Final, Red Sox 8-1: Jake Peavy finished what he started.
Peavy tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning to cap a fantastic pitching performance. The right-hander gave up just three hits and walked one while going the distance in the Red Sox’ 8-1 win. His only mistake came in the fourth inning when Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo homer.
The Red Sox’ offense banged out three home runs and collected 12 hits in the victory. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli went yard. Victorino, Napoli and Xander Bogaerts each had two hits, while Dustin Pedroia led the way with three knocks. Bogaerts also earned his first major league RBI on a double in the fourth inning.
The Red Sox took two of three from the red-hot Dodgers, and pitching was the biggest reason why. Jon Lester had a great performance Saturday, and Peavy kept the momentum rolling with a gem in Sunday’s series finale.
The Red Sox are off Monday. They’ll then start up a nine-game homestand Tuesday, with the Orioles arriving at Fenway Park for the first three contests.
Good night, everyone.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 8-1: Jake Peavy will head to the mound in the ninth inning with a seven-run lead after the Red Sox tacked on two more runs for good measure.
Dustin Pedroia smacked a two-out double down the right field line, and Mike Napoli followed with a mammoth two-run homer.
Napoli fouled off three straight pitches before absolutely crushing Brandon League’s eighth pitch of the at-bat. Napoli now has two straight solid games, which is very encouraging given how much he has struggled of late.
Peavy’s pitch count sits at 102 as he heads to the hill in the bottom of the ninth inning.
End 8th, Red Sox 6-1: Jake Peavy is three outs away from finishing what he started.
Peavy enjoyed a perfect eighth inning. He induced two ground-ball outs and then capped the inning by getting Carl Crawford to fly out to center field.
Peavy has given up just three hits and a walk in his eight superb innings. His only blemish came on Adrian Gonzalez’s fourth-inning home run. For more on Peavy’s season with Boston in a historical context, check out BostonFanFavorites.com.
Peavy has thrown 102 pitches thus far, but it looks as if he will indeed come back out for the ninth inning. The Red Sox will try to tack on against Brandon League before Peavy goes back to work.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 6-1: The Red Sox threatened for more in the eighth inning, but Carlos Marmol ended up keeping Boston off the scoreboard.
Marmol got two quick outs in the eighth, as Jonny Gomes popped out to Adrian Gonzalez in foul territory and Will Middlebrooks struck out swinging. He then ran into some trouble when Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked an eight-pitch walk.
Xander Bogaerts sent Saltalamacchia from first to third with a single into left-center field. Bogaerts now has two hits in addition to his first major league RBI.
Jake Peavy couldn’t help his own cause, though. Peavy swung at the first pitch he saw and lined out to Marmol.
End 7th, Red Sox 6-1: The Red Sox flashed some leather in the seventh inning.
Yasiel Puig drilled a bullet down to third base to lead things off. Will Middlebrooks made a good backhanded pick before firing across the diamond to throw out the polarizing outfielder.
It was then Jacoby Ellsbury’s turn to show off his fielding prowess. Skip Schumaker hit a sinking line drive into left-center field, and Ellsbury displayed his excellent range. Ellsbury made the grab and took away a hit while sliding across the outfield grass.
A.J. Ellis popped out to end the inning, and Jake Peavy is now through seven great frames. The right-hander has thrown 88 pitches thus far.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 6-1: The Red Sox have homered in two straight innings.
Shane Victorino, who continues to bat right-handed even against right-handed pitchers, extended Boston’s lead by drilling a solo homer over the left field fence. Chris Withrow left a fastball up in the zone, and Victorino did a great job of keeping his hands inside the baseball. The homer is his ninth of the season.
Withrow had an 11-pitch battle with Jacoby Ellsbury before Victorino went deep. Ellsbury fouled off six straight pitches before lifting a fly ball to right field. Yasiel Puig stormed in to make the grab.
Dustin Pedroia followed Victorino’s homer with a two-out single into right. Withrow bounced back to retire Mike Napoli on a popout.
End 6th, Red Sox 5-1: Jake Peavy has pitched six very good innings.
Peavy yielded a leadoff single to Carl Crawford. That was the extent of Los Angeles’ noise in the sixth inning.
Nick Punto and Hanley Ramirez both popped out in foul territory, and Adrian Gonzalez flied out harmlessly to right field.
