A beautiful start by Matsuzaka, and a non-stop offensive assault cheered up Sox fans who had expected to see Josh Beckett's return Friday night. Daisuke struck out 7 on his way to win #16. If he keeps winning games, and keeps that ERA below 3, he'll have an outside shot at the Cy Young.
Youkilis and Bay each had 3 RBIs. Bay's came with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Youkilis got his one at a time in the 1st, 6th, and 8th. But only in the 8th was it an RBI hit (he grounded into a fielder's choice in the 1st, and was HBP with the bases loaded in the 6th).
The Sox could have gotten more, as they left 12 men on, 8 of which were in scoring position. But 1 run was all Daisuke needed.
Dustin Pedroia had two stolen bases, the 99th and 100th of the season for the Sox. The Red Sox have been running like crazy in '08, and are currently 2nd in the AL in steals. Ellsbury's 41 is the most for a Red Sock since Otis Nixon had 42 in 1994. And that's cocaine free for Jacoby.
The 100 SBs the Sox have as a team is the first time they've reached the century mark since 1974.
Michael Bowden makes his Major League debut tonight against Mark Buehrle.
Sources:
ESPN.com
Baseball-Reference.com
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
