Moss and Manny Help Sox Steal A Victory

The Red Sox are 1-0 but for much of the night (or morning) it looked like they were headed for an opening day loss.

Pitching: The Red Sox pitching was not good. Dice-K got into trouble in the first and second and took too long to settle down; he had to leave in the 5th with 95 pitches. Mr. Celery did not do much better; he gave up a 2 run homer to give the A’s the lead. Lopez, Corey and Okajima were the saviors of the staff going 2.2 scoreless innings, Oki picked up the win. Papelbon recorded a save but only because the A’s made a base running error. He very easily could have had the loss in this game giving up 3 hits and a walk in the bottom of the 10th.

Defense: Who needs Coco’s defense when Jacoby can make plays like he did in center. (Be sure to watch Ellsbury’s catch) Dice-K also made a good barehanded play in the first.

Offense: Brandon Moss stepped up big time after getting the start when J.D. was scratched late with a back injury. Moss had an RBI double and hit the game tying home run in the 8th. Manny was being Manny with 2 doubles and 4 RBI’s. Papi was o-4 but he did draw an intentional walk and scored a run. Pedroia and Lugo each had 2 hits.

There were some things to be concerned with in the game particularly Dice-K and Papelbon’s performances but overall the Sox gutted one out to come from behind and win 6-5 in 10 innings. Boston is on top of the AL East with the best record in baseball, right where they belong. The game will be rebroadcast today on ESPN 2 at 1:30 Eastern.