Final, Phillies 4-3: Jonathan Papelbon gave up his first run since his first appearance of the season. But in the end, he shut the door on a ninth-inning rally to secure a 4-3 win for the Phillies.
Jackie Bradley Jr. batted in the pitcher’s spot to begin the ninth inning. It was his first at-bat since being recalled, and he struck out swinging.
Stephen Drew made sure the Red Sox didn’t go quietly, though. He put together a great at-bat that ended with an eight-pitch walk off the Phillies closer, setting the stage for another Papelbon-David Ortiz showdown.
Ortiz took the first pitch he saw from Papelbon before putting a big swing on the second pitch. Ortiz actually got a pretty good pitch to hit, but he just got under it, and the slugger was retired on a flyout to right field.
The Red Sox kept fighting. Jonny Gomes shot a base hit into right field to put the tying run on for Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury then blooped a ball down the left field line that Domonic Brown couldn’t haul in on a diving attempt. Brown probably should have made the play, but it landed just beyond his glove and briefly rolled away, allowing Drew to score. Gomes advanced to third base, and Ellsbury made it to second base with a double.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Daniel Nava couldn’t put the finishing touches on the comeback. He grounded out to first base to end the ballgame.
Domonic Brown, despite the strange effort on Ellsbury’s fly ball in the ninth, played a big role in the win. He smacked two home runs, including one to extend Philadelphia’s lead in the eighth inning. (That obviously proved to be an important run.)
Ryan Howard and Erik Kratz also homered for Philadelphia, while Nava homered for Boston.
John Lackey pitched pretty well in his six innings of work, but he’ll take the loss while Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick picks up the win.
The Red Sox and Phillies will be in action again Thursday. Franklin Morales will take the ball in a spot start as the Sox try to avoid dropping three straight. Thursday’s game is scheduled to kick off at 7:05 p.m.
Good night, everyone.
End 8th, Phillies 4-2: Jonathan Papelbon will look to make it two straight nights with a save against the Red Sox.
Papelbon will also have a little extra cushion to work with now, as Domonic Brown connected on his second home run of the game in the eighth inning. Brown turned on a 1-2 splitter from Koji Uehara, and he lifted it into the first row in right field for his 13th dinger of the season.
Uehara settled down after the home run to retire Erik Kratz, Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez in order, but that fourth run could end up being huge, especially with Papelbon on the hill.
Papelbon is 10-for-10 in save opportunities this season. The Red Sox still have David Ortiz at their disposal.
Mid 8th, Phillies 3-2: Dale Scott’s strike zone isn’t pleasing too many hitters.
Dustin Pedroia flied out to right field to lead off the eighth inning, and Mike Napoli struck out swinging. Napoli looked fooled by Mike Adams’ 1-2 pitch, and he couldn’t get the bat off his shoulder.
It would have been hard to argue about the pitch that sat down Napoli, as it was right down the middle. But the pitch that Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out on seemed a bit low. That’s probably what the Red Sox catcher tried to explain to Scott after he was rung up to end the inning.
End 7th, Phillies 3-2: The Phillies left a huge, bases-loaded opportunity on the table in the seventh inning.
Andrew Miller took over on the mound after John Farrell opted for a double-switch. Jonny Gomes, who batted for John Lackey, replaced Mike Carp in left field, and the pitcher will now bat out of the sixth spot in the Red Sox’ order.
Miller retired Cesar Hernandez, who is making his major league debut, for the first out, but he ran into some trouble from there.
Ben Revere singled, and then both Kevin Frandsen and Jimmy Rollins walked to load the bases for Ryan Howard, who already hit a home run earlier. It was a huge jam, but Miller came up with big-time strikeout. The lefty struck out Howard on three pitches, even blowing a 98-mph fastball by the slugger in an 0-2 count.
The Red Sox turned to Koji Uehara to get the final out, and Uehara responded by getting John Mayberry to pop out to short. We all know Uehara tends to get fired up after a successful inning, and that great escape really got him jacked and pumped.
Lackey gave up three earned runs on six hits over six innings before departing. He struck out five, walked three and threw 98 pitches (60 strikes).
Mid 7th, Phillies 3-2: There are a lot of times when you can point to one single pitch as a huge moment in a game. We may have had that pitch/moment in the seventh inning.
The Red Sox began threatening against the new pitcher, Antonio Bastardo, when Jose Iglesias lined a one-out double down the left field line.
