholz certainly threw everyone off guard over there.

He's thrown 43 pitches through two innings, which should be cause for concern right now.

By the way, pitching coach Bob McClure is sick, which is why Gary Tuck is filling in on his behalf.

Bottom 1st, Rays 4-0: Mike Aviles said he's trying to take a more aggressive approach to the leadoff spot — unlike when he did during his time in Kansas City — and he beat out an infield hit.

Unfortunately for him, he was picked off on first base. But hey, it was a good start to adjusting to the leadoff spot.

During spring training, Bobby Valentine said he was warming up to the idea of slotting Aviles in the leadoff spot.

Mid 1st, Rays 4-0: There's that man that Boston fans will be booing for awhile now –– Luke Scott.

He called Fenway a "dump" and called out the Red Sox fans over the offseason and then responded by unloading a three-run shot to right field for the big gap.

Not the way Clay Buchholz wanted to start, either. He's already put himself behind again

3:30 p.m.: Here are the lineups.

Red Sox
Mike Aviles, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Cody Ross, CF
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, LF

Clay Buchholz, P

Rays
Desmond Jennings, CF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Evan Longoria, 3B
Matt Joyce, LF
Ben Zobrist, RF
Luke Scott, DH
Jeff Keppinger, 2B
Jose Molina, C
Sean Rodriguez, SS

Jeremy Hellickson, P

 

8 a.m. ET: Fresh off toppling the Rays on Friday 12-2, the Red Sox (2-5) will look to maintain the offensive explosion during Saturday's game at 4:05 p.m. against the Rays (4-3). With the exception of Cody Ross, every single player that started on Friday tallied a hit.

Clay Buchholz will also look to get back on track after yielding eight hits and seven runs over four innings against the Tigers. He will take on Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson, who is the reigning American League Rookie of the Year and earned his first victory against the Yankees. Hellickson was one-third of an inning away from tossing a complete game.

For all the details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com's live blog. Be sure to tune into NESN for the game.

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