The Red Sox celebrated Memorial Day with a spot start from Alfredo Aceves and a win that would bring them sole possession of first place of the AL East. Aceves was starting for Clay Buchholz who tweaked his AC joint and the Phillies would have Tyler Cloyd on the mound. Aceves, even with his drama and issues, would continue to show his value to the team by pitching well and putting the team in line for a win. The Sox also welcomed back Jonathan Papelbon for the firs time since he signed with the Phillies.
Aceves did his job and then some last night. He pitched well and got deep into the game. He's pitch 6 strong innings and only gave up one run along the way. Aceves would give up a solo HR to Kratz in the 3rd inning, but that would be the only damage. Aceves got into a little bit of trouble in the 6th with the bases loaded and Galvin at the plate. Galvin hit a ball to deep center, but Jacoby Ellsbury made the catch and Aceves flashed a smile of appreciation. Aceves was done for the night and his pitching line was 93 pitches, 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 BB and 4 Ks. You can't ask for more than that with a spot start.
The Red Sox bats also gave Aceves a lot of breathing room. The Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the 1st with a two run HR from Pedey and a solo HR from Napoli. Sox 3-0. In the 3rd inning, the Sox added 3 more runs to the scoreboard. Napoli got it started with a ground rule double to score Papi. Stephen Drew then hit an RBI single to plate Napoli and then Ellsbury hit an RBI double to score Drew. Sox 6-1. In the 5th the Sox added on two more runs when Salty hit an RBI single to right. Sox 8-1.
Clayton Mortensen took the mound in relief of Aceves and pitched himself a scoreless 7th inning. Mortensen would start the 8th, but he would be pulled with Howard on 3rd and one out. Andrew Miller was in the game and he gave up a 2 run HR to Brown to have the score be 8-3. Miller would get out of the inning with no other damage done. The Sox got one of those runs back in the bottom of the 8th when Stephen Drew got a bases loaded walk to have the score 9-3. Stephen Drew had another nice night at the plate going 2 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Miller stayed on the mound in the 9th and pitched himself a scoreless inning to end the game and bring the Sox the win.
The Sox won and the Yankees lost, so they wake up this morning sitting alone a top the AL East.
Red Sox 9 Phillies 3 BOXSCORE
WP: Aceves (2-1) LP: Cloyd (1-1)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