With John Lackey due up, John Farrell turned to Jonny Gomes as a pinch-hitter, and Gomes took a pitch off the wrist area to set up runners at first and second.
After a quick mound visit, Bastardo went to work against Jacoby Ellsbury in a crucial showdown. Ellsbury jumped ahead in the count 2-1 before fouling off a couple of pitches. Bastardo tried to get Ellsbury with a pitch in the dirt, but the Red Sox’ leadoff man laid off to run the count full.
That’s when the big pitch came.
Bastardo tried to grab the outside corner with a fastball. Ellsbury thought the pitch was outside, but home plate umpire Dale Scott rung him up for the second out. It’s clear that Scott is willing to give that pitch to the pitcher in this game, as Ryan Howard struck out against John Lackey on a similar offering earlier.
Daniel Nava tried to make up for Ellsbury’s strikeout, but he grounded to second base. Kevin Frandsen fielded the ball on a weird, in-between hop, and he won the race to the bag for the inning’s final out.
Andrew Miller will take over on the mound for Boston in the seventh.
End 6th, Phillies 3-2: Kyle Kendrick used an inning-ending double play to escape a jam in the top of the sixth inning. John Lackey did the same in the bottom half.
Delmon Young walked to lead off the sixth, and he was replaced by a pinch runner in John Mayberry. Mayberry quickly moved up into scoring position by swiping second base.
Mayberry then advanced to third base when Domonic Brown grounded out, and Erik Kratz walked to put runners at the corners with one out.
Lackey nearly walked the bases loaded, as he fell behind Freddy Galvis 3-0. The righty benefited from a high strike call to keep the at-bat going, though, and he then got Galvis to ground into a huge 4-6-3 double play.
That’ll likely be the end of Lackey’s outing. He’s up to 98 pitches, and he’s due up third in the seventh.
Mid 6th, Phillies 3-2: A couple of home runs in this game have been a product of the ballpark, but Daniel Nava’s blast in the sixth inning probably would have left the yard anywhere.
Kyle Kendrick jumped ahead of Nava 0-2, but he left his next pitch over the inner half of the plate. It was right in the sweet zone, and Nava didn’t disappoint. He drove it down the right field line with authority to cut Philadelphia’s lead in half.
Dustin Pedroia reached after grounding to third base. Freddy Galvis charged in, made the play and delivered a good, strong throw, but Ryan Howard just didn’t catch it at first base.
Mike Napoli, who entered the game leading the majors with 4.47 pitches seen per plate appearance, added to threat with a seven-pitch walk. But Kyle Kendrick escaped the inning by getting Mike Carp to ground into a 1-6-3 double play.
End 5th, Phillies 3-1: John Lackey kept the ball in the yard in the fifth.
The easiest way to go about doing that is to strike guys out, and Lackey picked up two strikeouts in the inning.
Kevin Frandsen and Ryan Howard both went down swinging. Jimmy Rollins added a flyout in between.
When Rollins made contact, a lot of Red Sox fans probably assumed the worst given how the ball is traveling in this game. It didn’t even come close to the wall, though.
Lackey has surrendered three home runs in this contest after giving up three in his first seven starts of the season.
Mid 5th, Phillies 3-1: Jacoby Ellsbury got a good piece of one with two outs, but he obviously didn’t take the right approach.
Ellsbury’s loud out came just minutes after Domonic Brown skied a fly ball to right field that just kept carrying. Ellsbury jumped all over an inside changeup and drilled it to right field. It was more of a line drive, though, and Delmon Young tracked it down.
Stephen Drew walked earlier in the inning. Jose Iglesias struck out and John Lackey dropped down a sacrifice bunt before Ellsbury was retired to end the frame.
End 4th, Phillies 3-1: We already knew that the ball travels well at Citizens Bank Park. But it’s really traveling in this game.
Domonic Brown broke the 1-1 tie with a home run into the right field seats. Off the bat, it looked like Brown got under it and hit a routine fly ball to right field. Daniel Nava kept backtracking toward the wall, though, and when the ball came down, it landed in the seats.
Erik Kratz wasted no time in extending Philadelphia’s newfound lead. He drove a ball that carried up and over the center field fence on the second pitch he saw.
Kyle Kendrick reached in the inning on a sharp ground ball to third base. Jose Iglesias knocked it down on the backhand, but he couldn’t recover in time to throw out the Phillies pitcher. The ball really seemed to get on Iglesias quickly, which is something he’s not exactly used to having played mostly shortstop in his career.
