Final, Red Sox 10-5: Andrew Bailey recorded the final three outs in the ninth inning, and Red Sox fans go home happy on a beautiful day at Fenway.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia crushed two home runs as part of Boston’s 11-hit attack. David Ortiz and Mike Carp each went deep as well, and the Red Sox take two of three from the Angels.
Ryan Dempster went six innings while grabbing the win. He allowed three runs on six hits while striking out six, walking two and hitting a batter. Overall, he was pretty solid, especially considering he gave up a long ball to Albert Pujols in the first inning.
The Red Sox will now travel to Tampa Bay to start up a seven-game road trip. John Lackey will get the start in the first game of the series on Monday. That contest will start up at 7:10 p.m.
Good night, everyone.
End 8th, Red Sox 10-5: Mike Napoli will want to forget about this one from a personal standpoint.
Napoli struck out again in the eighth inning, and he’s now struck out four times in the game.
Napoli’s fourth K capped off a scoreless inning for Kevin Jepsen, who also retired Pedro Ciriaco and David Ortiz in the frame.
Andrew Bailey will pitch the ninth inning for Boston in a non-save situation.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 10-5: Koji Uehara typically throws nothing but strikes. That wasn’t the case in the eighth inning, though.
Uehara plunked Howie Kendrick up around the shoulder and walked two other hitters to load the bases for J.B. Shuck. Shuck made Uehara pay for his control issues by grounding a two-run single into center field.
Uehara was a strike away from retiring Shuck, but he couldn’t put him away, and John Farrell decided that he had seen enough. Farrell turned to Andrew Miller.
Mike Trout shot a base hit into right field against Miller, but the Red Sox caught a break. Shuck took too wide of a turn around second base, and he was tagged out by Stephen Drew.
End 7th, Red Sox 10-3: Scott Downs retired Daniel Nava upon entering the game, but the damage was done. The Red Sox are rolling in this one.
Saltalamacchia’s two home run game is the fourth of his career. The last time he launched two dingers in the same contest was on Aug. 26, 2012, against the Chicago White Sox.
Koji Uehara will pitch the eighth inning for Boston.
4:28, Red Sox 10-3: It looks like batting practice for Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Salty, who crushed a ball onto the black tarp in center field in the sixth inning, launched his second home run of the game in the seventh inning. The second blast also traveled to center field, and it landed in the seats just to the right of the tarp.
Saltalamacchia’s second home run was a three-run shot, as David Ortiz and Mike Napoli walked before.
Stephen Drew singled and Jose Iglesias smoked a double off the left field wall with two outs. The Angels will make a pitching change with runners at second and third.
Scott Downs is entering the contest to replace Robert Coello, who simply didn’t have it.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-3: Mike Trout is fun to watch.
Trout doubled for the second straight at-bat in the seventh inning. He lifted a fly ball off the Green Monster scoreboard that was just out of Mike Carp’s reach.
The double followed an unsuccessful bunt attempt by J.B. Shuck. Shuck popped it up into the air, and Jose Iglesias came streaking in to make the play on the fly.
After Trout’s double, Josh Hamilton grounded out to short, which allowed Trout to take third base. Albert Pujols, who drove in the Angels’ first run via a first-inning home run, couldn’t cash in, though. He popped out in foul territory.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Napoli nearly collided on Pujols’ popout, but disaster was averted at the last second.
The book is officially closed on Dempster’s outing. The right-hander gave up three earned runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out six, walked two and threw 110 pitches (66 strikes).
End 6th, Red Sox 7-3: Michael Kohn took over for Joe Blanton, and the defense didn’t provide much help.
Howie Kendrick let a ball eat him up at second base. That allowed Stephen Drew to reach with no outs in the inning.
Then, with Jose Iglesias batting, a passed ball charged to Chris Iannetta allowed Drew to advance to second base.
Kohn did a good job of escaping the jam, though. He got both Iglesias and Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out to right field, and Daniel Nava struck out swinging to end the inning.
Blanton, who exited after surrendering back-to-back home runs in the sixth, gave up six earned runs on eight hits over his five innings of work. He threw 95 pitches (63 strikes), and he’s currently on the hook for the loss if this score holds up.
Craig Breslow will take over for Ryan Dempster in the seventh inning.
3:45 p.m., Red Sox 7-3: The Red Sox started teeing off in the sixth inning.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Carp each took Joe Blanton deep, and the Angels will now turn to the bullpen. Michael Kohn will enter the game.
Salty and Carp each went deep to center field. Saltalamacchia’s blast landed on the black tarp straight away, while Carp’s dinger found its way into the seats.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 5-3: Ryan Dempster followed Joe Blanton’s 1-2-3 inning with a perfect frame of his own.
Dempster sat down Alberto Callaspo, Erick Aybar and Chris Iannetta in order. He struck out Callaspo and Iannetta in the process, which gives Dempster six strikeouts in the game.
