The Sox had one more game against the Phillies before they hopped on a bus and headed to NY to face the Yankees. Tonight Franklin Morales headed to the mound for the first time in 2013. Morales reminded us of his value when he did exactly what the team needed from him.
Morales was on a pitch count of about 80 pitches. John Farrell said he hoped he would go 5 innings and that is exactly what Morales did. Before Morales even took the mound, the Sox bats would end up giving him all the runs he would need. Ellsbury hit a leadoff single, Nava got him to third and Pedey hit him home. That was followed by an Ortiz walk and then an RBI single from Carp and a 2 run RBI double from Salty. Sox 4-0. The only trouble that would lead to runs for Morales would be in the 1st inning. Morales gave up a 2 run HR to Delmon Young. Sox 4-2. Morales would load the bases with one out in the 4th inning, but got a double play to end the inning. Morales ended up throwing 79 pitches through 5 innings. He did just what Farrell hoped he would do. After the game, Morales said that he felt good and felt he could have gone longer in the game if was able to. It's nice to have him back.
In the 6th inning Jonny Gomes came in to pinch hit for Morales and hit himself a solo HR. Sox 5-2. David Ortiz, who was playing first base last night, came to the plate in the 7th inning and hit a solo HR himself. Sox 6-2. Ortiz was able to field his position and do well. During the 8th inning, Napoli took over at 1st base and Jackie Bradley Jr headed out to the outfield. In the 9th, the Sox put the game away for sure when they added three more runs. Drew hit a sac grounder to score Bradley and then Salty and Iglesias both hit RBI doubles. Sox 9-2.
As for the pitching, Breslow pitched a scoreless 6th and got one out in the 7th before handing the ball over to Mortensen, who got the two outs he needed to get out of the inning. Tazawa pitched a scoreless 8th inning and even though it wasn't a save situation, Bailey came out and pitched a scoreless 9th.
The other story of the night was Jacoby Ellsbury and his theft of bags all night long. Ellsbury went 3 for 4 on the night with a walk and a hit by pitch. Out of all those times that Ellsbury was on base, he made quick work of stealing 5 bases throughout the night. Ellsbury used to be tied with Jerry Remy for the club record of most bags stolen during a single game with 4, but now he has that record all on his own. Ellsbury is reminding us just what a dramatic leadoff guy he can be.
The Sox now head to New York with a 2 game lead on the Yankees. It should be an interesting series for sure.
Red Sox 9 Phillies 2 BOXSCORE
WP: Morales (1-0) LP: Pettibone (3-1)
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