Prior to the back-to-back home runs, Lackey needed to come off the mound in order to retire Delmon Young. He seemed to make the play a little gingerly, but everything appears to be OK.
8:10 p.m.: Shane Victorino received a standing ovation from the Phillies fans after a video montage played on the big screen.
Victorino spent parts of eight seasons with Philadelphia from 2005 to 2012. He won two Gold Gloves, earned two All-Star selections and won a World Series with the Phillies in 2008.
Mid 4th, 1-1: Kyle Kendrick got the job done rather quickly in the fourth inning.
Kendrick retired Mike Napoli, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Carp in order.
Napoli led off the inning with a sharply hit line drive to left field. Domonic Brown, who showed some good range earlier in the game, went into a slide to haul it in.
Saltalamacchia then struck out on a changeup. Salty fouled off four straight pitches to begin the at-bat before Kendrick pulled the string on an 83-mph offering down and out of the zone.
Carp grounded to Ryan Howard at first base to end the inning.
End 3rd, 1-1: The Phillies put together a mini two-out rally of their own in the third inning, and their effort also proved fruitless.
John Lackey got two quick outs when Kyle Kendrick and Ben Revere grounded out to shortstop and second base, respectively. He ran into a little bit of trouble, though, when Kevin Frandsen lined a fastball into center field for a base hit.
Frandsen stole second base with Jimmy Rollins batting. The successful steal was a combination of a few things, including a slow delivery from Lackey and a pitch low and away.
Rollins eventually walked to put two runners on for Ryan Howard, who went deep in the second inning. But Lackey got the best of Howard, striking him out with a pitch on the outside corner. Howard thought the pitch was low and away, and he might have a point. No shouting is going to change the call, though.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: The Red Sox put runners at the corners, but a failed stolen-base attempt ended the inning.
John Lackey, batting because of the interleague rules, led off the inning by grounding out to third base. He actually made some decent contact — even if it wasn’t the prettiest swing in the world — but Freddy Galvis took care of business.
Jacoby Ellsbury flied out down the left field line for the second out of the inning. Domonic Brown chased down the fly ball in foul territory. Brown essentially made the play that Mike Carp failed to make before Ryan Howard’s home run in the bottom of the second inning.
The Red Sox’ rally got started up when Daniel Nava earned a two-out walk, and Dustin Pedroia singled into center field to send Nava all the way to third base. The rally ended when Pedroia was gunned down trying to take second base.
Not only was Pedroia thrown out, but he was nailed by a mile. Pedroia even came up short of the bag on his “slide,” and Kevin Frandsen applied the tag.
End 2nd, 1-1: Mike Carp has provided the Red Sox with some offensive punch lately, but his defense is still a question mark.
Carp, who looks more comfortable at first base, has been asked to play left field more frequently now that Shane Victorino is on the disabled list, and his defense cost the Red Sox in the second inning.
Ryan Howard lifted a ball down the left field line. Carp got a poor jump on it, and then, as he was about to reach the seats, he pulled up. Carp still had some room to go, though, and the ball dropped harmlessly in foul territory on a play that should have ended in an out.
The play proved to be big, because Howard went the other way with John Lackey’s next pitch for a solo homer. Citizens Bank Park is certainly hitter-friendly, and we saw why on Howard’s home run, as his ball dropped just over the left field fence.
Delmon Young singled in the inning, but he was wiped off the bases on a forceout. Mike Napoli made a nice play on a hard line drive from Domonic Brown.
Erik Kratz threatened to break the tie, but his fly ball to deep right stayed in the yard, and Daniel Nava made a leaping grab just in front of the wall.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Kyle Kendrick must have decided that the best way to keep the Red Sox off the scoreboard is to avoid having the outfield enter the equation.
An inning after some sloppy defense from the Phillies’ outfield, Kendrick enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning in which the Red Sox didn’t hit a ball out of the infield.
Mike Carp and Stephen Drew grounded out harmlessly to shortstop and second base, respectively. Jose Iglesias then chased a ball out of the strike zone while striking out to end the inning.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: John Lackey is off to a fantastic start this season, and he’s off to a fantastic start in this game.
Lackey retired the side in order in the first inning. The right-hander sat down Ben Revere and Kevin Frandsen on a pair of groundouts, and he struck out Jimmy Rollins swinging to end the inning.
