The Sox bats woke up today, as did the bullpen. The Sox took the lead in the 1st inning and never relinquished it. Ortiz knocked out his 8th homerun of the season, collecting his 15th and 16th RBI. Mike Lowell added another run with an RBI single, his 7th run knocked in of the year.
The Sox played a little small ball in the 4th to get an insurance run. Harris reached on a HBP, stole second, and scored on a Youkilis single. Kevin is 10th in RBI among 1st basemen this season.
The Blue Jays made it a 1 run game after a throwing error, a walk, and a Greg Zaun homerun. Clement got past it, though, pitching into the 6th inning. Foulke took over and threw 1.2 perfect innings, striking out 3.
In the 8th, the Sox got to Vinnie Chulk for a run. Gonzalez walked, Youkilis had a single, and Loretta, who has been slumping mightily, knocked in Gonzalez with a basehit. After a scoreless 8th from Timlin, the Sox added another insurance run in the 9th. Varitek, also in a big slump, singled and was knocked in by a Mike Lowell double. Lowell has the 2nd most doubles in MLB in 2006 thus far.
Papelbon came in, and actually struggled a bit letting the first two men he faced reach. He struck out Vernon Wells on 6 pitches then induced a game ending double play from Troy Glaus.
The Red Sox actually hit decently in this game. They had 20 baserunners in total and were able to bring 6 of them home, which typically is sufficient for a win. Clement wasn't lights out, but he was solid. The bullpen was magnificent with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief from Foulke, Timlin, and Papelbon.
The Man of the Game is a tough one. Neither starter pitched all that well, and no hitter really stuck out. Mike Lowell had a solid game with a pair of RBI hits, he did make an error that allowed a man to reach who eventually scored. But, he did rob a hit earlier in the game from the Jays. However, Keith Foulke looked really good. He came into the game with 2 on and 1 out and was able to escape the inning unscathed (it was also a 1 run game at that point). He then pitched a perfect 7th inning. He faced 5 batters and retired them all, 3 by way of the K, and the other 2 with infield pop ups. He only needed 20 pitches to retire the 5 batters he faced. Foulke will get Man of the Game honors.
The Sox have an off day before going to Cleveland for the only time in the regular season to play the Indians on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Schilling looks for win #5 as he faces off against 2-2 Jake Westbrook. The Indians are 10-0 this season.
Red Sox Nation fans outside of New England will be pleased to know that the Wednesday night game against Cleveland will be on ESPN, and the Thursday game will be on ESPN 2.
VAN BUREN DOWN, DELCARMEN UP
Before today's game, the Red Sox optioned Jermaine Van Buren back to Pawtucket and recalled Hyde Park's Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen was with the team briefly last year, pitching in 10 games with an ERA of 3.00. His big drawback last year with us was his walks. In 9 innings, he walked 7 batters. In Pawtucket this year, he's pitched 10 innings of scoreless baseball, all in relief. He's only allowed 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10. He'll probably be used sparingly as a mid-reliever in not so close games until Wells comes off the DL or the Sox get another starter.
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