Peavy has made just one mistake in this game. Other than Gonzalez’s fourth-inning homer, he’s been awesome.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 5-1: Jarrod Saltalamacchia connected on his first home run since Aug. 3 in the sixth inning.
Chris Withrow took over on the mound in the sixth, and he walked the leadoff batter, Mike Napoli. Napoli, who had three hits Saturday, has now reached base twice in this game.
Withrow bounced back to retire Jonny Gomes and Will Middlebrooks before having trouble with Saltalamacchia. Gomes flied out to right field and Middlebrooks struck out looking on a pitch on the inside corner.
Saltalamacchia jumped on a pitch located on the outside corner, and he went to the opposite field for his 11th home run of the season.
End 5th, Red Sox 3-1: Chris Capuano’s night is over. The Dodgers starter was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning.
Skip Schumaker led off the fifth with a single into right field. Schumaker took a wide turn around first base but quickly tossed on the brakes. It was a wise decision given Shane Victorino’s arm.
Jake Peavy settled down to retire the next three hitters. A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe both flied out, and Andre Ethier, who pinch-hit for Capuano, struck out swinging.
Capuano gave up three earned runs on six hits in his five innings of work. He struck out three and walked one while throwing 84 pitches (49 strikes).
Chris Withrow will be the new Dodgers pitcher in the sixth inning.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-1: The Dodgers’ offense will now go back to work after a much-needed shutdown inning by Chris Capuano.
Capuano retired the top of the Red Sox’ lineup in order. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to second base, and both Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia flied out to center field.
Skip Schumaker, A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe will take their shots against Jake Peavy in the fifth inning.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-1: Adrian Gonzalez flied out to the warning track in the first inning. He cleared the fence this time around.
Gonzalez crushed a solo homer over the center field wall with one out in the fourth inning. Jake Peavy caught too much of the plate with an 0-2 fastball, and Gonzalez took advantage of it for his 17th home run of the season.
Prior to Gonzalez’s blast, Dustin Pedroia made a very nice play when Nick Punto tried to bunt his way on. Pedroia charged the ball and shoveled it out of his glove to Mike Napoli at first base.
Jake Peavy retired Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig via a pair of groundouts following the home run. Xander Bogaerts made a nice play going into the hole to end the inning.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 3-0: Xander Bogaerts got his first major league hit Saturday. He now has an RBI after doubling home Will Middlebrooks in the fourth inning.
Middlebrooks ripped a one-out single into center field. Nick Punto made a good effort, but the ball ricocheted off his glove and into center.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined out to Juan Uribe at third base for the second out, but Bogaerts made sure Boston came away from the inning with a run.
Bogaerts drilled a line drive toward the right-center field gap. Skip Schumaker ran over and cut the ball off before it got into the gap, but he bobbled it. The bobble ensured that Middlebrooks was able to score all the way from first base.
End 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: Jake Peavy was very upset with himself after walking the leadoff man in the third inning. He can be happy with how he responded, though.
A.J. Ellis saw 10 pitches while working a walk. Ellis fouled off four straight offerings before Peavy missed with back-to-back changeups to put him on.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, Peavy didn’t let the walk hurt him. Ellis moved up to second base when pitcher Chris Capuano dropped down a sacrifice bunt with one out, and Peavy left him there by striking out Carl Crawford.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: The Red Sox did a nice job of manufacturing a run in the third inning.
Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with an infield single. He grounded back over the mound past a diving Chris Capuano, and Hanley Ramirez made the play while ranging up the middle. Ramirez’s throw wasn’t in time, though.
Ellsbury then picked up his major league-leading 47th stolen base to move into scoring position. He advanced to third base when Shane Victorino dropped down a sacrifice bunt.
Dustin Pedroia stepped up with the Dodgers’ infield pulled in. He lined a fly ball at Skip Schumaker in center field, and Ellsbury trotted home with Boston’s second run.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Jake Peavy is off to a nice start.
Peavy tossed a 1-2-3 second inning that was highlighted by a bang-bang play involving Yasiel Puig.
Puig followed Hanley Ramirez’s popout in the infield with a ground ball to short. Xander Bogaerts charged it and fired to first base on the run. The throw beat Puig by a half step.
Skip Schumaker grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0:Â Chris Capuano settled down for a nice second inning.
