It was an ugly day for Jonathan Papelbon and the bench, as mediocre backup defenders gave the ineffective closer no help. The Astros took advantage, scoring 6 runs in the 7th and defeating Boston 10-7 as rain brought the game to an early end.
The day started off similarly troubling for Jon Lester, who gave up a run on back-to-back doubles in the first. While Lester gave up 3 runs over 5.1 innings of work, he was more effective than the numbers would suggest, recording 7 strikeouts and allowing no walks. Okajima gave up a 1-run home run, while Ramon S. Ramirez recorded 2 clean outs, and Daniel Bard had a 1-2-3 8th.
Offensively, the Sox had no trouble getting on base and scoring. The team put together 12 hits and 4 walks, including homers from Dustin Pedroia and Mike Cameron. 3 of the hits belonged to Ellsbury, while Pedroia, Varitek, and Cameron each recorded 2 of their own. The team would waste some opportunities when they failed to score Ellsbury despite him reaching 3rd with 0 outs, and when Lowell twice grounded into double plays with Varitek on first.
Notes:
- Another no-hit day from Ortiz. Everybody jump from the bandwagon!
- The Sox split their squad today to play against the Blue Jays as well, but the Jays game was rained out.
- As a result, the usual backups were unavailable, leaving players like Will Holmes and David Mailman to play the outfield. The results were far from spectacular.