Rollins fouled off a couple of pitches in the at-bat, but Lackey got him to chase a curveball down and in the dirt to pick up the strikeout.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 1-0: It was a tough inning to be a Phillies outfielder.
Ben Revere kicked off the ballgame with a clinic on what not to do while playing the outfield. Jacoby Ellsbury worked a full count against Kyle Kendrick and lifted a fly ball toward center. Revere took a few steps in before realizing the ball was hit deeper than he originally thought. By the time Revere recovered and started running back, the ball was already up over his head, and Ellsbury legged out a triple.
Things didn’t get any more graceful from there. Daniel Nava hit a popup to the left side. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins backtracked while left fielder Domonic Brown ran in. Brown eventually made the grab, but he trucked Rollins over in the process.
The Red Sox got on the scoreboard when Dustin Pedroia lifted a fly ball to right-center field, allowing Ellsbury to tag up and score.
Mike Napoli singled through the left side after Pedroia’s sac fly, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded out softly to second base to end the inning.
7:07 p.m.:Â Kyle Kendrick’s first pitch is up and away for a ball.
7:04 p.m.: We’ll see if Dustin Pedroia shows any ill effects going forward from the thumb injury he’s been battling through. He certainly hasn’t had any issues thus far.
Pedroia always seems to play well during interleague action. He’s a career .333 hitter in 104 games against the NL, which is tied for the sixth-best mark all time. It’s also the third-best among active players — behind Nick Markakis (.345) and Albert Pujols (.338).
6:48 p.m.: The whole no-DH thing stings in that David Ortiz will be out of the lineup, but it also means that Boston’s bench will be a little bit deeper.
The Red Sox’ bench already got a little bit deeper on Wednesday, in fact. Outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has been recalled, while reliever Alex Wilson has been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.
The Sox had been carrying 13 pitchers since Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino were both placed on the disabled list, but John Farrell expressed a desire to add another position player. Bradley made the most sense considering the need for another outfielder in Victorino’s absence.
Vote: Should the NL adopt the designated hitter? >>
5:43 p.m.: Interleague play in National League ballparks presents an interesting set of circumstances for many American League teams. It’s especially intriguing when it comes to the Red Sox, who have the best designated hitter in baseball.
Playing in an NL park obviously means that the Red Sox can’t use a DH. As a result, in 2011 and 2012, Terry Francona and Bobby Valentine, respectively, had to figure out how to use David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez. This season, manager John Farrell needs to determine how to go about deploying Ortiz and Mike Napoli.
Both hitters have been key components of the Red Sox’ offense, so taking either out of the lineup isn’t ideal. It’s something that must be done, though, and on Wednesday, Ortiz will get the night off as the Red Sox play their first of two games in Philadelphia.
Wednesday’s complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (32-21)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Daniel Nava, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Mike Carp, LF
Stephen Drew, SS
Jose Iglesias, 3B
John Lackey, P (3-4, 2.72 ERA)
Phillies
Ben Revere, CF
Kevin Frandsen, 2B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Ryan Howard, 1B
Delmon Young, RF
Domonic Brown, LF
Erik Kratz, C
Freddy Galvis, 3B
Kyle Kendrick, P (4-3, 3.29 ERA)
1 p.m. ET: The Red Sox split a pair with the Phillies in Boston, and now both teams are packing the bags and heading to Philadelphia to finish the series off.
John Lackey (3-4, 2.72 ERA) is aiming to continue his recent solid stretch. He’s been on his game the last two times out, going six and seven innings and giving up just three hits while striking out 13. While the Red Sox have had a good rotation all season, Lackey putting up those kind of numbers is an unexpected but welcome boost.
Kyle Kendrick (4-3, 3.29 ERA) will go for Philadelphia. His last two games, in contrast to Lackey, have been rough, as he’s given up nine earned runs on 16 hits and eight walks with just three strikeouts mixed in.
The Red Sox will also have the added intrigue of going without the designated hitter for the next two games. Manager John Farrell has said he’ll trust David Ortiz to take over a game at the first base bag, and Jackie Bradley Jr. is expected to be called up and take a roster spot. The extra bats will be welcomed by the Sox after it was reported Wednesday that Dustin Pedroia has been putting up his solid season numbers despite a torn ligament in his left thumb.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., and be sure to check back here throughout the day for news and analysis heading into the game.