The strikeout of Callaspo was the 2,000th of Dempster’s career. The guy’s been getting it done for a while.
End 5th, Red Sox 5-3: It’s been a struggle at times for Joe Blanton, but he’s through five innings in this one.
Blanton was actually pretty sharp in the fifth inning, too. He retired Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli in order.
Ortiz and Napoli both struck out. Ortiz went down looking on a somewhat high strike call, and Napoli went down hacking at a four-seamer.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 5-3: The Angels answered again in the fifth inning.
Mike Trout — who is just really, really good at baseball — led off the inning with a double over Mike Carp’s head in left field. It landed near the base of the Green Monster, and Trout, who runs very well, slid safely into second with time to spare.
Ryan Dempster bounced back after Trout’s leadoff two-bagger. He struck out Josh Hamilton, and got Albert Pujols to fly harmlessly to center field. Mark Trumbo proved to be a tough out, though.
Trumbo fell behind 0-2 after waving at two straight sliders. Dempster couldn’t put him away, however, as Trumbo smacked an RBI single into center field.
End 4th, Red Sox 5-2: Jacoby Ellsbury has really been seeing the ball well.
Ellsbury lined a triple down into the right field corner to push Boston’s advantage back up to three runs. The hit followed a rather interesting sequence.
Alberto Callaspo, who homered in the top half of the inning, started the bottom half off with a defensive miscue. His error allowed Mike Carp to reach base.
Carp then showed off some hustle two batters later. Joe Blanton threw a pitch in the dirt with Jose Iglesias at the dish. It bounced near the front of the plate and bounced a mile into the air. Carp took off immediately. By the time catcher Chris Iannetta tracked down the wild pitch at the backstop, Carp was on his way to third base.
Iglesias ended up popping out in foul territory along the first base line, but Ellsbury made sure the Red Sox didn’t let Joe Blanton off the hook.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 4-2: Alberto Callaspo wasted no time in answering for David Ortiz’s home run.
Fours were wild for Callaspo. He ripped the fourth pitch of the fourth inning down the right field line and into the seats for his fourth home run of the season.
Ryan Dempster responded by retiring the next three hitters — Erick Aybar, Chris Iannetta and J.B. Shuck — in order. Callaspo’s home run may help stop Boston’s momentum, though. Now, it’s up to Joe Blanton to bounce back in the fourth after a shaky third inning.
End 3rd, Red Sox 4-1: Albert Pujols sent one into the Red Sox’ bullpen in the first inning. It was David Ortiz’s turn in the third inning.
Ortiz, a decorated slugger in his own right, lifted a three-run jack over the wall and into the ‘pen in right-center field to cap off a four-run inning for the Red Sox.
Jose Iglesias got the offensive attack going with a ground ball into the hole. Shortstop Erick Aybar made a very nice backhanded play, but he was unable to deliver a strong enough throw in time to record the out. The infield single extended Iglesias’ hit streak to 13 games.
Jacoby Ellsbury then grounded into a forceout, which, as it turned out, wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. Ellsbury swiped his American League-leading 24th base, and he scored to give Boston its first run when Daniel Nava singled into right field.
The big blast in the inning came from Ortiz, though. After Dustin Pedroia singled into left field, Ortiz jumped on an inside changeup. At first, it looked like Ortiz may have gotten under it a bit, but it ended up carrying out of the yard.
Mid 3rd, Angels 1-0: Ryan Dempster can thank Stephen Drew for this game still being 1-0.
Drew made an excellent sliding, backhanded play to end the third inning with the bases loaded.
The inning kicked off with J.B. Shuck connecting on a double into the left-center field gap. The ball just kept tailing away from a hustling Jacoby Ellsbury, and it eventually landed in between him and Mike Carp.
Mike Trout then smacked a sharply hit comebacker that Dempster snatched up. Dempster looked Shuck back at second base, and he then fired to first for the first out.
Josh Hamilton lined out to right field for the second out, and then things got a little bit interesting. Dempster went inside and hit Albert Pujols on the second pitch of his at-bat. Pujols, who homered back in the first inning, gave Dempster a little bit of a stare while taking a few steps along the infield grass en route to first base.
Mark Trumbo stepped up, and while he was batting, Dempster thew a pitch in the dirt that allowed Shuck to take third. Trumbo eventually walked, which loaded the bases for Howie Kendrick.
Kendrick drilled a 1-1 slider into the hole, where Drew made his nice stop. Drew quickly popped to his feet and tossed to second base to complete an inning-ending forceout.
End 2nd, Angels 1-0: The second inning was a mixed bag for Joe Blanton.
Blanton put two runners on and struck out two in what ended up being a scoreless frame.
David Ortiz, who crushed a 434-foot home run off Angels reliever Jerome Williams on Saturday, began the second inning with a sharply hit single into right field.
