The Sox almost blew it again, but they held for an ugly win on this time to set up a chance for a series win.
The Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after getting single runs in the 1st and 2nd, by way of a Ross single and Aviles double respectively. Doubront had a fairly easy time in until the 4th, when he was tagged for 4 runs. Doubront came out for a score-less 5th and that was the extent of his outing (5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K). It may be a stretch, but I think that outing was a slight improvement of what we have seen from Doubront leading up to his short absence from the lineup.
Pedro Ciriaco cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a solo homer into the monster seats for his second of the season. Newly acquired first baseman, James Loney, got his first hit as a Red Sox, an RBI single to score Ellsbury. Ellsbury gave the Sox the one-run lead in the 6th on an RBI single. The Sox scored 2 in the 7th, one by way of an error, and the other on a Ciriaco single. So, the Sox took a 7-4 lead into the 8th, should be good enough. Not really.
Pedro Beato, the piece in the Kelly Shoppach trade made his Red Sox debut and it was less than impressive. Beato gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the 8th. In his defense, the runs were charged to him, Craig Breslow could not keep those inherited runners on base and gave up the hits that scored the runs. In Craig's defense, one of the runs was scored on a sac fly that Cody Ross lost in the sun, but did catch with no chance to throw home.So the lead was down to 1. Enter Dustin Pedroia in the bottom of the inning. Result, a solo homer to give the Sox the 2-run lead that was held on by Mark Melancon. Yeah, Mark Melancon saved a game with little trouble.
Back to Pedro Ciriaco, he made it happen today by going 3-for-5, with the solo homer and 2 RBI. In the field he did make a costly throwing error that gaffed a double play chance. But, the Sox won, so it didn't matter.
James Loney didn't make a huge impression this afternoon (1-for-5), nothing like Gonzo in LA, but he at least drove in a run. Don't expect anything spectacular from Loney this season.
Celebrate this win, we don't know how many more we'll see this season.
Original Story:
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August 26, 2012
