I was at today’s game and consider myself very lucky. Not many times do you know you are seeing someone in their last game and have their last at bat at Fenway before being traded and get to stand up and cheer them off the field. I got to do that today with Kevin Youkilis. It was just special in the ball park and it just showed how much Youk means to the fans. I can’t wait until Youk comes back in July with the White Sox so I can chant YOUK!!! at him once again.
Photo Credit: Winslow Townson/Getty Images
In today’s game, we had Aaron Cook making a spot start for Clay Buchholz who went on the DL. Cook previously made one start but didn’t last very long once he got cleated at the plate when covering home and then headed to the DL himself. Cook had another chance today to show the Sox and the fans that he has the stuff to be a part of this team going forward. All in all, Cook looked pretty impressive. Cook pitched 5 innings and didn’t give up any runs until the 5th where he had a small hiccup. Cook had a 4-0 lead heading into the 5th inning and for a bit it looked like he might come unglued and give the lead right back to the Braves. Cook gave up two singles to begin the inning and then gave up an RBI double to Erik Hinske to give the Braves their first runs of the game. Cook made a throwing error that allowed Hinske to score from 3rd to make it a slim one run lead for the Sox. Cook got the final out of the inning and headed to the dugout.
Luckily for Cook he also got quite a bit of run support for him during the game. The score was tied 0-0 til the 4th inning when the Sox started to get to Braves starter Minor. Minor walked Pedroia and Middlebrooks and then gave up a HR over the Monster to Cody Ross. Sox 3-0. Adrian Gonzalez then hit a back to back HR to give the Sox a 4-0 lead. After the Braves scored 3 runs in the 5th, the Sox got those runs back and then some. In the bottom of the 5th with Shoppach at 3rd, Will Middlebrooks hit an RBI sac fly to score their 5th run. Then Cody Ross climbed back in the box and hit his 2nd HR of the night to give the Sox a 7-3 lead. Daniel Nava hit an RBI double in the 6th inning to make the lead 8-4. The final run was scored with a KEVIN YOUKILIS RBI triple in the 7th. This was moments before Youk was pulled from the game and the place went nuts. It was a moment y’all.
After Cook was out of the game, Matt Albers came in to pitch the 6th. Albers gave up a solo HR in the 6th to give the Braves their 4th and final run. Albers would be replaced by Andrew Miller in the 7th. Miller gave up 2 hits, but got a K when he needed it and then with 2 outs Shoppach made a great play in foul territory behind the plate to get out of the inning. Scott Atchison came out and pitched a nice 1-2-3 inning for the 8th and then Mark Melancon finished off the game pitching the 9th.
It was a great win for the Sox and a great send off for Youk. Happy travels brother!
Red Sox 9 Braves 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Cook (1-1) LP: Minor (3-6)
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