Boston Red Sox 5 Baltimore Orioles 2 (April 26, 2007)
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0 commentsWily Mo's Slam Tops Loewen, O's
The Boston Red Sox (14-7, 1st in AL East) came from behind yet again to defeat the Baltimore Orioles (11-11, 3rd in AL East) on Wily Mo Pena's grand slam in the 8th off of reliever Chris Ray (L, 2-2). Josh Beckett (W, 5-0) pitched 8 strong, striking out 3, walking none, and allowing only 2 runs on 8 hits. He became only the third Red Sox pitcher to go 5-0 in April, joining Pedro Martinez and Babe Ruth. Pretty good company, if you ask me.
| W: | Josh Beckett | (5-0, 2.48) |
| L: | Chris Ray | (2-2, 5.56) |
| S: | Jonathan Papelbon | (7, 0.00) |
Besides Pena's granny, the only offense from the Sox came from a bases loaded ground out from Mike Lowell in the 6th to cut a two-run deficit in half. The top four hitters in the Boston lineup, Lugo, Youkilis, Ortiz, and Ramirez combined for 6 walks but only 2 hits.
Baltimore starter Adam Loewen pitched extremely well, limiting the Red Sox to only 1 run on 2 hits over 6 innings, striking out five. He walked five as well, but was able to get around it as the Red Sox stranded 8 runners in the game. The revamped O's bullpen was unable to salvage the start however, as John Parrish and Ray loaded the bases and gave up the slam to Pena.
Baltimore's offense did manage 8 hits off of Beckett, 5 of them doubles from Brian Roberts, Ramon Hernandez (who returned from injury today), Nick Markakis, and two from Melvin Mora. Roberts also stole his 7th base of the year. Once again, the walks handed out by the O's pitching staff doomed them, as they walked 8 batters total. It's hard for an offense to come back from that, especially against an offense like Boston's.
Notes... Ramirez went 0-3 and his average is still below the Mendoza Line at .193... In the last week, Lowell has three home runs, 8 RBI, and is batting .409 with an OPS of 1.298. He leads the Red Sox over that stretch... Aubrey Huff made a fantastic double play early on at first, picking off a hard liner from Pena and stepping on the bag to double off Jason Varitek in one motion... Jonathan Papelbon again worked a hitless ninth to record his 7th save. He has walked five, struck out 14, and allowed only 1 hit in 8.1 innings of work.
Coming Up Next... The Red Sox travel up to the Bronx for a rematch with the suddenly reeling New York Yankees, losers of 6 straight. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-2, 4.00) will take on Andy Pettitte (1-0, 1.78) in the first of three games over the weekend.
Baltimore goes on the road and takes on Travis Hafner and the red-hot Cleveland Indians. Steve Trachsel (1-1, 4.37) meets the struggling Jake Westbrook (0-2, 9.15) in game one.
Date
April 26, 2007