Capuano retired the side in order in the second. He needed just 12 pitches to take care of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Xander Bogaerts and Jake Peavy.
Saltalamacchia struck out looking to begin the second. He looked at a pitch located on the inside corner, and it seems that the tough shadows at Dodger Stadium are a factor in the early going.
Bogaerts, who collected his first major league hit Saturday, grounded out to third base in his first at-bat. Peavy grounded to short.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: Adrian Gonzalez came up a few feet short.
Jake Peavy struck out Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to begin his night. Crawford went down swinging at a cutter, and Peavy went with a fastball to put away Punto.
Gonzalez then lifted a fly ball to deep left field. It looked like it had a chance to leave the yard, but Jonny Gomes drifted back to the warning track to make the play.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox have struck first, although Chris Capuano is lucky to have escaped the first inning with only one run allowed.
The Red Sox were a bit lucky in the first inning too, though. After Shane Victorino got the offense going with a double down the left field line, Dustin Pedroia hit a ground ball to short. Hanley Ramirez charged it and threw on the run. His throw was in the dirt, but Adrian Gonzalez made a nice scoop at first base. First base umpire Mark Carlson ruled that Pedroia beat the throw, although replays show that Pedey was clearly out.
The botched call put runners at the corners for Mike Napoli, who collected three hits in Saturday’s win. Capuano caught too much of the plate with a pitch, and Napoli drilled a line drive into right-center field for an RBI ground-rule double.
The Dodgers opted to walk Jonny Gomes to load the bases with one out. The move paid off, as Will Middlebrooks grounded into an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play.
8:08 p.m.: Chris Capuano tosses a first-pitch strike, and we’re underway.
8:04 p.m.: Happy anniversary, Boston and Los Angeles. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Nick Punto megadeal.
8:02 p.m.:Â Sunday’s series finale in Los Angeles marks the end of an interesting road stretch for the Red Sox.
Sunday’s game is the 16th road contest in 19 games for Boston. The Red Sox are 8-10 so far during that span, which began Aug. 5.
The Red Sox have Monday off. They’ll then start up a nine-game homestand Tuesday, and their first opponent will be the Orioles.
7:41 p.m.: The Red Sox made a roster move Sunday.
Matt Thornton has been activated from the 15-day disabled list, and right-hander Brayan Villarreal has been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Thornton will give John Farrell another left-hander to work with, while Villarreal heads back to the minors after just one appearance with Boston. Villarreal threw four straight balls to walk in the winning run Tuesday in his only appearance.
7:13 p.m.: Clay Buchholz made his first rehab start Sunday. It didn’t go so well.
Buchholz needed 38 pitches to record just two outs for Single-A Lowell. He threw 19 strikes and 19 balls while striking out one and walking three.
Buchholz’s outing was certainly shaky, and the right-hander admitted after the game that he was rusty. He was also optimistic about how he felt physically, though, and that’s really the most important aspect of these rehab starts.
Click here for more on Buchholz’s rehab start >>
5:45 p.m.: David Ortiz will be out of the Red Sox’ lineup for the second straight day. Mike Napoli, who continues to deal with plantar fasciitis, will play first base and bat cleanup.
Xander Bogaerts collected his first major league hit in Saturday’s win. He’ll get the start on Sunday with a left-hander toeing the rubber for Los Angeles.
Sunday’s complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (76-55)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jonny Gomes, LF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Jake Peavy, RHP (9-5, 4.25 ERA)
Dodgers (76-53)
Carl Crawford, LF
Nick Punto, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Skip Schumaker, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Juan Uribe, 3B
Chris Capuano, LHP (4-6, 4.70 ERA)
8 a.m. ET: We’ll have a rubber match on the national stage.
The Red Sox and Dodgers have split the first two games of their highly anticipated series in Los Angeles. Ricky Nolasco outdueled John Lackey in a 2-0 Dodgers victory in Game 1, and Jon Lester had the look of an ace while leading the Sox to a 4-2 win in Game 2. Jake Peavy will go up against Springfield, Mass., native Chris Capuano on Sunday.
Peavy has pitched well in three of his four starts since joining the Red Sox, although Boston only came away victorious in one of those games. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings against the Giants his last time out, and the Red Sox eventually lost in walk-off fashion.
Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. Be sure to take care of your errands early. We should be in store for an entertaining series finale.
