A very nice, solid, hard fought victory last night. The Sox never looked much better than the Angels until the late innings. Lackey was able to extend himself to pitch 7 innings, then Bard and Papelbon finished the job.
Lackey gave up a big 3 run homer in the 5th. But other than that, he did his job. Thankfully, the Sox bats woke up once they got Kazmir out of the game. Beltre had a vital 2 run homer in the bottom of the 5th to keep the Sox in it. He's hit 23, and knocked in 83. His offensive contributions, and not his defensive ones, have helped save this team.
Seeing Pedroia back in the lineup just makes things seem better. Even if he doesn't rekindle how well he was hitting before his injury. He was 1 for 3, stole a base, scored a run, drew a walk, and had a sacrifice bunt. Just seeing how much he veered into the infield grass on his sac-bunt, giving him 0.0001% more of a chance to reach 1st base on an error, was just refreshing to see.
But pitching is what will win or lose down the stretch. Lackey wasn't great, but he stayed out there until finishing 7. He had some nice efficient innings at the end of his outing that allowed Francona to keep him out there.
Speaking of pitching, and how important it is, the Sox will go for the sweep behind Josh Beckett tonight. He's opposed by Ervin Santana. I don't have a great feeling, as Santana shut down the Sox back in May. And Beckett's been a basketcase lately.
Photo Credit:
AP Photo
No comments:
Post a Comment