Blanton immediately settled down to pick up back-to-back strikeouts. The righty fanned Mike Napoli and Jarrod Saltalamacchia swinging, with each getting out in front of a changeup.
Mike Carp followed the strikeouts with a four-pitch walk, and Blanton ended the inning by getting Stephen Drew to pop out in foul territory along the third base line. Third baseman Albert Callaspo and shortstop Erick Aybar both gave chase, but Callaspo called for it at the last second and made the play.
Mid 2nd, Angels 1-0: Ryan Dempster issued a leadoff walk, but was overall sharper in the second inning.
Dempster, who was victimized by an Albert Pujols home run in the first inning, walked Alberto Callaspo on five pitches. It wouldn’t haunt the right-hander, though, as he quickly got Erick Aybar to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
Dempster capped the inning with a strikeout of Chris Iannetta. Dempster went with a slider to pick up the strikeout — just as he did against Mike Trout in the first inning.
End 1st, Angels 1-0: The Red Sox squared up a couple of balls in the first inning. They just weren’t well-placed.
Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning by hitting a hard line drive into left field. It looked off the bat like it would fall in for a hit, but J.B. Shuck came in and made a nice sliding catch for the first out.
Daniel Nava also made solid contact against Joe Blanton. He drilled a line drive into center field that hung up just long enough for Mike Trout to coast in and make a play.
Dustin Pedroia ended the inning by grounding to third base, where Albert Callaspo took care of business.
Mid 1st, Angels 1-0: Albert Pujols is having a hard time running the bases because of a foot issue. The easiest way to avoid pushing it too hard is to hit the ball out of the ballpark.
That’s exactly what Pujols did in the first inning. Pujols tattooed a 2-1 fastball into the Red Sox’ bullpen to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead.
Ryan Dempster struck out Mike Trout with a 3-2 slider, and then retired Josh Hamilton via a ground ball to short before Pujols took the right-hander deep.
Mark Trumbo followed up Pujols’ long ball with a line-drive single over the head of a leaping Dustin Pedroia. Dempster bounced back to strike out Howie Kendrick swinging.
1:42 p.m.: Ryan Dempster’s first pitch misses for a ball, and we’re underway on an absolutely perfect day at Fenway.
1:32 p.m.: The Red Sox just held an on-field ceremony for this year’s batch of Red Sox scholars.
In an interesting twist, they played Macho Man Randy Savage’s theme song.
12:22 p.m.: Fenway really has been friendly to the Red Sox of late. The Sox have won seven of their last 10 games at Fenway, outscoring opponents 68-38 during that stretch.
The Red Sox enter Sunday’s contest with a solid track record in day games this season as well. Although they dropped Saturday’s matinee, the Sox lead the majors with a .667 winning percentage (12-6) in day games this year.
11:28 a.m.: The lineup cards have been posted, and Shane Victorino will get the day off Sunday.
Victorino, who was activated off the 15-day disabled list before the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, really had to push his hamstring in the first inning of the win. Jonny Gomes drilled a double off the left-center field wall, and Victorino motored all the way around from first base to score. Victorino walked back to the dugout rather gingerly, and while he played the rest of the game, he’ll get Sunday off as the Red Sox look to avoid any further complications.
Victorino’s absence means Daniel Nava will bat second and play right field. With a right-hander on the mound, Mike Carp will start in left field.
The rest of Sunday’s lineups are below.
Red Sox (38-25)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Daniel Nava, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Mike Carp, LF
Stephen Drew, SS
Jose Iglesias, 3B
Ryan Dempster, RHP (3-6, 4.39 ERA)
Angels (27-35)
Mike Trout, CF
Josh Hamilton, RF
Albert Pujols, DH
Mark Trumbo, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Erick Aybar, SS
Chris Iannetta, C
J.B. Shuck, LF
Joe Blanton, (1-9, 5.53 ERA)
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox needed Clay Buchholz to step up in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. The right-hander responded by pitching into the seventh inning to help give the Sox a 7-2 victory, which salvaged a split of the twin bill.
Now, the Red Sox will turn to Ryan Dempster in the series finale. They’ll be seeking to not only win the series, but also end their six-game homestand on a positive note. The Sox head to Tampa Bay after Sunday’s game to kick off a seven-game road trip.
Dempster enters Sunday’s start on the heels of a victory his last time out. He allowed three runs over seven innings in that contest, although life was much easier for him because of the 17 runs that the Sox racked up against the Rangers. Dempster’s season record sits at 3-6, and his ERA checks in at 4.39.
Dempster will go up against Joe Blanton on Sunday, and Blanton has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball this season. The 32-year-old owns a 1-9 record and 5.53 ERA. He actually pretty well in his last start, allowing two runs in eight innings against the Astros on Monday, but the Angels fell 2-1 in that game.
Sunday looks like it’s shaping up to be a beautiful day — a great day for baseball. The action will start up at 1:35 p.m.
