David Ortiz, Alex Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek have all homered for the Red Sox against the Phillies. The Sox also took the first two of their three game series against bitter rival: the Philadelphia Phillies (sarcasm).
Beckett showed no signs of blister troubles, he went 7 innings against the Phillies and knocked out a homer. The Sox policy of signing pitchers with NL experience seems to be paying off with Clement's double and Beckett's homer. We got Schilling from Arizona, Wells from San Diego, Beckett from Florida, Clement after he was on the Cubs, and Wakefield from Pittsburgh. Having pitchers with NL experience, and having a former NL manager seems to help a great deal. Francona is 25-15 in interleague play with the Sox. 29-15 if you count the '04 World Series.
The Man of the Game for Saturday's 8-4 victory is Josh Beckett, he pitched 7 innings, and although he allowed 4 earned runs, he also went 2 for 4 at the plate with an RBI single in the 6th that touched off a 4 run 6th inning rally. He also had a solo homer in the 7th. Two runs, and 2 RBI are pretty dam good for a pitcher.
Friday night, the Sox won a typical National League game 5-3 thanks to the longball. Lowell had his 5th shot of the year, Tek his 4th, and Ortiz his 14th. Clement pitched solidly with a 6.2 inning outing allowing 3 earned runs. Foulke pitched a poor third of an inning allowing 2 inherited runners to score. Timlin pitched a perfect 8th for his 11th Hold, Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th for his 15th Save. Timlin only needed 10 pitches, and Papelbon only 11. We're not in first place without those two guys, that's for sure. Timlin's ERA is now 0.96, and Papelbon's is 0.40.
The Man of the Game is Mike Lowell who went 3 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBI. He also walked.
The Man of the Game for Thursday's 4-3 loss to Baltimore is Eric Bedard who went 7 innings allowing just 1 earned run.
The Sox bats didn't support Wakefield yet again. Wake went 7, allowing 4 runs. This should be good enough to win on most nights. The Sox only had 8 base runners. They left three of them, and one was eliminated on a double play.
Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Ramirez: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 3 Ks
Lowell: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Nixon: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Gonzalez: 0.1 - 0 for 2
Wakefield: 0.5 - 7 IP, 4 ER
Lenny DiNardo against former Athletic Cory Lidle tomorrow as the Sox look for the sweep.
Also, Abe Alvarez was promoted from AAA Pawtucket as Mike Holtz was placed on the 15 Day DL. Alvarez was 5-0 in 7 starts with a sub 3.00 ERA. He hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in any of his starts. The Sox will probably use him as a longman and might even utilize him as a starter the next time DiNardo's spot in the rotation comes up.
